The iron and clay depict the final Gentile empire as partly strong and partly broken, and Les Feldick identifies it with the Western European consortium today.
Daniel 2:41-43 says the kingdom will be divided and partly strong, partly broken, with iron mixed with clay not cleaving together. Les Feldick explains this as the revived Roman Empire in Western Europe: it has real strength, but centuries of national hatreds make it fragile. He also says the Antichrist will arise out of that final consortium of ten nations, and Christ's stone kingdom will eventually crush it.
Daniel 2:41-43 — These verses directly describe the feet and toes as iron mixed with clay and the kingdom as divided — partly strong, partly broken.
Daniel 2:34-35 — These verses show the stone striking the image on its feet and then grinding the entire image to powder.
In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream shows a great image with a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of brass, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and part of clay. When the passage reaches the feet and toes, it says the kingdom shall be divided, and it will have the strength of iron while being partly strong and partly broken. Verse 43 says that even when they mingle with the seed of men, they will not cleave one to another, just as iron is not mixed with clay. The dream also shows a stone cut out without hands striking the image on its feet of iron and clay and breaking them to pieces. Then the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold all become like chaff and are blown away, and the stone becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. God then sets up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Les places the iron and clay at the end of a succession of Gentile empires pictured in Nebuchadnezzar's image. He sees the legs of iron as the Roman Empire divided East and West, and the feet and toes of iron and clay as the revived Roman Empire — the present European community taking shape in Western Europe. He says militarily each empire grew stronger, but politically each became weaker, so the iron and clay represent an even weaker political consortium of material. Les illustrates this with a farmer's memory: mixing good cement with ordinary gravel instead of washed sand produces concrete that soon crumbles because it cannot cleave together. He applies that to Europe, where nations have hated each other for centuries. Even though they have agreed to unite politically and economically in a United States of Europe, the union is fragile because of latent national hatreds. Out of that final consortium, which he says will settle into ten nations, the Antichrist will arise. When Christ returns, the stone cut out without hands will strike the image on its feet and crush every residue of Gentile rule.
Les, an old farmer, remembers when farmers mixed concrete with whatever gravel they could get instead of washed sand. Even with the best cement, that concrete would not last and would begin to crumble because it lacked the ability to cleave. He applies the illustration directly to Europe: the nations have hated each other 'with a passion' for hundreds of years, and those hatreds run deep. Therefore, even when they unite, the union has strength but also an inherent weakness.
Daniel 2 says the stone cut out without hands strikes the image on its feet — the empire on the scene at that time — and breaks the whole image to pieces. Les identifies that empire as the revived Roman Empire, the iron and clay toes. He points out that in verse 35 all the residues of the Gentile empires — iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold — become like chaff and are blown away. In their place God sets up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
Les says the Antichrist will come out of the geographical area of the old Roman Empire, and he personally thinks from Western Europe. He does acknowledge that others believe the Middle East or Mediterranean, but the key is that he arises from the empire pictured by the iron and clay. Out of the final consortium of ten nations — whether the European union currently has twelve, fourteen, eight, or nine — the Antichrist will come, because the book says the number will be ten.
Antichrist From the Old Roman Empire
Les teaches that the Antichrist will arise from the geographical area of the old Roman Empire, and he personally thinks from Western Europe. This connects the iron and clay of the image to the man who will lead the final empire.
Concrete Without Washed Sand
Les shows how iron and clay picture a union with real strength that cannot hold together. He compares it to cement made with gravel instead of washed sand, which crumbles because it lacks the ability to cleave.
Ascending Military Power, Descending Political Power
Les explains that each successive empire was militarily greater but politically weaker, and he calls the iron and clay an even weaker consortium of material, applying it to the revived Roman Empire in Western Europe.
Partly Strong, Partly Broken
Les reads Daniel 2:41 and 43 directly, noting that the kingdom is partly strong, partly broken, and that the iron and clay admixture produces no real strength.
Daniel 2 Explained: The Stone Kingdom That Fills the Earth
Now you come on down, which of course the legs of the Roman Empire, the East and the West. The East of course was capitalized in Constantinople, and the West stayed at Rome. But then as we come on down, let's read it now in the text. Verse 41, and whereas you saw the feet and toes, part potter's clay, part iron, the kingdom shall be divided, East and West.
The Stone Strikes the Feet
Les teaches that the stone cut out without hands is Christ's second coming, striking the revived Roman Empire that is on the scene, and that all residues of Gentile empires become like chaff in Daniel 2:35.
Fragile United States of Europe
Les teaches that even though European nations have agreed to unite politically and economically, latent hatreds make the union fragile, exactly as iron and clay depict. He also says the Antichrist will come out of the final ten-nation consortium.
The Iron and Clay Toes as the Revived Roman Empire
Les identifies the iron and clay toes as the revived Roman Empire and says when the Lord returns He will crush everything that represents Gentile rule and empire.
Daniel 2:34: 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.
This verse directly connects the stone's judgment to the feet of iron and clay.
Daniel 2:35: 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.
This shows the complete end of the Gentile image when the stone kingdom replaces it.
Daniel 2:41: 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.
This gives the first explicit meaning of the mixed feet and toes.
Daniel 2:42: 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.
This states the resulting condition of the final kingdom: partly strong and partly broken.
Daniel 2:43: 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.
This explains the inability of the parts to hold together permanently.
Daniel 2:44: 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.
This gives the outcome: God's permanent kingdom replaces the empires.
It describes the feet and toes as part iron and part clay: there is iron strength in the final kingdom, but the clay makes it brittle and divided. Les says this is why a political and economic union of European nations is still fragile.
Daniel 2:43 says they will not cleave because iron is not mixed with clay. Les applies this to centuries of hatred among European nations that prevents true cohesion, even when they unite.
Yes. He sees the ten toes of iron and clay as the revived Roman Empire taking shape in Western Europe, and he expects a United States of Europe made up of ten nations from which the Antichrist arises.
Watch the Teaching: Daniel's Four Beasts and the Revived Roman Empire Explained