Nebuchadnezzar's Prophetic Dream
Upon claiming the throne (605 BC) after the death of his father, King Nabopolassar, King Nebuchadnezzar II inherited a bunch of mystic advisors that had once served his father. These wise men were collaborators of the dark arts who worked in service to the King. The mystic advisors were the best the kingdom had to offer, Egyptian magicians, Canaanite fortunetellers, Aramaic astrologers, and Chaldean practitioners of the dark arts and dream interpreters. There were also soothsayers, diviners, sorcerers, enchanters, conjurers, and illusionist available to provide counsel unto the new king.
But none would come close to doing what the king requested.
King Nebuchadnezzar II was haunted by a dream that mesmerized his soul. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, the details of his dream evaporating as soon as he woke. It intrigued him so deeply that he called upon his court of dream translators, sorcerers, astrologers,
and magicians to reveal his dream and also the interpretation.
He was desperate to know the meaning of the mysterious dream that evaded his waking moments.
That left the advisor counsel in a bit of a pickle. If they did not have the details of the dream, how were they to reveal its meaning? If he couldn't grasp the details, how could they do the interpretation?
Now they began to worry. After all, they were tricksters, not mind readers. Even the Chaldean dream interpreters couldn't translate a dream if they didn't know the key elements. The best they could do was illicit a guess, and go from there.
The king went a step further. He demanded them to reveal the mystery of the dream and the interpretation or their very lives were on the line, for only then would he know that the words they spoke were true.
The king’s occultic council was in a dilemma, and they began to panic.
The King had given them an
impossible task with severe consequences. If they could not tell the King his dream and, the meaning behind it, they would be slain. But on the other hand, they could gain great honor and prestige, if they were able to tell him the dream and the
interpretation.
The council knew they could do no such thing and told the
king that. They told him that there was no man on earth, that could perform the
task the King had set before them; only a true god, not one that dwells with
man, but in the heavenly realm could do what the king asked. The king was so
enraged by their admission that he decreed all wise men in the council to be
slain.
When Daniel had heard of the King's decree, he prayed, and received the secrets of the dream that very night. Daniel immediately thanked God, praising His name for revealing the mystery of the dream, and the interpretation. The king had dreamt about the future of his kingdom and the Babylon kingdom that would rise to rule the world, in the latter days.
Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place. Daniel 2:27-29 NASB
The statue told a story of events that would evolve from within Nebuchadnezzars kingdom, using metals the Babylonians worshiped (Daniel 5:4,23). The dream was prophetic in nature, as it revealed not only two future kingdoms that would rule the middle east - the lands belonging to Nebuchadnezzar - but it revealed the prophetic fall of Babylon and a final, fourth kingdom that would rise in the latter days. A dream of this magnitude could have only been sent by God, just as the interpretation was given to Daniel.
Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream laid the foundation for what God was to reveal to Daniel in the future. What Daniel saw in his night vision was only the beginning of a series of profound visions and prophetic dreams that began with Babylon; and ended with a fourth Babylon kingdom, just before the second coming of Christ.
The entirety of the visions and interpretations did not come at once nor, were they entirely explained within Nebuchadnezzars dream. Daniel was to receive additional visions to explain the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in more depth, and detail. Daniel will see four beasts rise from the sea, who conquer and devour the middle east. These beast explain the role of future kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in more detail. These kingdoms directly effected Nebuchadnezzars kingdom, leaving a fourth kingdom yet to come: Daniels Fourth Beast from the Sea.
The Dream
This is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar- In the dream the king saw an amazing sight. Before him stood a statue of a man, an image of a mighty king, and a futuristic timeline of his kingdom. Its head was made of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver,
his belly and thighs of brass, its legs were iron and, its feet and toes a mixture of the iron, and shard clay. He watched as a stone cut without
hands, strike the image at its feet, and the entire image crumbled before his eyes. The broken pieces became like chaff on a threshing floor, and
the wind carried them away, until they were no more.
The stone that stuck the image became a great mountain (kingdom) expanding over the entire earth. This final kingdom is the eternal kingdom of God.
