Daniel 2:29-35

Daniel 2:29

As 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.

Daniel tells the King that his dream is a prophetic dream which will reveal what shall come “hereafter.” The word “hereafter” is related to the Aramaic preposition in verse 28 and carries with a similar meaning of “after this or hereafter.” Daniel is relating to the King that his dream is one that begins at the point of time where they are right now and God will be showing him what will happen after this. Daniel begins to give the King the details assuring him that the true interpretation will follow.

Daniel 2:30

But 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.

Daniel is assuring the King that the secret concerning the dream the King had was revealed to him but not for the reason of any great wisdom that he had and he stated his wisdom was not above the wisdom of anyone living on the earth. This secret was not only revealed for him but for the others whom the King wanted to slay and once the King had the true interpretation, then the King’s anger would be appeased plus he would now know the true meaning of his dream and vision, and this is what Nebuchadnezzar wanted all along.

Daniel 2:31

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

Daniel tells him that he saw a great image, which would have been a great idolatrous statue that will eventually be erected at a later time on the King’s orders. The brightness of this statue because of the metals involved, was considered to be excellent. The word “excellent” carries with it the meaning of “very or exceeding.” In other words, the brightness was absolutely beyond any other metal based image in existence. The form of the image was very awesome or fearful looking causing fear in anyone who looked at it. It would have been an overwhelming sight for anyone to see.

Daniel 2:32

This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

The head being the chief part of the image was fine gold which would have represented Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. As you progress down the statue, you will see that the value of the metals will decrease which means that with each coming kingdom, they will be inferior to Babylon. What we see here in this image is the head, which is one unit, being one great empire. When you look at the rest of the image, there seems to be kingdoms with separate parts which would be easier to conquer rather than one solid unified kingdom. The breast being one part but there are two arms. The belly being one but there are two thighs.

Daniel 2:33

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

As we continue down the description of the image we see he has two legs of iron underneath the brass thighs. Then when we get to his feet, we see they are part iron and part clay. Iron and clay do not mix together to make any kind of solution. Therefore we are looking at ten smaller kingdoms some of which are represented by iron and some of them represented by clay which means they are very weak and almost insignificant in strength and influence.

Daniel 2:34

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.

The kingdoms of this world which the statue represented, which many people see as great and sometimes incapable of being taken down. This dream of Nebuchadnezzar not only shows the immensity of earthly kingdoms but shows the fact that no earthly kingdom can ever be powerful enough to subdue the Kingdom of God which is represented by the stone. If you notice, it was a stone that was cut without hands, which means it is of divine origin. There are some verses in the Scriptures which describe what this stone is.

Matthew 21:44 (KJV) And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Luke 20:18 (KJV) Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Hebrews 9:11 (KJV) But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

The stone which rules and eventually destroys all the great kingdoms of the world is the Kingdom of God. All the earthly kingdoms may come and go and are bound by time but the Kingdom of God is an eternal continuum.

Daniel 2:35

Then 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.

Here we have a further description of what the Kingdom of God had done with the earthly kingdoms of this world. They become as chaff on threshingfloors before the might of the Kingdom of God. The stone that destroyed the image is the one that has become a great mountain and filled the earth. The mountain in Scripture is a picture of the Kingdom of God especially as we see this in Micah 4:1-2. Micah is prophesying the last days which is the time from the cross to the return of Christ on the last day. In Psalm 72:19, we read that the Kingdom of God will fill the whole earth. At the time we are right now in history, the Kingdom of God is in every country in the world but the time will come when the Kingdom of God will be totally established in the New Heavens and the New Earth, after Judgement Day.

Micah 4:1-2 (KJV) But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. {2} And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Psalm 72:19 (KJV) And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.