Babylon, the Craftsmen, and the Feet of Iron and Clay

 

Preface 

This study follows a continuous scriptural thread that spans from the earliest foundations of human civilization to the prophetic culmination of history. It examines how recurring patterns, symbols, and structures appear across the Torah, Prophets, Writings, and Apostolic texts, forming a unified narrative that unfolds progressively across time.

Rather than treating prophetic passages as isolated events, this work traces the internal coherence of Scripture — how earlier patterns become later realities, how physical imagery carries spiritual meaning, and how the same structural language reappears from Genesis through Revelation.

The purpose of this note is not to impose an external framework, but to observe how the text itself develops themes of formation, authority, craftsmanship, covenant identity, and the eventual collapse of human systems before divine intervention. The reader is invited to follow the internal logic of Scripture as it builds, layer by layer, toward its final prophetic resolution.

1. The Image of Nebuchadnezzar and the Final Kingdom of Iron Mixed With Clay — A Continuous Scriptural Thread

In the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is not merely a prophecy of successive empires. It is a revelation of how human civilization develops, accumulates knowledge, absorbs wisdom, and finally reaches a saturation point before divine interruption.

📖Dan 2:31  “You, O sovereign, were looking on, and saw a great image! This great image, and its brightness excellent, was standing before you, and its form was awesome. 
📖Dan 2:32  “This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 
📖Dan 2:33  its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 
📖Dan 2:34  “You were looking on, until a stone was cut out without hands, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 
📖Dan 2:35  “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing-floors. And the wind took them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled all the earth. 
📖Dan 2:36  “This is the dream, and its interpretation we declare before the sovereign. 
📖Dan 2:37  “You, O sovereign, are a sovereign of sovereigns. For the Elah of the heavens has given you a reign, power, and strength, and preciousness, 
📖Dan 2:38  and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. 
📖Dan 2:39  “And after you rises up another reign lower than yours, and another third reign of bronze that rules over all the earth. 
📖Dan 2:40  “And the fourth reign is as strong as iron, because iron crushes and shatters all. So, like iron that breaks in pieces, it crushes and breaks all these. 
📖Dan 2:41  “Yet, as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the reign is to be divided. But some of the strength of the iron is to be in it, because you saw the iron mixed with muddy clay. 
📖Dan 2:42  “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the reign is partly strong and partly brittle. 
📖Dan 2:43  “And as you saw iron mixed with muddy clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men, but they are not clinging to each other, even as iron does not mix with clay. 
📖Dan 2:44  “And in the days of these sovereigns the Elah of the heavens shall set up a reign which shall never be destroyed, nor the reign pass on to other people – it crushes and puts to an end all these reigns, and it shall stand forever.
📖Dan 2:45  “Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great Elah has made known to the sovereign what shall be after this. And the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel 2 describes a single image composed of different metals:

• Head of gold

• Chest and arms of silver

• Belly and thighs of bronze

• Legs of iron

• Feet partly iron and partly clay

The important thing to understand is that this is one statue. It is not a series of disconnected kingdoms. It is a continuous system. Each phase builds upon what came before it.

• Gold transitions to silver.
• Silver transitions to bronze.
• Bronze transitions to iron.
• Iron ends in a strange mixture: iron and clay.

That final mixture is the key to understanding the nature of the last kingdom.

Daniel says of this final phase:

“The kingdom shall be divided… partly strong and partly fragile… they shall mix with the seed of men, but they shall not cling to one another.” (Daniel 2:41–43)

So the final kingdom is:

• Strong like iron
• Weak like clay
• Trying to unite
• Unable to hold together

This is not just political instability. It is structural instability at the level of civilization itself.

To understand why iron and clay appear together, we must go back to the origin of metalwork in Scripture. 

2. The Two Origins of Metal Wisdom in Scripture:

A. The first mention of metalworking in the Bible comes from Genesis 4:

📖Gen 4:19  And Lemeḵ took for himself two wives, the name of one was Aḏah, and the name of the second was Tsillah. 
📖Gen 4:20  And Aḏah bore Yaḇal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents, with livestock. 
📖Gen 4:21  And his brother’s name was Yuḇal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. 
📖Gen 4:22  As for Tsillah, she also bore Tuḇal-Qayin, a smith of all kinds of tools in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tuḇal-Qayin was Na‛amah. 

This is the earliest human metal tradition. It arises from the line of Qayin. It represents human technological development. Skill. Craft. Tools. Force. Shaping the world through metal.

This is the first stream: human-derived craft.

B. The second stream appears in Exodus 31.

📖Exo 31:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, 
📖Exo 31:2  “See, I have called by name Betsal’ěl son of Uri, son of Ḥur, of the tribe of Yehuḏah, 
📖Exo 31:3  and I have filled him with the Spirit of Elohim in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all work, 
📖Exo 31:4  to make designs for work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, 
📖Exo 31:5  and in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, and to work in all work. 

Yahuah calls BetsalEL and fills him:

• With wisdom

• With understanding

• With knowledge

• With skill

To work in:

• Gold

• Silver

• Bronze

• Stone

• Wood

This is not inherited skill. This is Spirit-given craft. Set apart craft. Temple building craft.

BetsalEL: Means 'In the Shadow of Elohim'

Bet: In

Tsel: Shadow

EL: Short form for Elohim

So now Scripture presents two distinct origins of metal wisdom:

One comes from the lineage of man — Tubal-Qayin.
One comes from the Spirit of Elohim — BetsalEL

Both deal with metals. Both produce craftsmanship. But one is human tradition; the other is divinely imparted wisdom.

These two streams continue through history.

C. The skill of Tubal Qain:

1. Spread into Early Civilization

This metal skill becomes foundational for:

• Weapons

• Cities

• Agriculture tools

• Defensive systems

By the time of early kingdoms, metallurgy = dominance.

This stream builds:

• Fortresses

• Armies

• Empire infrastructure

It is technical wisdom.

But not covenant wisdom.

2. Egypt — Industrial Power State

By the time YasharEL is enslaved:

Egypt already possesses:

• Smelting

• Stone-cutting

• Monumental architecture

• Weapon systems

This is Tubal-Qayin’s stream matured into empire.

3. YasharEL enters Egypt as:

• Shepherds

Leaves Egypt knowing:

• Brick

• Construction

• Labor systems

Egypt represents a mature form of the human craft stream.

4. Babylon — Beginning and Peak of Human Craft Civilization

Babylon becomes the ultimate expression of this stream.

Daniel 1–5 reveals:

Babylon contains:

• Architects

• Metal workers

• Scholars

• Astronomers

• Builders

• Image makers

Nebuchadnezzar’s image itself is metal.

Daniel 3: A giant metal statue is erected for worship.

📖Dan 3:1  Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar the sovereign made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Baḇel. 

Metal + power + worship converge.

This is Tubal-Qayin’s line reaching civilizational climax.

