Daniel Chapter 2, an Outline of World History from Babylon to the Present and Beyond

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Chapter 2 of the Book of Daniel is probably the easiest to understand of all the prophecies of Daniel, and the interpretation of it is probably the least controversial among Christians! The only people who may question the Book of Daniel are atheists and people who deny the Divine inspiration of the Bible. That’s because Daniel two is an outline of world history of the empires that existed hundreds of years after Daniel was alive. The Lord showed Daniel the empires that would follow the Babylonian empire. There is no way Daniel could have known or shared these things with Nebuchadnezzar unless God, Who knows the future, had revealed it. Because the prophecies of Daniel 2 were all fulfilled after Daniel which history clearly shows us, and because that proves the Divine inspiration of the Book of Daniel, unbelieving academics and scholars have tried to argue that Daniel chapter 2 was written much later than Daniel actually lived, and therefore Daniel could not have written it. They’re wrong. Who would you rather trust? The recorded Word of God or the opinion of some unbelieving academic? I choose the former. Jesus Himself gave credibility to the Book of Daniel when He said in Mark 13:14:

“But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:”

Jesus is talking about the latter half of Daniel 9:27 which says:

…and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

I taught Daniel 2 once during an evening Bible study to my Christian fellowship. I think most of them understood and appreciated it.

Daniel 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

Nebuchadnezzar II, also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, (born c. 630—died c. 561 bce), second and greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia (reigned c. 605–c. 561 bce). He was known for his military might, the splendour of his capital, Babylon, and his important part in Jewish history. (Source: Britannica)

I don’t like using BCE, before common era, and CE, common era. I’ll just stick with BC, before Christ, and AD, after Christ. I heard Neil deGrasse Tyson, the famous American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator say he also prefers to use BC and AD. 🙂

The second year of the King Nebuchadrezzar of the Book of Daniel was therefore 606 BC.

I hope you read the entire chapter 2 from your Bible on your own. I will sum up verses 2 – 30:

King Nebuchadrezzar had a dream he considered important and meaningful, but upon waking up, he couldn’t remember the dream. He therefore called his wise men, the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell him what he dreamed. They of course could not. King Nebuchadrezzer wanted the wise men to tell him both the dream and the interpretation of it! He said if they could tell him the dream, he would know they would tell him the correct interpretation of the dream. When the wise men said there was no way they can tell the king his dream, Nebuchandresser then threatened them and their families with execution! This would have included the prophet Daniel and his Hebrew friends as well if they did not tell the king his dream. Daniel wasn’t in the kings presence at the time.

The wise men said,

Daniel 2:11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

The king then became furious and ordered all the wise men to be killed! Daniel found out about the king’s order from Arioch, the king’s captain, and went to the king to ask for time to learn both the dream and its interpretation. The king granted his request. Daniel then asked his Hebrew friends to pray that the God of Heaven reveal to him both the dream and the interpretation. Daniel received it by revelation that night and the next day told the king both the dream and the interpretation.

Nebuchadnezzer’s dream

Daniel 2:31-35 ¶Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer 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.

The interpretation

Daniel 2:36-38 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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 “image” Nebuchadnezzer saw was a statue of a man. The “head of gold” of the statue represented King Nebuchanezzer and his kingdom that ruled from 626 BC and ended 539 BC. Nebuchadnezzer was king during this time from 605 BC to 561 BC.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and being firmly established through the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 612 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BC, marking the collapse of the Chaldean dynasty less than a century after its founding. (Source: Wikipedia)

Daniel 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

The second kingdom of Daniel 2:39 symbolized by the statue’s breast and his arms of silver and is the dual empire of Medo-Persia which is also known as the Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire. Persia was the stronger of the two, just as in the body one arm is stronger than the other!

Toward the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the Persians began to become a powerful force and under Cyrus II Media was conquered in 549 b.c. and was combined with the empire of the Persians to form Medo-Persia. The combined strength of the Persians and the Medes led to conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c., with the resulting extension of their empire over much of the Middle East until the conquest of Alexander the Great in 331 b.c. (Source: Bible.org)

The third kingdom of Daniel 2:39 symbolized by the belly and his thighs of brass is the Greek empire founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Daniel lived to the beginning of the Medo-Persian empire but the Greek empire came 200 years later! The Greeks were interested in philosophy and religion or spiritual things. And it is held by the Greeks and by almost all religions that the seat of the spirit is in the belly. As Jesus said, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit.)” (John 7:38,39)

In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of Asia Minor, Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at Issus and Gaugamela; he subsequently overthrew Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety.

The first empire was represented by the head of gold, Babylon. The second, the dual empire of Medo-persia represented by arms of silver. Two arms represented the dual kingdom. First Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, but Cyrus let Darius the Mede be ruler of it in the beginning. The Bible tells me so!

Daniel 5:30-31 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Next, the fourth kingdom:

Daniel 2:40 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.

The fourth kingdom represented by the legs or iron was the Roman Empire. Rome, the tough, iron-fisted kingdom which clamped down with iron military rule over the entire known world in the days before Christ, was one of the longest-reigning empires the world has ever known. For nearly one hundred years there were no major wars, no one even being able to muster a force against the Roman rule.The armies of Rome marched all over the known world which gives meaning to the legs of iron. Rome conquered the Greeks in 27 BC. In its decline it was divided into an Eastern and Western Empire. The Western Empire was ruled by Rome, and the Eastern Empire, ruled by Constantinople, was called the Byzantine Empire. So even the parts of the image itself symbolize the kingdoms of man, and this becomes extremely significant as we go on to the feet.

Daniel 2:41-43 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. 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. 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.

This brings us up to the present. Kings ruled the earth until the American Revolution and the French Revolution which brought democracy to the world. The iron rule of the Roman empire continued through the “Holy Roman Empire” by the iron rule of the popes of Rome and their control over kings. Personal liberty and freedom of conscience was suppressed. It’s still hated by the Pope and the Vatican till this day!

The clay can represent the democratic republics such as America which supposedly protects the rights of the individual. The iron may also represent dictatorships, both fascist and communist governments. Germany under Hitler was fascist and the Soviet Union was communist. Both were dictatorships. The people were suppressed. China is of course run by the Chinese Communist Party. There was some freedom when I visited China in 1998 and 1999, but nobody even then discussed politics! I wouldn’t want to visit China today.

Another interpretation of the iron and the clay, and this is my own personal interpretation: I think it may be symbolized by bones in person’s feet and the tissue covering the bones. This reminds me of so called democratic governments today. All nations of the world including democracies have a hidden dictatorial iron core of rule which is covered by the democratic (clay) process. GWB told the American people they had no say in his invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. It would happen no matter if the vast majority of the American people were against it. That’s democracy?

Daniel 2:44-45 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. 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.

The Stone cut out of the mountain without hands represents the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming will break in pieces the kingdoms of this world, the existing governments of man, and He will set up His kingdom on earth to replace them. This, I believe, is very close the time we are living in now! When will it happen? I’m not into date setting but I can’t see how the world can last much longer the way it’s going! I see judgements on nations that have legalized abortion and are promoting the LGBTQ agenda, judgements such as fires, floods, extreme heat in the summer, extreme cold and snow in the winter, tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes. It was Obama who was the first American president that came out with his acceptance of gay people, and Biden has taken it to a whole new level promoting transgenerism. And besides abortion and the LGBTQ agenda, I’m hearing a lot more evil going on, things I cannot ennumerate in this article. If you have seen the “Sound of Freedom” you know what I’m talking about.

Let’s all be busy for the Lord in service to His Kingdom so we will not be ashamed at His coming!

Revelation 22:20-21 ¶He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.