Building Babylon Pt. 7-It Starts At the Head

Pro. Jeremiah Shepherd

What began in Babel did not end in Babylon. The plan of Satan and the pride of men continued to build nations attempting to glorify the image of man. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon, the Lord gave him a vision that no one in his kingdom was able to interpret, except Daniel. As we mentioned earlier, it served its purpose to make God known to a prideful Babylonian king, but it had a far greater purpose. It prophetically outlined every earthly kingdom to come and concluded with the final eternal kingdom of Christ. The dream in all of its detail is found in Daniel chapter 2.

“26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29 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. 30 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. 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, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; 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. 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 the 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. 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Scholars have marveled at this scripture for millenia. With extreme accuracy, the Lord revealed the rise and fall of successive superpowers to Nebuchadnezzar, and required his servant Daniel to interpret the vision. Daniel described the image of the king’s dream beginning at the top and working his way down to the bottom.

First there was a head of gold, representing the Babylonian Empire which was ruling during the time of the vision. Second were the breasts and arms of silver which represented the kingdom of Media-Persia that would soon conquer Babylon. Thirdly were the belly and thighs of brass, and these represented the Greek Empire which would follow. Fourth there were two legs of iron which represented the Roman Empire and its east and west divisions. Finally, there were the feet of Iron and Clay, which were revealed to be kingdom of the future, and it is is continuing to develop in our present time.

Just as Daniel interpreted, the nations which succeeded Babylon occurred in the nature of the image which reflected them. These became the great empires of the past, listed in order from the time of Babylon to the time of Christ’s arrival. There is much that can be extracted from this divine vision which is why it is still extensively discussed among scholars and historians today.

The first thing to notice is that the image was made of the same earthly materials worshipped by Belshazzar, and they were fashioned into the physical image of a man. This is likely intended to reveal that these are earthly kingdoms created to glorify man and not God.

Another significant aspect of this image is that Babylon is the head. With any body, the head or mind is what establishes intention and direction, and every other part of the body follows the path determined by the head. This divine symbolism is used to metaphorically describe the synergy of the whole body of Christ, whose individual parts work in agreement and alignment with the head who is Jesus.

Ephesians 4:11-15
“11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

So, it is safe to apply this metaphor used in Ephesians to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar since God was the cause of them both. By doing so, we can safely conclude that each kingdom following Babylon operated in the same spirit as Babylon. As the head of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision and the quintessential example of a kingdom of this world, Babylon established the blueprint for all civilizations working for the glory of men. The eventual kingdoms of Media-Persia, Greece and Rome all followed suit, having the same mind of Babylon and bearing the same direction under their respective rulers. History gives account of several rulers within each of these empires who possessed traits like Belshazzar such as Alexander the Great, Xerxes and Titus of Rome to name a few. Even now, the characteristics of Babylon continue to reveal themselves through nations of power in various ways, and it will become increasingly evident in the future.

The final, bottom component of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision were brittle feet of an iron and clay mixture. This fragile mixture indicates that the final kingdom will be a weak union, undoubtedly because of their efforts to create peace without Jesus. Therefore, it will be easily destroyed by the coming kingdom of God which is represented by the uncut stone that crushes the feet. To understand the significance of the feet, it is helpful to remember those significant words of Jesus, spoken in response to the Pharisees about divided kingdoms.

Matthew 12:25
“25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:”

Men stand on feet, and the image of man seen in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, stood on weakened feet. So, in direct alignment with the prophetic words of Jesus and in agreement with Daniel’s interpretation, the brittle feet and toes of the vision are a visual indication that the final kingdom assembled in this world shall not stand either. The last stand of man will be as unsuccessful as the first. From Babel to the end of time, every kingdom shall fall under the authority of the Lord.

Daniel 2:44
“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.”

Revelation 11:15
“15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

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