Daniel Prophet and Man of God

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VISION (Daniel chapter 2)

Four Great Empires Chart

Men and women of all times since who have studied this prophecy have found here solid grounds for confidence in GOD and in HIS WORD. It is a confidence which you, who read these words, certainly should share.

PART OF THE PROPHECY STILL FUTURE

Moreover, the steady accurate fulfilment of Daniel's words leads us to look with renewed interest at the last stage of the prophecy. What shall we make of that little stone which fell with shattering effect on the feet of the image, grinding it to powder, and then becoming a great world-filling mountain?

If the image represented the kingdom of men, obviously the stone stands for some power external to human rule, which is to establish itself as a world power upon the ruins of human governments. These it will 'break in pieces and consume'. This is the explanation Daniel gave: (Daniel 2 v 44)

'And in the days of these kings (ie the divided state of the nations) shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which will never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people... it shall stand for ever'.

This is one of many promises in the Bible that God has not forsaken the earth. He has devised a plan - the Master Plan for human salvation - and that plan centres in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thoughtful readers will readily be able to identify the stone 'cut out of the mountain without hands' with the one who was born the Saviour of mankind: 'cut out' as it were, of the mountain of humanity, not by human hands, but by the power of God, in the miracle of his birth. Jesus, in fact, spoke of his role as the stone (Matthew 21 v 42-44) 'the stone which the builders rejected' and he went on 'whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder'.

44-45a These verses present the final scene. The rock cut from a mountain (v. 45a), the rock that becomes the fifth kingdom rolls down from a mountain and smashes against the brittle feet of the great image and topples it over. It then reduces the entire monument--including its four metals--to dust, which the wind sweeps away (v. 35), after which the rock becomes a mountain (kingdom) that fills the earth. In contrast to the limited number of centuries the four man-made empires lasted, this fifth God-established kingdom is destined to endure forever (v. 44)--a realm never to be destroyed. Not only Daniel 7, but parallel passages leave us in no doubt that this fifth realm is the kingdom of God, ruled over by Christ and enduring eternally, even after its earthly, millennial phase is over.

All the signs indicate that soon the stone will fall with devastating effect on an unsuspecting world. Would you escape the coming destruction? Would you share in the benefits of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus is coming to set up on earth?

Jesus alone has the power to save.

But before we leave the prophecy of Daniel let us note that the teaching of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar was elaborated in a vision seen and explained by Daniel himself as recorded in chapter 7 of the book which bears his name. The symbolism is changed and extended in detail using the figures of the four beasts to represent the four great empires portrayed in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. The equivalent of the reference to the Kingdom of God in Daniel 2 v 44 is given in the words of Daniel 7 v 27 as follows:

'And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him'.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Because of all the many references in the book of this prophet, Isaiah has been referred to as the prophet of the Kingdom.



"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it."

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." - Isaiah Chapter 2 v 2-4

Before we consider the response of Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel’s words, let us summarize some important observations concerning the statue:

(1) What is the common element in all 4 kingdoms?There is a unity, a bond between the four kingdoms, as indicated by the vision. There is one statue, but four distinct kingdoms. Somehow these four kingdoms are related or share something in common. The common element seems to be that these were all Gentile kingdoms, kingdoms which subjugated and dominated the nation Israel. They all ruled over the middle east and at times beyond.

(2) Could this be an example of the second law of thermal dynamics? Gold to iron/ clay.⁶ There is a downward progression, a deterioration of the kingdoms. The head of gold is glorious, the breast of silver of a lesser greatness. The belly of brass deteriorates to legs of iron and feet which are a mixture of iron and clay.⁷ Things don’t get better, only worse.

3. 
   There is a digration that eventually ends up in ruins - and it all points back to Neb- buddy.
   

There is, in the end, a disintegration of the entire statue. Granted Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was great, but when the stone strikes the feet of the statue, the entire statue collapses, disintegrates, and blows away. In the end, the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom (not to mention all the rest) is blown away. Somehow Nebuchadnezzar is to see the link between his kingdom and the other three, and to see that he shares in the final destiny of the entire statue.

4. 
   We know the end of the story - Jesus is the rock that shatters the statue and sets up the millinial kingdom!
   

The Rock destroys all the kingdoms at once.

The kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar and those who follow him pass away, and a greater, eternal kingdom does not.

Greater emphasis is on the first and fourth kingdoms than on the rest. The first kingdom is given attention because Nebuchadnezzar is the king. The fourth kingdom receives more emphasis than the other three, I believe, because it is the final kingdom which will be struck down by Messiah at His appearance.

Vs. 45b - 46a

Daniel closed his interpretation of the dream by assuring Nebuchadnezzar (v. 45b) that it was divinely inspired and absolutely trustworthy. Thus the God of heaven had graciously granted the king the knowledge of the future he had asked for. The baffling mystery had at last been unraveled by the spokesman of the one true God. The king could only acknowledge Yahweh as "God of gods" (i.e., the Supreme God), the absolute sovereign over all the powers of heaven (even including the king's own patron gods, Marduk and Nabu), and "Lord of kings" on earth, the true Lord of history (v. 47).