Nebuchadnezzar's statue vision in Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar's statue vision is a story from chapter ] [cite book|title=Darius the Mede and the Four World empires in the Book of Daniel|author=H. H. Rowley|year=1935|pages=97]

Nevertheless, other Christians do not accept this interpretation, because Jesus is said in Matthew 24 to have quoted Daniel as a prophet who foretold future events. Some scholars believe that Jesus placed the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy at the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, [Craig Blomberg, "Jesus and the Gospels", Apollos 1997, pp.322-326] [N. T. Wright, "Jesus and the Victory of God", Fortress 1996, p. 348ff.] ; others think he was describing the "end of the age" (Matt. 24:3), immediately preceding Judgement Day. [cite book|title=Harper's Bible Commentary|author=Reginald H. Fuller|editor=James L Mays|year=1988|pages=977] Therefore, their identification of the metals in the statue with empires tends to differ somewhat from the above-mentioned view of the scholars. Instead, the vision is considered to be about the development of Babylon and its successors, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar all the way to the future day when God's eternal Kingdom will be established.

The identification of the gold head is not disputed, as the text clearly indicates that it represents Nebuchadnezzar himself, and by extension, the Babylonian Empire. However, in this view, the second kingdom, represented by the chest and arms of silver, is identified with the combined Medo-Persian empire (which commenced when the Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated Babylon.) The third kingdom, represented by the belly of brass, is thought to be the Hellenic empire of Alexander and his successors. The fourth kingdom of iron legs then becomes the Roman Empire.

The Kingdom of God (represented by the stone that destroys the statue) may be considered in a spiritual sense, as the kingdom set up by Jesus through his death and resurrection during the time of the Roman empire; or alternatively as the literal and physical kingdom that Jesus will set up at his second coming, in which case the feet and toes of part iron and part clay must represent the nations which take the place of the Roman empire until the end of time. [cite book|author=Ronald Wallace|title=The Message of Daniel|publisher=IVP|year=1979|pages=58]

Aside from the scholarly view that the book was written in the time of Antiochus IV, the chapter itself claims to take place in the "second year of Nebuchadnezzar". This could refer to 604 BC, the second year he reigned in Babylon, or it might also possibly mean 587 BC, the second year of his reign over Judah after deposing his last puppet, king Zedekiah.

Mormon Interpretation

The story in Daniel 2 has significant meaning to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe that the true church was restored to the earth in the "latter days" through a modern prophet, Joseph Smith, in 1830.

Spencer Kimball explained in 1976, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830. ...This is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth." Kimball agreed with the view of most Christians that the third kingdom represented that of Alexander the Great, the fourth represented the Roman Empire, and the feet of iron and clay represented a group of European nations, which were the great political powers at the time the Mormon church was founded. [ [http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1976.htm/ensign%20may%201976.htm/the%20stone%20cut%20without%20hands.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0 The Stone Cut Without Hands] , Spencer Kimball, "Ensign," May 1976] [ [http://www.schoolofabraham.com/daniel.htm Daniel Among the Babylonians ] ]

Jehovah's Witnesses Interpretation

In the Jehovah's Witnesses' interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, [ [http://www.watchtower.org/publications/publications_available.htm "Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy!"] published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society] the statue is said to represent the following kingdoms:

# The gold head - Babylon
# The silver breast and arms - Medo-Persia
# The copper belly and thighs - Greece
# The iron legs - Rome
# The feet partly of iron and partly of molded clay - Anglo-American dual power

The Anglo-American power is seen as the last dominant world power, emerging from a part of the Roman Empire (the iron legs) first as the British Empire, and then with the formation of the United States of America, to develop into the present-day special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. The dual nature of iron and clay (hard and soft), seemingly incompatible materials, is said to indicate the dual aspects of 'hard' and 'soft' power - military strength and diplomacy - both of which have been used to full effect by the USA and UK, while also hinting at inherent differences and even weaknesses in the relationship between the two powers.

The "kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and ... not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever", in verse 44 of the prophecy, is said by Witnesses to be the heavenly kingdom established by God, with Jesus as appointed King, which will ultimately bring to an end human rulership.

Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that the sequence of world powers in Nebuchadnezzar's dream parallels that given in the vision in the Book of Revelation Chapter 17, verse 10 which speaks of "seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived". (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece having "fallen" by the time Revelation was written; Rome was the world power at the time - "one is" - while the British Empire and subsequent emergence of the United States was then yet to come, hence "the other has not yet arrived".)

See also

*Book of Daniel
*Fiery Furnace
*The writing on the wall
*Daniel's Vision of Chapter 7
*Daniel's Vision of Chapter 8
*Prophecy of Seventy Weeks
*Bel and the Dragon
*Susanna (Book of Daniel)

References

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