“And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. “ Daniel 2:41-43
Daniel tells the king that the fourth and last kingdom will change appearance. The kingdom morphs from two strong legs made of solid iron to ten toes formed from a mixture of iron and clay.
And as you saw Daniel continues with the king’s dream. The feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of
iron God moves the king’s focus downward to the feet of the
image. He told the king about the legs of but here he focuses on what
seems to be insignificant – the toes of the image – the bottom.
It shall be a divided kingdom Daniel says this kingdom is a split
kingdom. The kingdom began as the two legs of the image but here it
divides even further into ten (toes) parts – smaller, fragile, evil.
But some is of the firmness of iron shall be in it Daniel goes back to the composition of the feet. They are mostly clay but some of the strong hard iron of the legs are mixed into it. Iron –
the harshness and cruelty; clay – the mire and evil of mankind – intermingled.
Just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay Daniel reminds the king that he also saw clay in the feet. The feet were not pure iron like the two legs it is also soft clay – weak. Here Daniel makes a critical point. The clay and the iron are mixed. The word mixed means combined and it is only used here in the entire book. There are two ways clay and iron could be combined. First the pieces of iron could be scattered throughout the clay – interspersed together. Second, the iron, “bones of the foot and toes”, could be covered with clay so that the harshness and strength is covered by a veneer of what appears to be softness but which is really evil.
And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay. So the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. The mixture of iron and clay makes the foot unstable. This shows us confusion and disharmony, strength but with major weakness.
As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay Psalm 40:2 says “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay”. This tells us that clay is the evil of sin and destruction. (The stature has moved from a head of gold to the clay of evil – it’s deterioration is striking.
So They will mix with one another in marriage The clay can also picture of Judaism (God is the potter. Israel is the clay). In the final form of the fourth kingdom, we know the Antichrist forms an alliance with Israel, promising it peace and allowing it to worship in its temple. The attempt to “marry’ Israel to the Antichrist is Satan’s attempt to steal God’s wife.
But they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay The attempt to marry or merge Israel with the rule of the Gentiles will not be successful. Eventually this world kingdom will demand to
be worshipped and true Israel will flee to safety in the middle of the Tribulation. But that’s a prophecy for another day. The king sees the image but there is more truth to come