praise to the Most High God rather than appropriating it to himself. That dream and its direct fulfillment upon Nebuchadnezzar were prophetic, reaching right down to the twentieth century.

26. (a) With the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. what transfer of domination took place? (b) What was pictured by the tree and by the banded stump?

²⁶ When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed God’s typical kingdom of Israel, a transfer of domination to the victorious Gentile world power took place. Gentile governments were now to rule the earth without any interference from the kingdom of Jehovah God even in a typical way, until “seven times” had passed. The tree, which pictured world domination by God’s kingdom, was banded and its stump left in the ground. This symbolized that the One who originally held world domination would not forever let go of it. The banding of the stump gave assurance that the tree was not dead and that its rootstock was destined to sprout again.

27. (a) What was symbolized by Nebuchadnezzar’s insane conduct? (b) What do the Scriptures show the length of seven prophetic times to be, reaching into what time period?

²⁷ Prophetically, during the “seven times” of Gentile rule, God’s kingdom would remain low, like that tree stump. Nebuchadnezzar’s insane bestial conduct during the period when the seven literal times passed over him pictured how the Gentile rulers would conduct themselves in a bestial manner during the time of their world dominance. The Scriptures show the length of the “seven times” of Gentile rule to have been a period of 2,520 years, stretching forward from 607 B.C.E. to 1914 C.E., yes, right into our twentieth century!

28. What took place at the end of the seven symbolic times, and why does Jehovah permit the nations to continue yet for a little while?

²⁸ In 1914 God removed the bands around the symbolic tree, and he has raised up the Lord Jesus Christ and clothed him with world domination. God’s kingdom now rules! It is only by Jehovah’s long-suffering that the Gentile powers remain, for he could have wiped the nations out in the years immediately following the reestablishment of his kingdom. Whether they recognize it or not the Gentile nations rule today only by God’s toleration. Jehovah permits their continuance for a few years more so that sheeplike persons from all nations may come out of this system of things before its Armageddon end.

Crushing All Nations in Our Day by God’s Kingdom

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. . . . It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”—Dan. 2:44.

1. Concerning what did God notify King Nebuchadnezzar, and by what means?

JEHOVAH notified Nebuchadnezzar in the second year of his reign as world ruler, or in 606-605 B.C.E., that he would begin the march of world powers, which would run for 2,520 years from the fall