By Bob Barney
Daniel, a prophet of God, lived over 2,500 years ago. He was a Jewish captive, living in Babylon, and during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, he was given the meaning of a dream, by God, laying out before him the last four great empires that would rule the earth. One night during the second year of the king's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had some disturbing dreams that neither he nor his “wise-men” could decipher the meaning. He was told about the man named Daniel, and of his God, the God of the universe, who had the ability to interpret anyone's dreams.
Upon meeting the king, Daniel said: {NLT version Daniel 2:29} “While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen.
30. And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.
31 “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.
32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.
34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
36 “That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.
37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
39 “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world.
40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron.
42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay.
43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix
44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a ki ngdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.
45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to p
ieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will h appen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
This is one of the most important warnings in all human history, hardly understood by anyone! Before getting into world history, you must ask yourself two basic questions. #1 Is the God of the Bible real, and #2, do you believe that God can predict the future? These two questions are really the most important questions you will ever ask yourself; your very life depends on the knowledge that God Almighty has revealed what is going to happen in the world. The statue made in four parts represents the last four empires that would rule the earth. God says so right here: “During the reigns of those kings (the last and 4th empire), the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. We know, from these few scriptures that the fourth great kingdom after Daniel would be the one that Jesus Himself destroys, and then sets up His own millennial kingdom.