254    The Bible and the Future of the World 

monarch) are less pleasing to God and less pure. Some of these have women 

political leaders, represented by the breasts of the statue, as well as men 

political leaders, represented by the arms. Two of the groups of nations have 

women leading or in prominent roles of political leadership, and the other 

two have men in the most prominent roles of political leadership. 

The third part of the statue, the belly and thighs, is made of brass. This 

represents a later kingdom, many years after the division of the monarch s 

kingdom into four. This kingdom is even less faithful to God and less 

reasonable than the monarch s kingdom, for it is made only of brass, not 

gold or silver, and it is even further from the head, the source of reason, and 

is even away from the heart within the chest. This kingdom is governed 

according to the needs of the belly, the needs of the body, not the soul. It is 

governed also by the desires of the flesh, since the loins are included in this 

part of the statue. This kingdom has many sexual sins, permitted and even 

encouraged under the laws and customs. It is a kingdom which seeks to 

move beyond its borders, acquiring land and subjects, as represented by the 

upper legs, used to travel and to march to war. And this kingdom is openly 

hostile to religion. 

The fourth kingdom is not like the others. It is a strange kingdom, part of 

iron and part of clay. In the Old Testament, clay represents human beings or 

human nature, because Adam was made from the dust or clay of the earth. 

Iron is often mentioned in the context of false gods and idols, which are said 

to be made of gold, silver, iron, stone, and wood. Iron can also be taken, in 

the context of a prophecy about a kingdom of the distant future, to represent 

technology. So, the fourth kingdom is one of false gods and an unwise use of 

technology. But, since it mixes iron and clay together, this kingdom will also 

mix technology with human biology in some way. This kingdom is 

hundreds of years in the future, in the A.D. 2400 s, so it is difficult to know 

what the specifics will be. 

The fourth kingdom is the kingdom of the ten kings and of the Antichrist. 

The shins are made of iron, and the feet are made of iron and clay. The 

shins made only of iron represent the kingdom of the ten kings, which 

becomes the kingdom of the Antichrist, represented by the iron mixed with 

clay. This kingdom also marches to war, but it does not merely conquer, it 

crushes and tramples over the remainder. And this kingdom is not only 

hostile to religion, it tries to destroy all true religion and to raise up its 

leader, the Antichrist, as if he were a god.