Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and Daniel's Dream

The Book of Daniel presents two profound prophetic visions—Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue in Daniel 2 and Daniel's own vision of four beasts in Daniel 7. Both dreams, though different in imagery, depict the rise and fall of the successive empires, ultimately leading to the establishment of God's eternal kingdom. Central to these prophecies is the mysterious symbolism of the feet of iron and clay, representing a divided kingdom, and the terrifying fourth beast with iron teeth. Many scholars have debated the identity of these final empires. This article proposes that the feet of iron and clay, as well as the fourth beast, signify the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy—an interpretation that sheds light on the arrival and of who God's stone kingdom is.

The Dreams
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is a description of a statue made up of different metals: the head of gold, chest of silver, waist of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. Daniel’s dream on the other hand was of an assortment of different beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard and one final creature known as ‘the beast’ - a combination of two empires. While the imagery in the two dreams differs, their meaning is the same.

The following is a chart that describes both dreams

The Dream by Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 2:31-45
31 "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.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all-you are this head of gold.
39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."

The Dream by Daniel

Daniel 7:3-28
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 "And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!'
6 "After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.
9 "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.
11"I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.
12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
15 "I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
16 I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:
17 'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.'
19 "Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet;
20 and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
21 "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them,
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces.
24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.
26 'But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of
the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'
28 "This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart."

The First Four Empires
Daniel 2:37-44, Daniel 7:17-18, and Daniel 7:23-24 clearly describe the kingdoms in these dreams as earthly empires rather than mystical or ethereal events. Biblical scholars, including Matthew Henry and those from the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, concur on the identities of these empires, drawing on historical evidence, and details provided in the scriptures.

For instance: The head of gold is explicitly identified as Babylon in Daniel 2:38. Babylon conquered the remnant of Israel at Jerusalem in 604 BC.

In Daniel 5, Babylon is conquered by the Persians, who allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

Daniel 10 and 11 predict the rise of Greece after Persia, before being overtaken by the Roman Empire.

Although the Bible does not explicitly name the empire represented by the legs of iron or the beast that followed Greece, it is widely accepted that the legs of iron refers to Rome. Rome was the next dominant power and ruled during the time of Christ and was responsible for the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.

The Empire of the mixed with iron and clay or ten horns
After Rome's decline, the prophecy describes a divided kingdom, symbolised by feet mixed with iron and clay or as ten horns that was to last 1260 years (See the previous article on "Seven times, Time times and half a time, 1260 days, 42 months.") Much debate has arisen over the identity of this empire, but If we can understand who this kingdom is, it will help reveal the identity of the stone kingdom, as the stone kingdom arrives during the time of the feet of iron and clay, destroying it.

Below are five reasons why this kingdom is the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy.

1. Continuation of the Roman Empire: In Daniel 2:33, the legs (Rome) and the feet are symbolised by iron. Similarly, in Daniel 7:7-8, the final two empires are depicted as one conglomerate beast, indicating that the feet represent a continuation of the Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire emerged as an extension of Rome following its conversion to Christianity. Constantine, the Roman emperor, significantly supported Christianity, helping to mainstream the religion and paving the way for its dominance within the Roman Empire. In the future this conversion to Christianity would help secure Rome's survival after they had been defeated by Germanic tribes.

From around 300 AD onwards Rome was slowly depleting under the weight of many assaults of the northern Germanic tribes. In 476, the Germanic barbarian king Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Italy, Romulus Augustulus. The ironic thing here is that after the barbarians had sacked Rome, they literally turned around and asked Rome to rule over them. Not only was it politically and economically beneficial to do so, but predominantly it also enabled the Germanic tribes to join the wider Christian world. Thus Rome was able to survive and continue its influence and power through its religious authority by morphing from one empire to the next.

2. Revival of the Beast: Revelation 13:3 states that the beast was killed but came back to life, reinforcing the idea that the Roman Empire was destroyed by Germanic invasions, but revived when Rome was permitted to rule over their conquerors. This also marks the transition of the beast from the Roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire. Rome was not a secular ruler and neither was the emperor, but rather ruled through the papacy. The papacy had significant religious and moral authority over the people, even beyond its empire. It exerted political influence throughout the world through its ability to excommunicate rulers and to grant or withhold its support in political disputes.

3. Ten Toes and Ten Horns:In Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there are 10 toes, and in Daniel's dream, there are 10 horns. Interestingly, the Holy Roman Empire comprised of ten Imperial Circles throughout its existence. An Imperial Circle was a political and administrative structure within the Holy Roman Empire’s complex system of governance. Being part of an Imperial Circle was highly sought after, as it provided greater autonomy, legal and political rights, and economic advantages.

The Ten Imperial Circles were:

1 Bavarian Circle
2 Swabian Circle
3 Upper Rhenish Circle
4 Franconian Circle
5 Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle
6 Upper Saxon Circle
7 Lower Saxon Circle
8 Austrian Circle
9 Burgundian Circle
10 Electoral Rhenish Circle

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Source: Wikipedia on Imperial Circle

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4. Iron and Clay: The feet and toes are a mixture of iron and clay. Iron refers to Rome and clay in scripture refers to Israel (as read in Isaiah 64:8 and Jeremiah 18:6. ) Israel went into captivity due to the Assyrian invasion in 740 BC. For centuries the tribes of Israel were sifted through the nation's and migrated into Europe as the Germanic tribes. From there they contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire and moved across Europe into the British Isles as the Anglos, Saxons and Jutes. Some of the tribes remained in Europe and mixed with the remnants of the Roman Empire and over time became the Holy Roman Empire.

5. Continuous Succession of Empires: Both Nebuchadnezzar’s and Daniel’s dreams depict a continuous succession of empires. Therefore, the Holy Roman Empire (represented by the feet) immediately followed the Roman Empire (the legs). While futurists interpret the beast kingdom as a future political entity, this perspective overlooks the continuous succession of empires in Daniel’s prophecies, creating an unexplained gap of over 1,500 years since Rome fell in 476 AD.

The beast's rule is said to have lasted 1,260 years (see the previous article on "Seven times, Time times and half a time, 1260 days, 42 months"). It is impossible to place an event of such magnitude in any other period than between the fall of the Roman Empire and the French Revolution.

How could another empire rise up to dominate the world as described in scripture, persecuting the entire Christian church, ruling over every nation and tongue, and being worshipped by all, over such an extensive timeframe (Revelation 13)? Such an event is difficult to imagine today, with modern governments advocating national sovereignty. And the persecution of Christians now being negligible compared to the burning at the stake during the Dark Ages. Even in 1939, when Germany attempted to take over the world, it ultimately failed.

Conclusion
Understanding the feet of iron and clay and the ten horns to be the Holy Roman Empire with the papacy—a formidable political and religious entity that lasted for 1,260 years, from the 6th century to the 18th century—reveals significant insights into the prophetic visions of Daniel. This perspective highlights the culmination of God's plan with the establishment of His eternal kingdom, coinciding with the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, offering crucial clues about who the kingdom is as in Daniel 2: 44.

Not only from here can we understand the kingdom but we can also understand 666 the number of the beast, which will be in further articles or you can jump ahead and read all about it in God's Duty.