After the collapse of Rome in 476 AD, its empire was divided into ten kingdoms, just as Nebuchadnezzar's dream foretold.
The mixture of iron and clay mentioned in Daniel 2 tell us that the divided kingdoms would be partly strong and partly weak. This is indeed what history teaches us about the countries in Europe. There have been numerous attempts to unite a divided Europe.
The attempts by Louis XIV, Charlemagne, Otto von Bismarck, Kaiser Wilhelm I the Great, Adolf Hitler, and even the modern European Union are prime examples.
Unity through War
In 1799, Napoleon set out to unify and rule Europe. Someone protested to Napoleon that Providence would not permit him to rule the world. He is reported to have said, “Providence is on the side of the heaviest artillery.”i
Heavy June rains came and Napoleon's heaviest artillery could not move. His fine cavalry fell in a sunken road and Wellington defeated him at Waterloo in 1815.
Unity through Marriage
The nations of Europe have also endeavored to unite through alliances and marriages. Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella of Castile, uniting their two territories into Spain. Napoleon divorced Josephine to marry Marie Louise of Austria. Queen Victoria, often called the grandmother of Europe, arranged the international marriages of her 51 children and grandchildren. None of these marriages have succeeded in producing unity.
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 (Daniel 2:43).
There have been, and will be, temporary political and economic unions in Europe, but these unions have not succeeded in welding the nations into one.
After Nebuchadnezzar had his dream, Daniel was given another dream in which God expanded on his description of the future and the Antichrist. Read about Daniel's dream
Back to Daniel 2
i. Gordon Craig, Europe Since 1815 (Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1980).
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This article is adapted from Truth Matters by Professor Walter J. Veith, an international speaker who has studied Biblical issues in-depth in his quest for truth. His popular series Genesis Conflict brings the debate between Creation and evolution to a new climax as he dissects the arguments with a scientific eye. His highly-acclaimed series Total Onslaught sheds light on the state of the world today as we move to a one-world government and an anticipated apocalypse.
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