Daniel 2 & Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream Explained

What’s so amazing about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream recorded in Daniel chapter 2 is that even though it was recorded about 2600 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. And what is so amazing about this, is that even though it was recorded about 2600 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 explain why this prophecy is so important for us today. So, here’s the story 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. So, here is the dream, then we’ll see the interpretation: In verse 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) 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.” (v. 36 - 45) Now, let’s break it down and examine who these world-ruling kingdoms were. 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 two who they were, but chapters 5 through 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. 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.