5. Tyre — The Artisan Empire

Tyre becomes the technical capital of the ancient world.

📖Eze 27:12  “Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your merchandise. 
📖Eze 27:13  “Yawan, Tuḇal, and Mesheḵ were your traders. They exchanged slaves and objects of bronze for your merchandise. 

Ezekiel 27 lists its exports (Only the scripture related to metal works quoted above):

• Bronze

• Iron

• Ivory

• Wood

• Gold

• Silver

• Skilled craftsmanship

Tyre produces master craftsmen.

From Tyre comes Hiram.

 Hiram — Fusion Point

Hiram of Tyre builds the Temple metalwork.

📖1Ki 7:13  And Sovereign Shelomoh sent and brought Ḥiram from Tsor. 
📖1Ki 7:14  He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tsor, a bronze worker. And he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to Sovereign Shelomoh and did all his work.

He is:

• From Tyre

• From a mixed lineage

• Master of metal

Here something remarkable happens:

The Tubal-Qayin stream enters the sanctuary. But under Solomon’s authority. This is the first fusion moment. Human technical skill is used for sacred purpose.But it is still external craftsmanship.

3. If Qayin's seed was destroyed by flood -how did the Tubal Qayin's craftsmanship continue?

A. First anchor: The Flood DID end Qayin’s bloodline

Scripture is explicit:

📖Genesis 7:23 “All that existed on the dry land died… only Noaḥ and those with him in the ark remained alive.”

So biologically:

• Qayin’s lineage ended
• Tubal-Qayin’s descendants ended
• That specific genetic line did not continue

This part is certain.

But the Flood did NOT erase human knowledge

Here is the missing piece most people overlook.

Noah lived in the pre-Flood world.

📖Genesis 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Yapheth. 

Noah was born centuries before the Flood.

📖Genesis 7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 

Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came.

This means:

Noah lived hundreds of years in the world where:

• Cities existed
• Music existed
• Metalwork existed
• Agriculture existed

So Noah had exposure to that entire civilization.

B. Knowledge can survive without the bloodline surviving

The crafts did not need Tubal-Qayin’s descendants to survive.

They only needed:

• Memory
• Teaching
• Transmission

And Noah lived long enough to carry forward:

• Skills
• Techniques
• Cultural knowledge

After the Flood, Noah’s sons repopulate the earth. Genesis 9–10 shows civilization restarting very quickly.

This implies:

Knowledge moved through Noah & his sons,
not through Qayin’s descendants.

So:

• The bloodline ended
• The knowledge did not.

C. Evidence: Post-Flood world already knows complex skills

Look how fast civilization reappears:

Genesis 10:

• Kingdoms form
• Cities are built
• Nations spread

Genesis 11:

• Brick-making technology
• Tower construction
• Urban planning

📖Gen 11:3  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 

This is organized construction knowledge.

So by Babel:

Human technical skill is already back.

That knowledge had to come from somewhere.

The only surviving source: Noah’s family and Yapeth his son was the progenitor of Gentiles

📖Gen 10:2  The sons of Yapheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yavan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 
📖Gen 10:3  And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 
📖Gen 10:4  And the sons of Yavan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 
📖Gen 10:5  By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. 

D. Tubal-Qayin represents is not just a person

Tubal-Qayin is the first named origin of metallurgy.

Genesis 4:22 “Instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.”

Notice the wording:

“Instructor לטש”

This means:

• He started a knowledge stream.
• That stream became part of human civilization.
• Even if the man died,
• the skill became part of humanity’s memory.

E. This actually strengthens the “two streams” idea

Because now the distinction becomes clearer:

Stream 1

Human-developed skill
Originated in early civilization
Passed down culturally

Stream 2

Spirit-imparted skill
Given directly by Elohim

These two are not bloodline streams.

They are: Knowledge streams.

F. Scripture itself shows knowledge can be transmitted

Example: Beṣal’el did not invent metalwork.

📖Exodus 31:3–5 “I have filled him with the Spirit of Elohim… to work in gold, silver, and bronze.”

Meaning:

The metal existed.
The techniques existed.

But Elohim gave:

Wisdom
Understanding
Design ability

So Betsal’el’s stream is not about inventing metal.

It is about: Sanctified craftsmanship.

G.The Bible never treats knowledge as tied to a bloodline

Even prophecy works this way.

Elijah → Elisha

Not same bloodline.

But same spirit.

So knowledge streams are transmitted spiritually and culturally.

So the correct understanding

• Tubal-Qayin = origin of human metallurgy
• Flood = end of that family
• Noah = carrier of human civilization knowledge
• Post-Flood world = rebuilding with inherited knowledge
• Betsal’el = divine infusion into existing craft

So the two streams are:

• Human-origin knowledge
• Divine-origin wisdom

Not:

Qayin lineage vs Yahudah lineage.

H. This deepens the theme

Because then the contrast becomes:

What man builds by learning
vs
What Elohim builds by revelation

Both use the same materials.

But the source of wisdom is different.

4. Babylon shows the human stream at full scale: Captures skill

A. By Daniel’s time:

Babylon has:

• Massive metallurgy
• Giant images
• Craft specialization
• Skilled class

That is the full maturity of civilization knowledge.

Not a bloodline from Tubal-Qayin, but a continuation of technical civilization.

When Babylon conquers Yahudah:

• 2 Kings 24
• Daniel 1

They take:

• Nobles

• Scholars

• Craftsmen

• Metal workers

Why?

Empires absorb skill.

Babylon gathers human craftsmanship into itself.

Revelation 18 later echoes this exact system

B.📜 2 Kings 24 — Deportation of Skilled People

📖2Ki 24:12 “And Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah, and his mother, and his servants, and his heads, and his eunuchs went out to the sovereign of Baḇel. And the sovereign of Baḇel, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.”
📖2Ki 24:13 “And he took from there all the treasures of the House of יהוה and the treasures of the sovereign’s house, and he cut in pieces all the objects of gold which Shelomoh sovereign of Yisra’ěl had made in the Hěḵal of יהוה, as יהוה had said.”
📖2Ki 24:14 “And he exiled all Yerushalayim, and all the officers and all the mighty brave men – ten thousand exiles – and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.”
📖2Ki 24:15 “And he exiled Yehoyaḵin to Baḇel. And the sovereign’s mother, and the sovereign’s wives, and his eunuchs, and the leading men of the land he exiled from Yerushalayim to Baḇel.”
📖2Ki 24:16 “And all the men of might, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for battle, these the sovereign of Baḇel brought captive to Baḇel.”

➡️ This explicitly lists:

• Officers / leaders

• Mighty men

• Craftsmen

• Smiths (metal workers)

And states clearly:

• “None remained except the poorest people of the land.”

