In Daniel 2:38, Daniel says that Nebuchadnezzar (N) is ruling over the beasts of the Earth as the “head of gold”. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah (J) in Jeremiah 28, where the false prophet Hananiah broke off the wooden yoke from J’s neck. J came back, and said that God was replacing the wooden yoke with an iron yoke (cf Deut 28:48, where God said disobedience would result in Him putting an “iron yoke” on them until He had destroyed them). The result of this “iron yoke” is that even the wild beasts would be ruled by N (see Jeremiah 28:14), which is in view now in the passage in Daniel 2. This is the context of Daniel 2’s statue, that Nebuchadnezzar is already fulfilling the Jer 28 prophecy, that Nebuchadnezzar is now this “iron yoke” on Israel, instead of simply a wooden one, as indicated by his rulership over even the animals.
As I read the text, this is what I see. Already, I consider Daniel 9:24’s “70 7’s” to be the 7-fold increase in punishment from Leviticus 26:18, failure to obey after the allotted punishment (70 years) would result in a 7-fold addition, or 8 in all. They were not a time of “blessing to Israel”, as in the prophecy, both the city’s building, being lived in, and destruction and desolation are all promised. In addition to 70 years, Israel was given 70 7’s of years (which, given that this is punishment, makes a “gap” untenable). But, specifically, what is certainly clear is that Nebuchadnezzar was elevated to his position as that “head of gold”, the “iron yoke”, as a direct result of God to punish His chosen, covenant people, Israel.
This is where it gets interesting… These facts seems fairly straight-forward out of the Word. But, God demonstrates this fact vividly, that the Daniel 2 statue is His doing, to punish Israel, in two more ways. First, is the fiery furnace. N said to all, bow down and worship this “image”, or be thrown into a “fiery hot place”. Nearly 1,000 years later, after 1,000 years of rule by a One-World Government called “Babylon” (in four forms, what you call the head you also call the foot), God the Father said the exact same thing. Bow down and worship this “image”, or be thrown into a “fiery hot place”. Jesus is the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), and, those who do not worship Him are destined for the “lake of fire”. Actually, Matthew 13 calls it in two places (v41,52?), the “fiery furnace”. This is to indicate that N’s sovereignty was granted by God alone, for what N did “intuitively”, God was planning to do with His Son. This “finger-print” demonstrates that N’s rulership was from the hand of God, even if still of the flesh (which is why his fire had no power over “sons of the Kingdom”). But, moreover, Daniel 4 then drives the point home. When N tried to claim credit for the greatness, God humbled him, for seven years as a beast, until he acknowledged that it was God alone that put him there. God said clearly to N, your greatness is not from you, and you cannot take credit for a thing.
The ramifications of this are…. notable. The typical portrayal of the Daniel 2 statue is that this fourth kingdom will be the “devil’s last hurrah”, the enemy’s greatest evil of all time. They say, it will be as all of the evil of history combined, and then some. But, we can step back and take a look at this. The devil didn’t build this statue, God did. Furthermore, each successive kingdom is said to be “inferior” to the one before it, and while Rome might have been the most destructive, it was the most brittle. We’re not looking at the same things here, when we talk about it this way.
Just as Daniel 2:38, the beasts ruled by N, indicates the Jeremiah 28:14 fulfillment of God exalting Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon (the “iron yoke”) for the sole purpose of further punishing Israel, the entire 4-fold statue serves the same purpose in the 4-fold-7-fold increase in punishments listed in Leviticus 26 (it lists four times either a “7-fold” for continued disobedience). All throughout “End Times scriptures”, Leviticus 26 is mentioned, including Daniel 11:36, talking about the king of the fourth kingdom, “He must prosper until the time of the indignation is complete, for what has been decreed [the 70 sevens,Dan 9:24] must be accomplished.”. God made it clear from the beginning that this four-fold statue was not of the devil, but of Himself. The kingdoms of Daniel 2 & 7, while they may involve the demonic, derive their level of authority only from God, in that He raised them up in such a way that only He could get the credit.
And, so we see the entire punishment scope of Daniel could be summed up in Daniel 12:7, “…until the power of the Holy people is utterly broken.”, or 70 AD. This was the purpose of the Daniel 2 statue.
