European Union (Ten nation Confederacy/Revived Roman Empire)

Daniel tells of the four most powerful kingdoms which rule the earth.

(Dan 2:31-35) "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. {32} "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, {33} "its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. {34} "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which 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 were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION:

(Dan 2:36-45) "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. {37} "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; {38} "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all; you are this head of gold. {39} "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. {40} "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. {41} "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. {42} "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. {43} "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. {44} "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. {45} "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."

We find the events unfolded exactly as predicted. The kingdoms Daniel describes are easily seen in hindsight:

The head of gold on the image in the dream represented Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian Empire (Daniel lived in this time period). The silver chest and two arms represented the Medo-Persian Empire, which conquered Babylonia in 539BC. The middle and thighs of brass were Greece and Macedonia under Alexander the Great, who conquered the Medo-Persian Empire in 334-330BC. The legs of iron represented Rome, which concurred the Greeks in 63BC. (Life Application Bible Commentary, 1434)

The feet and toes of clay and iron represent the Revived Roman Empire or ten regions of the world with the Revived Roman Empire playing the key role. We know it is referring to the Revived Roman Empire for many reasons. One of the reasons is that the third empire, Rome, is described as iron. The fourth kingdom has iron in it mixed with clay. Rome is represented by iron, but it now has another element as well. The clay represents a weak aspect of the empire which was not there before. This is caused by a looser grip on its power. We can see the early stages of the final revived empire today with the loose confederacy forming as the European Union (Community). Each country has its elected heads of government and its own plans for the future, yet they are forming a union none the less. This union will be strong, but will be inflicted with internal struggle and strife. We can see today where a strong leader would ultimately unify the union to form the final Revived Roman Empire. It could happen any time.

Another reason we know the passage is referring to the Revived Roman Empire, a final form of the EU, is what Daniel tells of the revived empire's final ruler, the Antichrist.

(Dan 9:26) "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. (emphasis added)

The prince that shall come is the future ruler of the EU, the Antichrist. His people shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The Roman general, Titus Vespasian, destroyed the temple and killed one million Jews in 70 AD. Hence, the prince of these people is the Antichrist who is to come. He will rule these people, the Revived Roman Empire.

The meaning of the ten kingdoms could be a confederation of ten other confederations with the EU and Antichrist heading it up. There are many confederations today. For example: United States, Common Wealth of Independent States (Russia, etc.), European Union, OPEC, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone, or a number of others. At this early stage in the Latter Days, it is difficult to tell what form the confederation of ten nations/kingdoms will take. However, we know the power of Antichrist will encompass the entire world which makes it feasible that the coalition is among already existing confederacies or regions.

Watch for more movement of responsibility toward global organizations such as the United Nations and more restrictions on personal rights and local government authority.