Dream of Statue
“These nights, I have been having the same dream. It makes me very scared, panicked, and distraught. I don’t know how to explain it to you, but it makes me grumpy, restless, and unable to calm down. I can’t tell you the dream because I don’t remember what it was about. But I can tell you that I am really scared and want to know what the dream means”. Maybe this is how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, felt.
So I ordered the soothsayer priests, conjurers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to come and tell me about my dream. But the Chaldeans asked me to tell them my dream first, which made me very, very angry. You know, if I already knew the dream, why would I need them to tell it to me again? So I told them, “Unless you tell me the dream and its meaning, you shall be cut to pieces and your houses made into a refuse heap.” But if they could tell me, “they shall receive from me gifts, presents, and great honors.”
They replied that my request was too difficult and harsh, and again asked me to tell them the dream. This made me violently angry, so I issued a decree to kill all the wise men, including Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). The next day, Daniel came and said he could tell me my dream. I asked him curiously, “Can you really tell me the dream that I had and its meaning?”
Daniel told me “The mystery about which the king has inquired, the wise men, enchanters, magicians, and diviners could not explain to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what is to happen in the last days; this was your dream, the visions you saw as you lay in bed. 29 To you in your bed there came thoughts about what should happen in the future, and he who reveals mysteries showed you what is to be. 30 To me also this mystery has been revealed; not that I am wiser than any other living person, but in order that its meaning may be made known to the king, that you may understand the thoughts of your own mind.” –Daniel 2:28-30
Then he told me, “31 “In your vision, O king, you saw a statue, very large and exceedingly bright, terrifying in appearance as it stood before you. 32 Its head was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze, 33 its legs iron, its feet partly iron and partly clay. 34 While you watched, a stone was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it, and it struck its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces. 35 The iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” –Daniel 2:31-35
Then he explained the dream to me, “37 You, O king, are the king of kings; to you the God of heaven has given dominion and strength, power and glory; 38 human beings, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold”.
Oh yes, I am the head of gold. What about the other parts of the statue? He continued, “39 Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours, then a third kingdom, of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. 40 There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else. 41 The feet and toes you saw, partly of clay and partly of iron, mean that it shall be a divided kingdom, but yet have some of the hardness of iron. As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile, 42 and the toes partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 The iron mixed with clay means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever. 45 That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future; this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”
Wow! That was exactly the dream I had. Then I fell down and worshiped, “Truly your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealed of mysteries; that is why you were able to reveal this mystery.” I felt peace then, and recognized that Daniel’s God is the true God. I am Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon.
Daniel told us about the dream of the statue. This statue was made of different materials: gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay (not metal). What does it mean? What does God want to tell us? Daniel explained that these materials represent different kingdoms, starting from the gold head (Babylon), the silver chest and arms (Medes and Persians), the bronze belly and thighs (Greece), and the iron legs and feet…
Wait, the Bible does not clearly tell us which kingdom the iron represents, but it says the fourth kingdom (iron) evolved from the broken Greek kingdom (“Out of one of them came a little horn”). The fourth beast (kingdom) is first identified as Rome. You may read Daniel chapters 8 and 11 to see how it came out of Greece. So the bronze and iron (these two materials / two kingdoms) are closely related. Daniel 4:15 says the great tree was “bound with a band of iron and bronze,” which is why we say they are closely related.
Daniel tells us that the gold head represents the kingdom of Babylon. You may read Daniel chapter 8, especially verses 20–21: it tells us that the second (silver) represents the Persians and the third (bronze) represents Greece. But no verse clearly tells us whose the fourth kingdom is.
The dream shows us that each part of the statue represents a kingdom, and that “dominion, strength, power, and glory” were given to the golden head — the Babylonian Empire. Starting from the Babylonian Empire, it was given the “highest dominion” of the world, which previously belonged to YHWH God and was represented by Jerusalem.
The properties of those metal materials show us the brightness of those kingdoms. The statue is very large and exceedingly bright, starting from gold (the brightest), silver (bright), bronze (a little bright), to iron (dark). This represents the situation of each kingdom gradually declining from brightness to darkness. Finally, it will be destroyed by God’s kingdom.
Another property is the hardness of the metals. Verse 40 says the “fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else”. This represents the military force of those kingdoms, from weak (gold) to strong (iron).
