Reading through the Bible, you come across a lot of prophesy. Probably the most known is about Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the image in Daniel 2.
Daniel 2:31-35- 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. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 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. 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.
Fortunately for us, most of this prophesy was revealed by Daniel himself.
Daniel 2:36-45- This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
The first thing to notice is that while the materials get stronger the further down you go, they also decrease in value. I believe this is important. I'm not certain if they decrease in value because the area they rule over is smaller, or what the reason for that is. But it's possible that they increase in strength because their hold lasts longer. These are "world" powers that were conquered by the next incoming power.
The head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. His seat of power was in Babylon of the Chaldean Empire. The capital city, Babylon, was located along the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq.
The next empire was Media-Persia. This were the arms of silver. Notice, two arms were two distinct kingdoms who co-ruled, switching the ruling party between the two during their time in power. Daniel lived to see the end of the Babylonian/ Chaldean Empire and the rise of the Meidian-Persian empire. He even prophesied about them in Daniel 8 as the Ram with two horns. This empire was mainly in modern day Iran.
Daniel 8:20- The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
The third kingdom of brass was Greece. This kingdom came to power under Alexander the Great. He is also foretold in Daniel 8 as the goat with one notable horn that becomes four horns. Alexander's kingdom goes to his four generals, who battle until one rises to power.
Daniel 8:21-22- And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
This fourth kingdom of iron is the Roman Empire. The ruling government when the Lord Jesus Christ was born. These were the legs of iron. What must be realized is that something interesting happens here.
The governmental Roman Empire becomes the Papal Roman Empire. And just like the two arms of Media Persia, the legs are two separate limbs. During the first millenium, something happens to the Papal Roman Empire. A split occurs into the Roman Catholics Church of the West, and the Greek Orthodox Church of the East.
These two religious powers have some similarities and some differences, but the most notable thing is they push a form of religion that doesn't preach salvation by faith in Christ alone.
In Daniel 8, it's foretold that one of those horns will bring forth the AntiChrist.
Daniel 8:8-12- Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Out of one of these religions will come a man that is used by Satan to gather the world into one global community, and then will be possessed by Satan and try to destroy the Jews and anyone who stands against him.
Daniel 8:23-26- And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
Daniel also tells us that this part won't happen for a very long time.
During this reign, he will be joined by 10 kings. Five from western civilization and five from eastern civilization. The toes that are mingled with the seed of women are mutants who rule beside the AntiChrist. "They" are something different than what Daniel had encountered.
Christ himself tried to warn people that "They" would be part of the system of the end times.
Luke 17:26-30- And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
"They" were the reason God destroyed the world in the flood.
Genesis 6:1-2,4- And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
"They" were also the reason God destroyed Sodom and Gomhorrah. Their sin of homosexuality was not the reason He rained fire down on them, even though it is an abomination to Him. It's because the people were actively looking to mate with angelic beings.
Genesis 19:1-5- And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
"They" will show up again before the Tribulation period. "They" will be old enough to rule and reign with the AntiChrist.
There is one more revelation in Daniel that I think is important to bring into this picture. This vision occurs during the "legs of iron" and it leads up to the reign of the AntiChrist, basically setting the stage.
Daniel 7:3-8- And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
These four beasts precede the AntiChrist.
The first is a lion with eagle's wings. Many people believe that this is England. attributed the provenance of the most ancient parts of the statue to Assyria, Sassania, Greco-Bactria, medieval Venice, and various other cultures. Winged gilded lion of St Mark was taken by Napoleon from Venice and set up in France in the late 1700's. When England destroyed Napoleon's hold of the region, they took this winged lion back to London in the early 1800's.
This lion of Daniel had its wings plucked and was made to stand like a man with a human heart. The Lion of England is one of the oldest and most iconic royal beast in heraldic art, used on the shield of England since the twelfth century. It's usually depicted on its two back feet with the shield in its front paws. The wings being ripped off could depict its dwindling global dominion.
The second is a bear with three ribs in its mouth. The bear is one of the most common figures associated with Russia. The Russian bear is a national personification for Russia, used in cartoons, fairy tales, and dramatic plays since at least the 17th century.
The three ribs, I believe, are three countries that Russia is actively engaged in trying to conquer. In my opinion, this would be Georgia, Crimea, and the Ukraine.
The third is a chimera of a beast. A leopard with four wings. I personally think this may be America. America is a melting pot of different cultures, nationalities, and peoples. Like the leopard has a white belly and a yellow back with black spots- Caucasian, Oriental, and African.
The four wings are still a mystery to me. It could be that they follow the same ideology as England, and these are places which are under the United States dominion.
The last beast comes right before the AntiChrist, and is what the AntiChrist comes from. It's dreadful and terrible with iron teeth. The Man of Sin uses the mutants to encourage his policies; the AntiChrist will use the mutants to enforce his policies.
It's important to remember that when the Man of Sin shows up, he is simply a politician sold out to the devil. There are plenty of them all around the world. Which country he comes from is not known, but the Bible makes it clear that he will be an Assyrian Jew. He will rise to power by promising peace, and he may indeed get some of the wars to cease. He will be assassinated, and then rise again proclaiming that he is the promised Messiah. It is at this point that he will become the AntiChrist.
There is so much more in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but this is just my brief understanding of the image, the beasts, and the prophecy found in the book of Daniel.
