When we give consideration to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, we understand the dream to be a timeline of prophecy concerning Gentile Kings and Gentile kingdoms. No part of the dream was based on the nation of Israel. Chapters 2 through 7 of the book of Daniel are actually written in Aramaic, which was the major language of the Gentiles at that time.
Also, compare this dream with the message Gabriel gave Daniel in chapter 9. 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and thy holy city. Totally Jews and Jerusalem, not gentiles!
Highly important also is that we see Daniel using the term “latter days” instead of “end times” during the interpretation of the dream. This dream covers a lot of time including four major Gentile empires of history and continues into this time of the church, which is the body of Christ.
This term “latter days” is similar to the wording spoken by Joel the Prophet and quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters
This use of the words “latter days” seems to be very important to anyone living in the dispensation of grace or “the last days”. “End Times” as described by Jesus is different from “the Last Days”. The two terms do not seem to be in any way interchangeable in the scriptures.
However, many Bible teachers use these terms as interchangeable.
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these;
latter days is #320 'achariyth (Aramaic) (akh-ar-eeth'); the same as 319; later:
319 'achariyth (akh-ar-eeth'); the last or end, hence, the future; also posterity:
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
Daniel gives the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, who said he had forgotten the dream. However, he may have just been testing his staff of sorcerers, whom he had inherited from his father’s reign, to see if they could indeed cut the mustard. Of course they could not. The Lord gave the dream to Daniel. Here is the dream.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 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 (or awesome).
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 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.
35 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 threshing floors; 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.
That is a wild dream! Not only did the LORD give Daniel the dream but He also gave Daniel the interpretation of the dream for Daniel to give to king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 2:36 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.
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.
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.
41 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.
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.
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 (the kingdom set up by God) shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it (the Stone) 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.
This dream was first given to Nebuchadnezzar and then given to Daniel by God, along with the interpretation of the dream, which Daniel delivered to Nebuchadnezzar. As we can see from history, it is very obvious that historical records have proved the interpretation of the dream to be sure, just as Daniel spoke.
(AHD) sure 1. Impossible to doubt or dispute; certain. 2. Not hesitating or wavering; firm. 3. Confident, as of something awaited or expected. 4.a. Bound to come about or happen; inevitable. b. Having one's course directed; destined or bound. 5. Certain not to miss or err; steady. 6.a. Worthy of being trusted or depended on; reliable. b. Free from or marked by freedom from doubt.
Looking back in history, we can see that the timeline history of the mentioned Gentile kingdoms followed the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. At the time of the dream, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was the head of gold. The silver and inferior chest represents the Medes and Persians who conquered Babylon, which was later known as the Persian Empire under Cyrus. Of course we know the third kingdom of brass, which conquered the Persians and ruled over the whole known world to be Alexander the great and the Empire of Greece. Following down the image, we see the Roman Empire of iron conquer the Empire of the Greece. We also saw in history the Roman Empire split into the two legs of the Eastern and Western divisions.
Question! Who conquered the Roman Empire? The answer is no one!
The Roman Empire has never been conquered by another kingdom power. The residue of the Roman Empire is still prevalent in the world today through the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican and also the Italian Mafias and Mob Bosses that developed out of Italy and are trying to control all the world enterprises through brutality and force. We have lots of movies made about those wise guys put out by Hollywood.
The Roman Empire of iron has now become mingled and blended with the nations of the world and the peoples of the world, who are made from the clay, or dust of the ground. However, the residue of the Roman Empire is still trying to break and subdue, everywhere in the world, with a very wicked intent of influence on the world scene. The Vatican is pushing for the New World Order. However, they are partly strong and partly broken.
In fact we can see the dark evil spiritual forces of each of the above empires moving down the image and joining forces as we move through the kingdoms. Those ancient and present principalities from all these empires have joined forces and are attempting to rule the world, as they once did in the past, only with a new name i.e. the new world order. Of course, they want to eliminate the great kingdom, which the Stone cut out without hands has set up i.e. the kingdom of heaven. That would be Jesus Christ and His body, which is the church.
During the tribulations period, as we see explained in Revelation, Babylon is the great whore, the mother of harlots, still operating on the earth. This would indicate that the evils that began in Babylon has basically moved down through these Gentile kingdoms and has had a snowball effect in the earth, by picking up and carrying each of these evil entities down through this timeline. As per the dream, Rome has proven to be the most brutal and destructive.
Serious note here! The Roman Empire was in full operation and in control and ruling over the children of Israel and most of the world, at the time, when The Stone was cut out without hands and was manifested in the earth. Of Course this is referring to Jesus, The Son of God, and His being birthed into the earth. When Jesus rose from the dead, He conquered the Devil and all the kingdom of darkness and stripped them of all authority to legally operate wickedness on the earth any longer. Is that a True statement? Selah
If that is a true statement, and it is! Then one would surely ask, “What the hay is going on”? We see so many evil operations of darkness going on that it is hard to see any glimmer of light. This should cause us to be forced to examine another set of questions as to who is at fault for all this unimaginable evil being loosed and perpetrated on the earth at this time. Everything that the kingdom of God represents is being challenged in the whole world. It seems that every country in the world is attacking justice and righteousness with open boldness. Lawlessness seems to be running rampant.
