While some consider the Bible a book of allegories or stories, that are not actually real or history, Christians look at the Bible as a historical book as well as promises of what is to come in the future. The main way to see this is to understand what is the meaning of Daniel 2 statue. Seeing how Bible prophecy is fulfilled, mapping out a timeline recorded in our history books.
This study guide is about the meaning of the Daniel 2 statue and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy based on a chain of Bible verses that are referenced in a specific order to help give clarity and context.* It has very minimal commentary so that you can do your own self-reflection and discovery of the verses.
Each section has probing questions to help spark thought about the verses being studied. Each verse in the study is linked to an online Bible, should you want to check the context of the verses around it. Also allowing verification of what scripture says, as well as purity of a study based only on the Bible.
Before you start. It is always recommended before any Bible study to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to the truth and to check for yourself what the Bible says. Don’t take any person’s word for it.
Background on Daniel 2
Who was Daniel?
Daniel was a major figure in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He was a prophet, a wise man, and a high-ranking official in the court of various Babylonian and Persian kings. Daniel was born in Jerusalem and was among the Jewish elite taken into captivity by the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE. He became known for his wisdom, interpreting dreams and visions, and his unwavering faith in God.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar?
Nebuchadnezzar II, also known as Nebuchadnezzar the Great, was a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire who ruled from 605 BCE to 562 BCE. He is known for his military campaigns and his construction projects, including the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Nebuchadnezzar is also known for his conquest of the Kingdom of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, which resulted in the exile of many Jews to Babylon.
One of the most well-known stories about Daniel is his interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue. And the King’s dream is one of the most well-known prophecies that have been partially fulfilled, giving a timeline of kingdoms leading up to the second coming of Jesus.
So what does this amazing prophecy tell us about the Bible, God, history, and events predicted?
1. May we understand prophecy?
2 Peter 1:19-20 (KJV) — “19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
2. What did Christ say of Daniel’s prophecy?
Matthew 24:15 (KJV) — “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
“1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
Bible illustration by Sweet Media.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
Bible illustration by Sweet Media.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
Bible illustration by Sweet Media.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Bible illustration by Sweet Media.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.”
4. Who gave this dream to the king?
Daniel 2:28 (KJV) — “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;”
5. What was the dream to reveal?
Daniel 2:29 (KJV) — “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.”
6. Whom did the head of gold represent?
Daniel 2:37-38 (KJV) — “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.”
Jeremiah 27:1-11, God gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel 26: 7-11, the fall of Tyre. Ezekiel 29:18, Egypt given as wages for work against Tyre.
7. What kingdoms were to follow Babylon?
Daniel 2:39-40 (KJV) — “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.”
Jeremiah 51:11, 27, 28, downfall of Babylon foretold and Medes named. Isaiah 45:1-3, Cyrus named 113 years before he was born. Jeremiah 51:45, 46, God’s sign to His children. Isaiah 47:5-13, the doom of the city. Daniel 5:1-28, the night of pleasure. Jeremiah 51:14, the entry of the army. Jeremiah 51:31, 32, the announcement taken to the king. Jeremiah 51:30, the slaying of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:35, 37, 46; 51:53-58; Isaiah 13:17-22, the destruction of Babylon.
8. What did the silver (breast and arms) represent?
Daniel 5:28-31 (KJV) — “28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
9. How long did Medo-Persia rule?
From B.C. 538-331
10. What did the brass symbolize? Grecia
Daniel 8:20-21 (KJV) — “20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”
11. What empire followed Grecia? Rome
Daniel 2:40 (KJV) — “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.”
Daniel 8:23-25 (KJV) — “23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”
Luke 2:1-4 (KJV) — “1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)”
“The historian Gibbon says: “The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, tha t might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.”
— “Decline and Fall“, Vol. III, page 634.
12. What change was to come to the kingdom of iron?
Daniel 2:41-42 (KJV) — “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.”
The following took possession of the territory of Western Rome: A.D. 351, Franks, French; Alemanni, Germans; A.D. 406, Burgundians, Swiss; Suevi, Portugal; Vandals in northern part of Africa; A.D. 408, Visigoths, Spain; A.D. 449, AngloSaxons, English; A.D. 483, Ostrogoths, Austria; Lombards, part of Italy; Heruli, part of Italy.
13. How would these kings try to strengthen themselves? By intermarriage
Daniel 2:43 (KJV) — “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.”
14. What eternal kingdom was to be set up in the days of these kings?
Daniel 2:44 (KJV) — “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 shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
15. What represented this eternal kingdom in the dream?
Daniel 2:45 (KJV) — “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it 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.”
16. What must take place before Christ’s kingdom is established?
Matthew 24:14 (KJV) — “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.“
Chart of Daniel 2 Statue
Daniel 2 Statue Part
Kingdom & Historical Time
Bible Verses
Head of Gold
Babylon 606 B.C. to 539 B.C.
“32 This image’s head was of fine gold… 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.” (Daniel 2:32, 37, 38)
Chest and Arms of Silver
Medo-Persia 539 B.C. to 331 B.C.
“32 …his breast and his arms of silver… 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee…” (Daniel 2:32, 39)
Belly and Thighs of Brass
Greece 331 B.C. to 168 B.C.
“32 …his belly and his thighs of brass… 39 …and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” (Daniel 2:32, 39)
Legs of Iron
Rome 168 B.C. to A.D. 476
“33 His legs of iron… 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.” (Daniel 2:33, 40)
Feet of Iron and Clay
Modern Europe A.D. 476 to present
“33 …his feet part of iron and part of clay. 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.” (Daniel 2:33, 41-43)
Stone Cut without Hands
Kingdom of God Future Promise
“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 threshingfloors; 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. 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 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 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.” (Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45)
This study guide was based Reading No. 2, pages 84-85 from Brief Bible Readings for Busy People, prepared by the Home Missionary Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Review and Herald Publishing. Published originally in 1930.
View the original study guide, which this guide is based on, as a scanned PDF. Full credit to them.
*A Bible chain reference is a system of cross-referencing between different passages or verses of the Bible to connect and relate different concepts, themes, or topics mentioned in different parts of the Bible. It helps readers gain a deeper understanding of the overall message and meaning of the text. To use it, readers start with a particular topic or theme and then look up the corresponding list of verses, paying attention to the connections and relationships between them. Studying them in a particular order, helps one understand the topic from beginning to end. Just like peeling the layers off of an onion. It’s a useful tool for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the Bible and its teachings.
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