Europe’s Future Revealed
A remarkable prophecy about the rise and fall of kingdoms. What does the future of Europe look like?
How does the story start?
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.
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. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, 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. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Who then appeared before the king? What did he request?
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. ... Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
Daniel and his friends were also under the death sentence that the king pronounced on the wise men, so when he heard about it, he quickly went to the king to ask for more time.
What did Daniel do next?
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.
Who did Daniel give credit to?
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: and he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
God saved their life by revealing the king’s dream and its interpratation, and Daniel gave God all the credit.
What was the purpose of the dream?
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
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. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
The dream was an answer to the king wondering what the future would hold for his kingdom.
What did the king see in his 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.
What did it look like?
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.
What happened to it?
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.
Who was represented by the head of gold?
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.
Aptly symbolized by a head of gold, Babylon was one of the most extravagant kingdoms of antiquity that ruled from 612 B.C. onward after conquering the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The city walls were almost 200 feet high and wide enough for two chariots, while the Hanging Gardens were one of the seven wonders of the world.
Would his kingdom last?
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
What kingdom did the chest of silver represent?
PERES: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
Babylon was conquered by Cyrus in 539 B.C., which made the kingdom of Medo-Persia the next ruling power. During their reign, all taxes had to be paid in silver.
Did the Bible predict how Babylon would fall?
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.
According to the ancient historian, Herodotus, when Cyrus surrounded Babylon his armies diverted the Euphrates River that flowed through the city, which allowed them to pass under the walls of Babylon by walking on the riverbed. Babylon also had street gates that controlled access to the river, but that night the gates were left open!
What kingdom would come next?
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Each succeeding mineral is less valuable, but more enduring than the one prior.
According to Daniel 8, what kingdom is this?
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Alexander the Great conquered the Medes and Persians at the battle of Arbela in 331 B.C., which made the brass kingdom of Greece the next dominant world power. The armor of the Greek soldiers was all bronze.
How is the fourth kingdom described?
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.
The iron monarchy of Rome conquered the Greeks in 168 B.C. and was the world power when Jesus was born. The legs of iron are a fitting symbol as its long reign of over 600 years resulted in much persecution of God’s people.
What kind of kingdom did the feet and toes represent?
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
After the Roman empire crumled in A.D. 476, it was divided by barbarian tribes into numerous kingdoms symbolized by the toes on the image, seven of which exist today: the Ostrogoths (gone), Visigoths (Spain), Franks (France), Vandals (gone), Alemannians (Germany), Sueves (Portugal), Anglo-Saxons (England), Heruli (gone), and Lombards (Italy). The toes being partly of iron and partly of clay means some would be stronger than others.
Would it ever unite into one?
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Despite attempts by Charlemagne, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Hitler to unite Europe, it will never be reunited again. Even the European Union cannot succeed because the Bible says they will not adhere to one another.
What would come after it?
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
The stone cut without hands represents the kingdom of heaven, which will replace all the earthly kingdoms at the coming of Christ, and His reign will have no end. Since the stone strikes the image’s feet, Jesus will come during the time of the divided nations.
Do the Psalms say anything about Christ’s kingdom?
Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.
What hope does the Bible give us?
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.