1. Is the problem with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
2. Is the problem with Jesus Christ the Son of God?
3. Is the problem with the Bible and our translations from the original manuscripts?
4. Is the problem with the Devil and his kingdom of darkness being so powerful?
5. Is the problem with the church, which is the body of Christ, into whom Jesus invested His authority to rule and reign on the earth with Him and to defeat the enemy and put them under foot, and to occupy until He comes, while He, Himself sits at the right hand of the Father expecting His enemies to be put under foot and made His footstool, so that He can then legally return and gather the church unto Himself?
Let’s look again at that which was supposed to take place on the earth after the Stone was cut without hand and showed up. First look at this part of the dream.
34 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.
35 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 threshing floors; 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.
From the dream we can get a clue of that which should have happened on the earth when the Stone (Jesus) showed up. The Stone smote the image on the feet and broke them to pieces. This caused the legs of iron and the belly and thighs of brass and the chest and arms of silver and the head of gold to all be broken to pieces together at the same time. The whole image was destroyed to pieces. Jesus defeated Satan and the whole kingdom of darkness. Jesus stripped Satan of all legal authority, which Satan had acquired through the sin and fall of the first Adam.
Now look again at the interpretation of the dream.
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 (the kingdom set up by God) shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it (the kingdom set up by God) shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it (the Stone) 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.
It would seem that the church, which is the body of Christ, has made a similar error as the children of Israel. The Word of God promised the Messiah of the Jews would show up and The Word of God gave them a vast amount of prophecies concerning the Messiah. However, when Jesus showed up, the Jews missed Him and they are still waiting and looking for Him to show up. Of course their Messiah has already come! His name is Jesus.
Before we come down too hard on the Jews, let’s look at the church. In Matt 16, Jesus told the disciples that He would build His church. That was future tense at that time! Jesus instructed His disciples to pray, “Heavenly Father, who art in heaven, thy kingdom come”! The kingdom of heaven and the church began on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. However, we the church are still praying “thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
After Jesus was crucified, died and went into the heart of the earth and there received the wages for our sin debt, Jesus also defeated the Devil and his kingdom of darkness, death, hell and the grave. Jesus rose from the dead to newness of life with all authority and power in heaven and on earth.
Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power (#1849 exousia; authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway (all the way), even unto the end of the world (age). Amen.
On the day of Pentecost, our Heavenly Father answered the prayer, which the disciples had been praying and the kingdom of heaven came onto the earth. This began in the upper room. On the day of Pentecost our Heavenly Father also fulfilled the promise, which Jesus had made to the disciples, as recorded in the book of John, and sent the Spirit of Truth, which is the Spirit of Christ into each believer’s heart. This is not clearly understood by the church of today. When we are born again i.e. saved, we receive the Spirit of Christ into our heart. Romans and Galatians explain this clearly.
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (KJV)
The disciples did not have the book of Romans and the book of Galatians to read. However, Jesus explained this on more than one occasion and heavily in the last week He was with them.
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
In the upper room, at the same time each believer was receiving the Spirit of Christ i.e. being born again, Jesus was also baptizing each one of them with the Holy Spirit and empowering each one of them with power from on high just as He promised. This was for the miracles, signs and wonders that they would do very shortly. There were approximately 120 were in the upper room.
At that moment, the disciple’s prayers were answered! The kingdom of heaven came into existence and began operating through the church as it was being added to daily. They went out and began to do the will of God on the earth and they were very, very effective. Notice what Jason said about the early church folk in Acts 17. They were really getting it done!
Acts 17:6b These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Now let’s examine the prophecy of Jesus, the Son of God being born, and pay close attention to that which was prophesied concerning Him in Isaiah 9:6-7.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father (or Beginning), The Prince of Peace.
9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
“From henceforth” is referring to the birth of Jesus and after His birth for ever. Jesus is the Stone cut without hands. That sounds a lot like the dream and interpretation, which was given to Nebuchadnezzar.
Remember that John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples all preached that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When the kingdom of heaven began on the day of Pentecost, according to Daniel 2:35, Dan 2:44 and Isaiah 9:7 we are able to discern that the government of the kingdom of heaven is the earthly government of Jesus Christ working through His church, which is His body.
The church began to be built on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and the job description of the church was to go into the entire world and make disciples of all nations. Just as clear in that job description Jesus said, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church”. Binding and loosing is big part of the keys of the kingdom given to the church by Jesus.
The church should be increasing now and fill the whole earth with the kingdom of heaven. At some point Jesus will come for His body, which is the church, and we will go to heaven for the judgment seat of Christ. Then at the end of the tribulation period Jesus will return to the earth and bring us with Him and we will continue to rule and reign with him forever. As Daniel said, the kingdom set up by the Stone cut without hands will have no end and it will be established with justice from that point and continue to increase forever.
