„In this image the head was of pure gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and hips of brass; its thighs were of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay“ (vv. 32, 33)

Daniel continues:

„You looked on until a stone broke loose without human intervention, struck the iron and clay feet and crushed them. Then the iron, clay, silver and gold were crushed in an instant. They became like chaff on the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away and no trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the pillar became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.“ (V. 34, 35)

Now the king wanted to know the meaning of the dream, which is also very interesting for us:

„You, O King of kings, ... you are the head of gold“ (v. 38)

This is the first explanation Daniel gives the king. He tells Nebuchadnezzar that he represents the head of gold in this statue. Thus the head of gold signifies the kingdom of Babylon, which existed from 605-539 BC. We read about the further course of world history, which is only outlined here:

„After you there will be another kingdom, inferior to yours.“ (V. 39)

The Babylonian empire was destroyed by the conquered by the Medes and Persians. This empire was represented by the chest and arms of silver. It was a dual empire in which the Persians had the upper hand. It was larger in size than the kingdom of Babylon. This empire also disappeared again - as predicted. This means that the second prediction was fulfilled.

The bold conquests of Alexander the Great created the Greek Empire. The Greeks defeated the Persians.

Daniel describes Greece as
„another, third kingdom of brass, which shall reign over all the earth.“ (V. 39)

This world empire also disappeared again - as predicted. This means that the third prediction was also fulfilled.

We read about the fourth world empire in this history:

„A fourth kingdom will be as hard as iron, for iron breaks and crushes everything. Like shattering iron it will smash and crush them all.“ (V. 40)

This is an apt description of the „iron Roman Empire“. Anyone who did not submit to the Romans was ruthlessly fought against and exterminated. All countries bordering the Mediterranean, Central Europe and large parts of Asia Minor belonged to the Roman Empire. It existed from 168 BC to 476 AD. The fourth empire - Rome - emerged and fell apart again. This means that the fourth prediction was also fulfilled.

The dream interpretation continues:

„When you saw the feet and toes made partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it means this: the kingdom will not be uniform, but it will have something of the hardness of iron; therefore you saw iron mixed with clay.“ (V. 41)

History confirms that the huge Roman Empire fell as a result of the migration of Germanic tribes. Daniel prophesied on behalf of God:

„The empire will not be uniform.“

Since the fall of the Roman Empire, we have been talking about a divided Europe. The divided Europe is represented in this picture by the feet with the toes made of iron and clay.

No one is able to create a lasting and stable mixture of iron and clay. This is an apt description of the European states that are unable to reach a lasting political agreement.

There were enough attempts to unite Europe: Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, Napoleon I, then through marriages (before the First World War all European ruling houses were related), Adolf Hitler.

For decades, laudable attempts have been made to unite Europe within the European Union. Will a political union in the sense of a United States of Europe be realised? The Word of God says in verse 43:

„The kingdom will not be unified.“ Others translate: „They will not cling to one another“ (Elb.Üb.), „They will not cling to one another“ (LU-Üb.).

These six words of divine prophecy were stronger than all well-intentioned human endeavours to unite Europe. We realise that the fifth prediction of a total of six has also been fulfilled.

We remember that King Nebuchadnezzar saw a large stone falling in his dream without human intervention - and the image hit his feet. The wind carried everything away and the stone became a great mountain that filled the whole world. The stone did not hit the golden head of the image, it did not fall on the chest and arms of silver, nor on the belly of copper ore, nor on the iron thighs.

The stone hit the pillar at the bottom and shattered its feet. This is also how we understand the further explanation and interpretation in verse 44:

„In the days of those kings, the God of heaven establishes a kingdom.“

The expression „In the days of those kings" refers to the time of a divided Europe, because the previous four great empires no longer exist. This means that the last great event will take place at the time of the divided European nations.

What is this event? God tells us what will happen in the future. What kind of kingdom will be established as the next world empire at the time of a divided Europe? It is the kingdom mentioned in the Lord's Prayer:

„To us come your kingdom“ or „Your kingdom come“.

It is the kingdom of which it says in the Creed: „From then on he will come to judge the living and the dead.“ It is no other kingdom than the eternal kingdom of God, which Jesus Christ will establish.

In contrast to all previous kingdoms, which have all perished or will be destroyed at the coming of Jesus, the kingdom of God will last forever. The kingdom of God is the last and final one, and the beginning of this kingdom is the return of Christ.

Jesus Christ will return visibly for all people, in the clouds of heaven and accompanied by his angels. The return of Christ will be the most powerful event the world has ever experienced.

The four great empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome have made a total of 1,081 years of history. However, the divided Europe has already existed for 1,500 years and has thus lasted around 400 years longer than all the other empires combined.

This raises the legitimate question: Why has the divided Europe lasted so long? Why hasn't the day of Christ's return come sooner? We realise that, measured against the duration of the former empires, the time of the divided European nations should have expired long ago. The day of Christ's return could have already taken place. We really are living at the end of world history. The next great event could happen at any time.

The biblical books „Daniel“ and „Revelation“ are based on this prophecy. They repeat and supplement this prophecy. These two books are written for our time, for the end times (see Dan. 12, 4 and 9). I therefore recommend that you study these two books. There are also correspondence courses and CDs available.

I would like to add a few thoughts here from Prof. Dr Werner Gitt from his book „So steht's geschrieben“, based on an (abridged) report from „factum“ May 2009, p. 24 - as a computer scientist, he tested the prophecies with the help of probability calculations.

The probability of over 3,000 prophecies being fulfilled by chance is practically zero. The numerical results of the mathematical calculations are so gigantic and transastronomical that our thinking and imagination are far beyond our capacity to adequately assess this reality. ... A prophetic mathematical proof can demonstrate the existence of an omniscient and omnipotent God who is identical to the God of the Bible.“