King Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Statue
The book of Daniel in the Old Testament was written about 500 years before Jesus was born; and contains several prophecies about future events. The book of Daniel begins shortly after a prophecy given in the book of the prophet Jeremiah. He foretold the defeat of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. He said that the Jewish people will be exiled from their land for 70 years. After that time, they would return and rebuild.
— Daniel, and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were taken and became advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar. They were each given Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, and Mishael became Abednego. – Nebuchadnezzar consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgement. He found them to be ten times more capable than any in his entire kingdom.
One night the king had a dream that troubled him greatly. He called for his astrologers and asked them to tell him what he dreamed and its meaning. When they told him that no one could do that he ordered for all of the advisors to be killed. But when they came to arrest Daniel, he went to the king and told him that he could tell him what he dreamed and its meaning, if given a day to pray. So, he and his friends beseeched God to help them. That night, the dream and its interpretation were given to Daniel.
The next morning Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and said, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor fortune tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who can reveal secrets, and He has shown the king what will happen in the future.” – Daniel then told him that in the king’s dream. “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Daniel then explained that these different metals of the statue represented the 4 greatest kingdoms on earth. The head of gold was King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The next kingdoms were yet to come. They are Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then lastly, a reconstituted Rome. After that, he explained the Rock represents “the God of heaven setting up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to other people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”
King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and declared, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” –Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.