What do the 10 toes and feet of iron and clay represent in Daniel 2?
They represent the revived Roman Empire, understood as Western Europe coming to the fore. In Daniel 2, this final iron-and-clay stage follows the Gentile empires in proximity to Israel: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece, and Rome, pointing to that revived Roman power.
Les explains that Daniel is interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The great image had a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of brass, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron mixed with clay. Les teaches this pictured all the great Gentile empires that were in proximity with Israel: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece, and Rome. He identifies the ten toes and feet of iron and clay as the revived Roman Empire, which he thinks is Western Europe as it comes to the fore. He also notes that all prophecy deals with nations that had something to do with Israel in the past, which is why he does not place America in prophecy.
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 threshingfloors; 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.
More Questions
What Gentile empires are pictured in the Daniel 2 image, and in what order did they come?
The empires pictured in the dream came in succession: first the Babylonian, then the Medes and Persians, then the Greek, then the Roman, and all of them were in the area of Jerusalem and had to do with the nation of Israel.
Why does the destruction of the statue in Daniel 2 start at the feet instead of the head?
Christ's Second Coming destroys the image beginning with the feet rather than the head, because a stone that smashes a standing image starts at the bottom, so He destroys first the empire contemporary with that day, the revived Roman Empire.