Daniel 2
BBCDaniel 2:1
II. NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S VISION OF THE IMAGE MADE OF FOUR METALS (Chap. 2)2:1-13 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream for which he demanded not merely the interpretation, but the contents of the dream itselfa much harder demand, not to say impossible. His own wise men, the Chaldeans, were not able to tell him the dream or its meaning, so he made the sweeping decision that all the wise men (including Daniel and his companions) should be destroyed! 2:14-30 In answer to prayer, Daniel learned from the Lord in a night vision the nature of the dream and the interpretation of it. In thanks Daniel blessed the God of heaven with a beautiful prayer of praise. Then he went to Arioch to prevent further killing of the wise men of Babylon. Brought by Arioch into the presence of the king, Daniel revealed the source of his divinely revealed secret. 2:31-35 Daniel made known that the king had seen a great image, both splendid and awesome. This image’s head was of fine 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. Nebuchadnezzar watched while a stone . . . cut out without hands destroyed the image and became a great mountain, filling the whole earth. 2:36-45 The image represented the four Gentile powers that would exercise world dominion, ruling over the Jewish people. Nebuchadnezzar, an absolute monarch (Babylon), was the head of gold (v. 38). Persia was the arms of silver, one arm representing Media and the other Persia. Greece, the third kingdom, was the belly and thighs of bronze. The Roman Empire was the two legs and feet of iron, the legs representing the eastern and western wings of the kingdom. The feet of iron and baked clay depict the Revived Roman Empire, the toes representing ten kingdoms.
Note the decreasing value of the metals and the increasing strength (except in the feet of iron and clay). Note also that man pictures his empires as valuable metals whereas God pictures those same kingdoms as wild beasts (chap. 7). The Lord Jesus is the stone . . . cut out . . . without hands. He will destroy the four kingdoms and rule over the whole earth, his kingdom standing forever. 2:46-49 When King Nebuchadnezzar heard Daniel’s wisdom, he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. The three other Jewish youths were made deputies or assistants.