Here are a few related Scriptures. Rather than commentary, I have used color-coding to draw attention to the relationships between these passages.
Grey = a stone (that became a great mountain)
Brown = the stone’s effect of crushing and scattering
Green = a mountain
Purple = a kingdom
Blue = a city, Christ’s followers
Yellow highlight = shining light
Daniel 2:31-45
31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 "The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. BUT THE STONE THAT STRUCK THE STATUE BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN AND FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH.
36 "This was the dream; now we shall tell its interpretation before the king. 37 "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 "And after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 "And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. 44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy."
NASB
Matthew 21:42-46
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures,
'The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. 44 "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." 45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.
NASB
Hebrews 12:18-29
18 For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to them. 20 For they could not bear the command, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned." 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I am full of fear and trembling."
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, " Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven." 27 And this expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
NASB
Matthew 5:13-16
13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
NASB
Revelation 21:9-12 and Rev 21:24
9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. …
24 And the nations shall walk by its light…
Rev 22:3-5
His bond-servants shall serve Him; 4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. NASB
Comments
Daniel
John, That got me thinking about several other verses.
Daniel 2:32-35
32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Matthew 21:43-45
43 `Because of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit; 44 and he who is falling on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.' 45 And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard his similes, knew that of them he speaketh,
Romans 9:20-21
20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?
Jeremiah 18:6
6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
The feet were partly of iron and partly of clay and could that mean Rome and Israel?
Blessings, Fred
Daniel 2:31-45's "Fourth Kingdom" = Roman Empire of Christ's day
Good to hear from you Fred.
Yes, I agree with you that the "legs of iron with feet of iron mixed with clay" represent the fourth kingdom since Nebuchadnezzar's to subjugate God's People: it symbolizes the Roman Empire subjugating with the cooperation of local kings such as Herod. The Romans did not naturally mix it up with the Jews any more than Iron mixes it up with clay. (But Pilate did finally make friends with Herod the day Jesus was crucified). And I consider it a stroke of brilliance to bring in those passages from Romans and Jeremiah as you did.
Interesting thought I had the other day about the contempt the Romans had for the Jews:
When Pilate taunts the crowds several times, and even posting it above Jesus' head on the Cross, "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews" I wonder if he meant it also as a form of contempt for them. Think of it: Pilate was mocking, like his soldiers before him, calling attention to the fact that Jesus, a single man with no son, no natural heir, is indeed singly qualified by lineage from David to be king of the Jews - their last hope of ever regaining their former glory & kingdom & freedom. And here is Pilate personally overseeing to his death as a capital criminal. So I wonder if publically posting on the Cross, "This is the king of the Jews" was an expression of spite towards all Jews, indicative of the mutual contempt between Rome and Israel; like between iron and clay, even as they cooperated together as a team, as a government, to kill Jesus and oppress & subjugate His People.
So yes, I would see the iron & clay representing the Romans & Herodians/Sanhedrin/Sadducees/Pharisees working together to subjugate God's People at the time that the Kingdom of God, "the stone that becomes a great mountain," finally arrived.
Pilate's intentions
Roman Iron & Clay of the Jews: working together without mixing
Hey Fred,
I got so involved in a response here that it seemed good to just go ahead and make a page out of it here:
Roman Iron & Clay of the Jews: working together without mixing together
I really appreciate your interaction.
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