Of all the Bible prophecies, there is none more simple and clear than that of the second chapter of Daniel. With a few master strokes the prophet there outlines the history of the world for a period of over 2,500 years, right down to the end of all earthly powers, even to the setting up of the eternal kingdom of God. The outline is both clear and comprehensive.
Concerning the latter part of the fourth of the world empires there depicted, the prophet tells us three things: First, "the kingdom shall be divided" (verse 41); second, "the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken ["brittle," margin]" (verse 42); and third, though they shall attempt to unite, "they shall not cleave one to another" (verse 43). All this was represented by the mixture of iron and clay in the feet and toes of the image.
Only one way of attempting to unite this divided fourth monarchy is mentioned: "They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men." The mixture of iron and clay suggests a lack of unity, an inherent inability to amalgamate and hold together. Readers of Daniel's words might understand that attempts would be made to unite the broken structure of the empire by force of arms, for that is the natural course of human history. It could hardly be concluded from anything in the nature of iron and clay that they would try to unite the kingdom by intermarriage, so that information is supplied us in the narrative, with the assurance that "they shall not cleave one to another."
Family ties, it may be thought, are stronger, and tend more to unity than political connections, but history reveals that self-interest is still more potent than religion or blood relations in the affairs of nations. Self-interest is the most potent of the motives that move the human heart. Charlemagne allied himself with the alien Saracen against his Christian brother of East Rome, and the emperor of East Rome relied on the support of the Moors in Spain against Charlemagne.
The Holy Roman Empire lasted over one thousand years, from A.D. 800 to 1806, and it was one long attempt to unite Western Europe both by conquest and by intermarriage. The Holy Roman Empire was created by the Papacy to restore unity in the West. But this attempt to revive the Roman Empire of the West brought into play forces that defeated the desired object. The empire would not tolerate the supremacy of the Papacy, and the Papacy could not accept the overlordship of the empire. They continually fought each other for first place, first one gaining ascendancy, and then the other, with no real unity of the secular power, and they did not cleave one to another.
"We have come to a time when God's sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay. God has a people, a chosen people, whose discernment must be sanctified, who must not become unholy by laying upon the foundation wood, hay, and stubble. Every soul who is loyal to the commandments of God will see that the distinguishing feature of our faith is the seventh-day Sabbath. If the government would honor the Sabbath as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God and in defence of the faith once delivered to the saints. But statesmen will uphold the spurious Sabbath, and will mingle their religious faith with the observance of this child of the Papacy, placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy, as a sign between Him and His people to a thousand generations. The mingling of church craft and state craft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the Papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves."—E. G. WHITE MS. 63, 1899.
Then there were the differences between the East and West Franks, differences that have persisted till today, and which made the unity of Europe a phantom that faded into nothingness when approached.
The beginning of the nineteenth century, which saw the end of the Holy Roman Empire, saw also a new attempt to resuscitate the empire of the Caesars and Charlemagne—a new assertion of superiority of the West Franks over the rest of the world. Napoleon Bonaparte was sure that he was the man of destiny, fated to restore the power of Rome. By the sword and by marriage he sought to bring all Europe under his sway. He defeated the Caesar of New Rome (Russia), and the Caesar of Old Rome (Austria), and married into the House of Hapsburg. He appointed relatives as kings in Naples, the Netherlands, and Spain, and was acclaimed by the German States as their protector. He restored the pope to Rome and posed as the protector of the Catholic Church, though he revoked the donations of previous emperors and named his son "King of Rome." Nothing seemed to stand in the way of the complete restoration of the Roman Empire and the rule of the world from Paris as it had once been ruled from Rome. Nevertheless, the words of the prophet, uttered 2,500 years ago, proved to be true. They did not cleave one to another, and "failure" was written over the map of Europe as designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
AATith the passing of a few years there came the turn again of the East Franks, and when Germany was united under the leadership of Prussia, in 1870, the new king took the title Kaiser (Caesar), indicating the position to which he and his people aspired. Like the French, the Germans felt that they were chosen of God, and that to them was given the rightful heritage of world rulership. It is remarkable how many peoples have had their thinking and actions determined by the conviction that they are the chosen of God, and have justified their most barbarous conduct by this premise—as if the chosen of God were not responsible even to God ! But the Kaiser of Germany and the Germany of the Kaiser passed away, and their ambitions were unfulfilled. They did not cleave.
