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The Prophetic Meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s Statue in Daniel 2

What’s so amazing about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream recorded in Daniel chapter 2 is that even though it was recorded about 2,600 years ago, it has come to pass in stunning detail.

But there is one more major aspect still to come. So stick around to the end, because we’ll not only explain the details that have already come to pass but also why this prophecy is relevant for us now. And we’ll do it straight from the pages of the Bible.

Chapter 2 of the book of Daniel records a dream King Nebuchadnezzar had in the second year of his reign. It not only records the dream, but it also gives the interpretation.

Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most famous kings of ancient Babylon.

Around 603 BC he had a troubling dream that he wanted to be interpreted by his counselors, who included his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers. But he not only wanted them to give the interpretation, he wanted them to first describe the dream and then give the interpretation. He knew he could trust the interpretation if the counselors were able to tell him his dream without revealing it to them first.

Of course, none of his counselors could do this. So he pronounced the death penalty on all the wise men in Babylon.

However, when Daniel the prophet was approached about the matter, he prayed to God and asked for insight, knowing God was able to tell the dream and its interpretation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream | Daniel 2:28–36

So here’s the dream. Then we’ll see the interpretation. In Daniel 2:28 Daniel explains:

There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head… were these: You… were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of… gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 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. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff… 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. This is the dream (Daniel 2:28-36).

The Interpretation: Four Kingdoms | Daniel 2:36–45

Daniel continues in verse 36.

Now we will tell the interpretation of it... You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory… [He] has made you ruler over… all—you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then… a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it... so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed… it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure (Daniel 2:36-45).

Daniel Prophesies Four World-Dominating Empires

Now, let’s break it down and examine who these world-ruling kingdoms were.

Head of Gold: Babylonian Empire

So the first section of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the head of gold, we are explicitly told represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. That was the Neo-Babylonian empire, otherwise known as the Chaldean Empire from 626-539 BC.

Now, for the remaining kingdoms, we’re not explicitly told in chapter 2 who they were, but Daniel 5 through Daniel 8, as well as the book of Revelation, give more insight.

So, we’ll let the Bible interpret the Bible and use these other chapters to find the answer.

Chest and Arms of Silver: Medes and Persians

The second section of the statue, the chest and arms of silver, pointed to the next world-ruling empire on the world scene. That was the empire of the Medes and Persians, ruling from 558 BC to 330 BC. We know this both from history and the Bible.

The events of the end of the Chaldean empire and the beginning of the Medo-Persian empire are recorded in Daniel 5 with the famous story of the handwriting on the wall.

And in verse 30 we read:

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And the Medes received the kingdom (Daniel 5:30-31).

We see an additional reference to the Medo-Persian empire in chapter 8. There Daniel saw in vision a ram with two horns and a male goat. Verse 20 says:

The ram which you saw, having two horns–they are the kings of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20).

It was during these first two empires that Daniel recorded the visions and prophecies.

He served under both the Chaldean and Medo-Persian Empires, and compiled this book in the mid-sixth century BC.

But after his death, the fulfillment of these prophecies continued.

Belly and Thighs of Bronze: Greco-Macedonian Empire

Now the third section of the statue was the belly and thighs of bronze, representing the next major empire. This was the Greco-Macedonian empire from 333 BC to 31 BC.

Of course, we know this from history, but the Bible also declared it by name in the same vision of the ram and the goat, explaining, “The male goat is the kingdom of Greece” (Daniel 8:21).

Verses 7-8 describe the transfer of power from the Medo-Persian empire to the Greco-Macedonian empire, saying:

There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand (Daniel 8:7-8).

In other words, the Greco-Macedonian empire would defeat and overtake the Medo-Persian empire. That is exactly what happened.

The vision of the ram and the goat, as well as what is revealed in Daniel 7, give far more incredible details regarding what took place and what would happen to the Greco-Macedonian Empire—all of which were recorded hundreds of years before it ever happened. (If you’d like us to make a video explaining these details, let us know in the YouTube comments.)

Legs of Iron: Roman Empire

The fourth section of the statue in Daniel 2 was the legs of iron. Of course, this represented the kingdom that would rise up and put down the Greco-Macedonian Empire. This was the Roman Empire.

The fourth beast of Daniel’s vision recorded in chapter 7 describes this empire as “dreadful and terrible [and] exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth” (Daniel 7:7).

There are a couple of additional points to understand about this kingdom that we will highlight here, but additional videos are needed for a more in-depth explanation. In the meantime, you can read our short book on the Beast of Revelation which contains a detailed chart explaining all of this information.

Now the first point is that:

1. The Roman Empire would rule from 31 BC until it fell in 476 AD. Its fall is described in Revelation 13:3 as the “deadly wound.” But it goes on to say, “his deadly wound was healed,” which brings us to the second point.
2. After the initial empire weakened and came to its end, there would be 10 additional revivals or kings represented by the ten horns of Daniel 7.
3. Of these 10 revivals, seven of them would come after the emergence of a religious, blasphemous system that would rise out of the Roman Empire. (You can read about that in Daniel 7:8, 20; Revelation 13:1-13; Revelation 17:9-11.)

Justinian’s restoration in 554 AD was the first of the seven horns, while the most recent proclaimed revival was under the Hitler-Mussolini regime. This made the sixth of the seven final horns. The last one is still to come, which brings us back to the statue of Daniel 2.

Feet and Toes of Iron and Clay: Roman Empire’s Final Revival

The fifth and final part of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic dream was the feet and toes.

These represent the yet future, final revival of the Roman Empire. Depicted in Daniel 2 as the ten toes and in Revelation 17:12 as ten horns, there will be ten kings, or rulers, who will give their power over to this dominating final revival, also known as the Beast (Revelation 17:12).

The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast (Revelation 17:12–13).

We then see that these ten kings along with the beast will “make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them…” (Revelation 17:14).

They will literally fight Jesus Christ Himself at the end of the age.

This then brings us to the “stone cut out without hands.”

This stone that “struck the image [and] became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35) represents the kingdom of God.

And we see that:

In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44).

Daniel then concluded with this statement to King Nebuchadnezzar:

The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.

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