When used symbolically, a mountain is the biblical symbol of a kingdom. Exp: Isaiah 2:2 KJV: note, Scofield Reference Bible: A mountain, symbolically is a kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar is so awe struck by his dream that he ordered a gigantic representation of the image to be set up in the plain of Dura. He has the entire statute, covered in fine gold as the image was a reflection of the mighty kingdom he had built, and the Babylon kingdom that rises in the latter days. He then orders all nations within his empire, to bow and worship the image, or face death.
This statue represents Nebuchadnezzar and, his kingdom: Babylon the Great.
Interpretation
This is the interpretation given to king Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel the prophet:
The head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar–
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.
Media-Persian, Silver & Greece Brass
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.
Fourth Kingdom / Feet and toes of Iron and Clay:
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as 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 saw 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.
The Rock, Kingdom of Heaven:
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 saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it breaks 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 summary, the interpretation is generally universally accepted
as to the order and establishment of middle eastern kingdoms that follow Nebuchadnezzar as the
head of gold. Verses 37,38 specifically point to King Nebuchadnezzar as being the
head of gold and to the kingdom he was given. Thee (you) are the head of gold, you
were given a kingdom, YOU are the head of gold and (verse 38) after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.
As king of Babylon, this specific wording suggests that
King Nebuchadnezzar is the rightful king of the Babylonian kingdom; a kingdom given to him by the God of heaven. Daniel 2:37,38. He was the
king who ruled the entire middle east. This is his kingdom and, he is the chosen King. The image represents the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, and its future.
Daniel’s interpretation focuses on King Nebuchadnezzar as ruler of the kingdom, which is Babylon. The image represents both the King and his kingdom. We see this play out in Revelation 17:10 where kings rule kingdoms and kingdoms are ruled by kings. If you have seven kings, you must have seven kingdoms. The rest of the interpretation does not make much sense unless you tie kings to kingdoms, and kingdoms to kings. The only exception are the ten kings who do not have kingdoms but, rule as kings over the fourth kingdom; emerging from the feet as toes: Dan 2:44; Rev 17:12.
The next kingdom is referenced as a kingdom
inferior to Nebuchadnezzar II. It does not say the next king will be inferior,
only that the kingdom will be. The third kingdom of brass gets barely a mention, except to say, this kingdom will rule over all the earth.
The focus is on the kingdoms in relation to Babylon.
The second kingdom, is the kingdom of silver. The Medes and the Persians were joined from the birthright of Cyrus. Cyrus’s mother was a Median princess, his father Cambyses, a Persian king. Using his dual ancestry, Cyrus combined the power of both his Mede and Persian heredity to solidify his strength, and his kingdom. These two kingdoms are represented as the two arms of the statue, a left and a right, working together as one unit. When Babylon was captured it was simply absorbed into the Mede-Persian empire.
King Darius the Mede was placed on the Babylonian throne the night the writing was on the wall and, Babylon fell, setting the prophecy of the fall of Babylon into motion: Isaiah 13; Jeremiah 51:11,12. Cyrus’s vast Persian empire absorbed the middle east, conquering Babylon, Egypt,
Greece, Asia Minor and East-India. (Iran was known as
Persia until 1935. The indigenous people of Iran still consider themselves Persians to
this day despite the rule of the Ayatollah.) Ancient Persians were
Zoroastrian, holding a mythical belief in a single god and many spirits. They
were accepting of other people’s cultures and religious worship, not
overshadowing or forcing change on another’s beliefs or religious practices.
The third kingdom, the kingdom of brass (or bronze), the
Macedonian kingdom of Alexander the Great, used the same method as the Mede-Persia
kingdom; absorbing conquered territories to grow his Grecian empire. Alexander's empire was huge, expanding
from Macedon into northern India, Persia, Turkey, Armenia, Assyria, lower Mesopotamia,
Egypt and Libya. This was all done on horseback, chariot, and foot. Alexander made Babylon his secondary home, spending most of his time living in the ruins of the great city. Alexander’s middle eastern kingdom died when he did (in Babylon) and was divided among 4 of his generals. The four dynasties turned into four kingdoms represented as four additional heads upon Daniels third beast from the sea (Daniel 7:6). The Seleucid kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes claimed the Babylon territory, but Antiochus ruled from Antioch, not Babylon.
