THE PROPHECY OF FOUR STATUES
PROPHECY: "You looked, Oh king, and there before you stood a large statue, an enormous dazzling statue,
awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure 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 baked clay." Daniel 2:31-33

Daniel then goes on to interpret the dream:

"You are the head of gold. After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of
bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron- for iron breaks and
smashes everything- and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you
saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it
will have some strength of iron in it, even as you saw the iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and
partly clay, to this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked
clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” Daniel 2:38-
41

FULFILLMENT: The above verses describe the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient king of Babylon,
which was interpreted by the prophet Daniel. The Bible clearly states that this dream is a reference to a
procession of earthly kingdoms:
  • Babylon was the statue’s golden head, meaning that it would be greater than the other kingdoms.
  • The next kingdom was represented by a chest and arms of silver, signifying it would be a lesser kingdom
    than Babylon.
  • The third kingdom would be represented by bronze and would be considered something of a one world
    government.
  • The fourth kingdom is represented by iron and clay, signifying it will be an unstable government: strong,
    yet weak due to its divided people.

As history shows, Daniel correctly predicted the order of the four kingdoms. However, not only was he able to list
the future kingdoms, he was also able to describe them in vivid detail. The following lists the sequence of the
kingdoms, references in Daniel which describes the kingdoms in detail, and what actually happened in history:
  • The present golden kingdom represented the Neo-Babylon Empire of 605-539 B.C. "...You are the head of
    gold." Soon after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon quickly began its decline.
  • The next silver kingdom represented the inferior Medo-Persian Empire established by Cyrus in 539 B.C.
    "Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." History shows that Cyrus overthrew the
    Babylonian empire and immediately set up the Medo-Persian Empire.
  • The bronze kingdom represented the Greek Empire established by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. "...
    Then a mighty king will appear who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. After he has
    appeared, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to
    his descendants..." History proves Daniel to be correct by showing that upon the death of Alexander the
    Great, his kingdom did not go to his heirs but instead was divided among his four generals.
  • The fourth iron empire would become the Roman Empire which began around 67 B.C. "As iron breaks
    things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were
    partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom." Just like Daniel prophesied and
    as history shows, the Roman Empire did indeed control the world such as no kingdom had ever done
    before. However, just as iron and clay are unstable when mixed together, the Roman Empire was filled
    with multiculturalism and division.

Biblical scholars believe that the kingdom of iron and clay is also symbolic of the end time’s one-world
government that the future anti-christ will establish. Daniel’s prophecy goes on to say that a giant rock which is
not man-made (representing God’s kingdom) will overthrow this kingdom of iron and clay to set up a heavenly
reign on the earth. This prophecy is retold in the Book of Revelation.

THE PROPHECY OF FOUR BEASTS
PROPHECY: "Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion
and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it
stood on two feet like a man and the heart of a man was given to it. And there before me was a second beast
which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.
It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ After that, I looked and there before me was another beast, one
that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads and it
was given authority to rule. After that, in my vision at night, I looked and there before me was a fourth beast-
terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth. It crushed and devoured its victims and
trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts and it had ten horns."
Daniel 7:3-7
FULFILLMENT: Daniel, like Nebuchadnezzar, had his own vision about the four earthly kingdoms. He directly
interprets the creatures as governments in Daniel 7:17: The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise
from the earth. These kingdoms are described as coming out of the sea which is a prophetic metaphor for a large
group of people. Thus, these will be worldly governments as opposed to God’s holy reign at the end of the age.

Since we went over in detail the translation of these four kingdoms above, let's briefly analyze Daniel’s vision:
  • The lion with wings represented the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The tearing off of its wings represents the
    mental illness that overtook Nebuchadnezzar later in his life.
  • The bear raised up on one side represents the Medo-Persian Empire, with Persia being the dominating
    force over Media. The three ribs in its mouth could possibly represent its conquests of Babylon, Lydia, and
    Egypt.
  • The leopard, an animal known for its speed, and the four wings represent the swiftness to which
    Alexander ascended to power. The creature’s four heads represent the four kingdoms that his empire was
    separated into upon his death.
  • The fourth beast, with iron teeth, represents the Roman Empire and is a possible reference to the future
    kingdom of the coming Anti-Christ.
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