Daniel 2 (Part 2 of 3)

OK, so I said I would cover this chapter in two parts, but now I see that this will take 3 parts to get through it. Deal with it…


If you haven’t already, please read part 1 below before reading part 2.

Part 2

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM
We must look to scripture to interpret scripture, and we don’t have to look far to get the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:



36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king…You are that head of gold. 39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

So, here we are told that there are 4 earthly kingdoms that will dominate the gentile lands/nations.
- The first (head of gold) is specified as Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian kingdom.
- The second (chest & arms of silver) is described as “inferior” to Babylon
- The third (belly & thighs of bronze) is described as “ruling over the whole earth”
- The fourth (legs of iron, feet partly iron & clay) is described as “strong as iron” and “it will crush and break all the others”. The feet are additionally described as being a “divided kingdom”, partly strong (iron) and partly brittle (clay), and the people will be a mixture that does not remain united.



** I think it’s important to note here that the feet are of a different composition than the legs, and are described separately. **

44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."


This tells us that the rock that struck the statue on it’s feet of iron and clay, is God’s kingdom. This kingdom will be set up to endure forever. You probably noticed that Jesus is referred to as the “rock” or “stone” many times over in the Bible.


It’s also important to see that when the rock hits the feet of the statue, “It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end”. This is important because it is another clue as to the identification of the 4th kingdom. The only way that all 4 kingdoms can be destroyed by striking that last kingdom (feet), is if the last kingdom encompasses all the area/land of the prior kingdoms.