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                                                     A Kingdom Which Shall Never Be Destroyed
                                                     Daniel 2 (Its meaning makes all “Daniel” clear)
(Many Bible readers avoid Daniel because of strange “visions.” It is unfortunate if LDS do, because “Daniel” confirms the time of the Restoration. Our prophets have explained the vision of the Great Image. And that image holds keys to all Daniel’s other visions.)

I.                    The visions given to Daniel were meant to seem confusing. However, when we have certain keys, we find each vision repeats & verifies the same essential themes.

II.                 Latter-day prophets give us the true interpretation of the great image, key to all other visions. 
    A.     This interpretation is consistent with the true powers of history.
          i.      The gold head was Babylon, ruling from about 605 to 538 B.C.
        ii.      The silver breast & arms = Medes and Persians, 538 to 333 B.C.
        iii.       The brass belly & thighs, the Greeks, split into four separate powers but dominated by Ptolemies and the Selucids ruled 332 to 161 B.C.  
        iv.      The kingdom of iron = Rome, its two legs showed eventual division into eastern and a western empire. Rome ruled 161 B.C. to 476 A.D. 
        v.      The feet with ten toes represents the many modern kingdoms coming out of the Roman Empire. 
    B.     Time of God’s Kingdom is then given. “And in the days of these kings [the many modern kingdoms] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom” (Dan. 2:44), to begin as a stone cut out of a mountain without hands.
        i.      “Without hands” signified a work of God, not of men. 
        ii.      Jesus Christ is the Stone of Israel. He began His Kingdom by revelation. It has begun to roll forth through the earth. 
        iii.      It is gathering God’s scattered people, once in exile like Daniel.
       iv.      The center of His kingdom now sits in the tops of the Mountains.
        v.      At His Second coming, Christ will openly take reign over His never-failing Kingdom.

III.              The rest of the visions contain parallel elements to this image and verify its truths. In the succeeding visions, each focuses on the Fourth or Roman Kingdom (to be shown in red). Each vision adds different details importantto that time period. Then each vision shifts focus to the Last Days, and God’s Kingdom), or the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. (shown in blue).
(Note. Image of the Great Tree and Belshazzar’s Feast, Daniel 4 & 5, will be reviewed at the end, because we can understand them better then).
    A. (Daniel 7) The Four Beasts 
        1. This vision teaches the same truths as the Great Image, but substitutes beasts for the kingdoms.  Joseph Smith in History of the Church,  points out that God uses beasts to refer to the wicked kingdoms of the world, “… but He never made use of the figure of a beast … to represent His kingdom.” (emphasis added)
    This vision sheds more light on the fourth kingdom’s power and its final fall. It is described as “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; … [with] iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet” (Daniel 7:7-8). 
        2. Romans acted to crucify Christ, killed the apostles, persecuted the saints, destroyed the temple, and eventually scattered the Jews. 
        3. Significant is a little horn arising within Rome, making “war with the saints” (v. 8, 21), and changing times and laws (v. 25). This and other witnesses teach that this is a false religious power which would eventually take over Christianity, and corrupt it. This power, unlike the Roman Empire itself, will rule until the end time (v. 25-6).*
         4. The close of this vision, speaks of the coming of the “[most] ancient of days,” (7:9-12) or Adam, who will return at the End as patriarch of all the earth. He will be part of a “judgment” who will “take away dominion” of all the corrupted powers that previously ruled, and will deliver dominion “to the people of the saints of the most High” [The newly arisen Israel]. This kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom. Those in it shall serve and obey Christ who will come “with clouds of heaven.”  (Dan. 7:12-4, 18, 26-7. See also D&C 116). 
    B.     (Dan 8) Daniel verifies the beasts signify the same Kingdoms. 
        1. A ram with 2 horns represents Medes and Persians (8:20).
        2. A goat, he says, representing Greece conquers them (8:21).
        3. Goat’s horn divided into four powers within Greece (v.22).
        4. A Fierce King (Rome) replaces Greece (v. 23). More detail given. “[Rome] cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, [those foreordained as Christ’s leaders] and stamped upon them… magnified himself even to the prince of the host, [killed Jesus the Christ] and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down [temple destroyed] … and it cast down the truth to the ground” [eventually takes over truth, then corrupts it] (8:10-12).
        5. This vision also says Rome would “destroy the mighty and the holy people [Israel]. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Price of princes [Christ]; but he shall be broken without hand.” (8:24-5).Only Christ could be the Prince of the host and the Prince of princes, against whom this power would magnify itself. Note also it would with “peace … destroy many.” That is, not by war but by false teachings. Obviously Rome’s military might at first destroyed many things pertaining to Israel and Christianity. Later false religious powers within it destroyed the true form of Christianity. 
That this religious power would  be “broken without hand” shows it would continue to endure until the Last Days, with the coming of Christ’s latter-day kingdom, as is shown in the Great Image. At Christ’s coming, He will be the King.

