EAR (29 June 2014) "David Blackman - (8th June 2014) - Feet of iron and clay - PART 1"
Hi David and Doves,
In a post on Five Doves you state -“Here
we have in the feet kingdom …two different materials, iron and clay.
Since I didn’t think you received an adequate answer to your query, I
will try to do so from a historical and biblical point of view.
Legs
and Feet –How
many?
Regarding your comment about the
materials in “the feet kingdom”, relating to the Biblical “metallic man” vision
in Daniel chapter 2; you probably know that the Roman Empire reached its
greatest extent about 117 A.D. but was afterwards divided (Cf. Daniel 2:41) into
two distinct and separate entities; that were later called the European Western Roman Empire and the
Asian/Middle-eastern Eastern Roman
Empire. These became kingdoms
(plural). What you may not know is that originally each part of this divided empire
was ruled by an Augustus (Emperor) and a Caesar who had a right of succession.
This division in 285 A.D. was called the Tetrarchy,
which actually means - the rule by four - and this is the word used to describe
the territorial division of the Roman Empire into four separately ruled areas
during the reign of Diocletian. Although
there were later brief periods of unity, to all intents and purposes the
Imperial Roman Empire remained divided into two completely distinct entities that
controlled their own individual territories. (I suggest therefore that you
should not think about only two feet with toes; but to think about an eastern
entity that has two feet and “toes” and a western entity that has two feet and
“toes”!)As strange as this may seem, this
notion was borne out by history at the end of WWI, (1920) when both eastern and
western areas of the old Roman Empire each ended up having enclaves of 10
nation/states. The western group will be
listed further down in the post and the eastern group will be dealt with in a later
post.Meantime to return to the “feet
kingdoms”…
In
Daniel’s “metallic man” vision he portrays the division and dissolution of the
Roman Empire by personalising it firstly into “legs” and “feet” (Dan. 2:33-34) and
then into smaller divisions, described as “feet and toes” (Dan. 2:41-42), but
he doesn’t actually say how many! What
we presume to know and understand by inference may not actually be the truth of
the matter!Furthermore, the fulfilment
of Daniel’s prophecies can only be understood in relation to what has happened
in history.I have spent the last eight
years matching Daniel’s prophecies to historical events and have come to definite
conclusions about his visions in the series of books I have written – one conclusion
is that Daniel’s two separate and distinct visions (i.e., “metallic man” and
“four beasts” visions in chapters 2 and 7) were specific to particular historical
events and should therefore not be combined or projected into the future. Even if
they may seem to be alike in some respects, general prophecies and specific
prophecies should not be confused and “toes” and “horns” should not be
combined.
As
Lord Bacon has said regarding the History of Prophecy –
“The
nature of such a work ought to be that every prophecy of the Scripture be
sorted with the event fulfilling the same, throughout the ages of the world,
both for the better confirmation of faith and for the better illumination of
the Church touching those parts of prophecies which are yet unfulfilled…”
Two diverging kingdoms contain incompatible materials
– Iron and Clay -
History
records that the Roman Empire was divided in 285 A.D. and according to the
vision in Daniel 2, it is only after that point in time (i.e., feet and toes
stage) that the “clay” element is introduced into the narrative about the two
major divisions. Note that the “clay” is
not another metal of decreasing value (as is Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron) but is
simply a “foreign” component which infiltrated, influenced, was mixed into, and
eventually conquered both of the two “iron” kingdoms in different places at
different times during their existence.This produced “mixed” populations (Dan. 2:43). It should also be remembered that in 380 A.D. Emperor
Theodosius made Christianity the state religion following on from Constantine’s
conversion and leadership. However, although the Western Roman Empire (as such)
only lasted another hundred years until 476 A.D., the Eastern Roman (Byzantine)
Empire survived until 1453 A.D., when it was conquered by Muslims in the form
of the Turkic Ottomans.
These
two divisions of the old Roman Empire controlled different territories and had
different “Christian” religious beliefs after the West/East Schism of 1054; even
descending into war [i.e., the (Venetian) Catholic kingdom attacked the (Constantinople/Byzantine)
Orthodox kingdom during the Crusades]. The “clay” therefore represents not only
the “foreign” people groups who invaded Roman territory; but also the societal contribution
made by the “foreign” people living in the areas that Rome conquered; (e.g. Greece,
Egypt, the Levant, Britain etc.). These all had different religious beliefs and
cultural practices which eventually influenced and weakened the “iron” of Rome.
