FIVE KINGDOMS
Hugo McCord
As God’s prophet, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar about a gigantic "statue"; its "brilliance" was "extraordinary," and its "appearance was frightening" (Daniel 2:31, NRSV). The head of the statue was of "fine gold," representing Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom (Daniel 2:32, 38, NRSV). The "chest and arms" were "of silver," pointing to "another kingdom" arising after Nebuchadnezzar’s (Daniel 2:39, NRSV). The "middle and thighs" of the statue were "of bronze," pointing to a third kingdom ruling "over the whole earth" (Daniel 2:32, 39, NRSV). The legs were "of iron mixed with clay," pointing to a "fourth kingdom, strong as iron" (Daniel 2:33, 40, 43, NRSV).
Then "a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands" which "struck" and "crushed" the statue (Daniel 2:34, 45, NRSV). "But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:35, NRSV). As the stone "crushed" the statue, so a fifth kingdom "set up" by "the God of heaven" would "crush" the four "kingdoms," and would "stand forever" (Daniel 2:44, NRSV).
A word picture of unfolding history Daniel had revealed. Isaiah had already called Babylon "the golden city" (14:4, ASV), and now Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the head of "fine gold" is "you" (Daniel 2:32, 38, NRSV). Historians date his empire as lasting from 606 B.C. to 536 B.C.
The "chest and arms of silver" (Daniel 2:32, NRSV) on the statue pointed to the silver ornaments that would be worn by the soldiers of the Medo-Persian Empire (536-330 B.C.).
The bronze "middle and thighs" (Daniel 2:32, NRSV)pointed to Alexander’s Greek Empire (330-65 B.C.), with soldiers having armor of bronze.
The legs were of iron, and the feet were of iron "mixed with clay" (Daniel 2:43, NRSV), pointing to the Roman Empire (65 B.C.-476 A.D.). The Roman emperors wore crowns made of iron.
Unfortunately, the Interpreter’s Bible tries to eliminate Rome as being Daniel’s fourth kingdom. If the Medo-Persian Empire points both to the silver and the bronze kingdoms, then what Daniel said that God would do in the days of the iron empire--set up an indestructible kingdom (Daniel 2:44)--did not come to pass.
The error of this interpretation can be seen in three points: (1) It is clear that the Medes and Persians are counted as one kingdom. "The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia." (Dan.8:20.) (2) The fourth kingdom is stronger than any of the three preceding kingdoms. It has the strength of iron as opposed to gold, silver and brass. This was not true of Alexander’s empire but it was true of the Roman Kingdom. (3) The consummation of these things is to take place in the latter days. (Dan. 2:28; 10:14).) The New Testament writers identify the latter or last days with the time of the Roman kings and not Antiochus Epiphanes. (Acts 2:16-17; Heb. 1:1.) [Glen Mayfield, GOSPEL ADVOCATE, November 24, 1977, p. 739.]
After Daniel had described four kingdoms made with hands, that is, with physical military might, then he described a fifth kingdom made "without hands" (Daniel 2:44-45, ASV). It would become a reality in the "latter" or "last" days (Daniel 2:28). While Rome, the iron kingdom, was very much in control, Jesus carried on Daniel’s teaching, announcing that "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15).
The establishment of that kingdom which Daniel had promised was, in fact, so close "at hand" that Jesus said some bystanders would live to see the kingdom of God "come with power" (Mark 9:1). That power came on the day of Pentecost, Sunday, May 28, A.D. 30 in the city of Jerusalem (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4).
On that day, for the first time came the announcement that Jesus had gone to heaven "to sit on" David’s throne (Acts 2:30). David’s throne had now become spiritual, a kingdom made "without hands," without military might. As distinct from Rome’s kingdom, Jesus’ kingdom "is not of this world" John 18:36).
As distinct even from David’s kingdom, Jesus’ kingdom is invisible, yes, "inside" (entos, Luke 17:21,FHV) of all its citizens (Luke 17:20, FHV). Essentially it is in no way external, but wholly inward, a kingdom of "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
At the very moment penitent believers in Jesus are "buried with him in baptism," they are "transferred" into "the kingdom of God’s beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13; 2:12, NRSV). Their "citizenship" is "in heaven" (Philippians 3:20), but they are recognized in this world as "God’s family" (1 Timothy 3:15, FHV), commonly called "the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15, NRSV).
The church is the fruition of "the eternal purpose" of "the only wise God," the realization of "things into which angels" had longed "to look" (Romans 16:27; Ephesians 3:10-11; 1 Peter 1:12, NRSV). It is glory to him and joy to the angels when they look down from heaven and see lost sinners born again and saved, and added to his called-out people, the church (Luke 15:10; Ephesians 3:21; Acts 2:47).