IV. Now that we see that Roman power and time period is a major focus of the visions, we can look at two other visions, which also refer to the time of Rome, but in a different way. Remember that many events of ancient Israel were patterns of future events. When Babylon took the Jews into captivity, they destroyed the temple and took its treasures. After Christ, Romans did the same thing. In addition, Gentiles within the Roman Empire became the inheritors of Christ’s gospel. So keep in mind that these Gentiles would become a New Israel for a time. However, through their apostasy, they would later become a New Babylon. (That is, Rome conquered Israel physically and spiritually, then corrupted that spiritual inheritance).
    A. (Daniel 4) Image of the Great Tree. 
    This vision gives the same truths found in Romans 11 and Jacob 5.  Read those scriptures first, given in greater clarity, to understand this vision. Truth: Genetic Israel would sin by rejecting Christ, and be cut off. So, the Root of Israel [Jesus Christ] would accept the Gentiles as His New Israel, and nourish them. However, in time, apostasy would overcome them too.*
    In the Last Days, Israel’s root [Christ] will again restore and nourish a Genetic Israel, made up mostly from tribes scattered throughout the world, though some Gentiles will also adhere to this Root.
    The above truths are prophesied in the Image of the Great Tree. 
        1.Nebuchadnezzar, who inherits the Jews’ treasures, is used as a figure for the Gentiles (after Christ) who become the new “Israel” (Romans 11:12-25). 
        2. Only Israel under Christ, (Gentile or other), is a tree whose height reaches to Heaven sheltering and nourishing all flesh (Dan 4:12; Mat. 13:31-2).
        3. In time, this new Israel [Gentile Church] also became apostate (Romans 11:16-28; Jacob 5:18, 29-37). This is shown by the negative changes and images pertaining to Nebuchadnezzar. Yet the root [of Israel] from which the Gentile church sprang, who is Christ, will retain His strength. Then “Seven Times” passes by, leading to the Time of the Last Days (Dan 4:23). 
        4. A Restored Israel then arises. “I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and 
mine understanding returned unto me, …and excellent majesty was added unto me” (Dan. 4:34-6). Though the vision began by referring to Gentile Israel, there is a change. It is the latter-day Kingdom of Israel which will arise, consisting mostly of natural branches grafted in again (See Romans 11 and Jacob 5). However, Israel has been mixed greatly among the Gentiles, and entrance into Christ’s new Kingdom is extended to all repentant who desire to enter!
    5. Jesus Christ, the true cut-down-tree, will always be its Center Root.         

(Daniel 5) Belshazzar’s Feast
    1.Belshazzar also represents the Gentiles who receive Israel’s blessings after Christ. They hold Israel’s vessels of worship. 
    2. However, they now drink from the sacred vessels while praising the gods of gold and of silver (5:2, 4). Thus they are now apostate. 
    3. God judges them. “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it…Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting (5:26-8). (Gentile Church would lose God’s authority. See Romans 11:19-22).
    4. Anciently, the Medes and Persians replaced Old Babylon. That event witnessed of the future. In that future, it is the Lord’s Kingdom which will replace the New Babylon. That’s why John’s “Revelation” speaks so much of the fall of this New Babylon in the Last Days. (Rev. 14:8; 17:5; 18:2, 21). This Babylon’s religious power will continue but finally fall in the Last Days.
    5. Those in the Lord’s Latter-day Kingdom would be blessed, like Daniel, to have power to clarify prophecy not understood by others, to “make interpretation, and dissolve doubts… [and] read the writing” (5:16-7). Works among Latter-day Saints do make clear more than any other source, the understanding of the Bible, as is often joyfully discovered by new converts.
    B.     (Dan. 9) Daniel prays for Israel so is taught time of Christ’s salvation.
        1.Gabriel shows that Christ would come in seventy-weeks, or 490 years, from time of Israel’s return from Babylon (9:24-25). Sir Isaac Newton was one who showed that from the time of Israel’s return from Babylon to Christ’s coming and salvation was exactly 490 years. (S. J. Barnett, ed., Isaac Newton’s Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and The Apocalypse of John (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1999), p 173.)
    Daniel, and later John, also show that a multiplication of this time period leads to the Time when Christ’s Latter-day Kingdom is set up. That time fits in the time period shown in The Great Image.  
    (Note:  For those students desiring more information on the latter, see the Addendum given at the end of this material.)
    C.      (Daniel 11, 12) Daniel’s final vision and promise 
        l. A special overall truth is hid behind a mass of masked detail in the final vision. The underlying message is the same as with previous visions: Kingdom after kingdom shall arise and fall. Christ’s Kingdom will come and never fall.  
        2. And then there is this great promise, the meat of the vision!
         “… Michael [or Adam shall] stand up… And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake… And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:1-3). 
    For those who earnestly work to help establish Christ’s Latter-day Kingdom, the Kingdom of our Savior, His blessings are unspeakably glorious.
    * That there was an apostasy after Christ is now universally accepted. Even leaders within the remnants of the original Gentile Church have in recent years acknowledged and apologized for the terrible wickednesses of the past. 
So the one question remaining is “what did the Lord do when the Gentile Church became corrupt, as admitted?” Romans 11:17-25 makes it clear that such a corrupted church would be cut off, just as Genetic Israel, the original branches were. Then He promises that, in fact, His authority would eventually return to Genetic Israel. For Paul testifies, “Israel shall be saved: … there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob (v. 26).” All the Old Testament prophets testify, including Daniel, that in the Latter-days, God Himself would establish a New Kingdom, made up of literal descendants of ancient Israel, once scattered through the world.