---

C.📜 Daniel 1 — Nobles, Scholars, Educated Class Taken

📖Dan 1:1“In the third year of the reign of Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah, Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came to Yerushalayim and besieged it.”
📖Dan 1:2“And יהוה gave Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah into his hand, with some of the utensils of the House of Elohim, which he brought to the land of Shin‛ar to the house of his mighty one. And he brought the utensils into the treasure house of his mighty one.”
📖Dan 1:3–4 “And the sovereign said to Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Yisra’ěl and some of the king’s seed and of the nobles, youths in whom was no blemish, but good-looking, and skilful in all wisdom, and possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to stand in the sovereign’s palace, and to teach them the writing and language of the Kasdim.”

➡️ This shows Babylon selecting:

• The king’s seed

• Nobles

• Youths skilled in wisdom

• Educated class capable of administration

---

D.📜 Parallel emphasis in both passages

Taken to Babylon:

• Royal family

• Nobility

• Scholars / educated youths

• Craftsmen

• Smiths (metal workers)

• Temple vessels

Left behind:

• “Only the poorest people of the land” (2Ki 24:14)

This shows a deliberate transfer of:

• Skill

• Knowledge

• Craft

• Administration

• Temple metalwork tradition

From Yerushalayim → into Babylon.

5. The Wilderness Model

Important difference:

• Tubal-Qayin stream builds:
• Cities.
• Betsal’el stream builds:
• Tabernacle.
• One establishes civilization.
• One establishes presence.

A. Solomon’s Temple — The Convergence

At Solomon’s Temple:

Both streams meet.

From Betsal’el line:

• Sacred design tradition

• Sanctuary knowledge

From Tyre:

• Technical metallurgy

Hiram executes the bronze works.

So the Temple stands at the intersection of:

• Divine wisdom
• Human craftsmanship

B. The Decline

After Solomon:

The sacred system declines.

Eventually:

Temple vessels are carried to Babylon.

2 Kings 25
Daniel 1

Meaning:

• Sacred craftsmanship is swallowed by imperial civilization.
• This is the absorption of the Spirit-guided stream into the human power stream.

C. Prophetic Warning — King of Tyre

Ezekiel 28 describes the king of Tyre with Eden imagery.

Why?

Because Tyre represents:

• Perfected craftsmanship in a merger of both the streams (Human + Wisdom from Elohim)
• Wealth
• Beauty
• Trade
• Luxury

But then: Pride corrupts wisdom.

The man of sin in the paradox is likened to hold within his body the typology pattern of Eden, of a covering cherub. The chapter begins by asking him a question whether he is wiser than Daniel and whether no secret has been hidden from him? Most of the people believe this lamentation is for shatan who was in Eden without understanding the typology of the man of sin seated in the temple pattern likened as Eden which is the kingdom of Elohim. The usage of king of Tsur & his merchandise is parabolic as there was king named Hiram who was David's friend and had supplied Shelemoh skilled craftsmen, stone squarer's, cedar wood, cypress logs. There was also a skilled craftsman named Hiram from Tsur who did major work required in the temple. The sum held within the man of sin is the wisdom to make everything as per the pattern shown to them in the same likeness and measurements which would be a typology to the Tent from above made without hands.
The typology is also of Adam who was a type of him who was to come i.e. Mashiyach Yahusha (Rom 5:14) and Adam concealed in his body the pattern from above. Because the earthy man had to make way for the Heavenly man. Since, Yahusha came in the likeness of Adamic race, he is termed as the last Adam (1Corin 15:45).
So the man of sin is not one person, but one occupying the carnal pattern which was a typology of the heavenly pattern.
The word 'chattam' חתם H2856' in Ezekiel 28:12 translated as "sealing up" is a document which is rolled up and sealed with wet clay. The signet ring of the owner bears the image of his seal and is pressed into the clay.

📖Eze 28:12  “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the sovereign of Tsor, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “You were sealing up/'chattam' חתם H2856 a pattern, complete in wisdom and perfect in loveliness. 

So, the pattern is evident, the merger of human wisdom + wisdom of Elohim where the representor is puffed up in pride and portrays he has the wisdom of Elohim whereas Elohim has left the elements of Torah which was a tabanyth pattern (straw pattern of literalism) of the tokniyth pattern (heavenly -measured). The representor is left with the Tubal Qayin pattern mingled with some elements of craftmanship acquired through passing on wisdom of Elohim from father to son. He acts as a Covering Cherub but lacks and falls short. This is the picture.

So the human craft stream becomes: Self-exalting.

D. Revelation 18 — Final Stage

Mystery Babylon is described as:

Trading in:

• Gold

• Silver

• Bronze

• Iron

• Marble

• Wood

• Souls of men

This is the full maturation of Tubal-Qayin’s stream.

• Craft becomes commerce.
• Commerce becomes control.

📖Rev 18:11  “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any more – 

📖Rev 18:12  merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stone and pearls, and fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet, and all citron wood, and every object of ivory, and every object of most precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, 

📖Rev 18:13  and cinnamon and incense, and fragrant oil and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and horses and carriages, and bodies and lives of men.

E. THE DEEPER PATTERN

Across Scripture: These two streams continually intersect.

At moments they cooperate: (Tabernacle, Temple)

At later moments one absorbs the other: (Babylon capturing vessels and craftsmen)

At the end: Revelation shows the human craft stream dominating the body which once stood as the pattern in which Yahuah dwelt.

Daniel’s iron–clay in that trajectory

If Babylon historically absorbed:

• Temple vessels
• Craft tradition
• Human skill

Then Daniel’s final phase being a “mixture” fits a structural picture:

A system holding together:

• Power systems (iron)
• Human systems (clay)
• Skill systems
• Cultural systems
• But not truly unified.

Revelation 18 shows saturation

The list of materials in Rev 18 is not random.

It echoes:

• Temple materials
• Trade materials
• Craft materials

And then culminates in:

• Human lives as commodities.
• That’s the peak concentration point.
• Everything has become tradable.
• Even people.

Textually, there is a clear movement:

• Temple → Babylon (historical)
• Craft → Babylon (historical)
• Wealth → Babylon (historical)

Then in Revelation: Trade → Babylon (symbolic/prophetic)

So Babylon functions as:

• The collector
• The concentrator
• The aggregator

The Image Metals Now Make Sense

Now let's go back to Daniel’s image.

Gold → Silver → Bronze → Iron

These are not random materials.

• They are the metals of civilization.
• They are the metals of craftsmanship.
• They are the metals of trade.
• They are the metals of empire.

The statue is made of the very materials that built human society.

Then at the end, something strange happens:

• Iron mixes with clay.
• This is the final stage

Iron represents strength, force, structure, empire.

Clay represents humanity — dust-formed life.

So the final kingdom is:

• Power + people
• Structure + humanity
• Strength + fragility

Trying to merge. But not holding together.

6. Clay and Metal — The Temple Connection

In Solomon’s Temple, bronze was cast in clay moulds.

