The Dream Revealed And Interpretted Series

Tonight, we finally get to know what King Nebuchadnezzar's dream is and how it was interpreted. We're going to see in this passage that Nebuchadnezzar's dream concerned 4 significant empires that were to rule upon the Earth, but toward the end of the interpretation we will see that the fourth Kingdom will be restored and led by the Antichrist himself. But then make a note that Daniel mentions that he was shown a fifth Kingdom. God's kingdom is the fifth kingdom. The Scripture paints a suspenseful scene of Daniel standing before King Nebuchadnezzar as he reveals one of the most amazing prophecies in all of the Holy Scripture. Read verses 31-35.

So Daniel reveals what the dream was. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar had seen a large statue. The statue was enormous and awesome. But it was a frightening image. Five features were noticed about the statue.

• His head was pure gold.

• Its chest and arms were silver.

• Its belly and thighs were bronze.

• Its legs were iron.

• Its feet were part iron and part clay.

While staring at the statue in his dream, the king watched as a huge rock was supernaturally cut out of a mountain and started rolling down the side of the mountain. The stone struck the statue's feet of iron and clay, smashing them. With no foundation under it, the statue collapsed with great force. Its pieces were shattered into dust, so fine that the wind swept away all of the trace of the statue. Then suddenly, where the statue had stood, the huge stone actually began to grow into a huge mountain until it finally filled the whole earth with its presence.

Daniel announced that this was the dream Nebuchadnezzar had been given by the Lord. Now he will interpret and explain the meaning of the dream. The statue represented four kingdoms and the stone symbolized the very kingdom of God Himself.

Read verses 36-37. Daniel informs Nebuchadnezzar that he was the most powerful King on Earth at that time, a king who ruled over many kings. But he must keep in mind one thing: it was the “God of heaven” who had given him the right to rule upon earth. His kingdom in fact, his very life, all his power, honor and strength, are a gift from God himself. Therefore, his rule was a responsibility placed into His hands by God. This suggests that Nebuchadnezzar would be held accountable for the way he ruled over people.

So, in the dream, the statues head made of pure gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and he being the head over the entire nation. That is Biblical history.

Read verses 38-40. The chest and arms of silver represented the reign of the Medes and Persians which actually occurred in biblical history. Daniel said that after the fall of Babylon another world empire would arise, but that it would be inferior to the Babylonian empire. The two arms apparently symbolized the two divisions of the empire, that is, Media and Persia. In biblical history the Medo - Persian empire dominated the near and Middle East for more than 200 years. So, that prophecy came true.

The bronze belly and thighs of the statue represent the Grecian empire. In 331BC, Alexander the Great quickly swept across the Medo-Persian empire and defeated its army in a number of battles. So, that prophecy came true.

The statues legs of iron was the fourth kingdom, which was represented by Rome. And here’s where it gets deep. Rome was to dominate the world for about 600 years. Daniel points out four significant features of this fourth Kingdom;

• the 4th Kingdom will crush all opposing powers with its iron fist (Read v. 40).

• This Kingdom will be a divided empire, a federation of Nations at the end of its history (Read v. 41). This is represented by the feet and ten toes that were part iron and part clay.

• The 4th Kingdom will have parts (Nations) as strong as iron and others as weak as clay (Read v. 42).

• This 4th Kingdom will be a mix of people who will not remain united anymore than iron mixed with Clay (Read v. 43).

It should be noted that the feet and toes are extensions of the legs or the 4th Kingdom (the Roman empire). The feet and the toes are at the end or the bottom of the legs, which suggests that they represent the final phase of the Roman empire. The long legs or long history of the Roman empire are said to be made of iron, but its feet and toes, which represent the end of its history, are said to be a kingdom made of iron and clay. We are not going to go into any depth on this tonight other than to say that chapter 7 and chapter 2 are two different dreams, but the same kingdoms or empires are being described in both. When we get to chapter 7 we will then see a further explanation of chapter 2. Also, chapter 11 will play a part in this same discussion.