On the other hand, the third kingdom — Greece (the bronze belly and thighs) — “shall rule over the whole earth”. In fact, the Greek Empire ruled a vast territory, but God said “it shall rule over the whole earth”. Although the territory of the Greek Empire was very large, it was still far from covering “the whole earth”. So why did God say that? Let’s think about it…
The birthplace of democracy is Athens, Greece. Ancient Greek civilization entered its heyday around 500 BC. Its politics (democracy) and culture influenced the surrounding areas, including Rome and the Italian region. Commerce, crafts, philosophy, science, and art developed like never before. The famous Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were key figures of that period.
In 338 BC, Alexander defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes and gained control over all of Greece. Although Alexander the Great built the Greek Empire, it did not include Rome or Italy. At that time, Rome was implementing a republican system, which was an early form of democracy. Later, in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, a general of the Roman Republic, became dictator for life. This symbolized the end of the Roman Republic (democracy). Democracy had been mortally wounded and began to disappear from that time.
From the 14th to the 15th century, that mortally wounded head began to heal — this period is called “the Renaissance.” Actually, it was not until the 20th century that democracy began to spread quickly, reaching its peak in the 21st century (our time). This rapid spread happened in just about a hundred years. Now most countries in the world claim some form of democracy. So perhaps this is God’s meaning: democracy started from Greece; Greece = democracy; and the democratic system – it “shall rule over the whole earth”. This is our world today.
Let us go back to the statue. At the end of the statue(feet), its feet and ten toes are partly iron and partly clay. How did the fourth kingdom (the Roman Empire, the 4th beast) change and develop, and how does it end? Let’s look at history.
The Roman Empire – the iron part, ruled Britannia (Britain) and Gaul (parts of Europe). These regions were part of the Roman Empire and were deeply influenced by its political culture. After the Roman Empire broke down, its territory became many different European countries (the ten horns of the fourth beast, representing ten kings). Britannia became the British Empire, which people called “the Empire on which the sun never sets.” Gaul became many European countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and others.
Daniel 7:24 says
“As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom(the fourth beast-Roman) ten kings shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,”
At the end of the statue, the part of the feet and ten toes , a little horn (a kingdom) comes out among the ten horns, which is the United States. The United States gained independence from Britain and became the most powerful hegemony in our world. On the other side, the European countries (the ten horns) formed the EU (European Union) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). They are “the feet and ten toes, partly of iron and partly of clay; their kingdom is also partly strong and partly fragile. They shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.”
What does it mean? It tells us that they want a European union, but it cannot stay united. Now we are living at the end of this statue. Are you eager to see God’s Kingdom?
Daniel 2:34,35 “a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
The stone represents Jesus, Matthew 21:42,44 Jesus said,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
Then the stone became a great mountain, it was setup by the YHWH God(Heavenly Father) in the Heaven, called “the Heavenly Kingdom”. Who is the king of this Kingdom?
Luke 1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Yes, his name is Jesus, the king of heavenly kingdom. Jesus and the 144,000(Son of the kingdom) will breaking them(nations of statue) in pieces. Revelation 2:26,27 “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.”
This heavenly kingdom shall never be destroyed and shall stand forever. Amen.
When will Jesus come back and destroy the Statue? Matthew 24:36 says “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” So no one knows when that day will be, only the Father knows. Although we don’t know which year or which day, maybe Jesus will come back in summer. Why can we say that?
Daniel 2:35 “The iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in “SUMMER” , and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace”. And Jesus said “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that “SUMMER” is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates”.
Jesus said, “…Summer(Jesus’ return) is near”, just as Daniel said, “…like the chaff on the threshing floor in summer”. So we say that Jesus should come back in summer, and it should surely be according to Northern Hemisphere time, because Jesus spoke these words in Israel, which is in the Northern Hemisphere. Let’s be well prepared for his return, and repent now. Amen.
Also you may read <Four Great Beast>, <The Beast 666> and <Ten Horns and the Beast> for more about God’s prophecy.
Let’s Prayer
Thank You, YHWH God, our Heavenly Father. Thank You, Jesus Christ, our King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank You, Father, for setting up the heavenly kingdom and for making Jesus the King of the kingdom. We are eagerly looking forward to the thousand years of the new heaven and new earth. Your kingdom is perfect and best for Your people, and Your will shall be done through Your kingdom. No matter what kingdoms or governments humans (or the Devil) set up, or whatever kind of political systems they establish, none of them can compare with Yours. Amen.
Jehovah God, the Most High, rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom You will, and sets over it the lowliest of men. Revelation 21:10-12 says:
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed.”
The holy city, New Jerusalem (the new government) of the heavenly kingdom, will rule all nations.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” – Rev. 4:11 Amen.
Prayer is also in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had another dream about <The greatest top tree and 7 periods>.
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