“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. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time 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.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream had a surprise ending. While the king was watching, a rock was cut out from a mountain (verse 45), a physical feature not common in Babylon. The rock was quarried, “but not by human hands.” This was the work of God. The rock that had been cut now rolled down the mountain and struck the statue at its feet. It smashed them, causing the huge image to fall and be completely shattered. The broken pieces of metal, however, did not lie in a pile of debris. The pieces were so small that the wind swept them away like chaff until no trace of the statue was left. Meanwhile the rock that had shattered the image became a huge mountain that filled and dominated the whole earth.
The king realized that Daniel had accomplished the first part of his assignment. He had told the king his dream, down to the last detail.
36“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.”
Daniel now proceeded to meet the king’s second demand. “Now we will interpret it to the king.” Although the dream and its interpretation had been shown only to Daniel, Daniel realized that this was in response to the prayers of all four of the young Hebrews. Earlier in his hymn of thanksgiving, Daniel had prayed, “O God of my fathers: . . . you have made known to me what we asked of you.” Now, in the presence of the king, Daniel modestly shared the credit with his friends.
No dream had ever revealed so much of world history. As Daniel now explained, the king’s dream covered the entire period from Nebuchadnezzar’s day down to the end of time on earth.
Daniel’s interpretation began with Nebuchadnezzar himself. “You, O king, are the king of kings. . . . You are that head of gold.” As the head is the most important part of the body, so Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful of rulers, and his kingdom the most splendid of earthly kingdoms.
Daniel’s interpretation made it clear that this was none of Nebuchadnezzar’s doing, but that God had given him power and glory. He was “king of kings,” in other words, the most powerful, most exalted king of his day.
Daniel’s words might at first seem to be an overstatement. Was the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar really superior to all others? When one looks at a map of ancient kingdoms, it is evident that the Babylonian Empire didn’t begin to compare in size, for example, with the Assyrian Empire that preceded it, or with the Persian or Greek or Roman kingdoms that followed it.
Although not the greatest in size, the Babylonian Empire had other reasons for claiming to be the foremost kingdom. According to Genesis 10:10, the empire centering in Babylon was the first empire, reaching back to the days shortly after the flood. There had been other powerful empires in ancient times, but none with the strength of organization equal to the Babylonian Empire. Moreover, Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most capable rulers of history. “You are that head of gold.”