The Western Roman Empire -
I quote extracts from my book “The Little Horn of
Daniel’s 4th Empire and the Kingdom of the Jews”. My comments have
been interspersed with information taken from Wikipedia -
“By 27 B.C. when Augustus became Emperor, Rome ruled all of the
territory adjacent to the Mediterranean, i.e., the Levant (Eastern
Mediterranean bordered countries), North Africa, parts of Asia and most of
Europe.(In 2009 it was calculated that
at its greatest extent, the Roman Empire covered 40 modern countries. As
recently as 2008 some of those countries continued to fragment into smaller
nation/states, e.g. the breakup of Yugoslavia.)
In 285 A.D. Diocletian established a Tetrarchy of co-Emperors who
divided Roman rule into the Latin West, and the Greek East. In 330 A.D. Constantine established the
Eastern Roman Empire in Byzantium (New Rome, later called Constantinople). After
the death of Theodosius, (379 - 395 A.D.) who was the last Emperor to rule over
both halves of the Roman Empire, Honorius became Emperor in the West, while
Arcadius succeeded as Emperor in the East.However, in the fourth century, during succeeding invasions by northern
barbarian tribes; Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals and Burgundians, (to
name a few) followed by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons; their several sackings of
Rome weakened the Western Empire. Even though there were periods of interaction
and brief unifications with the Eastern Empire, the Western Empire eventually
fragmented.Rome’s imperial period
continued until 476 A.D., when the Western Empire finally collapsed due
to an invasion by Germanic tribes led by Odoacer who became the first King of
Italy.(At this time Odoacer sent Rome’s
Imperial Insignia to Constantinople in the East which was then called New
Rome.)
Although western political control was exercised by Odoacer,
“spiritual” rule took over via the Bishop of Rome and succeeding Popes who ruled
the Latin Kingdom. Subsequent disputes that arose between the invading Arian
Christians and western Catholics were largely resolved by the end of the sixth
century, resulting in the assimilation and conversion of barbarian descendants
to Catholicism. This western mixture eventually morphed via Charlemagne into
the Holy Roman Empire (1st Reich) and its various states from 800 –
1806 A.D, (which was ended by Napoleon) and its mantle was inherited by the
German Empire (2nd Reich 1871-1918 A.D.) and then by the Nazi
Regime’s efforts to revive the Roman Empire (3rd Reich 1933-1945
A.D.) which fortunately failed.”[1]
In
this manner during the course of history, the Western Roman Empire
disintegrated into principalities, duchies and colonising empires, (15th
– 19th Centuries) that devolved out of the Roman provinces; composed
of strong (iron) and weak (clay) global sub-empires that were frequently at war
with one another, until further disintegration after World War I led to the
dissolution of empires and the introduction of multiple independent
nation/states.
The historical “toes” of iron/clay in Daniel’s
vision of the “metallic man” statue -
To
enlarge on what I have written above, it is my considered opinion that the “metallic man” vision, given for Daniel
and his people; has been completely fulfilled, except for verses 44-45. This is
because the “metallic man” vision in
Daniel 2, (to which you refer) and the more specific vision of the four beasts in Daniel 7 both relate to the 2,500 year
long exile and dispersion (Diaspora) suffered by the Southern tribes of Judah
under the control of the depicted empires.Note that Daniel calls his Jewish people, “the saints/the saints of the
Most High” etc. Although both of these visions
broadly relate to the Jews’ prolonged exile under the Babylonian,
Media/Persian, Macedon/Grecian and Roman powers; only Daniel 7:8 onwards, portrays
their ultimate persecution by one of Western Rome’s descendant nations during
the Holocaust when they were “given into his
hand for a time and times and half a time”, (Dan. 7:25). Apart from the still future establishment of
God’s “stone” Kingdom on earth, (Dan 2:44-45) both of these visions ended
during the latter stages of the Jewish Diaspora, when all earthly empires expired
as a result of the two World Wars. This
era in which we live is described in Revelation 17:8b and 11a as a period when
the “beast that was, … is not”.This present day hiatus enabled the Jews to
establish their own nation in 1948 as part of the global “nationalistic”
movement during the early 20th Century.
The
historical “horns” on the “dreadful and terrible 4th Beast – 285
A.D. to 1945 -
Daniel
gives more specific information about the western portion of the divided Roman
Empire in his vision of the 4 beasts in chapter 7.Here the Western Roman Empire is figuratively
described as a “dreadful and terrible” 4th beast which was
“different” from the three earlier eastern beast/empires; (i.e., it rose up
from Europe and its descendant empire/nations “devoured the whole earth” and
“broke it into pieces” – i.e., colonies (Dan 7:7, 23-24). These details can
only relate to the European Colonial Empires. This 4th beast had 10 horns (signifying powerful multiple
entities) that fought with one another during the early European wars and the
two World Wars. When this vision is
matched with history it follows the career of the Roman Empire from when it became
“exceeding strong” having conquered the Mediterranean coastland and hinterland with
its “stamping feet” (marching armies) and “iron teeth and bronze nails” (swords
and armaments) etc., (Dan. 7:7, 19); until it reaches the stage when the
Western Roman Empire’s descendant sea-faring empires devour the whole earth and
break it into pieces, (Dan. 7:23).These
10 horns were obviously the great colonising sub-empires that devolved from
Rome in Europe.
