Daniel says that God will set up his kingdom on earth in the fourth empire starting with Babylon. Which empire was Jesus Christ born under?

Question

38 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.

39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 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.

41 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.

42 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.

43 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.

44 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.

Answer 1

No, because you missed the 5th kingdom. The feet stand for the last kingdom, the one that is mixed iron and clay. Jesus was born under the 4th kingdom, Roman.



The relationship of the Image that was in the dream and the Beast in Revelation, shows that they correspond and the articles in the magazine link below goes through the kingdoms that have passed off the scene and the ones in place today, should help you to understand the time we are living in, when the whole structure is crushed by God's kingdom.

Answer 2

Actually, the vision does not say that Babylon was the first kingdom. It says that Nebuchadnezzar himself is the head of gold, "You are that head of gold" (Dn 2:38). This has led a number of scholars to suggest that the vision originally concerned a Neo-Babylonian succession of kings (the word used for kingdom can mean reign), ending with Nabonidus, when the Babylonian empire was ultimately divided between an absent Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar who ruled Babylon itself. This suggestion complements the proposal by some commentators that the expression Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin in Daniel 5 also contains a cryptic reference to a succession of Babylonian kings in which Belshazzar is mockingly compared to a half shekel - a coin of small value. Additional supporting evidence that the statue represents a Babylonian dynasty is found in chapter 4 where the great tree is interpreted by Daniel with the same expression: "Your Majesty, you are that tree!" (4:22). My personal feeling is that the statue originally represented Nebuchadnezzar only, but was later modified to fit the four kingdom schema of chapter 7 when the older, traditional court takes of chapters 1-6 were edited and added to the recently composed visions of chapters 7-12 in the mid second century BCE (according to a scholarly consensus that is now over 100 years old).



Jesus was not born under any of the empires that the text of Daniel originally referred to. Chapter 11 makes it very clear that the attack on Judaism and the temple described in each of the final four visions is the one perpetrated by the Seleucid tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes in the mid second century BCE. This was the only time in the history of the second temple that the temple was defiled and daily sacrifices were interrupted for a limited time period (Dan 8:14). Additionally, chapters 7 and 11 make it very clear that the author expects arrival of the kingdom of God and the resurrection of the dead to occur shortly after the death of Antiochus. Scholars usually suggest the sequence of kingdoms is Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece (including the divided kingdoms of the diadochi ) or Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, the divided Greek empire.



Of course, Judah did obtain a degree of independence under the Hasmonean rulers for over 100 years after the demise of Antiochus, but the everlasting kingdom of God did not eventuate and national servitude once again became the norm under the Romans. This was when the prophecies of Daniel about a terrifying fourth kingdom began to be reapplied to Rome. The fact that this was a novel interpretation is obvious when the final evil kingdom of the Kittim in the dead sea scrolls is compared to the very brief and benign description of the Kittim (Rome) in Daniel 11, when a Roman envoy warns Antiochus to retreat from Egypt. Another example is the vision of the Roman eagle in 2 Esdras where the visionary is told that it is Daniel's fourth kingdom but that it wasn't interpreted for Daniel the way that the angel interprets it now. A final example is the first beast in Revelation that combines characteristics of all four beasts of Daniel 7, rather than just the last one.

Answer 3

Roman Empire.

Answer 4

Daniel was written in the 2nd century BCE when Antiochus Epiphanes was seizing Jewish lands, culiminating in his seizing and defiling of their Temple (this led to the Maccabean Revolt). As such, the kingdom that Daniel had in mind was a very real kingdom led by a warrior-messiah. But, of course, Christians "spiritualize" this kingdom in a way that allows them to interpret it as they see fit. But viewing the book in its social and historical context, it is clear that Daniel anticipated a tangible, earthly kingdom to destroy Israel's enemies.

Answer 5

The Roman Empire and Christ did set his kingdom up during it but I think it was the 5th Empire. Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

Answer 6

Jesus will return on the mount of olives from whence he was taken up. His kingdom will be set up in Jerusalem.



"On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south" (Zechariah 14:4).