Unleashing the Beast

T HE K INGDOM OF THE B EAST / 29

be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings (Daniel 7:24). The order and succession of these prophetic kingdoms was also revealed to the ancient king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. A K ING ' S N IGHTMARE In Daniel's time, King Nebuchadnezzar experienced a troubling dream of an image of a man with a head of gold. He had a chest and arms of silver, thighs of brass and legs of iron. Daniel interpreted his dream, telling the king it was a picture of world empires from ancient Babylon until the time that the Lord would set up His kingdom (Daniel 2:31-44). History can now interpret the progression and ruling order of those kingdoms as Babylon, Medio Persia, Greece and Rome. In the king's dream, the legs of iron on the image (Rome) represented a split that would occur in the Roman kingdom sometime in the future. Historically, this happened when the Roman Empire divided between the East and the West; with Rome, Italy, being the western leg and Constantinople, Turkey (Istanbul today), being the eastern leg. According to the Book of Daniel, the legs of iron (the division of Rome) will eventually produce 10 toes—which are the same kings and kingdoms identified by both Daniel and John as the 10 horns (Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12, 16).