Daniel indicated that the 10 “horns” would arise
out of this kingdom in some sort of coalition, prior to the arrival on the
scene of a “little horn” that would “rise after them” (Dan 7:8, 20, 24).I believe this coalition arose at the end of
WWI with the founding of the League of Nations. On the western side
of the original Roman Empire, south of the Rhine and Danube, the 10 nations of
Europe in this coalition were – Britain (U.K), Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia
- (Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, & Slovenes). This group of 10
contemporary European “colonising” nations has been hidden within a broader
coalition of 42 “founding member” nations that formed the League of Nations in
1920. These 10 nations were all domiciled in Europe, and were not part of the
Asian portion of the Eastern Roman Empire. They eventually became the 10
European “horns” of Daniel 7:7-8, among which a “little horn” arose…N.B.
Germany joined the League of Nations six years after its formation and then
withdrew in 1933 in preparation for war!
The “little horn” Nazi Regime which
came up among the other 10 horn nations of Europe in the 1920/30’s eventually
became the last manifestation of the Roman Empire “4th beast” that was
destroyed at the end of World War II in 1945.According to Daniel’s chronology and history, it is only after the
destruction of the “beast’s final manifestation and its little horn” (Dan 7:11,
26-27); that “the saints” received the kingdom through the establishment of
Israel in 1948 which ended their Diaspora. Therefore, we should note that this
vision of the four beasts spans both Old and New Testament eras of the Diaspora
and relates to the Jews and the re-establishment of their national identity. It
is at this point that Daniel says this particular vision is finished - Dan.
7:28 “This is the end of the account.”
N.B.I must emphasise here that there is no
mention of any “little horn” arising in the New Testament book of Revelation
from the “dreadful and terrible 4th beast” kingdom which is also not
mentioned. Neither is there any mention of the “iron” or “clay” from the
“metallic man” vision.Both of these
visions are identified with Rome and its descendant nations and their absence
in Revelation’s narrative confirms that Daniel’s two visions regarding Rome were
fulfilled during the Jewish Diaspora and ended with the establishment of the
State of Israel in 1948.
Some notes about WWI (1914-1918) and the “toes” of
iron versus clay.
It is interesting
to note therefore, that descendants from the “foreign clay” Germanic/barbarian
invaders of the Western Roman Empire, (i.e., the German Empire 1871-1918) together with descendants from the Muslim/Turkish
Empire that conquered the Eastern Roman Empire, (i.e. The Ottoman Empire 1299 – 1922) eventually formed an alliance in
the early 20th Century that became the major part of the “foreign
clay” elements (Central Powers) that fought against the historic “iron” nations
of Europe (i.e., U.K. and France) together with Russia during WWI.After WWI ended in November 1918 and between
1920 and 1924 there was a general adjustment between the nations, and it is the
premise of my books that both divisions of the original Imperial Roman Empire
eventually devolved into 10 modern era “iron and clay” mixed “toe” nation/states
on each side of the divide.
(I will deal with the eastern portion in my
next post.)
Thus, during the divided stage of the
Roman Empire; as a result of numerous and subsequent invasions and wars etc., all
of the existing modern nation/states that devolved from both east and west
remain in a state of “iron/clay” mixture even today, but in each case the foreign
“clay” came from a different source. None
of these “iron/clay toes” that came from Rome are prophesied to join together
in any semblance of empire any time in the future, (Dan 2:43b) just as iron and
clay are incompatible. I must emphasise
that a Roman Empire ruled by one man will not be revived, indeed Daniel
specifically states that the division and various devolutions suffered by the
“feet and toe” stage will not cleave to one another.
However,
the great promise stated by Daniel in the “metallic man” vision, is that the God
of heaven will establish his kingdom on earth during the same period of time
that this conglomeration of “partly strong” and “partly weak” nation/states, composed
of “iron” and “clay” elements, remains in existence.
Daniel
2:44 “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.”
~~~~~~~~~~[]~~~~~~~~~~
I
hope that answers your question as to where the “clay” came from.
You
then ask - Could this be alluding to the Roman
and the Muslims being this last empire.”It is difficult to know if you are
asking whether they will be aligned as “friends” or opposed as “enemies”! That
is a complicated question and requires a more complicated answer. I will answer
that question in my next post.