📖1Ki 7:45  and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls. And all these utensils which Ḥiram made for Sovereign Shelomoh for the House of יהוה were of polished bronze. 
📖1Ki 7:46  The sovereign had them cast in clay in the district of Yarděn between Sukkoth and Tsarethan. 

This means:

• Metal shaped through earth.
• Strength shaped through dust.

In Daniel’s final kingdom, iron is again mixed with clay.

But this time not in harmony. In instability.

It suggests a civilization where:

• Human life + technological power
• Human mass + structured systems

Are fused into one. But cannot remain united.

📖Dan 2:41  “Yet, as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the reign is to be divided. But some of the strength of the iron is to be in it, because you saw the iron mixed with muddy clay. 
📖Dan 2:42  “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the reign is partly strong and partly brittle. 
📖Dan 2:43  “And as you saw iron mixed with muddy clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men, but they are not clinging to each other, even as iron does not mix with clay. 

In 📖Daniel 2:43 the explanation is very specific: “They shall mix with the seed of men, but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not mix with clay.”

That phrase “potter’s clay” is important. Scripture is not speaking of any random earth. It is invoking the prophetic vocabulary of the potter and the vessel. Throughout the prophets, clay is consistently used as an image for the covenant people shaped by Elohim.

Jeremiah 18 presents Yahuah as the potter and Yashar’El as clay in His hands.

📖Jer 18:6  “O house of Yisra’ěl, am I not able to do with you as this potter?” declares יהוה. “Look, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Yisra’ěl! 
📖Isaiah 64:8 says  And now, O יהוה, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You our potter. And we are all the work of Your hand. 

So, when Daniel says iron is mixed into potter’s clay, the imagery allows a reading where:

• Clay = the covenant vessel

• Iron = foreign imperial strength

The two are brought together, but never truly become one.

This matches the historical pattern that unfolds in the latter kingdom period: the covenant nation increasingly entangled with foreign powers, tribute systems, and dependence on them.

• The iron does not become clay.
• The clay does not become iron.
• They remain different substances forced into contact.

7. The Potter’s Clay and the Temple Setting

The observation about potter’s clay and the Temple slope fits into the same symbolic field.

In the Temple economy:

• Clay vessels were common.

• Broken vessels were discarded.

• The potter’s field became associated with disposal, burial, and fragments.

In Matthew 27, Judas throws the thirty pieces of silver into the Temple. The priests use that money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.

📖Mat 27:5  And throwing down the pieces of silver in the Dwelling Place he left, and went and hanged himself. 
📖Mat 27:6  And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not right to put them into the treasury, seeing they are the price of blood.” 
📖Mat 27:7  So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field, for the burial of strangers. 
📖Mat 27:8  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood, until today. 

📖Zec 11:12  And I said to them, “If it is good in your eyes, give me my wages. And if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 

📖Zec 11:13  And יהוה said to me, “Throw it to the potter,” the splendid price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the House of יהוה for the potter. 

That location becomes tied to:

• Brokenness

• Death

• Discarded fragments

• Purchased ground tied to betrayal

So in the Gospel narrative, the potter’s ground is already associated with corruption inside the religious system.

That becomes a striking symbolic backdrop when placed beside Daniel’s imagery:

• Clay = religious vessel

• Iron = imperial power

• Mixing = compromised alliance

But Daniel insists: it will not hold.

8. The Parallel Drawn: Iron Entering the Clay — Political-Religious Entanglement

By the first century, the covenant nation exists under Roman rule.

Rome is iron-like in Daniel’s imagery:

• Structured

• Military

• Crushing

The religious leadership functions within that framework.

We see this tension clearly in the trial narrative:

• Religious authority operating inside imperial jurisdiction

• Roman power executing judgment

• Covenant structures intertwined with imperial machinery

This is iron and clay side by side.

They cooperate.
But they do not truly unite.

And the result proves Daniel’s point.

In 70 AD, the same imperial force that governed the land destroys:

• The city

• The Temple

• The national structure

The alliance collapses.

• Iron does not protect the clay.
• Iron eventually crushes it.

That historical event illustrates exactly the instability Daniel described: a kingdom partly strong, partly fragile, and unable to hold together.

9. The Stone Cut Without Hands

After describing the image, Daniel introduces the decisive moment.

A stone appears:

• Not quarried by human hands

• Not shaped by craftsmen

• Not cast in moulds

• Not formed by iron tools

It strikes the image at the feet — the iron-clay mixture.

And when it does, the entire statue collapses:

• Gold

• Silver

• Bronze

• Iron

• Clay

All fall together.

This detail is crucial.

The stone does not strike the head first.
It strikes the final stage — the unstable mixture.

And when the base is broken, the whole structure falls.

Then Daniel says the stone becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth.

This is temple language.

Mountains in Scripture are places of rule, dwelling, and divine presence.

The contrast is intentional:

• Earthly kingdoms are built through metal, craft, and power.
• The final kingdom is not built by human skill at all.
• It is “cut without hands.”

That phrase separates it from everything else in the image.

Earlier, temple stones were cut by human labor.
Quarrying, shaping, measuring — all by hand.

But this stone comes from another origin entirely.

It is not formed by:

• Metal tools

• Clay moulds

• Human planning

It is introduced from above.

10. The Structural Meaning of the Impact

When the stone strikes:

• The iron-clay mixture fails first.

• The entire layered system collapses together.

That means the final instability exposes the weakness of the entire structure.

The image was always one system.

From gold to iron, it is a continuous progression of human civilization — power, wealth, craft, empire.

• The feet reveal the fracture.
• The stone ends the whole structure.
• And then the stone becomes a mountain.

This is the opposite of the statue.

The statue is:

• Metal
• Crafted
• Layered
• Fragile at the base

The mountain is:

• Solid
• Uncut by men
• Permanent
• Expanding

It fills the earth.

11. The Thread Running Through All the Imagery

Seen together, the scriptural movement looks like this:

• Clay = the formed vessel

• Iron = imperial force

• Mixing = unstable alliance

• Collapse = inevitable judgment

• Stone = divine kingdom not made by man

• Mountain = enduring dwelling

Where human systems relied on:

• Craft

• Metal

• Trade

• Power

• Alliance

The final kingdom is introduced from outside that entire structure.

• Not built.
• Not negotiated.
• Not forged.
• Revealed.

📖Dan 2:37  “You, O sovereign, are a sovereign of sovereigns. For the Elah of the heavens has given you a reign, power, and strength, and preciousness, 
📖Dan 2:38  and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. 

So the image is not just metals.
It is a body.

And like any body:

• The head gives direction

• The body executes

• The feet carry the weight

Babylon is the head — the thinking center, the directing pattern.

Everything that follows is not separate kingdoms in isolation.
They are extensions of the same system.

The image is one continuous beastly structure unfolding across time.

