JEWISH ACCEPTANCE OF THE ANTICHRIST

"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (Dan. 2:31-35).

The Stone = Jesus at His Second Coming (Mt. 7:24 w/ 1 Cor. 3:11; Mt. 21:42-44; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Pet. 2:4, 8; etc.).  Gold = Babylon (Dan. 2:38).  Silver = Medes and Persians (Dan. 5:28).  Brass = Greece (Dan. 8:20-21).  Iron = Rome (Dan. 7:7, 19).  Iron and clay = Revised Roman Empire and ? (Dan. 9:26).  So, what does the clay represent?

"Clay" is defined as "a heavy, sticky material, made from dirt mixed with small amounts of water, which can be formed into different shapes."  The word "clay" in Daniel, is the Hebrew חֲסַף , and, oddly enough, it is defined as "clay."  חֲסַף translated "clay," appears seven times in the Bible, all in Daniel 2:33-45.  

It would seem that "clay," as it is used by Daniel, could be interpreted as representing many things.  However, rather than go into all the possibilities, I would like to "take a guess!"  First, this evil empire will be a mixture of the Revised Roman Empire (Iron), and something made up of dirt and a water.  In Revelation 13, there are two "Beasts."  The first is said to "rise up out of the sea" (13:1), and the second is described as "coming up out of the earth" (13:11).  Most students of Bible prophecy believe that the "sea" represents all "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17:15).  "Earth," as it is used here, has often been interpreted as "the land," or "the promised land":  Israel.

There are numerous Scriptures which describe the first "Beast," and most scholars agree that he is the soon-coming Antichrist, and that he will be a man from somewhere within the territory once controlled by the Roman Empire.  But the second "Beast" is a little more difficult to identify.  Will he be a Jew?  Perhaps.  Daniel, in writing of Israel's "seventieth week" (9:27), says the first "Beast" will reject "the God of his fathers" (Dan. 11:37).  The second "Beast" will do miracles and call fire down from heaven (Rev. 13:13-14), much like Jewish prophets of old!  He is from the "dirt," and he supports the one from the "water."  Together, they sure do sound like clay to me!  A false messiah accepted by a false high priest?  Sounds consistent with Israel living three and a half years in peace (Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:3-15; Rev. 6-12)!

The Church will be gone! 

What religion is the focus of the first half of the Tribulation?