The interpretation of the image in Daniel 2 is a prophecy concerning the human governments from the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, until the time of the coming of Christ (see pp. 25-26 of The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God, published by Living Stream Ministry). The feet of the image are part of iron and part of clay (vv. 33-34). The iron signifies human power in government, especially in dictatorships and autocracies. The clay signifies the people. When iron is mixed with clay, the iron is weakened. When the people rise up to call for democracy and freedom, as they have in eastern Europe in recent days, autocracy and dictatorship are weakened. Thus, the recent events in eastern Europe are a further fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 2. In Daniel 2, a stone cut out without human hands smote the two feet of the image and broke them into pieces (v. 34). Thus, the entire image, the symbol of human government in the form of autocracy, was broken to pieces. The stone that smote the image became the replacement for the image. This replacement is Christ in His enlargement. In the fulfillment of this prophecy, Christ will be enlarged to cover the entire earth. This enlargement will be the kingdom, and the kingdom will be Christ Himself.

The kingdom in its reality is here today (see Hebrews 12:28, note 1, Recovery Version), but it has not yet been manifested. In Luke 17:20-21, the Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation...For behold, the kingdom of God is among you." At that time, Jesus was already among the people as the kingdom of God. This corresponds with Mark 4:26, where the Lord said, "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth." The seed of life is the seed of the kingdom. This seed is Christ Himself. Christ as the seed of the kingdom has been sown into us, and this seed is growing within us.

According to Luke 19:12, the Lord Jesus as a certain man of noble birth went to a distant country (the heavens) to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return. On the one hand, the Lord has traveled to a distant country to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return. On the other hand, He is here growing within us until the kingdom is manifested. We may wonder whether the Lord is in the heavens waiting for the time of His coming, or is growing within us to be manifested. Actually, His being manifested from within us is His coming, and His coming is just His being manifested from within us. When the living saints on earth are filled with Christ, saturated with Christ, and grown into maturity in Christ, the kingdom as the great mountain will be manifested. We as believers have received the little Jesus, but we will inherit the enlargement of Jesus, which is the kingdom.