A Dream, a Stone, a Forever Kingdom

“Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So, they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, ‘I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.’” Daniel 2:1-3

God gave messages to leaders via dreams in Genesis 20:3-7 to King Abimelech, in Genesis 41:1-32 to Pharaoh, in 1 Kings 3:5-15 to King Solomon, and in Matthew 27:19 to Governor Pilate via his wife’s dream. Here in Daniel 2:1, God gave the King of Babylon dreams but hid the meaning of the dreams from him.

King Nebuchadnezzar was so troubled by the dreams that he could not sleep. He told his top advisors that he was anxious to know their meaning. In Daniel 2:4-5, Chaldeans asked him to tell them what he dreamed, but Nebuchadnezzar told them that they either tell him what he dreamed and its interpretation or be cut in pieces. In Daniel 2:6, the king promised gifts, rewards, and great honor to whoever told him the dream and its interpretation.

In Daniel 2:10-11, the Chaldeans declared, “There’s not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter. There is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” In Daniel 2:12-13, the king gave the command to destroy them. His servants began killing the wise men. They also looked for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to kill them.

In Daniel 2:14-15, Daniel stopped Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, and asked him why the king’s decree was so urgent. In Daniel 2:16, Daniel asked King Nebuchadnezzar for a space of time to interpret the dream. In Daniel 2:17-18, Daniel asked Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to seek God’s mercy so that they would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

In Daniel 2:19, the Lord revealed to Daniel in a night vision what the king dreamed. Daniel blessed the God of heaven saying...

“Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers. You have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.” Daniel 2:20-23

The Lord came through for Daniel and his three friends. The dream involved seasonal changes from one empire to another, and from one ruler to another. The Lord was Daniel’s light and his salvation. The Lord was Daniel’s source of supernatural revelation.

In Daniel 2:24-26, Daniel went to Arioch and said to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.” Arioch did so.

In Daniel 2:26, the king asked Daniel, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?”

In Daniel 2:27-30, Daniel pointed the King to the God of heaven as his source of revelation...

“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ‘The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: as for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”

In Daniel 2:31-35, Daniel tells the king the dream. He said...

“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was 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. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

According to Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary, empires lessened the weight of metals used in their coins as their rulers became less powerful. Silver is not so heavy as gold, brass not so heavy as silver, and iron not so heavy as brass. Nebuchadnezzar (the gold) derived his authority from God, not from man. The Persian king (the silver) that followed Nebuchadnezzar could not deliver Daniel from his own princes in Daniel 6:14-15. His lack of authority contrasts with Nebuchadnezzar’s power to slay his useless wisemen at will. The Persian king’s rule rested on his nobility of person and birth, the nobles being his equals in rank, but not in office. The Grecian King (the brass) ruled not by nobility but by individual influence. The Roman Emperor (iron and clay) was the lowest of all. He was dependent on popular choice, being appointed by popular military election.

In Daniel 2:36-45, Daniel tells the king the interpretation of the dream...

“This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

The Lord revealed to Nebuchadnezzar that he was the first of four worldwide leaders, but nevertheless that his kingdom and three kingdoms after his would be destroyed by God.

According to Isaiah 8:14; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7-8, the Messiah is the “stone of stumbling” that becomes greater than all the kings who proceeded Him. He seems small to people of the earth so they stumble over Him in preference for the kings who currently rule. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 21:44, “Whosoever shall fall on this stone (that is, stumble, and be offended, at Him) shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

1 Corinthians 15:24 says, “Then comes the end, when He [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.”

The Messiah was cut out from “the mountain” (Daniel 2:45); namely, Mount Zion (Isaiah 2:2), “without [human] hands” because the God of heaven sets up His kingdom.

According to Matthew 1:20, Jesus Messiah was not created by human agency but conceived by the Holy Spirit. The world kingdoms were reared by human ambition, but Jesus stated in John 18:36 that His kingdom is “not of this world.”

The kingdom of Christ is perceived at first as insignificant as a “stone” but later it becomes a mountain and fills the whole earth. The kingdoms of iron and clay that exist when Christ returns are broken in pieces. These kingdoms rule in similar fashion as Rome did by military force. The Lord tells us Isaiah 2:4 that after Christ’s second coming, swords will be made into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, and “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” God is love and His kingdom is about love not war.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, ‘Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.’” Daniel 2:46-47

The fact that Daniel accurately described Nebuchadnezzar’s dream convinced the king that his interpretation was true. Nebuchadnezzar gloried in being the head of gold. In Daniel 3, he constructs an idol based on his dream. He neglects the stone that becomes the mountain and makes an idol. He mandate that everyone must worship it. Thus, is the tendency of people who do not know God. They are idol makers. They foolishly make gods of that which is not God to their own destruction.

“Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts. And He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” Daniel 2:48-49

Daniel did not forget Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. He advocated for them before the king to receive positions of authority in his administration. Daniel was now the chief administrator of the province of Babylon. He “sat in the gate of the king” means that he was privy to the business that was brought before the king. Daniel was the chief counselor to the king. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he received his place of authority from God and not by human contrivance.

To God be the glory! The empires of this world have impressive toys, but Christ brings us to God.

1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

A baby born in a manger! A harmless story, even laughable to some, but He replaces the mighty kingdoms of this world with the Kingdom of God. His kingdom is never overthrown. No more flip flopping between one political party and another! His Kingdom is great and glorious!

“Come, Lord Jesus come!”