A FRAGILE AMALGAM
25 Daniel next told Nebuchadnezzar: “Whereas you beheld the feet and the toes to be partly of molded clay of a potter and partly of iron, the kingdom itself will prove to be divided, but somewhat of the hardness of iron will prove to be in it, forasmuch as you beheld the iron mixed with moist clay. And as for the toes of the feet being partly of iron and partly of molded clay, the kingdom will partly prove to be strong and will partly prove to be fragile. Whereas you beheld iron mixed with moist clay, they will come to be mixed with the offspring of mankind; but they will not prove to be sticking together, this one to that one, just as iron is not mixing with molded clay.”—Daniel 2:41-43.
26 The succession of world powers represented by the various parts of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream began with the head and extended down to the feet. Logically, the feet and toes of “iron mixed with moist clay” would symbolize the final manifestation of human rule that would exist during “the time of the end.”—Daniel 12:4.
27 At the dawn of the 20th century, the British Empire ruled over every fourth person on earth. Other European empires controlled millions more. But World War I resulted in the emergence of groups of nations in place of empires. After World War II, this trend accelerated. As nationalism developed further, the number of nations in the world grew dramatically. The ten toes of the image represent all such coexisting powers and governments, for in the Bible the number ten at times signifies earthly completeness.—Compare Exodus 34:28; Matthew 25:1; Revelation 2:10.
28 Now that we are in “the time of the end,” we have reached the feet of the image. Some of the governments pictured by the image’s feet and toes of iron mixed with clay are ironlike—authoritarian or tyrannical. Others are claylike. In what way? Daniel associated the clay with “the offspring of mankind.” (Daniel 2:43) Despite the fragile nature of clay, of which the offspring of mankind are made, traditional ironlike rulerships have been obliged to listen more and more to the common people, who want their say in the governments ruling over them. (Job 10:9) But there is no sticking together of authoritarian rule and the common people—no more than there could be a uniting of iron with clay. At the time of the image’s demise, the world will indeed be politically fragmented!
29 Will the divided condition of the feet and toes cause the entire image to collapse? What will happen to the image?
A DRAMATIC CLIMAX!
30 Consider the climax of the dream. Daniel told the king: “You kept on looking until a stone was cut out not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and of molded clay and crushed them. At that time the iron, the molded clay, the copper, the silver and the gold were, all together, crushed and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away so that no trace at all was found of them. And as for the stone that struck the image, it became a large mountain and filled the whole earth.”—Daniel 2:34, 35.
31 By way of explanation, the prophecy continued: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold. The grand God himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this. And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.”—Daniel 2:44, 45.
32 Appreciating that his dream had been called to mind and explained, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that only Daniel’s God was “a Lord of kings and a Revealer of secrets.” The king also gave Daniel and his three Hebrew companions positions of great responsibility. (Daniel 2:46-49) What, though, is the modern-day significance of Daniel’s ‘trustworthy interpretation’?
‘A MOUNTAIN FILLS THE EARTH’
33 When “the appointed times of the nations” ended in October 1914, “the God of heaven” established the heavenly Kingdom by enthroning his anointed Son, Jesus Christ, as the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Luke 21:24; Revelation 12:1-5; 19:16) So it was that by divine power, not by human hands, the Messianic Kingdom “stone” was cut out of the “mountain” of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. This heavenly government is in the hands of Jesus Christ, upon whom God has conferred immortality. (Romans 6:9; 1 Timothy 6:15, 16) Hence, this “kingdom of our Lord [God] and of his Christ”—an expression of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty—will not be passed on to anyone else. It will stand forever.—Revelation 11:15.
34 The birth of the Kingdom took place “in the days of those kings.” (Daniel 2:44) These were not only the kings pictured by the ten toes of the image but also those symbolized by its iron, copper, silver, and gold parts. Although the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires had passed away as world powers, their remnants still existed in 1914. The Turkish Ottoman Empire then occupied the territory of Babylonia, and national governments were functioning in Persia (Iran) and Greece and Rome, Italy.
35 God’s heavenly Kingdom will soon strike the symbolic image on its feet. As a result, all the kingdoms pictured by it will be broken to pieces, bringing them to an end. Indeed, at “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” that “stone” will strike with such crushing impact that the image will be ground to powder and the wind of God’s storm will sweep it away like the chaff of a threshing floor. (Revelation 16:14, 16) Then, like the stone that grew to mountainous size and filled the earth, God’s Kingdom will become the governmental mountain that will affect “the whole earth.”—Daniel 2:35.
36 Though the Messianic Kingdom is heavenly, it will extend its power toward our globe for the blessing of all obedient inhabitants of the earth. This stable government “will never be brought to ruin” or be “passed on to any other people.” Unlike the kingdoms of dying human rulers, “it itself will stand to times indefinite,” forever. (Daniel 2:44) May you have the privilege of being one of its subjects eternally.
[Footnote]
See Chapter 6 of this book.
WHAT DID YOU DISCERN?
· What world powers are represented by the various parts of the immense image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
· What world situation do the feet and ten toes of iron mixed with clay represent?
· When and out of what “mountain” was the “stone” cut?
· When will the “stone” strike the image?