Addendum:  Time Periods in Daniel 9 Verify Time of this Restored Israel
Centuries of study by scholars have produced three main points about the coming of Christ’s Latter Day Kingdom. These three points, when taken together, actually show the Time of Israel’s Restoration. 
1.      Many scholars through the centuries agree Gabriel prophesied that a seventy times seven year period would lead to the first coming of the Messiah, but also to Messiah’s Latter-day Kingdom (Dan. 9:24). Gabriel actually uses a term “seventy-weeks,” but that is understood as seventy times seven years, or 490 years. We have seen that period did indeed lead to Christ’s first coming. 
An amazing amount of effort has gone into trying to understand how this “seventy weeks” period would also lead to Christ’s Latter-day Kingdom.
2.      Many scholars through the centuries agree that first Daniel, and later John, gave another set of time codes signifying Israel’s final period of being cut off. These codes all equal 3 ½. One of the chief forms of this code is “time, times, and half a time.” This is now understood as simply a formula for a basic time period (time); a doubling of that period (times); and one-half the period (half-a-time), which equals 3 1/2.  (This interpretation is so prevalent, The New English Bible uses it in its translation).  The scriptures clearly show this code relates to how long until God’s Kingdom of Israel will return. 
Most scholars have not tried to relate the two sets of time codes given by Daniel and John, using one or the other. But a few have felt that the “seventy week” period is to be multiplied by 3 ½ --- and that will bring in the Messiah’s Last Days Kingdom.
3.      More recent research, given impetus by findings in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which provides new material concerning Daniel, shows that a missing part of the puzzle is the concept of Jubilee. That is, Gabriel’s seventy week period should not be considered without its Jubilee years. So, a Jubilee year should be added for every 49 years in the 490 pattern. (Israel was to celebrate a year of Jubilee after every 49 years).
    When these three points, each supported by a significant number of respected scholars, are brought together, they lead directly to the time of the Restoration of Israel.
    When the ten corresponding Jubilee years are added to the 490 years, the actual figure would be 500 years.
    If 500 years are multiplied by the 3 ½ formula given by Daniel and John, the total is 1,750 years (500 x 3 ½ = 1,750).
    Israel’s final captivity after the majority of Jews rejected Christ, began in 70 A.D.  This date is well known, for it is when the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem, including the Temple, and began exporting its residents to other parts of the world. Thus began the final Israelite bondage spoken of by both Daniel and John. Afterwards, Israel was to be re-gathered, according to the time periods they both gave. 
           70 A.D.
    + 1750 years
    =1820 A.D.
    1820 A.D. was the year God the Father and Jesus Christ first appeared to Joseph Smith and began to restore Israel and His Latter-day Kingdom. 
    Note: Jubilee was a year long celebration signifying “freedom” which was to follow every forty-nine years. Thus its prophecy could not be fulfilled in just one day. A first day would only signify a beginning time. The Lord multiplied that original time. So we must really look at multiples of ten (500, not 50)  This means the fulfillment of this prophecy would not be complete until the passage of a period of ten years, or until 1830. This was the time of the official organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
    Question: Why did the Lord use Seventy (70 x 7, etc.) as the base to multiply? The Jews and early Christians understood that the number seventy was a symbol for “The Gentiles.”  We see this number and its multiples signify both the Gentiles and the time of the power of the Gentiles. Israel would be scattered among the Gentiles until The Time of Gentiles were fulfilled! When Moroni appeared to Joseph in 1821, he told him the fullness of the Gentiles would soon come in. Then Israel would be restored to Freedom on Jubilee!
     For more clarification and verification, See Lenet Hadley Read, The Lord’s Holy Days, Granite Publishing, 2002, pp.  89-114.