The Babylonian Empire was the largest reigning force
in the world at the time Nebuchadnezzar had his dream. It was well represented by gold, as it was a
rich and lush empire. In fact, the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
But in the year 539 BCE, 66 years after Daniel had been taken captive from his homeland of Judah, the Medo-Persian army conquered Babylon and the Persian Empire entered the world stage. Eventually the Medes would fade and the Persians would strengthen, causing the Medo-Persian Empire to become simply the Persian Empire.
The Greeks were a pain in the neck for the Persians. First, the Greek cities of Ionia rebelled against Persia but they were defeated. Then, as retribution for the rebellion, Xerxes decided to overtake Greece itself.
Phillip of Macedonia would be the first to unite the City States of Greece under one ruler. After Phillip died, his son Alexander would solidify the allegiances of the lesser kings in Greece and in 334 BCE he took his armies into Asia Minor to fight against Darius and his Persian Empire. In just three years Alexander the Great had defeated the Persians and Greece was now the world’s largest empire. In 323 BCE at the age of 33, Alexander died and his empire was divided among his Generals (see Appendix 1).
Now we move on to the legs of iron portion of the prophecy: Rome. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the fourth kingdom would be as strong as iron and would crush and shatter all that came before it. This is a good description of the Roman Empire.
No two scholars can agree on what exactly caused the
end of the Roman Empire, and that is probably because no one thing is to
blame. Some of the theories given for
its fall: an undisciplined army, civil wars, barbarian invasions, over
extension, political infighting, laziness, etc.
What matters to us is the fact that the Roman Empire had collapsed by
the end of the fifth century CE and is no more.
This leads us to the feet part of the statue where iron is mixed with clay, or where nations are no longer ruled by one World Empire but are a mixture of strong and weak nations. Never again would a human world empire exist. That does not mean people have stopped trying. Napoleon tried to create a French Empire but failed, and Hitler tried to create a Third Reich that would last a thousand years, but he too failed.
The rock that pulverized the statue in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream smashes first into the feet of the statue, signifying
the establishment of Jesus’ kingdom will occur sometime after world empires
have ceased to exist and the world is divided into different nations. It is fitting that God used a rock to signify
his kingdom as the Bible has often referred to God as a Rock of Salvation
(Deut. 32:15), an everlasting Rock (Is. 26:4), a Rock, a fortress and a
deliverer (Ps. 18:2), a Rock and a Redeemer (Ps. 19:14), etc.
Is. 44: 8