Iron And Clay

Nebuchadnezzar must have listened with rapt attention as the young prophet Daniel disclosed details of the king's dream - an enormous dazzling statue, awesome in appearance, its head of gold, arms and chest of silver, waist and thighs of bronze and legs of iron.

These four sections of the statue illustrated a succession of four monolithic kingdoms or empires. by contrast, the feet and toes were made of mixed materials, iron and clay, suggesting a different type of kingdom (Dan. 2:41-43). When interpreting the dream, Daniel gave special emphasis to the feet and toes:

And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and party of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery

(NASB).

Most will agree that the stone cut out of the mountain without hands,

smiting the feet of the statue, points to "the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven ... rendering vengeance" (2 Thess. 1:7,8) at the time of His coming to earth as Son of Man (Mat. 24:30; Rev. 19:11); an event foretold in the second Psalm, "Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel". The "divided kingdom" represented by the feet and toes of the statue must therefore belong to the "time of the end", the final phase of Gentile rule before the Lord Jesus sets up His millennial reign.

Three important features of the end-time Gentile kingdom call for special note. First, that some of its constituent parts will be strong, as illustrated by the iron; other parts will be "brittle". Second, that just as iron and clay do not combine, so these nations will not "cleave to one another". There will be a strong element of independence. Third, they will "combine with one another in the seed of men", or "mingle themselves with the seed of men". Does this suggest a strongly nationalistic trend based on ethnic groupings? If these are correct deductions from the passage quoted above, they suggest that the structure of the end-time kingdom will differ from the four ancient empires represented by the gold, silver, bronze and iron. Each of these was a monolithic empire, many conquered peoples being kept in subjection and administered from a central seat of empire such as Babylon or Rome. There would be no such coherence about the end-time kingdom. This would be structured by affiliation of independent states, some stronger, some weaker, but each expressing its ethnic unity.

This has certainly been a pattern of political development in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since the demise of the Soviet Empire. That had been a distinctly monolithic power. In sharp contrast we now see the former Soviet Union broken up into twelve independent states, though loosely linked in a so-called Commonwealth. Within some of these states there are already deep ethnic conflicts.

Even the twelve nations at present comprising the EEC show the same tendency not to "cleave to one another". Some stronger, some weaker, there are constant strains because of differing commercial interests, ethnic rivalries and concerns about sovereignty. Difficulties about ratification of the Maastricht Treaty all tell the same story.

Prophetic Scripture would suggest that in the final phase of the "times of the Gentiles" the dominant world power of Antichrist may be achieved, not by means of a monolithic Empire, but' by manipulation of associated independent states. If so, this present political trend may well play into his hands - the "contemptible one" who will obtain the kingdom by flatteries (Dan. 11:21); who "through his policy shall cause craft to prosper in his hand" (8:25). Such references may suggest that by diplomacy and statecraft he will play off one against another until his authority within a ten-kingdom confederacy is supreme. As a result of his political astuteness, control of terrorizing power ([)an. 11:34) and signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9) he will be able for a time to hold together the confederacy of "iron and clay" (Rev. 17:12,13). Its pooled resources will be used to achieve world-wide control (Rev. 13:7) and defiantly challenge the Christ of God (Rev. 17:14).

unknown | Oct 1992
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