What did the great image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream represent?
The great image represented a preview of the coming great Gentile empires of ancient times—those empires with a direct relationship to the nation of Israel. Its head of gold was Babylon, which destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive; the next empire, represented in the image, was the Medes and Persians.
Les teaches that the whole image was a preview of the coming great Gentile empires in ancient times, specifically those empires that had a direct relationship with the nation of Israel. The image was a huge likeness of a man: the head of fine gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet part iron and part clay, with ten toes of iron mixed in clay. Babylon was the first empire, and it destroyed the city of Jerusalem and took the Jews captive. While Daniel and Ezekiel were servants of the Babylonian government, the next empire came up, the Medes and the Persians, who held sway for a long period and were also over the nation of Israel, which is why they are in prophecy.