DO THE TEN TOES OF THE IMAGE (DAN. 2: 42-44) SYMBOLIZE THE TEN KINGDOMS?
By George I. Butler
In my recent debate with Eld. Padget at Half Rock, Mo., I saw the importance of the above query as I had never before realized it. I had always held the view usually accepted among our people, that the ten toes represent the same fact that is symbolized by the ten horns of chapter seven. This seemed to me most reasonable, and more harmonious with other texts than any other view. But I did not realize that it was so vital a point till after the debate. Among others we debated this proposition: “Do the Holy Scriptures teach that the kingdom of God, mentioned in Dan. 2: 44 and parallel texts, was set up on the day of Pentecost or during the lifetime of the apostles?” He affirmed, I denied. I had never heard this question debated; hence the ground was somewhat new to me; but, if possible, he failed more completely on this proposition than on any other. Our position on the “kingdom of grace” spoiled all the proof-texts from which he could make any argument worthy of the name, while those texts referring to the “kingdom of glory” he could not meet. He most strenuously contended that the term “these kings” in the expression “in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom,” must refer to the four kings or kingdoms; viz., Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome; that no other “kings” are mentioned in the chapter, and hence as Rome has long since passed away this kingdom of God is already set up and so cannot be future; that it was positively set up as late as the time of Rome’s supremacy. He made the strongest effort on this point that he made in the course of the whole debate, even contending that the ten kingdoms were not mentioned in this chapter, while he admitted that they were mentioned in the seventh chapter. He quoted Dan. 7: 13: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.” He then quoted Acts 1: 9, where it is said that at Christ’s ascension a “cloud received him out of their sight,” and claimed that thus our Saviour was borne into the presence of his Father at his ascension, and received the kingdom. He contended that in Mark 8: 1, where it is stated that some there present should not taste of death till they should “see the kingdom of God come with power,” the setting up of the kingdom of God was indicated. But on no point did he labor so hard as on Dan. 2: 44: “In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom.” This he was sure must mean the four kings, for no ten kings, or kingdoms, were mentioned there; and hence the prophet predicted that Christ’s kingdom should be set up in the days of Rome, or during the lifetime of the apostles. It becomes, then, a very vital matter to show that the kingdom set up “in the days of these kings” could not have been established in the time of Rome’s supremacy; that the term “these kings” refers to the ten kingdoms, and not to the “four;” and that the ten toes are designed to symbolize precisely the same as the “ten horns” of Dan. 7. It will be readily seen in an examination of the great image of Dan. 2, that there are five symbolic substances brought to view,—gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay; and five divisions of earthly empire are represented by them, the last being represented by a mixture of iron and clay. It must be admitted that Rome in her supremacy is represented by the legs of iron with no clay ingredient whatever. If so, then the feet of iron and clay, before the development of the toes, would naturally represent Rome after she had become weak, and when she was upon the point of being divided into the ten kingdoms represented by the toes. That such a state of weakness existed, history plainly attests. The iron and clay-iron periods are certainly distinct from each other, and so that which is represented by them must be distinct, as much as the gold, silver, brass, and iron states are distinct one from another. In each enumeration of these substances, the clay element is mentioned as distinct. See verses 35, 41, 42 and 45. If the legs represent Rome in her supremacy, then the clay-iron period must represent something else, viz., that which succeeded the Roman Empire, a state of division. Verse 41. The legs of iron alone represent a kingdom which is a unit. The clay-iron toes represent several kingdoms existing cotemporaneously, hence a divided state. Such a state did not exist till hundreds of years after Christ, and this state or condition of the Roman empire is symbolized by the ten horns of chap. 7, and by the ten toes of chap. 2. I introduced substantially the following conclusions, as positively settling this matter of the time of the setting up of the kingdom of God:— 1. The stone smote the image on the feet of iron and clay, and not on the legs of iron. As the legs of iron represent Rome in her supremacy, God’s kingdom could not have been set up during this supremacy, which would bring us hundreds of years this side of Pentecost. 2. The stone broke the feet in pieces. This could not have been done before they existed. 3. The mixed or clay-iron state did not exist for four or five hundred years after Christ, hence the Roman power at this stage of its history could not have been destroyed by the stone during the lifetime of the apostles. 4. No such result has been seen as that which the prophet states will occur when the stone smites the image; viz., the breaking and utter disintegration of the whole substance of the image. Hence the smiting of the image cannot be in the past. 5. The smiting of the image by the stone, preparatory to the setting up of the kingdom, is a violent process utterly inconsistent with the peaceful establishment of Christ’s church and kingdom of grace. 