Redemption in the Book of Daniel

Daniel chapter two tells of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful Babylonian king. After the official “dream interpreters” of his court failed to interpret the dream, Nebuchadnezzar sent for the Hebrew captive, the prophet Daniel. “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven” (Dan. 2:19). Daniel made very clear that the Babylonian king understood that God was giving the interpretation through him when he said, “There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28).

Nebuchadnezzar's dream was about a large statue made up of various metals representing four kingdoms. The four kingdoms pictured are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. A stone, “broken off without hands” (v. 34), struck the statue and destroyed it. The stone then “became a great mountain and filled the entire earth” (v. 35). God said through His prophet Daniel, “And in the days of those kings [the last kingdom, Rome] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan. 2:44). God's eternal kingdom was inaugurated by the death of King Jesus the Messiah. Christ's earthly ministry, death, and resurrection occurred during the time of the fourth kingdom, Rome.

Ben