Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

Daniel contains some of the most amazing fulfillments of prophecy. The prophet Daniel was taken captive to Babylon at around 586 B.C. While there, him and his three companions rose in recognition of Yahuwah’s blessing on them and were promoted to the position of wise men, and Daniel had a special gift for interpreting dreams.

One night, King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt a dream that struck him in importance, yet he could not remember the dream. He ordered his wise men to interpret the dream. They asked him to tell them the dream, and he responded that he could not remember it and would trust their interpretation of it if they both related the dream to him along with the interpretation. They told the king that there was not a man who could do such a thing, “And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except eloah, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Daniel 2:11.

As a result, the king threatened to kill them all. Upon hearing this, Daniel asked the king for a little time so that he could make the matter known to him. He and his three companions then prayed to Yahuwah for the revelation of the dream and its interpretation. That night, Yahuwah revealed all to Daniel, who praised Yahuwah and went to the king with the good news that there is an Eloah in Heaven who reveals secrets and future events.

Daniel 2

Read Daniel 2, for this amazing testimony:

“But there is an Eloah in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; ²⁹As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. ^30But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. ³¹Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. ³²This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, ³³His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. ³⁴Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. ³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. ³⁶This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. ³⁷Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the Eloah of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. ³⁸And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. ³⁹And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. ⁴¹And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. ⁴³And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of these kings shall the Eloah of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. ⁴⁵Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great Eloah hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. ⁴⁶Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. ⁴⁷The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your Eloah is the Eloah of eloahs, and a Master of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.” Daniel 2:28-47.

Daniel told the king that the Eloah of Heaven revealed to him that the king that night had been thinking of what would happen in the future to his kingdom and that he dreamed a dream. Daniel related the dream, along with its interpretation. The first thing the king saw was a great image made of the following elements:

1. The head was of gold.
2. The breast and arms were of silver.
3. The belly and thighs were of brass.
4. The legs were of iron.
5. The feet of iron and clay.

Next, the king saw a stone that had been cut without hands. At this point, King Nebuchadnezzar was no doubt sitting spellbound on the edge of his throne.

Daniel had related the dream precisely as Yahuwah had given it to him. Now the king eagerly waited, wondering what the dream meant.

Daniel proceeded to explain the interpretation as Yahuwah had revealed it to him, and we would do well to take it just as He gave it. The only safe way to interpret the Bible and prophecy is to allow the Bible to explain itself.

In Daniel 2:38, the dream starts to be interpreted “…Thou art this head of gold.”

The king was regarded as the head of the state. This is why Nebuchadnezzar represented Babylon, the empire that began the prophecy. Neo-Babylon ruled the world from 612-539 B.C. as one of the mightiest empires of antiquity--one that could aptly be described as the head of gold. Notice that the prophecy begins with Daniel’s time.

Despite the greatness of the Babylonian kingdom, it would not last forever, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” Daniel 2:38. Succeeding kingdoms, inferior to Babylon, would rule in their turn. Just as silver is inferior to gold, so the kingdom that followed Babylon enjoyed diminished glory. Led by Cyrus in 539 B.C., the Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon and reduced it to ruins. The Medes and Persians were the ruling world power from 539-331 B.C. During their reign, all taxes had to be paid in silver.

After the Medo-Persian Empires, it was prophecies that “Another third kingdom of brass ... shall bear rule over all the earth.” Daniel 2:39. The brass kingdom of Greece came into power when Alexander the Great conquered the Medes and Persians at the battle of Arbela in 331 B.C., and Greece remained in power until about 168 B.C. Greek soldiers were called "brazen coated" because their armor was all bronze.

Notice how each succeeding mineral depicted in the image is less valuable, yet more enduring than the one before it. Also note how each kingdom had characteristics related to their identification according with the metals they represented.

After the brass kingdom, “The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron.” Daniel 2:40. The iron monarchy of Rome conquered the Greeks in 168 B.C. and enjoyed world supremacy until Rome was captured by the Ostrogoths in A.D. 476. Rome is the kingdom that dominated the world when Yahushua, the Anointed, was born. Notice how Daniel foretold a thousand years of world history with unerring accuracy. The rise and fall of these four world empires - Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome - are clearly foretold in the Bible and recorded in history.

After the iron empire, the kingdom would be divided. “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” Daniel 2:41, 42.

When the Roman Empire began to crumble in A.D. 476, it was not overtaken by another world power. Instead, barbarian tribes conquered the Roman Empire and divided it--just as Daniel prophesied. Ten of these tribes evolved into modern Europe. They were the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Alemannians, Sueves, Anglo-Saxons, Heruls, Lombards, and Burgundians. Seven of them still exist today in Europe. For example, the Anglo-Saxons became the English, the Franks became the French, the Alemannians became the Germans, and the Lombards became the Italians.

The Europeans would try to unite together, but would not succeed, “They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” (Daniel 2:43) Through marriage, alliances, and treaties, men have vainly attempted to reunite the European continent. All throughout history, leaders such as Charlemagne, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm, Mussolini, and Hitler have fought to build a new European empire; but these words of Scripture have stopped every single would-be world ruler.

The Image of Different Elements

After all these kingdoms, Daniel told the king, “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. ³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:34-35.

What does this stone represent and who will set up the final kingdom? “And in the days of these kings shall the Eloah of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” Daniel 2:44. The next great universal kingdom will be the kingdom of heaven, which is described in Matthew 25:31-34.

The stone that was cut without human hands represents Yahuwah's kingdom. It will not be a collection of earthly kingdoms, but a total replacement (Revelation 21:1). The Scriptures declare that when Yahushua returns to earth, He will completely consume all the kingdoms of earth and establish an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 2:44).

King Nebuchadnezzar may have thought that his kingdom would last forever, but he was shown very quickly that Yahuwah is ruler over all. Human events are under His control, and ultimately He will win the conflict. Babylon , Medo-Persia , Greece , Rome , and the 10 divisions of the Roman Empire may have sought to usurp divine authority and destroy the people of Yahuwah, but all earthly kingdoms will eventually be crushed by the coming of Yahushua. Thank Yahuwah, He will win the great controversy!

After all this revelation, “The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your Eloah is the Eloah of eloahs, and a Master of kings, and a revealer of secrets.” Daniel 2:47. Having seen that Daniel knew the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten and the interpretation of the dream, even Nebuchadnezzar readily acknowledged that the Eloah Daniel served was above all the heathen deities of Babylon . Because of their faithfulness to Yahuwah, Daniel and three companions, were elevated from their initial captivity in Babylon to positions of prominent leadership for the kingdom (Daniel 2:48, 49). Yahuwah always honors those who honor Him (1 Samuel 2:30).

A quick review for the image of different elements:

Gold = Babylon
The head of gold represented Babylon , which was the ruling world power from 605-539 B.C.

Silver = Medo-Persia
The chest of silver represented Medo-Persia, the ruling world empire from 539-331 B.C.

Bronze = Greece
The thighs of bronze represented Greece , the dominant world ruler from 331-168 B.C.

Iron = Rome
The legs of iron represented Rome , which enjoyed world supremacy from 168 B.C.-A.D. 476.

Iron and Clay = the Divided Empire

The feet that were partly iron and partly clay represented a divided empire that would not cleave together. No single power has ruled the world since A.D. 476, and it will remain divided until Yahushua’s return.

Do you agree that this prophecy reveals the final events of earth's history?