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Daniel and the NATO Connection
A Biblical Exposition of Daniel and the Transformation of NATO
By Allen Bonck
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Allen Bonck
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-8591-2
Chapter One
Daniel 2
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king dreamed a dream. It was the start of an incredible series of events for both the king and the young man Daniel. Daniel and other young men of the children of Israel were brought as captives from Judea to Babylon. They were to be taught the knowledge and tongue of the Chaldeans.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream woke him up, and it bothered him. He called for the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to interpret the dream for him. He had forgotten the dream, however, because he said, "The thing is gone from me." So he not only required an interpretation but also the dream itself. This request would not be a problem if the Chaldeans could contact the source of the dream.
A dream can come from several different sources—the dreamer's own heart, mind, or spirit; or an external source, such as a spirit or an angel. The king had called for the men in his kingdom whom he felt could contact the source of the dream and ascertain an answer to his questions. It needs to be noted that magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans all used divinations to enter into and converse with the spirit realm. The use of divinations is a practice strictly forbidden by the God of the Bible (Deut. 18:9–12), and he would never respond to their requests. If the source of the dream had come from a spiritual source that they could contact, and they had the ransom that would be required by that source for the information (a price must be paid; nothing is free, not even in the spiritual realm), they would be able to help the king. If the Chaldeans could get the king to tell them the dream, they could conjure (make up) an interpretation. But the king would not or could not tell them the dream. In the end, the Chaldeans, astrologers, magicians, and sorcerers had no help for the king, and the king, in his anger, condemned all of them to death. They obviously had no contact with the source of the dream. The king included Daniel and the other children of Israel with the Chaldeans, so unless Daniel and his friends could get an answer for the king, they also would be executed.
It's important for us to know that this dream and its interpretation were indeed from the God of heaven and not some inferior source. Daniel sought God through prayer and received the dream and interpretation, and this is what he had to say:
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. (2:23)
When Daniel came before the king he was confident that he knew all, and indeed he did. The king acknowledged the dream and exalted Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, into high positions within his government.
As it turns out, this dream reaches far beyond Nebuchadnezzar and the times of his kingdom, even reaching a time when God himself will set up a kingdom that shall never end.
The following is the text of the dream:
2:31 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. (32)This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, (33) his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. (34) 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. (35)
Then was the iron, and the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and become like 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. (36) This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
The dream appears to be a very straightforward vision of a large figure, like a man, standing in front of Nebuchadnezzar. Scripture says that it was terrible and uses the Aramaic word "deh-khal, which means something to be feared, with the connotation of terror. This would explain why the king was so troubled by the vision. Another aspect that would have troubled the king was the violence of the destruction of the image. It was smote by a stone. Again, the Scripture uses an Aramaic word, mekh-aw, which means to strike, smite, and kill. The image comes crashing down and is blown away by a mighty wind. This wind would have been completely supernatural and the chaff of the image completely blown away until "no place was found for them."
The image may have looked like man in terms of its parts—head, arms, legs, etc.—but that is where the similarity ends. No man has a head made of gold, or a breast and arms of silver, or a belly and thighs of brass. This image was not meant to be a man but to represent something more. The feet and toes of clay and iron were the weak points of the image and the location of its demise. It is obvious that the stone that was cut out without hands is a very special and powerful part of the vision. After the image is destroyed completely, the stone becomes a "great mountain" and fills the whole earth.
I would like to make note here of the personal character of the man Daniel. He makes sure that the king understands that Daniel represents the children of Israel and that he is not acting as an individual. Daniel obviously wants to save not only himself from execution but also his fellow children of Israel. He does this by referring to "we" in verse 36: "and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."
The description of the dream, as seen in verses 3136, represents only the first part of the king's requirement. Daniel continues with an interpretation:
(37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. (38) 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. (39) And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. (40) 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.(41) 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 iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. (42) 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. (43) 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. (44) 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. (45) 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 first point made in this interpretation is that the head of gold represents a kingdom—not just any kingdom but Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. (See map of Babylon Empire on page 14.) Daniel 2:1 states that the dream came to Nebuchadnezzar in the second year of his reign. This indicated that he would be great not because of what he had done but rather because of what he would do. The vision was looking at what the Babylonian kingdom would become under Nebuchadnezzar's rule—he would be a king of kings.
It's clear from this dream that God thought highly of Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom he would govern. In addition, the king clearly was a pagan and worshipped many gods and even required his subjects to bow down to an image that he himself made. Later, in Daniel 4, God chastised him because of his pride and arrogance.
4:30 The king spake, and said, is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? (31) While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee.
The king was driven from dwelling with men into the wilderness with the beasts of the field. With the passing of time, he looked up to heaven and blessed the most high, and God returned his sanity and reason to him and he was restored to his kingdom.
At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. (37) Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. (Dan. 4:36—37)
King Nebuchadnezzar not only was a great leader and administrator, but he also was teachable. I have included this story of Nebuchadnezzar because it is important to understand that God knows and uses the kings and leaders of this world to accomplish his desires and will in this earth. We should never limit the effect of God on and in the affairs of our leaders.