6. “In the days of these kings” cannot mean Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome; for the kingdom was not set up during the time of Babylon, nor of Medo-Persia, nor of Grecia. Hence it should read, to sustain that theory: “In the days of one of these kings.” The language plainly implies by the use of the term “these kings,” those ruling cotemporaneously, viz., the ten kings. 7. The term “the kingdom shall be divided” clearly shows that the prophet spoke of the divided state of the Roman empire in the clay-iron period, and did not confine himself to the four kingdoms. 8. He speaks of this divided state as “the toes of the feet,” which were “part of iron and part of clay,” showing that some of these kingdoms would be strong and some weak. 9. And he says these should “mingle themselves with the seed of men,” and should not “cleave one to another,” showing that there would be changes among them, and unions would be formed which would not be lasting. Such a state of things requires several cotemporaneous kingdoms, and could not exist if there were but one kingdom. This state precedes the setting up of God’s kingdom. 10. The prophet then says, “In the days of these kings [or as the literal Chaldaic marginal reading puts it, in their days,] shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom.” This must positively refer to the ten toes, or the kings represented by them, and it fixes the time of the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom to the time of the ten kingdoms, and not to that of the four. 11. If the stone means the church, it would be far more proper to say that the image smote the stone than that the stone smote the image; for these persecuting powers have constantly smitten and slain the church, and the true church has never smitten these powers. They have put fifty-six millions of the church to death. 12. In smiting the image, the stone was to do a work of destruction which God’s church never has done and never could do. To war against earthly governments has never been in harmony with the principles of Christ’s church. We are to pray for kings and those in authority, pay taxes, and support governments. Hence, in that application, there is nothing answering to the destruction caused by the stone smiting the image. 13. The process of smiting is evidently a sudden and rapid one, for the stone utterly subverts and demolishes all earthly kingdoms; hence, in nothing does it resemble the establishment of Christ’s church. How could the church utterly destroy Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome? It would be contrary to the whole genius of the Christian church. 14. This kingdom was not to be left to “other people;” but the church is left to generation after generation, as they come alternately upon the stage of action. Hence this kingdom cannot be the church, and hence it could not have been set up in the time of the apostles. 15. This kingdom could not have been fully set up while those other kingdoms existed; for in the process of its being set up, it was to destroy them and succeed them. As Medo-Persia succeeded Babylon, Grecia succeeded Medo-Persia, and Rome succeeded Grecia, so this kingdom of God destroys them all and reigns in their stead. But the church exists during the very time that these kingdoms exist; hence the church could not be the kingdom in question. 16. That the ten toes of the image represent the ten kingdoms, seems evident from analogy. There are five symbolic representations which commentators generally agree represent Rome and the ten kingdoms arising from the division of the Roman empire, unless this in Dan. 2 is an exception. These are the fourth beast of Dan. 7, the great red dragon of Rev. 12, the leopard beast of Rev. 13, the scarlet beast of Rev. 17, and the fourth division of the great image. In four of these there is no question but that the ten horns refer to the ten kingdoms; for the facts do not exist which would make it possible to fully apply these symbols till the ten kingdoms are developed, and there is nothing else for them to symbolize. In Dan. 7, the “little horn” rises among the ten, and they exist cotemporaneously. The dragon of Rev. 12 has the same ten horns, and it does its work of persecution several hundreds of years after the day of Pentecost. The leopard beast, with its ten horns, exists and persecutes during the forty-two prophetic months. The scarlet beast of Rev. 17 carries the church, the symbolic woman, who persecutes by means of the civil power. All these exist and persecute the people of God long after Christ’s ascension. How unreasonable and contrary to all analogy to suppose the ten toes of the fourth division of the image of Dan. 2, which division all must admit refers to the same Roman power, symbolize nothing. Four symbols of Rome have ten horns to represent the ten kingdoms which rose out of Rome. Another symbol representing the same power has the same tenfold division, but these mean nothing! Who cannot see that to deny a truth so obvious is a desperate attempt to save a sinking theory? The ten toes of the image are a mere excrescence, and mean nothing, represent nothing, unless it be the ten kingdoms. Yet the prophecy represents the kingdom as being divided at the very time the ten kingdoms are developed. They are placed at the very same point in this prophecy that the ten horns of chapter 7 stand. If the horns represent the ten kingdoms, the ten toes clearly must, and thus the prophecy is perfectly harmonious with the facts, with itself, and with other prophecies covering the same ground.