The Origin of the Church

The Book of Daniel presents the origin of the church of Christ with dramatic imagery. During Judah’s Babylonian captivity, King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about an image and a stone that Daniel described as follows:

31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Dan 2:31-35)

What does the image mean? World History confirms that:

• The Head of Gold symbolized the Babylonian Kingdom that arose in 600 BC and fell in 536 BC.
• The Breast and Arms of Silver symbolized the Medo-Persian Kingdom that conquered Babylon but fell in 330 BC.
• The Belly and Thighs of Brass symbolized the Macedonia Kingdom, established by Alexander the Great and Divided among his generals in 323 BC.
• The Legs of Iron and Feet of Iron and Clay symbolized Rome’s rise as an established world power led by Octavius Caesar in 30 BC.

The imagery symbolizes the rise and fall of universal empires. The “stone struck the image” symbolizes the church of Christ, which would start on Pentecost, after the beginning of the Roman Empire in 30 AD (Acts 2:1-4; 11:15). How do we know the stone is the church of Christ? When the Apostle Paul sent his greetings to the church in Rome, he exclaimed, “Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you” (Rom 16:16).

The Book of Revelation reveals that Satan, defeated at the cross, deceived the Roman Empire into launching a Roman-Jewish War between 64 -70 AD. The purpose was to destroy Jerusalem, the Temple, Jewish Christians, and the church of Christ. The book also shows how Daniel’s prophecy is fulfilled. Jesus again defeats Satan, and the Roman Empire is eventually “carried away so that no trace of them was found” as a divided Rome fell between 395 and 476 AD, but the church of Christ continues now, and forever!    ~Herb Turner