Virgil (B.C.70-19 A.D.), a pagan Roman poet, envisioned the fulfillment of Daniel’s prediction about the last days in his poem "Eclogue":
The last age, decreed by Fate, is come:
And a new frame of all things is begun,
A holy progeny from Heaven descends.
Auspicious be his birth! Which puts an end
To the iron age! And from whence shall rise
A golden state glorious through the earth!
Not only a pagan Roman poet, but also a learned British historian understood Daniel’s iron age to refer to Rome:
The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome (Edward Gibbon, 1727- 1794, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, IV, ch. 38, p. 104, apud H. N. Sargent, THE MARVELS OF BIBLE PROPHECY [London: The Covenant Publishing Co., Ltd., 1938], p. 123).
The effect of Daniel’s stone cut out of the mountain is vividly seen in Edward Gibbon’s truly objective summary of Christianity, especially since he personally was a skeptic:
While that great body [the Roman Empire] was invaded by open violence, and undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigour from opposition, and finally erected the triumphal banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol.
Nor was the influence of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the Roman Empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries, that religion is still professed by the nations of Europe, the most distinguished portion of human kind in arts and learning as well as in arms. By the industry and zeal of the Europeans it has been widely diffused to the most distant shores of Asia and Africa; and by means of their colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chili [sic], in a world unknown to the ancients. ...
Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the established religions of the earth (Edward Gibbon, THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, edited by J. B. Bury [New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958], pp. 1-2).
Then Gibbon listed five reasons for the triumph of Christianity: (1) zeal; (2) the doctrine of immortality; (3) alleged miracles; (4) pure and austere morals; and (5) church organization.
Flavius Josephus (37-95 A.D.), the famous Jewish historian, along with Gibbon, was a reader of the book of Daniel:
Daniel did also declare the meaning of the stone to the king; but I do not think it proper to relate it, since I have only undertaken to describe things past or things present, but not the things of the future; yet if any one be so very desirous of knowing truth, as not to wave such points of curiosity, and cannot curb his inclination for understanding the uncertainties of futurity, and whether they will happen or not, let him be diligent in reading the book of Daniel, which he will find among the sacred writings (ANTIQUITIES, 10, 10, 4).
The editor of the above copy of ANTIQUITIES added a footnote:
Of this most remarkable passage in Josephus concerning the "stone cut out of the mountain, and destroying the image," which he would not explain, but intimated to be a prophecy of futurity, and probably not safe for him to explain, as belonging to the destruction of the Roman Empire by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah of the Jews, take the words of Havercamp, ch. 10, sect. 4: "Nor is this to be wondered at, that he would not now meddle with things future, for he had no mind to provoke the Romans, by speaking of the destruction of that city which they called the Eternal City."
Isaiah (2:2) and Micah (4:1) had preceded Daniel in writing that "the mountain of the Lord’s house" would become a reality in the "last days." Their prediction coincided with Daniel’s announcement that a stone "cut out of the mountain without hands" would itself become "a great mountain" and would fill "the whole earth," and that this would occur in the "latter days" (Daniel 2:28, 35, 45, ASV).
The phrase "latter" or "last" days has become a description of the time span of Christianity. Peter quoted Joel as saying that what happened on the day of Pentecost (when the kingdom, the church, was established) was in "the last days" (Acts 2:17). Later, Peter wrote that what Jesus did on this earth was "in these last times" (1 Peter 1:20).
Also, the inspired author of the book of Hebrews wrote that "in these last days" God speaks to us by his "Son" (1:2). If he meant the last days of Judaism up to 70 A.D., one wonders how God speaks to us since 70 A.D., and one wonders how 1900 plus years can be after the "last days."
Furthermore, the phrase "the end of the world" in Hebrews 9:26 cannot mean anything but that Christianity is the last religion. Similarly, the phrases "the ends of the world" (KJV), or "the completion of the ages" (1 Corinthians 10:11, FHV), refer to a time that had already arrived in Corinth in 57 A.D., which means those phrases point to the entire time span of Christianity.
The fact that Jesus will be with his apostles "to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20, KJV) tells us that the phrase "the last days" describes all the time from "the beginning" of Christianity until the world is "burned" (Acts 11:15; 2 Peter 3:10-11).
Finally, Daniel’s fifth kingdom is distinct, not only because it was (1) made without hands, and (2) is not military, and (3) is invisible, but also because it is indestructible. Even "the gates of Hades" cannot prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Indeed, Christians have received a kingdom that "cannot be moved" (Hebrews 12:28). It is established "with judgment and with justice henceforth even forever" (Isaiah 9:7). God has determined that "it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).