another god that is able to deliver like this one.”—Dan. 3:28, 29.

22. (a) Show how the basic issue is the same today as in Daniel’s day. (b) Since tests come upon most of God’s servants, what is the wise course of action?

²² Like these men, Jehovah’s witnesses today cannot compromise. In some countries they must preach the Kingdom good news underground. In others they meet secretly in order to be strengthened for the work ahead. Though they are law-abiding Christians, when faced squarely with an issue involving integrity to Jehovah, they cannot bow to the whim or dictates of nationalistic rulers. The very same issue is facing Jehovah’s people today as in Daniel’s time: ‘Whom do you worship?’ Sooner or later such tests will come upon most of God’s servants, and those who have resolutely made their decision beforehand may be expected to prove faithful. Better it is to make that decision now than to put it off until one is faced with some test. How timely the record of these faithful men of old! How encouraging for faithful servants of God today to see the outcome that Jehovah God gave to those who refused to worship other gods!

PROPHETIC TREE DREAM

23. What dream did Nebuchadnezzar have more than eight years before he died, and what did Daniel say in interpretation?

²³ One night more than eight years before Nebuchadnezzar died he had a frightening dream. When all the magic-practicing priests of Babylon failed to give him the interpretation, Daniel was called in to the imperial presence, and the mighty world ruler said to him: “Tell me the visions of my dream that I have beheld and its interpretation.” (Dan. 4:9) The dream was of an immense tree that an angel from heaven commanded to be chopped down. Its stump was banded with iron and copper and had to stay that way among the grass of the field until “seven times” passed over it. The angel in the dream had said: “Let its heart be changed from that of mankind, and let the heart of a beast be given to it, and let seven times pass over it.” But what was the meaning of this dream? Would its interpretation prove to be equally frightening to King Nebuchadnezzar? Listen to Daniel’s words: “The tree that you beheld, . . . it is you, O king.”—Dan. 4:10-22.

24, 25. (a) What was to happen to Nebuchadnezzar, and why? (b) On what occasion was the tree dream fulfilled upon him, and how?

²⁴ Imagine how this must have heightened Nebuchadnezzar’s interest as he listened attentively to Daniel’s explanation that followed. Daniel revealed that he was to be driven from his throne into the field to eat grass like bulls. But, like that double-banded tree stump, his kingdom was to be held for him until he had spent “seven times” in such a degraded state. Only then would he come to his senses and be obliged to confess that the Most High God rules supreme and gives the kingdom of mankind to whom He wants to give it. One year later the dream was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar while he was walking upon his royal palace looking out over the magnificent city and one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” the hanging gardens of Babylon. How exalted he felt as he viewed all this glory! Boastfully he spoke: “Is not this Babylon the Great, that I myself have built for the royal house with the strength of my might and for the dignity of my majesty?”—Dan. 4:29, 30.

²⁵ Nebuchadnezzar had no sooner spoken those words than a voice from heaven announced that the tree dream would be fulfilled upon him now! At that very moment he was seized with madness and went out into the field to eat grass like a bull and stayed there for seven years. At the end of that period his understanding came back to him, and he now rendered 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 of 607 B.C.E. God also disclosed to Nebuchadnezzar that He would eventually crush all the nations of the earth by means of His kingdom. He did this by sending a dream that the king of Babylon could not recall on awakening, but the terror of the forgotten dream stuck with him. He called for the magicians and other wise men to interpret the dream. When they could not tell him what the dream was, much less the interpretation, the enraged king issued a decree for all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed—and this included Daniel and his three companions.—Dan. 2:1-13.

2. (a) Faced with the threat of execution, what did Daniel and his companions do? (b) After receiving the interpretation from God, what did Daniel say and do?

² When Daniel heard of this harsh order, he asked Arioch, the chief of the king’s bodyguard, the reason for it. Then Daniel went in to the king and asked for a stay of execution, that he might learn the dream and give the king its interpretation. Daniel and his three companions sought Jehovah’s help in prayer. In a night vision Jehovah revealed to Daniel the secret, causing Daniel to bless the name of God and to say: “He is changing times and seasons, removing kings and setting up kings, giving wisdom to the wise ones and knowledge to those knowing discernment.” (Dan. 2:14-23) Daniel then went to see Arioch, the appointed executioner, and asked to be taken in before the king, who was answering and saying to Daniel: “Are you competent enough to make known to me the dream that I beheld, and its interpretation?”—Dan. 2:25, 26.

