Pick a thread and keep pulling

Kingdom era · 605–539 BC

Babylon — the head of gold

The one kingdom Heaven names out loud, so every metal, beast and horn after it can be read with confidence.

Kingdom era · 539–331 BC

Medo-Persia — the breast of silver

A two-sided empire: silver arms, a bear raised on one side, a ram with two horns — one horn higher than the other.

Kingdom era · 331–168 BC

Greece — the belly of brass

A leopard with four wings for speed and four heads for division; a goat whose great horn breaks and becomes four.

Kingdom era · 168 BC–AD 476

Rome — the legs of iron

Iron: not richer than brass, but harder. A beast so unlike the others that Daniel has no animal for it.

Kingdom era · AD 476 onward

Divided Europe — iron and clay

Ten toes, ten horns, and a mixture that “shall not cleave one to another” — the longest-running section of the statue.

The ending both books share

The stone kingdom

A stone cut out without hands becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth — the only kingdom in the vision with no successor.

Prophetic period · 457 BC – AD 34

The 70 weeks — 490 years

Seventy sevens measured off from a decree to restore Jerusalem, ending inside the first century — the first slice of a longer measurement.

Prophetic period · seven years

The final week — AD 27–34

The last seven of the 490, with the cross at its midpoint — the hinge that fastens the whole calculation to history.

Prophetic period · AD 538–1798

The 1260 years

One span given seven different ways — a time, times and half a time; 42 months; 1260 days — always the same length.

Prophetic period · 457 BC – AD 1844

The 2300 years

The longest measured span in Scripture, sharing its starting decree with the 70 weeks and ending with a sanctuary cleansed.

One power described five ways

The little horn

A power that comes up after the ten, speaks great words, wears out the saints, and holds a measured period of dominion.

Revelation 17–18 · the older story returning

Mystery Babylon

Revelation names a religious system with an ancient city's name, and every detail sends the reader back into earlier Scripture.

Revelation 13–14 · the final question

The worship crisis

Both books end at the same question: who is worshipped, on what authority, and under what pressure.