I have a Seventh Day Adventist claiming that Daniel’s vision of the statue is still being fulfilled
Question:
Hello Jeffrey,
I hope all is well with you and your family. As always I find your responses very insightful and logical. I have another question based on the book of Daniel.
I know there are many who claim to understand the meaning and try to interpret what it is saying. I have a Seventh Day Adventist friend who basically tried to interpret what is going on now with what was prophesied in Daniel. He claimed the story of the statue in Daniel 2 where the representation is the: Head Gold (Babylon), Chest and two arms Silver (Media-Persia), Belly and thighs Bronze (Greece), Two legs Iron Pagan and Papal Rome, Two Feet with toes Clay and Iron Global religion-political government, Rock God's unending kingdom left to no other people. He basically was saying that Europe (Eurozone) is the last piece (clay and iron) that remains of the statue. Saying that once that occurs then the rock will come to destroy the nations and God’s nation will remain standing. So basically this is a sign of the end of time and judgment upon the earth (second coming of Jesus). Hard to believe since God clearly states that there will be no sign of the second coming of Jesus. "For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (I Thessalonians 5:2-3).
Answer:
The supposed interpretation ignores what Daniel said was the meaning of the dream:
"And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 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. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure" (Daniel 2:40-45).
Daniel states that there are four kingdoms and it is in the days of the kings of the fourth kingdom that God would set up His eternal kingdom. Each of the four empires listed ruled over Israel and Jerusalem -- the Europeans do not rule over this territory. Then there were other, different kingdoms that ruled over this region between the Romans and modern-day Israel which are being glossed over. This is a person who has decided what he wants for an answer and has made a poor attempt at fitting facts to support his claim.