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom comes to an end under the control of his son Belshazzar; his story is seen in Daniel 5. Belshazzar has a great feast, and during the party and the drinking, he commands that the temple vessels (which had been dedicated to God's worship and service) be brought out and used to drink and worship other gods—the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. While they were drinking, a finger of a man's hand manifested and wrote a message on the wall in the palace, under the light of a candlestick. No one at the party could read the message. Belshazzar called for the Chaldeans, astrologers, and soothsayers to give him the interpretation of the writing. They could not help the king, because they had no contact with the source of the message. They eventually brought Daniel to interpret the message, which he did. The message was mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. (27) TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. (28) PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians...... (30) In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain. (31) And Darius the Median took the Kingdom. (5:26– 31)
Again, the source of the message is from the God of heaven, and in the writing of this message, he has identified the next kingdom to replace Babylon. That kingdom is the Medes and Persians, the breast and two arms of silver. (See maps of Median and Persian Empires on pages 15 & 16.)
While the Medes and Persians became a very large and powerful kingdom—certainly much larger than the Babylonians—God indicated (Dan. 2:39) that they were inferior to the Babylonian Empire. It's clear that the size or power of a kingdom is not how God measures kingdoms.
The Persian Empire continued until approximately 331 BC During the earlier stages of the Persian Empire, they invaded Macedonia and Greece. They were not completely successful in their control—when they were forced to retreat into Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), they were brutal to the Greeks and Macedonians. When the young Macedonian king Alexander the Great came to power, much of his motivation toward the Persians was retribution for this brutality. Alexander started his conquest of Persia against King Darius III and finished it with King Artexerxes. Although Alexander died at a young age, four generals took over his kingdom and continued Greek control until 63 BC, when the last Greek city fell to the Romans. The Greek Empire, which started with Alexander the Great and ended with his four generals, is the belly and thighs of brass of Nebuchadnezzar's great image. (See the maps of the Greek Empire on page 17.)
The Roman Empire is one of the most well known of the ancient empires. Many books and documentaries have been made about the Roman Empire and its subsequent fall. Many scholars and experts believe that the root cause of the fall was moral or spiritual corruption. Whatever the cause, the slow painful demise of the empire basically ended in AD 1458. with the fall of the eastern Roman capital of Constantinople to the Islamic caliphate known as the Ottoman Empire. The Roman Empire is known for brutal military strength and longevity—approximately fifteen hundred years. The Roman Empire fulfills the iron kingdom of the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and represents the fifth kingdom of the image. (See the map of Roman Empire on page 18.)
The Ottoman Empire began in the mid-1300s in the Middle East and grew to encompass most of the eastern Roman Empire. The Ottoman Empire is unique among empires in that it is the only Islamic caliphate to become so large. (See map of Ottoman Empire on page 19.) Islam does not recognize national borders; it Islam is to become a world empire and to rule all peoples, therefore sees national borders as frontiers. Islam is to conquer the land beyond these frontiers for Allah. Islam also sees any land ever held or controlled by Moslems as a part of the world Islamic caliphate, and this must be recaptured and controlled as soon as possible. Western-styled borders and governments are used today only out of convenience and would be put aside if Islam became completely dominant. The Ottomans ruled by sharia law, which is Islamic in origin. In sharia law, non-Moslems must submit to Islamic rule and become subservient to Islam. They are considered second-class citizens—they live at a slave level within Islam—and must pay special taxes to be non Moslem.. All other religious groups fall into the class of infidels.
The biblical prophets—Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others—give clear indication that the Jewish people will, at some point, be restored to the land that God gave them as an inheritance. They were driven into the Diaspora (dispersion from their ancestral homeland) in AD 70 during the Roman Empire. During the time of the Ottoman Empire, there could be no progress toward the restoration of the Jewish people to their homeland, because Islamic law would not allow it. Until the Ottomans could be removed from their control of the Holy Land, prophecies concerning Israel and Jerusalem would be on hold—the manifestation of the two feet and the ten toes would have to wait.
The Ottoman Empire, as large as it was, did not represent the continuation of the two legs, the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. The Ottomans would lose the empire in 1919 to the western European alliance during World War I. After existing nearly five hundred years, the Ottoman Empire would be divided and sorted by the Europeans. Subsequently, many of the Middle Eastern nations, such as Egypt and Syria, would receive their independence, something that could not have happened under Ottoman sharia control.
At this point in our look at Daniel 7, we have seen only historic kingdoms and kings—things that we can find in history books—and until the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, the vision of the image was easily followed and understood. It is generally believed that the two feet and ten toes, the ones made of clay and iron, have never manifested. Let us consider what this development means. First, it is possible that the vision, no matter how accurate it had been up to the end of the Roman Empire, may not be completely true in its entirety. Or perhaps something unforeseen happened to change the final sequence. The developments that will happen during and after the two feet and ten toes are significant and will not be missed by the world at large. The ten toes are kings of a world power, and their destruction will cause the rise of God's empire/kingdom, which will grow and fill the entire world. These events certainly have not happened at this point in time.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Daniel and the NATO Connection by Allen Bonck Copyright © 2012 by Allen Bonck. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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