“And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay” (Daniel 2:43).
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S IMAGE
Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king dreamt of a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue. The head of the statue was made of pure 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 baked clay.
This statue starts off impressive enough, Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom represented the head of gold. As Daniel looked down the statue the subsequent metals got less precious and ended up with a mixture of iron and clay yielding no strength or cohesion in its feet. We get the feel that the whole image is unstable and about to come crashing down.
“For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Cor 7:31).
The domain of darkness is divided and cannot continue. Jesus, on the other hand, brings in the true precious kingdom of light. We read that, “All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’” (Matt 12:23).
But Satan’s leadership soon inspired the enemies of Christ, the Pharisees, to pour scorn on Christ, in the hearing of the people who were amazed by him, the Pharisees said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons” (Matt 12:24).
The more the people praised Christ, the more the Pharisees attempted to denounce him. Yet Jesus saw plainly the unstable ground that the Pharisees were standing upon and said, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matt 12:25).
The devil’s domain cannot stand. Reason, calmness and peace do not belong in the devil’s darkness. Rather, foolishness, strife and upheaval exist in that evil area reserved for the devil and his angels.
The devil knows his time is short, so as Revelation says, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Rev 12:12). The domain of darkness is, after all, dark, and it’s impossible to see where you are going in the pitch black, so it’s no wonder that the devil’s territory cannot stand, no one in it can see properly, the devil’s eyes are hate-filled and he wants his followers to be filled with his hatred too. That’s no way to move forward.
The devil’s way is not God’s way, they are diametrically opposed to each other: “wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence… So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub… Your heart became proud… and you corrupted your wisdom” (Ezek 28:15–17).
People see the futility of following darkness rather than light. “I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you” (Ezek 28:17).
This world is corrupted, anyone who is a friend of the world is not a friend of God. “Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?” (Jam 4:4).
“Rejoice you heavens” Let’s praise God we walk in the light of heaven rather than the murkiness of the devil’s domain.
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col 1:13).