But, the claim of the futurist is that the iron represents the devil’s greatest, but that fails, on just about every level. First, if it was the devil’s greatest, it would have been the head, Nebuchadnezzar, not the most inferior kingdom of them all, the foot. Further, it wasn’t the devil’s at all, it was God’s. God empowered and raised up Nebuchadnezzar to punish Israel, and God increased Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 28) to increase the punishment on Israel. And, the statue represents the continuation, through continual decay, over time of this initial granting of authority–but, all throughout, it was still God’s government, put onto Nebuchadnezzar, that made it all happen. Just as Daniel 9:12 says that the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem was the worst disaster in history UP TO THAT POINT, the book of Daniel concludes with the greatest disaster IN ALL OF HISTORY (Dan 12:1, 70 AD). Both of these are the worst, for the exact same reason–they are the punishment of God upon His covenant people, the higher you are the farther you fall–and the second was that much worse, because it was in the context of the 7-fold increase in punishment of the covenant. The picture Daniel is given is that while the first destruction of Israel was bad, because of Israel’s continued disobedience and the promised curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, what is coming will be the worst ever. But, the source of that punishment, while God might allow the devil to operate through it, is God’s sovereignty, and nothing else.
As said before, the end result of the “iron yoke”, Deuteronomy 28:48, is to destroy Israel (for their disobedience). No where does Daniel indicate that the governments of Daniel 2’s four kingdoms are the devils’ doing at all, but God’s! This is confirmed throughout the book, especially in the dream of the tree cut down. If we know the greatest power of a thing is its head, it is absolutely out of the question to consider that the devil is primarily responsible for the fourth kingdom. As another way to look at this, not only did God raise up these four kingdoms for the express purpose of destroying Israel, He laid out the precise details of their progression in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, and 11-12 to demonstrate that, from the beginning, he knew the end. The point of the prophecy, of course, is not to tell us what will happen at the “end of the world”, but is to illustrate that, not only did God “start” this thing, He has directly indicated its progression and conclusion, for the sole purpose of letting the reader understand that He is in charge, and that this time of change would result in the transfer of power in perfect control from the Old Covenant to the New. Hence, the is the reason for the ultra-specific prophecies of Daniel is, because while the enemy was a tool in God’s hands, God in charge of the whole thing, and spoke the end from the beginning, of this decreed time of wrath.
The devil comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. Governments are from God, and the devil didn’t make the statue called Babylon, God did, and He did it because of Israel’s sin, in response to continued, increased rebellion, for the promised purpose of destroying Israel. And, this He accomplished, in 70 AD, in the fullness of His mercy, at the same time, extending His Kingdom and the New Covenant, for all who would receive Him, right at the right time, in accordance with Daniel 2:44, et al.
his also means that, despite Daniel being greatly loved, the answer that Gabriel brought to him in his prayers for mercy in Daniel 9, was, in fact, “No.”. Daniel’s personal righteousness was not sufficient for the salvation of the nation, but was only sufficient to save himself. As suggested in Zephaniah 2:2, they had not gathered together and repented in time, and now, the “decree” had taken effect, and once it did, Daniel 11:36 said that what was decreed must take place.
his is what I see as I continue to delve into the Word on these subjects. I am particular interested to see why this line of reasoning is not pursued further by Preterists or Eschatology scholars in general, whether it be the Leviticus 26 7-fold increase in punishment in Daniel 9:24, or the representation of the Daniel 2 statue as the tool of God, not the devil, or anything else from the above. The case for it seems quite solid, studying it out, but I see virtually no commentary on any of these points, and only from Thomas Ice have I seen any comments about the 70 7’s being the 7-fold increase in punishment. By my reckoning, it totally up-ends the entire futurist argument. From the “gap” in the 70 7’s, to the then-ridiculous notion of a antichrist super-villian coming out of “Rome”, or tying the whole thing together into the stated purpose in Deuteronomy 28:48, that God raised up Nebuchadnezzar, and the Daniel 2 Babylon image for the purpose of accomplishing Daniel 12:7, the clear outcome of all of these events, both Scripturally and historically.
I would be interested in any feedback, honest criticisms or concerns, or support, looking at these arguments, if anyone felt up to it. I realize the depth might be a little more than some are looking for, but, when one un-wraps the current mindset surrounding this book, and looks at what is being presented here in Daniel, in terms of the Scriptural precedent and the scope and placement of the elements, the entirety of the book of Daniel fits so securely into history, I see less and less claim to wrest it from there and attempt to force it into futurism. The entire story-line of Daniel is affected by this viewpoint, that without it, it feels as one’s perspective is skewed by the remnants of futurism even if one doesn’t realize it. Even Jesus referred to Leviticus 26 when He spoke on the Olivet discourse. The “days of vengeance” is also a direct reference to this, and the Luke 21:22 “all things written” is also likely referring here. Leviticus 26 is also the passage about the land enjoying its Sabbath rests (Lev 26:34), which corresponds with the stated outcome of the exile in 2 Chron 36:21. It all points, it seems, to Deuteronomy 28:48 being literally fulfilled in the context of the Jeremiah 28:14 “iron yoke”, to the appointed end of Daniel 12:7, their power being utterly broken in 70 AD.