Big however here, because verse 7 says, “upon the throne of David” most of our church teachings have been that all of this is for a future time, maybe the millennial reign. No so little flock!
The kingdom of heaven is the government of the Lord Jesus Christ operating through His church now, which began on the day of Pentecost and should have been increasing and operating on the earth dispossessing the Devil and his kingdom of darkness from off the face of the earth, which began in Acts chapter 2.
Notice also that increase of His government began on the day of Pentecost and of course it will continue to increase until the millennial reign, at which time Jesus will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and rule and reign from there for a thousand years. The increase of His kingdom will even increase even more after the millennial reign. Notice that His increase is “from henceforth” and that would be the time Jesus was born King. However, His kingdom did not begin until some 33 years later on the day of Pentecost. His kingdom shall increase even forever with no end.
With all that being said, we should be able to comprehend that Jesus defeated Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Jesus completed and finished all the work necessary for His kingdom to increase forever. When Jesus ascended to the Father, Jesus invested all His authority and His power into His body, which is the church, expecting the church to put all His enemies under foot. The church is the boots on the ground now!
Heb 10:12 But this man (Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Even though the early church started out like gangbusters and turned the world upside down, we see the church becoming apostate, as expounded upon in the book of Jude. This is only some 38 years after Jesus left the earth as recorded in Acts chapter one.
The church is still apostate. This is why the world is in the big mess it is in. This is why we see the enemy having so many successes against the church, families, schools, governments, and individual believers etc. It is time for that to change. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ should not be underground anywhere!!!
The Devil is the one that should be underground being used as a footstool. Is that correct?
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
The church, which is His body, is the one to whom Jesus entrusted all authority in the earth.
We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. What are the attributes of salt?
1. Salt adds flavor to the unsavory.
2. Salt has healing qualities.
3. Salt cures and hinders from rotting and decay.
4. Salt will hinder unwanted things from growing.
Jesus did all that great amount of work then He commissioned the church then He arose and set down on the throne of God expecting His enemies to be made His footstool.
Heb 10:12 But this man (Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
expecting is #4328 prosdokao; (to watch); to anticipate (in thought, hope or fear); by implication, to await:
enemies is #2190 echthros; from a primary echtho (to hate); hateful (passively, odious, or actively, hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan):
till is #2193 heos (heh'-oce); of uncertain affinity; a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place):
be made is #5087 tithemi (tith'-ay-mee); a prolonged form of a primary theo (theh'-o) (which is used only as alternate in certain tenses); to place (in the widest application, literally and figuratively; properly, in a passive or horizontal posture,
Let’s look again at the latter part of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
34 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.
35 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 threshing floors; 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.
Let’s look again at the interpretation of the latter part of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
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 (the kingdom set up by God) shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it (the Stone) 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 church of the Lord Jesus Christ should be destroying the works of the Devil and his kingdom of darkness by doing the works of Jesus.
I Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I thank you that in the fullness of time that Jesus was born of a woman, born under the Law to deliver them that were under the Law. Jesus was born a King after the order of Melchizedek. His birth was in the days of the kings as listed in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
The following are some prayers to acknowledge the kingdom of heaven under the headship of Jesus Christ.
Thank you Heavenly Father that you sent forth your Son, Jesus, to set up the kingdom of heaven, which shall never be destroyed. Thank You Heavenly Father that Your Son Jesus is the Stone that was cut out without hands. I thank you Lord Jesus that your kingdom shall consume all the evils developed through each of those kingdoms contained in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which have been continually passed down until the present time. I thank you Lord Jesus for the everlasting kingdom that you began on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the church, which is the body of Christ. Thank you Lord Jesus that your kingdom will stand forever and the increase of your government shall not have an end. I thank you Jesus that your kingdom is built on justice and righteousness.
I thank you Jesus that when you rose from the dead that you smote the great image on the feet that was partly iron and partly clay and broke them to pieces. Thank you for your Word that says then the iron, the brass, the silver and the gold all broke to pieces together. Thank you that your Word says that they all became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them all away and their place was no more found upon the earth. I thank you that your Word says that the kingdom you set up became great and filled the whole earth and shall stand forever.
Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, forgive us individually and as the church, which is the body of Christ, for becoming compromised and becoming apostate just as the book of Jude and 2nd Peter points out so clearly. Thank you Jesus that you gave gifts unto men consisting of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ in love so that we henceforth will be no more tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine by the cunning craftiness of men, who are lying in wait to deceive the body of Christ. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to be taught damnable doctrines of heresy and for allowing ourselves to be merchandised and stolen from.
Thank you Lord Jesus that you taught the Apostle Paul so he could teach and make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Thank you Lord that the weapons that you have given unto the body of Christ for our warfare are not carnal natural weapons but mighty weapons of God that will bring down principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world and wicked spirits in the heavenly realm and drive the Devil and his kingdom back through the gates of hell into the abyss to the sides to the pit precisely as your Word declares as we extend our faith into you Word.
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus. Compiled by Jerry Thomas 8/8/2022
All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted. jtministriesinfo@gmail.com
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