Daniel 2

31–35 Here Daniel describes the dream. The king had seen a large statue of a man made from four kinds of metal—gold, silver, bronze and iron; the statue’s feet were a mixture of iron and clay (verses 31–33). Then a rock was cut out, but not by human hands, and this “rock” struck the feet of iron and clay, and the whole statue fell down and was reduced to powder, which was then blown away by the wind (verses 34–35). After the statue was destroyed, the rock became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

36–43 In these verses, Daniel gives the interpretation of the king’s dream. First he says that it was God who gave the king dominion and power and made him ruler over all (verses 37–38); then he tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the statue’s head of gold.

The four kinds of material in the statue, therefore, represent four different kingdoms. After Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, another kingdom will rise that is inferior—made only of silver (verse 39). That kingdom is the Persian Empire under Cyrus, who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.

The third kingdom will be inferior still—bronze (verse 40); this is the kingdom of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persians in about 330 B.C.

The fourth kingdom is the Roman Empire, which conquered the Greek empire of Alexander shortly before the time of Christ. This is the “iron” empire, so strong that it will crush all other kingdoms. But even it has a weakness: its feet are made partly of clay. It will be a divided kingdom, divided between rich and poor, master and slave—and eventually between east and west; finally, it too will be destroyed (verses 4143). All of this accurately describes what happened to the Roman Empire during the centuries following the death of Christ.⁷

44–45 Here Daniel interprets the meaning of the rock; it is the kingdom of God, cut out by God Himself and not by human hands (verse 45), a kingdom that will never be destroyed (verse 44). This is the kingdom that has been established by Christ, and is even now filling the whole earth⁸ (verse 35).

46–49 King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel (verse 46). The mightiest ruler on earth fell prostrate before a young captive from a small conquered nation!

How did it happen? Nebuchadnezzar saw the power of the one true God at work in Daniel. This doesn’t mean the king was converted or that he gave up his other gods. It meant only that the king had come up against a power that was greater than his own—and he knew it. Even demons know there is one true God—and shudder (James 2:19).