@robycop3
In Daniel 2 we have the great image giving the timeline in its symbols of the main events of world history. Early pretribulationists taught either that the image was cut off at the knees, others at the ankles. Which do you believe?
Scripture sez the stone cut without habds struck the statue on its feet, crushing them.
Daniel 2:
34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 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; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Now, this statue was in the form of a man. The head of gold was its finest part, and Nebuchadnezzar had become, by God's will & power, the greatest king up till that time, whose kingdom was full of learning. Then came the Medo-Persians, whose kingdom was less-noble, and which supported Neb's head-of-gold kingdom, even though they'd made it defunct. Then came the Greek kingdom of brass, less-noble & more-evil than those that preceeded it. Then came the kingdom of Rome, strong as iron, just as iron is harder & stronger than gold, silver, or brass. Rome ruled over the 3 previous kingdoms. Then came the feet of iron & clay mixed, which was not as strong or pure as the previous three, but which still supported them all. This will almost certainly be the kingdom of the "beast", as the KINGDOM OF GOD, the stone cut without hands, hasn't yet crushed the feet, toppling the whole statue, which was dashed to dust against the stone, which then filled the whole earth.
These kingdoms are also depicted in Daniel 7. The first was like a lion & had the wings of an eagle, indicating power, nobility, and almost-effortless movement. Then its wings were removed & it stood as a man, with a human mind. That's cuz God was revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, who began to worship Him after his 7 years of insanity.
The 2nd beast resembled a bear, with one side raised up, & 3 ribs in its mouth. This represented the Medo-persian kingdom, with one part dominant, while the 3 ribs represented Babylon, Lydia, & Egypt, which were "devoured" by the Bedo-persians.
The 3rd was like a leopard, except it had 4 wings & heads. This represented the Greex, who were known for the swiftness of their armies & conquests, & which was divided into 4 lesser kingdoms upon the death of Alexander The Great.
The 4th represented Rome, which conquered or absorbed all the others & was much-stronger & larger than any of the others had been. Without going into much detail, I'll say its horns represented the coming kingdom of the antichrist, which Jesus will destroy.
And in Daniel 8, there's the vision of the ram, with one horn greater than the other, which represents Medo-Persia, & the goat which swiftly attacked & defeated the ram & became great til its one prominent horn was broken off & 4 more grew in its place, representing the Greek kingdom of Alex til he died & his 4 generals divided up his empire.
A common thread in all this is that those kingdoms all ruled the Jews, and that, from them, a future kingdom will arise, greater than all the previous kingdoms symbolized, which will rule all of them, and be destroyed by Jesus at His return. All those earlier kingdoms are easily seen in history, but obviously, the last one hasn't yet come.