Gold → silver → bronze → iron → iron mixed with clay

It is one body growing downward. So, the metals are not just about value. They show progressive densification and hardening of power.

1. Gold — concentrated royal splendor (Babylon)
2. Silver — structured administrative empire (Medes Persia)
3. Bronze — expansion through conquest (Greece)
4. Iron — crushing rule (Rome)
5. Iron + clay — final unstable phase (Rome mixed with Carnal Torah)

But the DNA of the system remains the same because the head directs the pattern.

That is why later in Revelation the beast has seven heads.

It is not a new creature.
It is the same power-stream seen across time.

12. Babylon as the Mind of the System

In Daniel, Babylon is not just the first empire historically.

It is the archetype.

It is:

• The seat of rule
• The center of wealth
• The organizer of civilization
• The capturer of temple vessels
• The absorber of skill and knowledge

From Babylon forward, empire becomes a repeatable model.

So when Daniel sees the statue, he is seeing the unfolding of a Babylonian pattern.

• The head thinks.
• The body carries out.

This is why the later kingdoms continue the same structure in different forms. They inherit the logic of Babylon. Revelation picks up this exact idea.

• The woman is called Babylon.
• The beast has multiple heads.

So the system is:

• One beast
• Seven heads (seven feasts, sacred cycles i.e Shemitah )
• Ten horns (ruling powers within them)

But the woman is named after the head.  She is called Babylon. That shows the continuity.

The Metals Flow Downward From the Head

• Iron does not appear suddenly.
• It comes at the end of a process.
• The image starts with gold.

Then moves through:

• Silver
• Bronze
• Iron

So each later phase carries the residue of the earlier one. This is not chemical language — it is structural imagery.

The power of empire becomes more:

• Dense

• Harsh

• Militarized

As history moves downward.

By the time we reach iron: The system is no longer about splendor (gold). It is about force.

📖Dan 2:40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 

Iron is described as:

• Crushing
• Breaking
• Subduing

So iron is the most aggressive phase of the same body that began with Babylon.

13. Why the Final Phase Is Iron Mixed With Clay

📖Daniel 2:41–43 says:

“The kingdom shall be divided… partly strong and partly broken.”
“They shall mix with the seed of men, but they shall not cling to one another.”

Now the system reaches its most unstable condition.

• The head began as unified gold.
• The feet end as mixture.
• Iron represents the hardened empire structure.
• Clay represents the human element — the vessel, the formed people.

When iron enters clay, it contaminates the vessel.

But it never bonds.

So the final phase is:

• Power mixed into humanity
• Empire entangled with covenant vessel
• Rule intertwined with religious structure

But unstable.That instability is the key.

When Daniel says “potter’s clay,” the phrase carries covenant overtones.

It is not random dirt.

It is formed vessel imagery.

So iron entering potter’s clay can be read as:

• Imperial power entering the covenant structure.
• And this is exactly what happens historically.

By the first century:

• Religious authority exists under imperial rule.

• Political and sacred structures become entangled.

14. Connecting Babylon, the Beast, and the Final Phase

If we line the imagery up:

Daniel:

• Head of gold = Babylon

• One body unfolding across time

• Final phase = iron mixed with clay

Revelation:

• Beast with seven heads

• Woman called Babylon

• Ten horns = ruling powers

So the same stream appears in two visions.

Babylon is:

• The origin

• The head

• The model

The later heads are successive expressions of the same beastly system.

The iron phase is the hardest expression of that system.

The iron–clay phase is the final unstable state of it. And the stone destroys the entire body at its weakest point.

15. 1 Kings 7:45–46 (bronze cast in clay)

This is a very interesting connection, but we must distinguish carefully between:

Daniel’s symbolic imagery

Temple metallurgy description

1 Kings 7:46 says: “The king had them cast in clay in the district of the Jordan…”

This is describing the manufacturing process:

Bronze melted

Poured into clay molds

Formed into sacred vessels

So here:

Clay is a mold

Bronze is shaped within it

This is physical craftsmanship, not prophetic symbolism.

A. The prophetic symbolism: 

A.1 How this ties to the ten kings imagery?

Daniel 2:

• Feet + 10 toes
• Mixed structure
• Final stage

Daniel 7:

• Ten horns
• Ten kings

Revelation 17:

• Ten horns
• Ten kings
• Short unified rule
• So the pattern that emerges textually:
• Final stage of history = Fragmented rulership
• Shared authority
• Structural instability

B. Potters vessel :

Psa 2:8 Ask of Me, and I make the nations Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth Your possession.
Psa 2:9 Break them with a rod of iron, Dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

B.1. Connection with clay extraction

A potter’s field existed where:

• Clay is dug from the ground
• The land becomes hollowed and uneven
• Eventually becomes unsuitable for building or farming
• Such places were often reused as:
• Refuse zones
• Burial grounds
• Potter workshops
• So the priests buying that land makes practical sense:
• Cheap land
• Already degraded
• Suitable for burying outsiders

B.2. Exact location of the Potter’s Field (Akeldama)

Scripture gives the identity and function of the place, but not coordinates. What we can determine with confidence from the biblical text plus consistent early tradition is:

• It was outside Yerushalayim
• It was a clay-extraction area
• It was used for burial of strangers
• It later became known as Akeldama (“Field of Blood”)

Matthew 27:7–8 “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”

Acts 1:19“…that field is called in their proper tongue, Akeldama, that is to say, The field of blood.”

So Scripture confirms:

• It was already known as a “potter’s field.”
• It was not inside the Temple complex.
• It became a burial ground.

B.3. Temple Mount vs opposite side

It was not on the Temple Mount.

Reason:

• The Temple Mount was sacred space.
• A burial ground could not exist there.
• Clay extraction and industrial work would not be permitted there.
• So the potter’s field must be:
• Outside the sacred precinct
• In an area where clay was naturally found

From historical records Akeldama is identified as: South of Yerushalayim In the Valley of Hinnom Below the city

This places it:

• Opposite the Temple Mount
• Down the slope
• In the valley region
• So in spatial terms:
• Temple Mount — elevated ridge
• City of David — descending south
• Valley of Hinnom — lower ground
• Akeldama — in that valley zone
• This is where clay deposits were abundant.
• That matches a “potter’s field.”

B.4. Where were the pots used?

Pottery in YasharEL had daily, temple, and burial uses.

Common uses:

• Water jars
• Storage vessels
• Cooking pots
• Temple vessels (non-metal)
• Burial containers

Scripture shows pottery as common and disposable:

📖Jer 19:1  Thus said יהוה, “Go and get a potter’s earthen jug, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. 
📖Jer 19:2  “Then you shall go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and shall proclaim there the words that I speak to you, 

Jeremiah is told to take a clay vessel and break it there as a sign of judgment.

📖Jer 19:10  “And you shall break the jug before the eyes of the men who go with you, 

📖Jer 19:11  and shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Even so I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which one is unable to repair again. And let them bury them in Topheth till there is no place to bury. 

