God's Prophetic Blueprint
Chapter 2
THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES
In an in-depth study of Bible prophecy there must be an understanding of two expressions that have their roots in Old Testament Scriptures but will come to fruition in the days ahead. They are "Daniel's seventy weeks" and "the times of the Gentiles." Let us first consider "the times of the Gentiles."
After the reign of King Solomon, internal friction brought a split in the nation of Israel. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, remained king over the southern kingdom (Judah) while Jeroboam became king of the ten tribes of the north (Israel). In the following years, there were nineteen kings in the north and twenty kings in the south. The northern kingdom lasted from 933 to 721 B.C. It was then that the people were led away by Shalmaneser into Assyrian captivity. The southern kingdom lasted from 933 to 605 B.C. It was Nebuchadnezzar who led Judah away into Babylonian captivity. The final deportation and destruction of Jerusalem came in 586 B.C.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM
In the interest of the subject at hand, I would like to return to 605 B.C., which was the beginning of Judah's deportation to Babylon. This date marked the beginning of Gentile rule over the land of Israel and the starting point of "the times of the Gentiles." This important period of human history was later brought into focus through a dream that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, a dream which the king was unable to remember. It is recorded in Daniel 2: "And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation" (verses 1-4).
When the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans were brought before the king and heard him say, "I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream," they were not the least bit apprehensive. After all, they thought the king simply wanted an interpretation of his dream. Of course, it would be an easy task to conjure up an interpretation. The world is full of modern-day magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans, who are quick to tell us what is going to happen. Beware of self-appointed "prophets" who make bold declarations of things to come. The true modern-day prophet of God is no more than a humble servant of Christ, rightly dividing the Word of truth, and giving it out under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. God has His ways of separating those who represent Him and those who do not, and it did not take long for King Nebuchadnezzar to find out who the true servants of the most high God were: "The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill" (verse 5).
The Chaldeans answered, "There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean" (verse 10). At this point, "Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven" (verses 16-19).
Before considering the dream with its interpretation, please notice this unusual event was God's way of revealing some very special information regarding the future. Daniel said to the king: "But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass" (verses 28 and 29). This dream, then, had great prophetic significance.
THE RECONSTRUCTED DREAM
The scene changes as Daniel stands before the king and relates the forgotten dream: "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (verses 31-35). Imagine the reaction of the king as he is once again confronted with his dream. I am not surprised to hear him say, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret" (verse 47).
THE DREAM EXPLAINED
Now Daniel gives the interpretation as revealed to him by God: "This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise" (verse 36-40). The great image that Nebuchadnezzer saw in his dream had a golden head (verse 32). It represented the Babylonian Empire (verse 38), which came to an end during the reign of Belshazzor. Daniel 5:31 records the conquest of Darius the Median. It was he who brought Media and Persia together, forming the great Medo-Persian Empire. This is pictured in the image as the breast and arms of silver (verses 32 and 39a). Many years later, Alexander the Great conquered Medo-Persia and extended the mighty empire of Greece. This was depicted by the belly and thighs of brass (verses 32 and 39b). The fourth world empire was Rome. It remained a united kingdom until A.D. 364, then continued on as a divided empire with its western Mital in Rome and its eastern capital in Constantinople. Western Rome died in A.D. 476 while the eastern empire continued on until A.D. 1453. There are some who believe the two legs (verse 33) represent eastern and western Rome, but what we know for sure is that the Iron legs had their fulfillment in the Roman Empire (verse 40).
So, the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream represented four world empires: Babylon - the head of Sold; Medo-Persia - the silver breast and arms; Greece the brass belly and thighs; and Rome - the iron legs. When put together in one fearful image, they present at a glance a period of Bible prophecy called "the times of the Gentiles." It speaks of those times when Israel would be under the control of Gentile power, beginning with the deportation of Judah into Babylonian captivity in 605 B. C.
THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE
All of the empires listed above have made their appearance, but there is one part of the image that is yet to appear. It is associated with the Old Roman Empire and is seen in the image as feet (verse 33) with ten toes (verses 41 and 42). The late H. A. Ironside wrote of this important part of the image in these words: "This brings us to the last form of the fourth kingdom; for the Roman empire, though at present in abeyance, has not yet come to its end. The ten toes on the feet of the image represent ten kings who are to reign at one time, but who will form a confederacy on the ground of the ancient empire. This is something which the world has never yet seen."' When Dr. Ironside penned these words in 1911, such a merger was the farthest thing from most minds. Today, however, the stage is set for the formation of these ten kingdoms into a confederacy clearly prophesied 2600 years ago through a dream God gave to Nebuchadnezzar.
Many have tried to tie together the nations that currently exist over the ashes of the Old Roman Empire without success. It has been reported that the children's nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty was originally written about the fall of Rome and the futile efforts of men to reconstruct it. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall." He sure did - in the form of the Old Roman Empire. "Humpty Dumpty had a great fall." It happened in the year A.D. 476. "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again." There were many who tried - Charlemagne, Napoleon, Bismarck, and Hitler, to name a few.
One indication that the end of this age is near is that for the first time since Rome crumbled, the empire is now emerging again. As will be discovered in a later chapter, the ten nation alliance must come together, for out of it the Antichrist will come. How sobering it is to see that confederacy beginning to form. Though the "ten toes" (revived Roman Empire) may take shape before the Church is caught away, the Antichrist cannot appear until after the Rapture. Certainly, the fact that the nations of western Europe are coming together must be an indication of the lateness of the hour. Many Bible students believe the European Common Market, AW called the European Economic Community, is the forerunner of the revived Roman Empire.
In the first edition of this book I wrote: "It is interesting to note that there are now ten nations in that community. The last to join was Greece, which became a member on January 1, 1981. In 1973, England, Ireland, and Denmark joined. The other six nations are Clermany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
"One note of caution should be sounded at this point. The fact that there are now ten nations in the European Common Market should not cause one to jump to the conclusion that the final form of the Roman Empire (the ten toes of Daniel 2) is here."
The fact is, there are now twelve nations in the ECM. (Spain and Portugal are now members), and before the next edition of this book there could be more.
I heard the President of the Market say he thought eventually there would be fifteen nations in the ECM.
Frankly, the Bible does not tell us how many nations will join the European Common Market. What we know for sure is that from among the nations that occupy the territory of the old Roman Empire, ten will come together in a special alliance. Those ten nations were seen by Nebuchadnezzer in the form of ten toes.
THE END OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES
The final part of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is reconstructed by God through His servant Daniel and presented once again to the king: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (verses 34 and 35). "The times of the Gentiles" began when Nebuchadenezzar led God's chosen people into Babylonian captivity almost 2600 years ago. Although the Jews began to return to their own country after only seventy years, it really was not their land. They were living on soil that God had given to them, but they were under the control of Gentile powers: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
When God the Son became incarnate in human flesh, His people were living during the days of the fourth Gentile world power - Rome. They longed to be set free to five in their own land under the authority of their long awaited Messiah. Imagine the excitement in the hearts of those who believed that Jesus was that Messiah and that He would soon break the yoke of Rome and set up His reign of peace. However, true believers had to be taught that during His first coming to earth, His task was not to bring in the kingdom but to give His life as the only sacrifice for the sin of the world. Some, like Judas Iscariot, would accept him only as their political leader, who would usher in the Kingdom Age. They were blinded to Old Testament Messianic prophecies such as Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 that clearly foretold the death of Christ upon the cross. They, like many today, needed to learn the truth of Christ's second coming to earth when He will destroy the total military power of earth In a fearful confrontation called the "Battle of Armageddon" (see chart). Then, and only then, will He set up His kingdom here on earth to rule and reign over The affairs of men for 1,000 years.
Nebuchadnezzar got a glimpse of it in the dream God gave to him. Christ is seen as "a stone cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet" (verse 34). As the image came crashing to the ground, "the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold ... became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them" (verse 35). This Old Testament prophecy will surely come to pass, and when it does, "the times of the Gentiles" will come to an end.