So far, we see three kingdoms, which had kings who ruled the middle east, from Babylon. The fourth kingdom provides the final king: the little horn aka: Antichrist who rises among ten kings seen as the toes, who emerge from the feet of iron and clay. Daniel 2:44. This tells us that the fourth kingdom rises in the latter days.
When the Roman empire rose 2000 years ago, it absorbed most of the Grecian dynasties, creating a Roman-Grecian empire. There may have been a brief tug of war, but
overall, the two kingdoms merged as they complimented each other. Rome accepted the Grecian empire with open arms. Not only did Rome absorb the Greek culture, they flourished under it, accepting it as an equal, empowering their influence on the world. They welcomed the diversity that the Greeks brought with their philosophical views, cultural norms, architect, scientific knowledge and intricate language. The Greeks creativity and creation of the many pagan gods and goddesses captivated the heart of the Roman empire. Rome eagerly welcomed the music, entertainment, culture and religions into their growing empire.
The legs of iron are completely glossed over with barely a mention, four words, half a verse Daniel 2:33a, moving the focus from the third kingdom, directly to the fourth; the feet and toes of iron and clay. The legs of iron represent an extended period of time between the third kingdom, the belly and thighs of brass, and the fourth; the feet and toes of iron and clay; when Babylon had no king. Since the legs of iron are not defined as a kingdom, we need to search the Bible for the meaning of this long duration of time.
O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place.
In relation to the Babylonian kingdom and its future, the iron legs represent a long period of time when Babylon had lost her reigning power, and ceased to be the mighty kingdom she once was. Babylon began to descend into an inactive or dormant state, reflecting the prophetic fall of Babylon. It took several centuries to become the desolation that we are familiar with today.
In relationship to Babylon, and the prophecies of Babylon, the legs represent a time gap in Babylons history, a long period of time when Babylon fell into desolation. After the death of Alexander the Great, Babylon had no king, and the fall of Babylon which began 200 years earlier with the conquest by the Mede-Persians, accelerated. The fall of Babylon was a result of God's divine judgement: Isaiah 13:17; Jeremiah 50: 1-17; Jeremiah 51:11,12. The fall of Babylon is seen as the legs of iron, the time gap between the third kingdom of brass and the fourth, the feet and toes of iron and shard clay - which parallels the fourth beast of ten horns: Daniel 7:7-25. There are four kingdoms and four kings, but five time periods present in Babylon's image.
After 800 A.D., Babylon was little more than crumbling infrastructure and desert sand, and after 1200 A.D. was completely deserted. Nebuchadnezzar's dream was focused on the future of Babylon; as he tossed and turned in his bed until he was given the interpretation from the God of Daniel. The interpretation told him exactly what would become of his kingdom in the latter days.
Over the course of several millennian, the bottom half of the image has been relocated to Rome (Europe) presenting a scriptural conflict in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This interpretation cuts the image in half - at the knee - removing the prophetic significance of Babylon in the latter days, replacing Babylon with Rome - even though the entire image presents an historical timeline of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom.
The Roman Empire in the west, and the Islamic empire to the east; both rose as powerful kingdoms that conquered the middle east. Only one remains today. Rome was powerful in its day, subduing and conquering nations, expanding its territory. But now, 2,000 years later, its power is concentrated in the west, preparing the way for Daniel's fourth kingdom to rise.
Both kingdoms rose while Babylon declined under God's judgement. Both kingdoms are paving the way to the rise of the fourth kingdom, the tribulation - antichrist kingdom; the feet and toes of iron and clay.
The ancient Roman empire never conquered or placed a ruling king within the ancient Babylonian kingdom. The Roman empire only extended as far as the Euphrates River, never crossing into Babylon. If the Roman empire had placed a ruling king in the Babylon territory, the prophecy of the fourth kingdom, and its king, would have been fulfilled. (Rome had emperors, not Kings) The Ottoman empire that rose to conquer the middle east after the demise of Rome, never placed a ruling king in Babylon either, also failing to fulfill the prophecy of the fourth kingdom.