Hence, broken pieces of pottery is an image of judgement as the pots can never be used and lies as a waste. Hence, when Yahusha is said to dash the pottery with the rod of iron is He meting out the judgment on the house of YasharEL who is the pot of clay, not ordinary clay but Potters clay.

📖Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 

📖Jer 18:5  Then the word of יהוה came to me, saying, 

📖Jer 18:6  “O house of Yisra’ěl, am I not able to do with you as this potter?” declares יהוה. “Look, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Yisra’ěl! 

The ruined clay mentioned in Jer 18:4-6 was when the clay was still wet and could be moulded into another vessel, but once dried and fashioned, if broken, would be rendered useless. This picture we see in Jeremiah 19:10-11 and Psalms 2:9.

So:

• Potter’s vessels = common, fragile, replaceable.
• Used symbolically to represent the nation.

This is why Psalm 2 uses the same imagery.

B. 5. Zechariah 11:13 — The Prophecy

Here is the key text:

📖Zechariah 11:13 “And יהוה said unto me, Throw it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was priced at of them.  And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of יהוה.”

This prophecy contains four elements:

1. Thirty pieces of silver
2. Thrown in the House of יהוה
3. Given “to the potter”
4. A contemptuous valuation

Matthew directly links this to Judas.

📖Mat 27:9  Then was filled what was spoken by Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him who was pierced, on whom they of the children of Yisra’ěl set a price, 
📖Mat 27:10  and gave them for the potter’s field, as יהוה had ordered me.

So Matthew interprets Zechariah like this:

• Judas throws the money in the Temple
• The priests use it
• It purchases the potter’s field

So “throw it to the potter” is fulfilled through:

Temple → money rejected → used to buy potter’s land.

The potter’s field functions as a theological sign-place in Scripture.

It was originally:

• A place where clay was taken from the earth
• A place where vessels were formed
• A place associated with the shaping of containers

Through Jeremiah’s prophecy, that same clay becomes the prophetic metaphor for YasharEL:

📖 Jer 18:6 “As the clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Yisra’ěl.”

So the land itself becomes symbolically tied to:

• Formation
• Identity
• Being shaped for purpose
• Covenant usefulness

Then the prophetic shift happens in Jeremiah 19

Now the same clay imagery moves from:

• Formation → to judgment

• Shaping → to shattering

This is the transition point.

The clay that once represented a people still being molded (Jer 18) becomes the hardened vessel that, once broken, cannot be restored (Jer 19).

That is the background into which the potter’s field later reappears.

In the Gospel narrative, the place connected to pottery becomes:

📖 Matt 27:7–8 “And they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.”

Here the symbolism completes its arc: The place where vessels were once formed becomes a place where the discarded are buried.

And the ones buried there are described as “strangers.”

That term carries covenant weight:

• Not belonging to a registered house
• No genealogical identity
• No inheritance claim
• No place in the ordered structure

So the site shifts meaning across Scripture:

1. Clay extracted → vessels formed
2. Vessel broken → judgment pronounced
3. Field purchased → strangers buried

The movement is from identity to loss of identity.

In Jeremiah, YasharEL is the clay in the potter’s hand.
In Jeremiah 19, YasharEL is the hardened vessel shattered.
In Matthew, the potter’s land becomes a burial place for those without place or name.

So the same ground becomes a sign of:

• Formation of covenant vessels
• Judgment on covenant vessels
• Burial of those outside covenant structure

That gives the location a layered prophetic continuity.

Within that frame, the rod-of-iron language of Psalm 2 fits the same pattern:

📖 Psa 2:9 “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The comparison is precise:

• Potter’s vessel = formed identity
• Broken vessel = judicial ending of that form

So the imagery is not about ordinary clay. It is about a vessel that once had shape, purpose, and designation.

When broken:

• It cannot be reshaped
• It cannot be restored to its former function
• It becomes discard

Thus, the potter’s field becoming a burial ground forms a symbolic inversion:

• Once a place of shaping vessels
• Now a place receiving the unclaimed

The location itself becomes a sign that the covenant vessel theme has reached its crisis point:

From being shaped
→ to being broken
→ to being set aside
→ to awaiting a new identity source.

16. The Historical Traditional Interpretation: Rome as the "Fourth Kingdom"

In the standard interpretation of Daniel 2, the legs of iron represent the Roman Empire. The feet of iron mixed with clay represent the final, fragmented stage of that same Roman authority—a "divided kingdom" that is partly strong and partly brittle. Historically, many scholars connect this to the fragmentation of Rome into the various nations of Europe and the Mediterranean.

A. Understanding the Potters Clay is the Key to interpretation

While some see the clay as representing "weak nations," many theological perspectives use internal biblical evidence to identify the clay: The "Potter’s Clay": Throughout Scripture, the "clay" specifically symbolizes YasharEL or the people of Elohim (Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:6).

The Unnatural Union: Under this view, the "iron mixed with clay" represents an unholy alliance between the secular/political power (Iron) and the religious/covenant people of Elohim (Clay).

Mangled Rule: This "mingling with the seed of men" (Daniel 2:43) is interpreted by some as a compromise where the set apart (clay) is mixed with the pagan/imperial (iron), resulting in a system that cannot truly adhere

B. Reconciling with "Mystery Babylon"

The reconciliation lies in the fact that "Babylon" in Revelation is not a literal geographic kingdom, but a spiritual system.

Succession of Spirit: Revelation 17 describes a beast with seven heads and ten horns and a woman rides on it termed as Mystery Babylon, The Mother of all Harlots. "Mystery Babylon" is the final, ultimate manifestation of the spirit of the original Babylonian system.

The Mother and Her Daughters: Just as the "Head of Gold" (Babylon) began the image, the "Mystery Babylon" of Revelation is the "Mother of Harlots"—the source of the same idolatry and rebellion that persists through all the kingdoms, including the final iron-clay feet.

The Harlot Rides the Beast: In Revelation, the "Woman" (a corrupt religious system, often linked to the "miry clay") sits upon the "Beast" (the political power, the iron). This mirrors the Daniel 2 vision of a fragile, forced union between a religious element and a political one

📖Dan 2:41  “Yet, as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s/pechar clay/chasaph and partly of iron, the reign is to be divided. But some of the strength of the iron is to be in it, because you saw the iron mixed with miry/ טִין tin clay/chasaph. 

B.1. Etymology and Root Meaning of  טִין:

The word טִין (ṭîn) refers specifically to mud, wet clay, or mire.

The Root: It is related to the Hebrew root ט-ו-ן (ton) or ט-י-ן (tin), which carries the idea of being moist, damp, or muddy.

Texture: Unlike dry, workable clay, ṭîn טִין is "miry"—it is the type of mud you find at the bottom of a pit or in a swamp. It is naturally sticky but lacks structural integrity. It clings to everything it touches, but you cannot build a stable foundation with it.

