Daniel 2:44 KJV
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
A good question to ask is "what kings are being referred to here? And what kingdoms are being spoken of?"
Daniel 2:41-43 KJV
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. [43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
In this imagery, the toes are referred to as representing a condition of a single kingdom (the fourth iron kingdom, apparently). While
Daniel 7 goes into more detail about what grows out of the fourth kingdom, such detail is not found here. The ten toes are not said to represent any particularity themselves, as far as their number and location is concerned, only in regards to their substance being symbolic of the partly strong-partly weak character of the divided fourth kingdom of iron. So then it seems that "these kings" is NOT a reference to the toes in themselves, but instead is a reference to the rulers of each of the four component parts of the statue. "These kingdoms" then is a reference to the same four kingdoms represented by the whole statue.
Which then raises the question... when was the kingdom of God "set up"? Many try to say it was during the days of the kings represented by the toes, but that as we have just seen is clearly not in view. To put it simply, in the days of these kings means during the time of THE STATUE. That is to say, as the statue represents human dominance and governance, it would be during
that time that God would set up a Divine Kingdom.
Which simply means that the kingdom of God would NOT be set up AFTER THE FALL OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT (thus refuting some of the more fanciful futurist interpretations of prophecy). Rather, the kingdom of God would be set up CONCURRENTLY with the kingdoms of men. It would grow and increase until eventually displacing the kingdoms of men, and would then never go away.
It would "break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms", that is to say,
the reign of man (represented by Babylon, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman empires) would be destroyed and replaced by
the reign of God. Nothing requires all four kingdoms to be
simultaneously existing at the time of this Great Replacement (see what I did there?) of the four component parts of the statue.
The only timing element that might be in view is in the dream wherein the Stone smashes the human statue
on the feet. Meaning that it would be during the divided "iron mixed with clay" phase of the fourth kingdom that the human empire represented by the statue would be destroyed by the kingdom of God. But once again we have to keep in mind
there is no indication of how long any of this would take.
It should also be pointed out that each of these four successive human kingdoms are essentially GENTILE kingdoms, that is to say, they are representative of not merely human society, but GODLESS and UNCOVENANTED human society. They are "the heathen empires" contrasted with the kingdom of Jehovah. And what is the kingdom of Jehovah?
Psalm 114:1-2 KJV
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; [2] Judah was his sanctuary, and
Israel his dominion.
1 Chronicles 17:11-15 KJV
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. [12] He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. [13] I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: [14] But I will settle him in mine house and
in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. [15] According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
1 Chronicles 28:4-5 KJV
Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel: [5] And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of
the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
2 Chronicles 13:6-8 KJV
Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. [7] And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. [8] And now ye think to withstand
the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
While it is true that in a general sense all of creation is the Lord's kingdom, there is a special sense in which Israel is spoken of as the Lord's kingdom in contradistinction to the heathen kingdoms and powers.
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