the image

The date — 603 B.C.

The place — The sumptuous palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the absolute ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire—arguably the richest, most powerful kingdom in the world at that time. The city of Babylon, the location of this grand palace, was later famous for its hanging gardens, which are considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The setting — Nebuchadnezzar, the king, is deeply worried. Dominating in his rule and ruthless in his military campaigns, the whole world lies before his feet. He has conquered more nations than any living man before him. Yet, like all men of power, he is fearful of losing his position.

The event — During the night, Nebuchadnezzar awakes from a terrifying and, he is sure, prophetic dream. He senses that understanding the message of the dream is important to himself and his kingdom, but what he dreamt has totally escaped his memory. He immediately calls in his wise men, astrologers, and soothsayers, and demands that they tell him what his dream was and what it means. Since they are unable to do this, Nebuchadnezzar orders that all of the wise men at his court be put to death.

Enter Daniel — He is a young prisoner of war from Babylon's recent conquest of Judah, of Jewish royal lineage. He has been brought to the king's courts along with three other young Jews, to be trained in the language, religion, and wisdom of the Babylonians. As one of the king's wise men in training, Daniel is to be slain along with the rest. After finding out the reason for the royal decree from the officer charged with carrying out the slaughter, he goes and tells the king that if he and his three friends can have one day to fast and pray, they will tell the king the dream and its interpretation. It's a desperate moment, as Daniel pleads with God to show the secret, securing their release from death. God answers by revealing to Daniel one of the most outstanding visions of the future recorded in the Bible.

The stage is now set for revealing to the king not only his dream and the future of his kingdom, but also that of four future empires, as well as the conditions that will exist at the very end of human dominion on Earth!

The Revelation — An atmosphere of fear hangs over the court as Daniel enters, for the king's wise men know that if he cannot tell the king both his dream and its meaning, they are all sentenced to die. Here's how the story unfolds, as chronicled in the Book of Daniel:

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king (Daniel 2:27-28, 31-36).

"You, O king, are this head of gold [Neo-Babylonian Empire—606 to 538 BC]. But after you shall arise another kingdom [Persian Empire—538 to 333 BC] inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze [Alexander the Great's Empire and its successor states— 333 to 44 BC], which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom [Roman Empire—44 BC to 476 AD] shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. And in the days of these kings (referring to the ten toes) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:37-41, 44).

In the following chapters in the book of Daniel, God continued to give Daniel more insight into the world empires that were to follow Babylon, even going so far as to specifically name some, and to describe what some of their kings would be like, hundreds of years before the events took place! Of particular interest to us, he describes the nature and deeds of the "king" who shall rise to great and almost global power in the final days of man's dominion on Earth. He is referred to in scripture as "the man of sin," "the son of perdition," and the "Antichrist" (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 John 2:18).The prophecies in the Bible predict that his kingdom shall fall at the return of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, when "the stone that was cut out without hands" strikes the image in the feet and becomes a great mountain that fills the whole Earth.

The Bible has unerringly predicted many historical events, so would it not be wise to heed its predictions regarding this last kingdom and Jesus' return? Fulfilled prophecy in the Bible, such as this, is one way in which the Bible proves its authenticity.