Three previous kingdoms had kings who lived in Babylon: the Chaldeans, the Mede-Persian and the Grecian empire of Alexander the Great. The fourth kingdom, a combination of the lion, the bear and the leopard, (Revelation 13:2a) will form a fourth kingdom, and provide the final king, fulfilling the prophecy of Revelation 13:1-4 in the latter days. The fourth kingdom rises to seize world power after the prophetic time period of the fall of Babylon is fulfilled. God will decide when this will be.
The fourth kingdom begins at the ankles, the feet and toes; making the feet and toes the tribulation / antichrist kingdom. The feet and toes parallel the beast of ten horns: Daniel 7:7-25, the fourth beast kingdom. The beast of ten horns, is the kingdom that rises prior to the tribulation period; preparing the way for the final king. This preparation is in motion now, and the final blow will happen quickly, subduing the world in one swift and easy motion; a motion that will prove deadly for most of mankind. And it will continue a short time.
The feet and toes and, the fourth beast from the sea are the same kingdom, complementing each other. The feet and toes represent the underlying foundation, the plan of Satan to rule the kingdoms from his territorial domain, the middle east, at the end of time. The beast from the sea is the fourth kingdom; a revived beast kingdom that merges the power of three fallen beast kingdoms as one: Babylon, the lion, the leopard, the Grecian, and the bear, the Mede-Persian: Revelation 13:2a. This middle eastern kingdom will be brutal and beyond menacing once it claims global supremacy.
The feet and the toes of iron and shard clay, represent the foundation of the image and the final kingdom, a base of political (iron) and religious; Beast out of the Earth (clay) rule seeking world domination for its prophet and its god. The shard is brittle and broken, not mixing with iron but, working together to seize world power.
To see the feet and toes mixed together in this way, indicates a breaking away from the legs of iron, the fall of Babylon; a kingdom without a king.
The beast (kingdom) is found in the wilderness (Revelation 17:3) aka: the desert. This is also the location of the great city, the tribulation-antichrist city, Babylon the Great. Babylon, depicted metaphorically as a woman, is carried upon the seven heads of the beast: Rev 17:3,7,9, ruling over the kings of the earth: 17:18.
Before the fourth kingdom can form, two other kingdoms must rise during Babylon's dormant state (the legs of iron) and pave the way. Rome rose to dominate the west, dividing in 395, and falling in 476 A.D.. The eastern half, the Byzantine empire thrived for an additional thousand years until it was conquered by the Ottoman empire, a political and religious system focused on war and conquest - removing the final remnant of the Roman empire from the middle east.
After the Ottoman empire fell in 1924, the political and religious system of Islam dominated the middle east, and is now focused on world conquest, which is often overlooked by prophecy teachers, who focus only on the ancient Roman empire. This long and continuous transition has been in progress for over two thousand years; while Babylon awaits her king.
These kingdoms had proven themselves to be strong and resilient to conquest. Both have proven to be brutal and relentless in their quest for global dominance. One kingdom will prove stronger than the other, more resilient to change and less civil to humanitarian laws, striving only for conquest and world power. The stronger will overcome the weaker in the latter days while the iron - the political system of the beast out of the sea, mixes with the shard clay - the beast out of the earth - the religious system of the first beast, to rule the world. The fourth kingdom will emerge, as the middle east revives, and the fourth beast rises from the abyss, with his mortal wound healed.
Note: the four beast from the sea in Daniels dream represent four 'beast' kingdoms who parallel the four metals in Nebuchadnezzar's dream image. Three kingdom had kings who ruled the middle east, from a Babylonian capital city, which leaves one kingdom left to come, the kingdom of the feet and toes aka: kingdom of the fourth beast.
The fourth kingdom is the kingdom of the little horn. This is the tribulation-antichrist kingdom that will rise from the sea: Revelation 13:1-4, with its religious system (the Beast of the Earth) already in place.
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