DANIEL 2 - HISTORY IN ADVANCE
In this study the Bible has already identified several characteristics that describe this religious-governmental kingdom that is depicted as a little horn in Daniel chapter 7 and the leopard-like beast in Revelation chapters 13 and 14. Before this religious-governmental kingdom is specifically identified, let’s first go to Daniel chapter 2 to get more clues about this kingdom.
In Daniel chapter 2, did you know that God predicted the rise and fall of kingdoms that directly affected the people of God even before they came into power? Remember, Bible prophecy is history in advance. But get this, God predicts the rise and fall of these kingdoms until the establishment of His everlasting kingdom in order! This proves the truth and inspiration of the Bible! This brief study on Daniel chapter 2 should build your faith in God and His Word.
Read Daniel chapter 2 in its entirety for details. According to Daniel 1:1, 2, the kingdom of Babylon, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, was an extremely powerful kingdom that took the people of God captive from Judah. In summary, according to Daniel 2:1-27, one night the king had a troubling dream that he knew had meaning, but he could not remember the dream.
After his paid magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers were unable to tell him the dream neither its interpretation, King Nebuchadnezzar put out a death decree to kill all his wise men which included God’s faithful captives from Judah; Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Because of Daniel’s faithfulness that was displayed in Daniel chapter 1, God gave Daniel the gift of “understanding in all visions and dreams,” according to Daniel 1:17.
Through the favor of God, Daniel went before the king to request that he would be given time and that he would tell the king the dream and its interpretation. The king honored his request. After a prayer meeting with his three companions of faith, that night God gave Daniel the exact same dream He gave King Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation. The next day Daniel went before the king and revealed that the God in Heaven told him the dream and its interpretation.
Daniel 2:28, 29
28 “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
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.”
Don’t miss it. King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream tells us what is going to happen to the very end of time. You need to perk up on this. This is very interesting and exciting. Also God reveals that the prophetic events of the dream “should come to pass hereafter,” meaning that prophecy of the dream starts at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom and continues forward. The dream does NOT go back in time before King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian kingdom. It starts from Babylon and goes forward until the end of time.
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.”
What is the interpretation of the metallic statue; what do the different metals and body parts of the statue represent?
Daniel 2:36-45
36 “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
In this interpretation of the dream God is revealing to all the world the rise and fall of kingdoms starting from Babylon until the last everlasting kingdom of God. So each metal or elements on the statue represents the rise and fall of specific kingdoms or nations that have a direct impact on the people of God. Verse 45 repeats verse 29 “what shall come to pass hereafter” reemphasizing the fact that the prophecy of the dream starts from the kingdom of Babylon.
Prophetic Symbol: Metals on Daniel chapter 2 statue = KINGDOMS / NATIONS (Rise & Fall)
In Daniel chapter 2 God gives us the rise and fall of specific kingdoms in advance. The rise and fall of these kingdoms was prophesied in perfect order. Now, history reveals the accuracy of this prophecy.
The metallic statue of Daniel chapter 2 also tells us how close we are to the end of time and the establishment of God’s everlasting kingdom.
What kingdom represents the head of gold? What does Daniel tell king Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonian kingdom?
Daniel 2:37, 38
37 “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.”
The kingdom of Babylon is the head of gold which rose into power 605 BC and fell in 539 BC.
Prophetic Symbol: Head of Gold = Babylon (605 to 539 BC)
What kingdom represents the breast and arms of silver that would arise after Babylon?
In Daniel chapter 8, during the Babylonian reign of King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, God prophesied that Babylon would be conquered by a kingdom depicted as a ram with two horns and God gives the name of the kingdom that would conquer Babylon!
Daniel 8:1 - “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.”
Daniel 8:20 - “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.”
The Medes and Persian kingdom conquered Babylon as prophesied in the Bible and confirmed by history. Daniel chapter 5 gives the details of how the Medes and Persian kingdom conquered Babylon.
Daniel 5:28 - “PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Daniel 5:31 - “And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
The Medes and Persian kingdom represent the chest and arms of silver on the metallic statue. They rose into power in 539 BC and fell in 331 BC.
Prophetic Symbol: Arms and Chest of Silver = Medes and Persian Kingdom (539 to 331 BC)
In the same vision that the Medes and Persian kingdom was prophetically depicted as a ram with two horns in Daniel chapter 8, it names the kingdom that would conquer the Medes and Persian kingdom. That kingdom is prophetically depicted as a rough goat with a great horn between his eyes that killed the ram with two horns.
5 “And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.”
Daniel 8:21 - “And the rough goat is the