Daniel 2 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

Over 2,600 years ago an ancient king had a dream about a great image made of different metals. When he awoke he was disturbed by the vision and called his wise men to tell him the dream and interpret it. When they could not he was enraged and planned to destroy them. Then a young man named Daniel came forward and offered to reveal and interpret the dream. That night God laid open the vision to Daniel who then told the king. Daniel was honored by the king for explaining the dream. The story is found in Daniel 2, a prophetic book of the Old Testament.

God revealed a sweeping panorama of world history to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. In the dream he saw a giant statute made of various metals. The head of the huge idol was made of gold, the chest and arms were of silver, the thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet of iron mixed with clay. In the dream the king saw a stone smashing the image to pieces. The broken statute was ground to pieces like chaff and the wind blew it away. Finally, the stone grew to a great mountain that filled the entire earth.

The king probably sat on the edge of his seat wondering, "What does the dream mean?" Daniel then interpreted the dream to the king. The dream presents four world empires that would each successively rule. After these four kingdoms a conglomeration of weak and strong nations would exist. The changes in the value of metal from the head of the statue to the feet indicate that the glory of each kingdom would decrease compared to the one before. As the hardness of the metals, from head to foot, increase, so the strength of each successive empire would be greater.

Kingdom of Gold: Babylon Babylon is presented by the head of gold. It ruled from 605 B.C. to 539 B.C. It was a kingdom literally embellished with gold. Its capital rivaled no other nation that followed. Babylon is legendary for its beautiful hanging gardens. Its kings thought their city to be unconquerable. The city's massive walls seemed impossible to penetrate. Yet, just as the Bible predicted, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus, king of the Persian Empire.

Kingdom of Silver: Medo—Persia Medo—Persia was the next world empire represented by the statue's chest and arms of silver. It is described as an "inferior" kingdom and ruled from 539 B.C. to 331 B.C. The older Median and newer Persian empires overthrew Babylon. The Bible even predicted 100 years in advance the name of the general (Isaiah 44:27, 28 45:1).

Kingdom of Brass: Greece Greece, we know from our world history books, was the next conquering kingdom of the world described in the image as brass. Alexander's empire was known for its vast territory. Much of the Grecians armor was made of brass. The Greeks ruled from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C. It was later divided into four kingdoms before being conquered by the next empire.

Kingdom of Iron: Rome Rome was the last and the strongest of the four kingdoms. It is appropriately depicted by the strong metal of iron and lasted the longest, from 168 B.C. to A.D. 351. As predicted in the dream, no other single kingdom ruled the world after the Roman Empire. Rome has been described as an "iron monarchy" and became a world power through might and force.

Kingdom of Clay: Divided Rome The feet of the image were made of iron mixed with clay indicating the Roman Empire would be divided into partly weak and partly strong nations. Barbarians invaded Rome and a mixture of ten countries formed the foundation of modern Europe today. Though many world powers have tried to unite these nations, the Bible correctly predicted "they will not adhere to one another" (Daniel 2:43).

The Kingdom Still to Come: Stone Cut without Hands The dramatic climax of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream was to see a stone "cut out without hands" strike the image and break it to pieces. To an idolatrous king who thought his kingdom would stand forever, the God of heaven revealed that earthly kingdoms will all pass away. The movement of nations is not in the hand of any human ruler. God ultimately directs the temporal affairs of earth and His kingdom will be established forever. No human effort will set up Christ's glorious kingdom that will come at the second coming of Jesus.

Daniel ends his presentation to King Nebuchadnezzar by saying, "The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure" (Daniel 2:45). Historical records have confirmed these words and we now live "in the toes" of this image waiting for the great day when Christ will come and set up His kingdom that will last forever.