Questions From Readers
Questions From Readers
When did the Anglo-American World Power become the seventh world power that was described in the Bible?
▪ The giant metal image seen by King Nebuchadnezzar does not represent all the world powers that ever existed. (Daniel 2:31-45) The image included only the five world powers that fought God’s people during and after Daniel’s time.
We can learn from the way Daniel described the metal image that the Anglo-American World Power would come from Rome, not conquer Rome. Daniel said that the iron starts in the legs and continues to the feet and toes. (In the feet and toes, the iron is mixed with clay.) * (See footnote.) This meant that the Anglo-American World Power would come from Rome, that is, the legs of iron. This is exactly what happened. Britain was a small part of the Roman Empire, but it started to become a strong kingdom in the late 1700’s. Later, the United States of America became a powerful nation. But Britain and the United States were not yet the seventh world power described in the Bible. Why not? Because they had not yet begun to work together in a special way. That happened during World War I.
By that time, “the sons of the kingdom” were active mostly in the United States. They directed the preaching work from Brooklyn, New York. (Matthew 13:36-43) Anointed ones were also actively preaching in countries under the rule of Britain. During World War I, Britain and the United States became special partners. Together, they fought their political enemies. Because the war caused Britain and the United States to become more nationalistic, they also fought against those who were part of the seed of God’s “woman.” These governments banned some of the publications of the seed of the woman and put in prison those leading the preaching work.—Revelation 12:17.
So from what we read in Bible prophecy, we learn that the seventh world power did not appear in the late 1700’s when Britain first started to become a strong kingdom. Instead, the seventh world power appeared at the beginning of the Lord’s day. *—See footnote.
[Footnotes]
^ par. 4 The clay that is mixed with iron means people within the Anglo-American World Power. Over the years, this clay has made it difficult for that world power to be as strong as it would like to be.
^ par. 6 This is a changed explanation. It updates the information on page 57, paragraph 24, of the Daniel’s Prophecy book and the charts on pages 56 and 139.
[Picture on page 20]
Eight brothers from the Watchtower headquarters were sent to prison in June 1918
