Daniel spoke of a “great image” that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream. History confirms Daniel’s interpre-tation of the dream.

    Nebuchadnezzar (634 – 562 BC) felt that the dream was very important, but he couldn't remember it.  He ordered the scientists and psychics of his court to reveal the dream and explain its meaning, When they said it couldn't be done, he told them to do it or he would have them all executed.

    Daniel, was a smart young Jewish boy, with great psychic powers, who had been taken captive in the war between Babylon and Israel. His slave name was Belteshazzar. He heard about the king's dream and had a vision about it. He volunteered to interpret it to the king to save the lives of the scientists of Babylon

   "You, O king, beheld a great image, whose splendor was excellent, and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.   

    "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. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the 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."

       King Nebchadnezzar was awed at what Daniel said and asked him for an interpretation.

     "This is the dream", said Daniel. "The God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. You are this head of gold.

     "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours.
     "Then there shall arise a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

      "And a 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

     "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. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdoms shall be partly strong and partly fragile. And in the days of these kings the stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands, shall roll forth and break in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. And this kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for an age ( a thousand years). "The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure," said Daniel. (Daniel 2:28, 31-43)

               A fuller understanding of this dream
    The head of gold was the Babylonian Empire (675 - 530 BC).

    Medes and Persians (the arms of silver) , working together overthrew Babylonia. They united in 553 BC and became the chest of silver.

    In 330 BC Alexander the Great conquered the Persians. At his death, this Greek empire stretched from Italy to India, most of the known world, becoming the belly and thighs of bronze.

    In  146 BC, Greece was made a Roman province and soon Rome possessed even more territory than had Alexander, with the strength of iron.

    In 285 AD, the Roman Empire split in two, becoming the legs of iron, a strong and powerful empire in two parts.

    By 500 AD the Western Latin leg of the Empire had broken down and by 1000 AD the Byzantine empire (the Eastern part) had been completely weakened. The struggling remnants of the Roman Empire (any number of city-states and kingdoms) were the feet, partly of iron and partly of clay.

    In 948 AD both the clergy and the nobility recognized Edred as king of England. This can be considered England's 'foundation date'.

   The British Isles were once a part of the European continent, Over thousands of years, nature carved out the English Channel "without hands" and the nation that arose there that effectively conquered the whole world, becoming the greatest kingdom in the history of the world.

   The kingdom expanded to conquered the territory of all the other kingdoms. And continued to grow until it was said, "the Sun never sets on the British Empire."

   And as prophesied, the empire lasted for a thousand years until officially coming to an end in 1948 with the separation India and Pakistan from the empire.

    Interestingly, it was in 1948 that the nation of Israel was officially re-established.

It had been destroyed in 586 BC, and restored again around 456 BC. These ups and downs continued until 1000 AD when all pretense of a Jewish kingdom ended and virtually all Jews were exiled.  The Jews remained exiled until  May 23, 1939 when the British government set up the policy of returning the Jews to Jerusalem.

    This led to creation of the State of Israel which was recognized as a nation May 14, 1948, by Great Britain.