Great point made by Bill Armstrong about the order of the elements of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay in Daniel.
This is what I deduced:-
The bronze represents Greece and the iron, Rome. The clay is the mingled peoples that rule Jerusalem after the splitting up of the roman empire into east and west (the 2 legs? Of chapter 2). Daniel chapter 8 shows the beast that was, is not, yet shall be:-
Dan 8:23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.
Dan 8:24 His power shall be great--but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints.
Originally this was the Grecian conquest under Alexander (and the dividing up into 4 parts back then) but when it arises in the latter days, territorially it shall be the same/similar but it shall be occupied by the mingled people, the clay of chapter 2. This would be the people of Islam today, of the eastern part of the roman empire.
Dan 7:19 "Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet,”
The teeth of iron and claws of bronze I take to be it’s military capacity to devour. The bronze perhaps represents the swiftness of it’s military machine (like Alexander) and it’s ability to be far reaching – the iron it’s roman like ability to consume foreign kingdoms and force it’s laws upon them (pax romana etc).
Dan 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces
Dan 2:45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."
The Western world (Europe and the Americas) came out of the mingled people as well with the fall of Rome, particularly in the west which fell a thousand years before the eastern roman empire finally bought it. Based as we are upon Grecian culture (democracy, architecture etc) the clay in the West then becomes listed as bronze (Grecian) – the clay in the east become the people of the latter day beast occupying the Grecian conquest fields.
If anyone wants to demolish this thesis, please do (I shall probably get there first!).
Thoughtfully
Richard Spendiff