DANIEL 2 & THE APOTELESMATIC PRINCIPLE Ritchie Way

Part of the legacy passed on to us by Desmond Ford is a knowledge and understanding of the apotelesmatic principle. The word, apo-teles-matic, is a compound Greek word referring to any prophecy that has expanding multiple fulfilments.
DANIEL 2
Perhaps the clearest and most impressive demonstration of the apotelesmatic principle at work is seen in the historical fulfilments of the prophecy of Daniel 2. Daniel 2, as we all know, is a prophecy presented as an image of a man made of four different metals plus a combination of metal with earth. The first metal is gold, the second silver, the third bronze, the fourth iron and the fifth a combination of iron and clay.
A rock sent from heaven strikes this human image with such force that it is pulverised into dust. The dust is then blown away by the wind and the heaven-sent rock grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth.

The First Fulfilment
The first fulfilment of this prophecy was a local fulfilment in which the whole image, from head to toe, represented the kingdom of Babylon, and the rock that destroyed the image became a mountain that we know as the kingdom of Persia.
The first king of neo-Babylonia was Nebuchadnezzar II; he was the head of gold. The second king was Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Evil-Merodach; he was the breast and arms of silver. The third king was Neriglissar; he was symbolised by the belly and thighs of bronze. The fourth king was Labashi-marduk and he was the legs of iron. The fifth king of Babylon was Nabonidus, who ruled Babylon as co-regent with his son, Belshazzar. Nabonidus was the iron in the feet, while his son, Belshazzar, was the clay.
The prophecy of Daniel 2 foretold that, in the latter days of the neo-Babylonian empire, the feet of the image would be struck by a stone from heaven which would bring the whole image crashing down. This judgement (mene, mene, tekel upharsin) was enacted against the viceroy, Belshazzar, by Cyrus, God’s divinely appointed stone (Jer. 29:10; Isa. 45:1). He was the one who brought the Babylonian kingdom to an end and released the Hebrews slaves. And that stone grew into a mountain called Persia which filled the whole of the then-known world.

The Second Fulfilment
The second fulfilment of Daniel 2 applied to the spiritual kingdom (the kingdom of grace) that Jesus established at his first advent.
The head of gold represented Babylon; the breast and arms of silver represented Medo-Persia; the belly and thighs of bronze represented the nation of Greece and the legs of iron represented Rome. The feet of iron and clay represented the unholy alliance of Rome (iron) and Jewry (clay) which united to destroy Christ (John 18:35). However, while they came together, they could not stay together and war broke out between the two, with the result, that Palestine was emptied of Jews.
What Rome and Jewry did not foresee, was that their crucifixion of Christ helped to create the kingdom of the stone, which will eventually crush them. It was Christ’s death that opened the door to his kingdom to every person who chooses to enter by that sacrifice. This kingdom is in the process of growing into a mighty mountain that will eventually fill the whole earth.

The Third Fulfilment
The third fulfilment of Daniel 2 will apply to the literal kingdom (the kingdom of glory) that Jesus will establish at his second coming.
Once again the head of gold represents Babylon; the breast and arms of silver represent Medo-Persia; the belly and thighs of bronze represent the nation of Greece and the legs of iron represent Rome. As in the spiritual application, the feet of iron and clay represent the unholy alliance of the ten-horned beast (iron) and the prostitute (clay) which will unite to destroy the followers of Christ (Rev. 17:1-6).1 This future union of world-wide religious power and world-wide secular power, which will seek to destroy Christ in the person of his representatives, will, however, last only for a short time, for while the secular beast and apostate religion will come together, they will not stay together.2 Scripture says ‘The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire’ (Rev. 17:16). Thus the iron and the clay lose their cohesion as Daniel prophesied.
Upon this falling-out of his enemies Christ will descend as a mighty stone from heaven. This stone will completely annihilate all the rejecters of God’s free grace through Jesus and they will be blown away, so that not a mote remains. Christ’s kingdom will then occupy the whole earth for ever and ever.

Endnotes:
1. This union of church and state is the apotelesmatic part of the vision.
2. France, which gave its power to the Papacy, turned upon the Papacy and took the Pope into captivity in 1798.