B.2. The Root of Pechar (פֶּחָר)

The word Pechar is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew Yatzar (יָצַר).

The Meaning: It means a potter or a fashioner.

The Hebraic Tie: In the Hebrew Bible, Yatzar is the word used for the Creator in Genesis 2:7, where He "formed" (yatzar) man from the dust. It is also the word used in Jeremiah 18:2-6, where Elohim is the Potter and YasharEL is the clay. By using the word Pechar, Daniel is making a direct linguistic callback to the "Potter of YasharEL." He is saying that the material in the feet isn't just random dirt; it is "Potter’s Clay"—material that was originally intended to be molded by the Divine Hand.

📖Gen 2:7  And יהוה Elohim formed/yatzar יָצַר the man out of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of lives. And the man became a living being.

📖Jer 18:6  “O house of Yisra’ěl, am I not able to do with you as this potter?” declares יהוה. “Look, as the clay is in the hand of the potter/yatzar יָצַר, so are you in My hand, O house of Yisra’ěl! 

B.3. The Collision: Pechar vs. Tin

The "reconciliation"  happens when we see how Daniel combines these terms:

📖Dan 2:41  “Yet, as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s/pechar clay/chasaph and partly of iron, the reign is to be divided. But some of the strength of the iron is to be in it, because you saw the iron mixed with miry/tin clay/chasaph. 

Chasaph Pechar (Potter's Clay): This represents the Covenant People (YasharEL). They are the material that belongs to the Potter.

Tin (Miry/Sticky Mud): This represents the defilement or the "unclean" state of that clay.

When Daniel says the feet are "miry clay" (Tin) and "potter’s clay" (Pechar), he is describing a tragedy: The Potter's vessel has been turned back into miry mud.

B.4. Reconciling the "End Times" Structure

This explains why the final kingdom is so unstable. You have:

1. The Iron: The Roman/Babylonian imperial force.
2. The Pechar (Potter’s Clay): The religious/covenant element (YasharEL/The "Woman" of Revelation).
3. The Tin (Mire): The "sticky" corruption and "seed of men" that tries to glue them together. The Pechar (Potter) element is what makes it "Mystery Babylon." It is a religious system that claims a connection to the "Potter" (Elohim) but is actually mixed with the "Iron" (Imperial Power) and "Tin" (Mire/Uncleanliness).

The reason the feet are not "Rome + YasharEL" in a healthy sense, but rather "Babylon + YasharEL," is because the Pechar (Potter's Clay) has become Tin (Miry Clay). It is a "vessel of the Potter" that has been contaminated by the iron of the world, resulting in the "filthiness" described in the cup of Mystery Babylon. The result is a structural disaster. You cannot "weld" iron to a clay pot, and you certainly cannot use wet mud (tin) as a mortar to hold iron and pottery together. It creates a "kingdom" that looks solid from a distance but is actually unstable at its very foundation

B.5.Ties to "Unclean" and "Sticky"

The concept of ṭîn as "unclean" comes from its usage in the broader Semitic context and related Hebrew synonyms:

The Miry Pit: In the Hebrew Bible, a similar concept is found in Psalm 40:2, where David speaks of being pulled out of the מִטִּ֪יט הַיָּוֵ֫ן (mi-tit ha-yaven) or the "miry clay." This represents a state of being stuck in sin, filth, or a situation from which one cannot escape by their own strength.

📖Psa 40:2  And He drew me Out of the pit of destruction, Out of the miry clay מִטִּ֪יט הַיָּוֵ֫ן (mi-tit ha-yaven), And He set my feet upon a rock, He is establishing my steps. 

The Aramaic word Tin (טִינָא/טִין) used in Daniel 2 is the direct equivalent of the Hebrew word Tit (טִּיט) found in Psalm 40:2

The Linguistic Connection

Cognates: Both words come from the same Semitic root and are "cousin" words in their respective languages.

Consonant Shift: In the transition from Hebrew to Aramaic, it is common for the final "t" (ט) sound to shift to a "n" (ן). This is why the Hebrew tit (mud/clay) becomes the Aramaic tin (mud/clay).

The "Miry" Description: In Daniel 2:41 and 2:43, the phrase used is טִינָא חֲסַף (tin chasaph), often translated as "miry clay" or "wet clay

The Sticky Nature: The "stickiness" of ṭîn represents a forced attempt at unity. Daniel 2:43 says they will "mingle themselves with the seed of men." This implies an attempt to stick two things together (Iron/Babylon and Clay/YasharEL) that are fundamentally incompatible.

Spiritual Uncleanness: In a Hebraic mindset, "mire" is often associated with the "refuse" or "muck" of the sea (Isaiah 57:20), symbolizing the wicked who are constantly "tossing up mire and dirt."

Connection to Babylon and YasharEL

If you view the Clay (YasharEL) as being mixed with Iron (Babylon/Rome), the use of טִין tin is a powerful metaphor:

It suggests that the "Set Apart Seed" (the clay) has become "miry" or "soiled" by mixing with the imperial iron.

In the context of Mystery Babylon, this represents the spiritual fornication—where the clean clay (the people of the Covenant) becomes "sticky" with the filth (mire) of the Babylonian political and idolatrous system.

Key Insight: The "Miry Clay" is clay that has lost its shape and purity. It is no longer in the hands of the Potter (The Creator) to be made into a "vessel of honor," but has been trodden underfoot and mixed with the iron of worldly empires.

C. The Reconciled Identity

When you identify the Clay as YasharEL, the use of Tin (Miry Clay) becomes a commentary on their state:

The Potter's Intent: In Jeremiah 18, YasharEL is the clay in the Potter's hand, intended to be a "vessel of honor."

The Babylonian Corruption: By the time we get to the feet of the image (the end times/Mystery Babylon), the "Pottery" (Chasaph) has been mixed with "Mire" (Tin). It is no longer pure. It is "unclean clay."

The Adultery: This is why it is identified with Mystery Babylon. It is a system where the "Clay" (the religious element/YasharEL) tries to gain the strength of the "Iron" (the secular empire) by mixing through "the seed of men" (political alliances, intermarriage, or syncretism).

The reason it cannot stand is stated in 📖Daniel 2:43: "They shall not cleave/דְּבַק debaq one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."

📖Gen 2:24  For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave/דָּבַק dabaq H1692 to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 

In Hebraic thought, "cleaving" (Hebrew: dabaq) is the word used for marriage (Genesis 2:24). This final kingdom is a non set apart marriage one. The Iron (Babylon/Rome) and the Clay (YasharEL/Religious system) try to "cleave" or "marry" each other to create a New Covenant disconnected from the Abrahamic Covenant, but because one is Iron and the other is Miry Clay, they can never truly become one.

17. Ten Toes = Ten Kings (Daniel 2 ↔ Revelation 17)

Daniel never explicitly says “ten toes = ten kings,” but the structure of Daniel + Revelation allows the alignment.

