The Middle East in Bible Prophecy:(Continues) Phenomenal prophecy and fulfillment The accuracy of Daniel’s prophecies of remotely distant events is spectacular. For in the “70 weeks” prophecy recorded in Daniel 9:24-27, “Daniel predicts the precise year of Christ’s appearance and the beginning of his ministry in A.D. 27” (Expositor’s, p. 9). Another amazing prophecy recorded by Daniel is his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. In the second year of his reign the Babylonian king had a troubling dream that none of his counselors could explain. Babylonian culture placed considerable emphasis on dreams, and Nebuchadnezzar was convinced that his one was of great importance (Daniel 2:1-3). His dream gives us a “disclosure of God’s plan for the ages till the final triumph of Christ” and “presents the foreordained succession of world powers that are to dominate the Near East till the final victory of the Messiah in the last days” (Expositor’s, pp. 39, 46). Without prior knowledge of its content, Daniel explained the details of the dream to Nebuchadnezzar: “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay” (Daniel 2:31-33). Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that his Babylonian Empire was represented by the head of gold (verses 37-38). The silver, bronze and iron components of the image, or statue, represented three powerful empires that were to follow mighty Babylon (verses 39-40).this interpretation provided an astounding preview of history. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream occurred and was interpreted by Daniel about 600 B.C. The image represented, in symbolic form, the sequence of great empires that would dominate the region’s political scene for centuries. “The silver empire was to be Medo-Persia, which began with Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon in 539 … This silver empire was supreme in the Near and Middle East for about two centuries” (Expositor’s, p. 47).The bronze empire was the Greco-Macedonian Empire established by Alexander the Great … The bronze kingdom lasted for about 260 or 300 years before it was supplanted by the fourth kingdom“Iron connotes toughness and ruthlessness and describes the Roman Empire that reached its widest extent under the reign of Trajarajan reigned as emperor A.D. 98-117, and the Roman Empire itself The fourth empire was depicted as having 10 toes. The feet and toes were composed partly of iron and partly of clay, as verse 41 explains. “Verse 41 deals with a later phase or outgrowth of this fourth empire, symbolized by the feet and ten toes—made up of iron and earthenware, a fragile base for the huge monument. The text clearly implies that this final phase will be marked by some sort of federation rather than by a powerful single realm” Amen
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 02:19:59 +0000
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