For many years past, and with all this history before them, when speaking of political conditions in Europe, Adventist preachers have relied on the "sure word of prophecy," and have stated with confidence that no conqueror would succeed in making the iron and clay amalgamate. With a history strewn with the wrecks of men, great geniuses though they were, possessed of unlimited means and power, yet failing in their efforts to unite that continent under their sway, we cannot but feel confident that the Word of God stands fast forever and ever. In our own day we have seen with our own eyes how failure has attended the ambitious; and even when the prize seemed securely within their grasp, we could rest on the assurance that no attempt to unite the divided empire would ultimately succeed. No attempt has succeeded. Through it all this constitutes a call for confidence, a foundation for faith.
Daniel Substantiated by Revelation
The Revelation is the complement of Daniel. Its theme is the conflict between Christ and Satan. It culminates in the destruction of the devil and the victory of Jesus and His people. Its prophecies add many details to those of Daniel. Much is revealed concerning the final phase of the conflict; and the mightiest working of the enemy, with all power and signs and lying wonders, is shown to be accompanied by the greatest victory ever gained by the forces of righteousness.
There is the revival of the Papacy, as given in Revelation 13, of which Daniel, in his prophecies of the little horn, gives no suggestion. There is also the beast out of the earth (Rev. 13:11-17), of which Daniel gave no information concerning his appearance and work. These two are the agents of the enemy in his final attempt to gain possession of the earth. It is against them and their work that the three angels' messages are delivered. The warning that the seven last plagues are to fall on those who yield obedience to these powers in defiance of God's command shows that these messages are final and come just before the close of probation. These are the culminating movements in the conflict that has continued through the centuries.
When all the world wonders after the beast (Rev. 13:3), how will that affect the ten horns ? Will they remain divided? The Revelation brings to view a state of unity which is of concern to us. Revelation 17:13, 17 says of the kings of the divided fourth empire: "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." "For God bath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." We have seen the truth of the prophetic Word during all these ages, and have noted the inability of the iron and clay to unite, and this demonstration of the truth has given us confidence in the sure word of prophecy. Just so, we may have confidence that the unity here mentioned will come about in spite of every element that may work to the contrary. But what sort of unity will it be ? It will be a unity in spiritual things. We have the assurance of Daniel that there will be no political unity, and we have the declaration of John that they shall have one mind, and will unite in their opposition to Christ, in support of the beast. It will, therefore, be a spiritual unity.
In these days there is a strong movement; in fact, we may say there are several movements to bring about unity in Western Europe. Some are hoping and working to bring about political unity. There is Mr. Churchill's call for unity against Communism, and there is the expressed desire of the British Socialists for socialist unity in Europe. None of these efforts to unite politically will succeed. The Word of God through Daniel is against them. But others are working for a spiritual unity. Their call is for unity of the churches in opposition to Communism. According to the same Word of God, they will succeed.
A meeting to promote this spiritual unity was held in the Albert Hall, London, on April 25, 1948, under the chairmanship of Lord Halifax. It was attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church ; and by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, head of the Catholic Church of England; and the Moderator of the Free churches of England. Before the meeting was held, the chairman, Lord Halifax, recently British Ambassador to the United States, issued a statement to the press, which was published in the Sunday papers of April 25, in which he said, in part :
"The present crisis is fundamentally spiritual. The battle must be fought on the level of ideas. And it is not so much a fight between two political philosophies as between two religious faiths.
"The conflict in which we find ourselves is, then, at heart a strife between opposing faiths about the nature of man. Marxism, the most logical expression of materialist thought, is as much as Christianity a religion ; it has its church, its priesthood, its creed and its eschatology."
"Against this tide of barbarism in the past the Church of Christ waged spiritual warfare. It was the unifying power in Europe upon the basis of which our Western civilization developed. . . .
"Not until the Renaissance and the Reformation did it begin to lose sight of its true end. And its failure to drive home the true character of our present distress has been a disaster of the first magnitude. But though the sands run out there is yet time.
"So today we may draw a parallel with the past. The churches, through Christian action, may become the unifying force in a rapidly disintegrating civilization. Against the new destructive forces menacing human life, Christian unity in action may give the world the chance to stand firm and finally to overthrow them. . . .
"A great alliance can be formed of all those who hold precious the Christian values which past ages have won, and who are determined at whatever cost to preserve them."
Here is a call to unity that has the support of leaders of all the Christian churches. It looks as if it would succeed, but it is a fallacy to think that Christianity is a unifying element, for it was not so during the one thousand years of the Holy Roman Empire. "The final movements will be rapid ones," and we do well to take note of the situation, and prepare to act the part God has given us in these times. May the crisis find us ready.