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A Four-Part Statue
It’s frustrating to type, “Nebuchadnezzar’s 4-part Statue” into Google only to find 5-part statues. Premillennialism has convinced people that the “feet and toes of iron and clay” is a 5th kingdom in Daniel 2:40-43. Some believe it’s a revived Roman empire in the end times. Others believe it’s the Islamic Caliphate, Europe, Britain or America! The problem?
When Daniel interprets the statue, he says it represents 4 kingdoms, not 5. In Daniel 2:40, he describes the last part of the statue as “a fourth kingdom.” “Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.” (2:40). Next verse: “In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom…” (2:41a). Pause. Which kingdom will be a divided kingdom? The fourth kingdom he just introduced in the previous verse. He continues to describe the same kingdom; “As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. In that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.” (2:42-43). The four kingdoms are the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Daniel says the fourth kingdom, Rome, will be divided! Partly strong and partly weak!
In an article on “8 Reasons Why Rome Fell,” from www.history.com, Evan Andrews says some of Rome’s problems came from outside attacks, but most were internal. Rome’s reach was so widespread, it cost the Empire too much money to maintain power. In the late 3rd century, Emperor Diocletioan divided the Empire in two; the Western and Eastern empires. The Eastern empire became wealthy while the Western became poor and vulnerable to attack. In addition to the cost of expansion, Andrews says, “With such a vast territory to govern, the empire faced an administrative and logistical nightmare.” They couldn’t keep their enemies at bay! What’s more, the empire faced civil war in the 2nd and 3rd centuries due to political corruption.
Rome tried to unite the entire world under one rule of government. The problem, as Daniel noted, was that they “did not adhere to one another.” It didn’t work, and Rome crumbled from within. The truth is, there was a 5th kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; but it wasn’t in the statue. It was the stone that destroyed the statue; God’s kingdom in Christ, which would never crumble! The reason premillennialists argue for a 5-part statue is because they can’t accept that Jesus’ kingdom has already come. They think the stone is still coming to destroy the feet of iron and clay one day. Let’s praise God it already has! (Luke 1:33; Mark 1:15; 9:1; Acts 8:12; Colossians 1:13-14)
