The King's Dream Interpreted
By Jean Vuilleumier
The Events of History Fulfil the Prophecy — Four World-Wide Kingdoms, Then a Division — No More World Empire till the Close of Time
HISTORY in hand, we find that the vision has been fulfilled with absolute accuracy from the days of Daniel down to our own. The Babylonians, 625-538 B. C., were well symbolized by the head of gold. Their capital — as described by Rollin, Lenormant, and Sayce, following Herodotus, and the cuneiform inscriptions discovered within the last fifty years — was a city of marvelous size and wealth. Its walls three hundred fifty feet high, eighty-seven feet wide, and sixty miles in circumference, made it impregnable. Its hanging gardens; its palaces, several miles around; its fifty streets, fifteen miles long, crossing each other at right angles; the temple of Bel, containing sacred vessels and statues in gold to the amount of over one hundred million dollars, — all this justified the words of prophecy, "Thou art this head of gold." The empire of Babylon lasted eighty-seven years. THE PERSIAN BUST OF SILVER
In 538 B. C., after a long and memorable siege, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus, general-in-chief of the Medo-Persian armies, and the world passed into the hands of the kingdom of silver. The splendor of the Medo-Persian empire, compared with the Babylonian, was to be what silver is to gold. Next to the power of Nebuchadnezzar comes the glory of Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, the Medo-Persian kings. Next to the glory of the city of Babylon comes that of Shushan and Persepolis, Persian palaces that were marvels of wealth. The royal vestures of Xerxes and his son, according to Plutarch, were worth respectively twelve thousand and ten thousand talents, which represents thirty and twenty-five million dollars. This Persian power lasted two hundred seven years. THE BRASS OF THE IMAGE AND THE EMPIRE OF GREECE
In 331 B. C. the world again changed masters, and passed under the scepter of a Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great. The brass empire had come. Less ductile and malleable than gold or silver, but with a quick passing brilliancy, this metal fittingly represents the third great monarchy. It was reared in eight years of the swiftest triumphant march ever recorded in history, and at the end of it the founder suddenly disappeared. But it continued 183 years without glory, until 148 B. C., passing through continuous wars between the Seleucidae, or Syrian kings, and the Ptolemies, or Egyptian kings, the two remaining divisions of the empire. LEGS OF THE IMAGE — THE IRON MONARCHY OF ROME
One century and a half before Christ, still again the world changed masters, and passed under the iron rule of Rome. This symbol indicated that the fourth empire was to outdo the first three in political despotism, brutal force, and devastating instincts. "The fourth kingdom," says the prophecy, "shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, . . . shall it break in pieces and crush." Verse 40. Such was the power established by Marius, Sulla, and Caesar. The terror of the Roman name has become proverbial. Listen to this prayer: "O God, I thank Thee that I was not born a Roman, so as to be still human." Not only did the Romans conquer and plunder the world, but their heavy, crushing, iron yoke rested for six long centuries upon the nations of the world. Then, weakened by corruption bred of wealth and leisure, the empire tottered and fell. Several barbarian nations, which had for some time been incorporated into the armies of the empire, conquered it, and have since formed the large and the small powers of Europe. Here is the list of the ten nations that divided the Western Roman Empire among themselves between the years 300 and 476 A. D.: 1. the Alemanni, who settled in South Germany; 2. the Franks, in northern and central Gaul; 3. the Burgundians, on both sides of the Jura; 4. the Suevi, in Galicia and Portugal; 5. the Vandals, in Andalusia (Vandalicia); 7. the Saxons, in Great Britain; 8. the Ostrogoths, between the Danube, the Po, and the Adriatic; 9. the Lombards, in Lombardy; and 10. the Heruli, in southern and central Italy. This new phase of universal history is introduced by the prophecy as follows: "And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom." Verse 41. The parts composing this division were to be marked by two characteristics.356 "PARTLY STRONG AND PARTLY BROKEN"
First characteristic: "There shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 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." Verse 42. Indeed the nations that took the place of the Roman Empire have always been divided into two classes, the large and the small powers. Among the large powers must be ranked France under Charlemagne, Francis I, Louis XIV, and Napoleon; Germany under Frederick Barbarossa in the twelfth century, and the Hohenstaufen in the nineteenth and the twentieth; Austria under the Hapsburg; Spain under Charles V; England under the Tudors; Italy since King Victor Emmanuel I. Among the small powers can be mentioned the Swiss cantons, the kingdoms of Bavaria, Portugal, Holland, Wurtemberg, Saxony, and Belgium. THEY SHALL NEVER BE UNITED AGAIN
Second characteristic: "And whereas thou sawest the 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 doth not mingle with clay." Verse 43. It is an undeniable fact that all the political history of the Middle Ages and of modern times is overshadowed by one persistent idea on the part of the leading rulers; that is, the reconstitution of the Roman Empire or of some kind of universal empire. The custom of intermarriage among the various reigning families is one leading feature in this policy. Charlemagne was crowned "emperor of the Romans" at Rome in the year 800. The German emperors still call their power "the Holy Roman Empire of Germany." The title of "Roman emperor" was taken by Napoleon from the Austrian court, and he called his son "king of Rome." INTERMARRIED AND COMMINGLED
It can be safely said that all the courts of Europe are intermarried with each other, and thus "mixed with the seed of men"; but notwithstanding that, they are hopelessly divided by rivalries, jealousies, and bitter enmities, of which the present-day armaments are a sufficient evidence. "But they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay." So says the prophetic text.