1) Daniel shows a divided final kingdom

📖 Daniel 2:41–42 “the feet and toes, partly of miry clay and partly of iron…
the kingdom shall be divided…the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly miry clay…”

Key observations from the text:

• Feet = final phase of the image
• Toes = subdivisions of that final phase
• Mixed material = unstable rule

So the last kingdom is:

• Not a single empire
• A composite system
• Fragmented authority

2) Revelation explicitly defines ten kings

📖 Revelation 17:12 “And the ten horns which you saw are ten sovereigns who have not yet received a reign, but receive authority as sovereigns with the beast for one hour.”
📖 Revelation 17:13 “They have one mind, and they shall give their power and authority to the beast.”

Revelation clarifies:

• Ten horns = ten kings
• They rule together
• Their authority is temporary
• They operate inside one system

3) Daniel and Revelation are describing the same final stage

Daniel 2 shows:

• Feet = final kingdom
• Toes = subdivisions

Daniel 7 shows:

• Beast with ten horns

Revelation 17 explains:

• Ten horns = ten kings

So the alignment is:

• Feet = last empire phase
• Toes = its ruling divisions
• Horns = kings within that phase

Same structure, different symbolism

4) What the ten toes are made of

📖 Daniel 2:43 “They mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they do not cleave to one another, just as iron is not mixed with clay.”

The material is specifically:

• Iron
• Miry clay (טִין — tin)
• Potter’s clay (chasaph/pechar)

So the ten toes are defiled clay.

They are:

Iron + miry clay

Meaning:

• Imperial strength
• Mixed with human/religious/covenantal material
• Structurally unstable

5) Iron element (imperial power stream)

From the image progression:

• Head → Babylon
• Chest → Medo-Persia
• Belly → Greece
• Legs → Rome

Iron flows downward into the feet.

So the iron in the toes represents:

• The continuation of imperial authority
• The residue of earlier beast empires
• Political strength

It is not a new metal. It is the continuation of the same system.

6) Clay element (potter’s clay + miry clay)

Two forms appear in Daniel:

Potter’s clay:

• Associated with forming
• Linked to the “potter” imagery
• Covenant-people symbolism (Jer 18:6)

Miry clay (טִין tin):

• Mud
• Sticky
• Unstable
• Defiled condition

So the clay in the toes represents:

• Covenant material
• But in a degraded state
• Mixed with worldly power

7) The ten toes as the final ruling structure

So structurally:

Ten toes = ten rulers inside the final system

Each toe is:

Part iron
Part miry clay

Meaning each ruler operates through:

• Political strength (iron)
• Religious/covenantal mixture (clay)
• Human compromise (“seed of men”)

8) Direct link to the ten kings previously identified

Earlier we mapped the last phase rulers in Yahudah:

1. Yotham

2. Ahaz

3. Hezekiah

4. Manasseh

5. Amon

6. Josiah

7. Jehoahaz

8. Jehoiakim

9. Jehoiachin

10. Zedekiah

These functioned inside:

• Imperial pressure
• Tribute systems
• Foreign domination
• This forms the historical pattern.

Revelation shows the prophetic completion:

• Ten kings in the final system
• Operating inside one beast structure

So:

• Historical model → Last ten rulers under empire
• Prophetic model → Final ten rulers under beast

18. The Hierarchy of Value

The statue’s progression from gold to iron represents a paradox: while the metals get stronger (more crushing power), they get cheaper (less internal worth and glory).

In the ancient world and the Bible, gold and silver are the primary "precious" metals used for currency, temples, and sacred vessels. 

Decreasing Splendour: The value drops from the "Head of Gold" (splendour) down to "Legs of Iron" (brutality).
Increasing Strength: Gold is soft; iron is hard. Daniel 2:40 explains that iron is used for this kingdom specifically because it "breaks in pieces and subdues all things".

A. Why Iron is "Base," Not "Precious"

Abundance vs. Rarity: Gold is precious because it is rare and does not corrode. Iron is a "base metal" because it is abundant, found everywhere in the earth's crust, and relatively cheap to produce once smelting is mastered.

Corruption (Rust): Unlike gold and silver, which remain pure, iron is subject to rust and decay. This symbolically matches the transition from the "divination" authority of Nebuchadnezzar (the Head of Gold) to the fragmented, decaying rule of the feet.

B.Reconciling with the "Clay"

Because iron is a base metal that rusts, it is fundamentally "common." When it is mixed with the Pechar (Potter's Clay), it creates a mixture that is: 

Not Precious: It lacks the spiritual value of gold.

Not Stable: The "base" nature of iron cannot bond with the nature of the clay

Nebudchanazzer's dream portrays both corruption of the clay as tin clay (miry clay: a fallen state from potters clay and unstable) as well as iron (not precious and not stable)

18) Final consolidated structure

Image progression:

Head → Babylon
Chest → Medo-Persia
Belly/Thighs → Greece
Legs → Rome
Feet → Final divided system
Toes → Ten rulers within it

Material of the ten toes:

Iron → Imperial beast authority
Potter’s clay → Covenant element
Miry clay → Defiled mixture (Covenant element lost)
Seed of men → Human compromise

Consolidated Summary

This note develops a single continuous line through Scripture centered on Daniel’s image of successive kingdoms and its final phase of iron mixed with clay.

It establishes that:

• Nebuchadnezzar’s image is one continuous structure, not disconnected kingdoms.

• The metals represent the progression of human civilization and imperial power.

• Babylon functions as the originating head — the directing pattern carried forward into later systems.

• Two streams of craftsmanship emerge in Scripture:

  • Human-origin skill beginning with Tubal-Qayin.

  • Spirit-given wisdom seen in Beṣal’el.

• These streams intersect in the Temple, are absorbed by empire in Babylon, and reach full concentration in the final system.

• Babylon historically gathers:

  • Nobles

  • Scholars

  • Craftsmen

  • Metal workers

  • Temple vessels

• Revelation later presents the same system at saturation, trading in metals, luxury goods, and even human lives.

• Daniel’s final phase — iron mixed with clay — represents a divided structure:

  • Imperial force (iron)

  • Covenant vessel (potter’s clay)

  • Corrupted mixture (miry clay / tin)

• This mixture is unstable and cannot hold.

• The ten toes correspond structurally with the ten kings described in Revelation.

• The potter’s imagery runs through Jeremiah, Psalms, Zechariah, Matthew, and Daniel:

  • Formation

  • Breaking

  • Burial ground

  • Loss of identity

• The stone cut without hands represents the divine kingdom introduced outside human craftsmanship, power, and empire.

• When the stone strikes the feet, the entire system collapses because the foundation is unstable.

The note presents the end of the image not merely as political fragmentation, but as the final stage of a long civilizational process where power, religion, craft, and human systems become entangled but fail to hold together.