3, 4. (a) How did Daniel show that the dream’s interpretation is of vital importance today? (b) Describe the prophetic dream.

³ What Daniel answered is of the highest importance today, because he said: “There exists a God in the heavens who is a Revealer of secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what is to occur in the final part of the days,” our days. (Dan. 2:28) Daniel disclaimed any wisdom of his own as he now recalled this forgotten dream to the king’s mind:

⁴ “You, O king, happened to be beholding, and, look! a certain immense image. That image, which was large and the brightness of which was extraordinary, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was dreadful. As regards that image, its head was of good gold, its breasts and its arms were of silver, its belly and its thighs were of copper, its legs were of iron, its feet were partly of iron and partly of molded clay. You kept on looking until a stone was cut out not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and of molded clay and crushed them. At that time the iron, the molded clay, the copper, the silver and the gold were, all together, crushed and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away so that no trace at all was found of them. And as for the stone that struck the image, it became a large mountain and filled the whole earth.”—Dan. 2:29-35.

5. How did Daniel interpret the dream?

⁵ Amazed, the king of Babylon must have recognized the description, but what did it all mean? Daniel explained: “This is the dream, and its interpretation we shall say before the king. You, O king, the king of kings, you to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the might, and the strength and the dignity . . . you yourself are the head of gold. And after you there will rise another kingdom inferior to you; and another kingdom, a third one, of copper, that will rule over the whole earth. And as for the fourth kingdom, it will prove to be strong like iron.”—Dan. 2:36-40.

DREAM IMAGE RELATES TO OUR DAY

6. How do history and Bible prophecy agree, with regard to the dream image and its interpretation?

⁶ How precisely the prophetic words of Daniel have been fulfilled! The golden head pictured the Babylonian World Power beginning with Nebuchadnezzar. Then arose the Medo-Persian Empire, pictured by the silver breasts and arms. Next came the Grecian World Power, foretold by the belly and thighs of copper. But what is represented by the legs of iron? A fourth imperial system, starting off with imperial Rome, and then merging into the Anglo-American World Empire. History shows that Great Britain really got started as an offshoot of the Roman Empire, and hence the final world power is included in the iron of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image. This is also shown in Daniel chapters 7 and 8, where the Anglo-American dual World Power is represented by the little horn, which is shown to grow up out of the Roman World Power.

7, 8. (a) What did Daniel say with regard to the feet of the symbolic image? (b) What is the significance of the ten toes, and how has the image kept on developing after the appearance of the final world power?

⁷ But there was a final or completing part of the symbolic image—its feet made partly of iron and partly of clay. On this the prophet Daniel made the following inspired comment to the king: “And whereas you beheld the feet and the toes to be partly of molded clay of a potter and partly of iron, the kingdom itself will prove to be divided, but somewhat of the hardness of iron will prove to be in it . . . And as for the toes of the feet being partly of iron and partly of molded clay, the kingdom will partly prove to be strong and will partly prove to be fragile. . . . they will not prove to be sticking together, this one to that one, just as iron is not mixing with molded clay.”—Dan. 2:41-43.

⁸ What possible significance could the ten toes have? These picture all the coexisting powers and governments on earth today, since the number ten is a Biblical number symbolizing earthly completeness. So the dream image relates to our day indeed! We should keep in mind that this image did not become static with the appearance of the final world power. The image had to keep on developing in order to include the weakening influence of the socialistic, democratic elements against the imperial, dictatorial powers of this world. Ever since 1914 the weakening influence of democracy and socialism has gone forward particularly against that part of the iron feet of the image represented by “the king of the north.” The ten toes of the image picture all the nations, not merely those that have thus far gained admission to the U.N. At this stage comes the dramatic climax of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The prophet Daniel continues his interpretation; his words have vital meaning for our day:

9. What trustworthy interpretation does Daniel give as to the destiny of the symbolic image?

⁹ “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold. The grand God himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this. And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.”—Dan. 2:44, 45.

CRUSHING OF THE SYMBOLIC IMAGE BY THE KINGDOM STONE

10, 11. What is pictured by (a) the stone cut out of a mountain without hands? (b) the mountain? (c) the stone’s smashing the image?

¹⁰ In the interpretation by Daniel, he saw a stone cut out of a mountain not by hands. Here is pictured the establishment of God’s kingdom in the heavens in 1914 C.E., which establishment was by no human