Nebuchadnezzar's dream is a prophetic picture of the great Gentile empires of world history — shown as a human image of gold, silver, brass, iron, and iron mixed with clay.
In Daniel 2, the king saw a huge image whose head was of gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet and toes of iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2:31–33). Les Feldick teaches that these metals picture the Gentile empires coming down through history — Babylon, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and finally the revived Roman Empire — and that when the Lord returns at the end of the Tribulation, He will strike the image on the empire then standing and crush all Gentile rule (Daniel 2:34).
Daniel 2:31–33 — These verses describe the great image and its four metals, which are the core symbol of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Daniel 2:38–40 — Daniel's interpretation explicitly identifies the head of gold as King Nebuchadnezzar and the following kingdoms of silver, brass, and iron.
Daniel 2:44–45 — These verses reveal the stone that destroys the image — God's kingdom, which will break all Gentile kingdoms and stand forever.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream is recorded in Daniel 2. In the dream the king saw a great image standing before him — a towering figure shaped like a man but made of metals: 'This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay' (Daniel 2:31–33). While he watched, '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' (Daniel 2:34). The entire image — iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold — was broken to pieces together and became like chaff, while the stone 'became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth' (Daniel 2:35). Daniel's interpretation makes the meaning explicit. He told the king, 'Thou art this head of gold' (Daniel 2:38), identifying Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon as the first kingdom in the dream. After Babylon, Daniel said, 'shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth' (Daniel 2:39). The fourth kingdom would be 'strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things' (Daniel 2:40). The feet and toes, part of iron and part of clay, picture a divided, brittle final stage of Gentile power (Daniel 2:41–43). The stone that strikes the image is identified with God's eternal kingdom: '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' (Daniel 2:44). Daniel concludes that '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 2:45).
Les Feldick teaches that Daniel 2 records 'the recovery of Nebuchadnezzar's dream concerning all the great empires of the world,' pictured in that great image — 'the head of gold, and the chest of silver, and the belly of brass, and the legs of iron, and the feet of iron and clay.' He says these are 'all pictures of the Gentile empires coming down through history.' He identifies the head of gold as Babylon, followed by the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, with the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay representing the revived Roman Empire at the end of the age. When the Lord returns at the end of the Tribulation, Les says, He will strike that image on the empire that is then functioning — the iron and clay of the toes, or the revived Roman Empire — and will crush everything that smacks of Gentile rule and empire. Les also connects the dream to Daniel 3: the dream was a catalyst that led the proud Nebuchadnezzar to build an image of gold about 90 feet high and 9 feet wide and demand that the whole known world worship it. Les sees this as a preview of the Antichrist, the last great world ruler, who will unite all pagan religions into the worship of one image of himself.
In the Bible, Daniel tells the king, 'Thou art this head of gold' (Daniel 2:38), and then announces a second kingdom of silver, a third kingdom of brass, and a fourth kingdom strong as iron (Daniel 2:39–40). Les Feldick matches these metals to the actual history of the Gentile empires: the head of gold is Babylon; the chest of silver is the Medes and Persians; the belly of brass is the Greeks; the legs of iron are the Romans; and the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay picture the revived Roman Empire at the end of the age.
Daniel saw 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' (Daniel 2:34), and the stone 'became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth' (Daniel 2:35). Les teaches that this happens when the Lord returns at the end of the Tribulation: He will strike the image on the empire that is then functioning — the iron and clay of the toes, the revived Roman Empire — and will crush everything that has to do with Gentile rule and empire. Then, as Daniel 2:44 says, 'the God of heaven' will set up a kingdom that 'shall never be destroyed.'
Les points out that the dream seems to have been a catalyst for what Nebuchadnezzar does in Daniel 3. Filled with his own power and self, the king builds an image of gold — about 90 feet high and 9 feet wide — and demands that his whole known world worship it. Les says this is a preview of the last great world ruler, the Antichrist, who will do the same thing: unite all pagan religions into the worship of one image, his own. This is what ties Daniel 3 to Revelation.
Biblical Timeline: Creation to Christ's Kingdom!
Well, we know now from history as well as from the book that Israel didn't believe who Jesus was, for the most part, only a small percentage believed. And so the majority cried out for His death, crucify Him, crucify Him. And another classic statement, which was word for word from the Old Testament Scriptures, we'll not have this man to rule over us.
Gentile Empires in the Image
Les teaches that the metals in the great image — gold, silver, brass, iron, and iron mixed with clay — are pictures of the Gentile empires that would rule through history, and that at Christ's return He will strike the image on the empire then standing, the iron-and-clay toes of the revived Roman Empire, crushing all Gentile rule.
Metals Matched to Empires
Les shows how the image is a huge likeness of a man made of various metals, explaining that it depicts all the great Gentile empires — Babylon, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans — and he highlights Daniel 2:34's 'until' as marking the point in time when the image is struck.
King's Ruthless Demand
Les describes Nebuchadnezzar's terror at the dream — he was 'at the end of himself' — and his ruthless command that the magicians recover both the dream and its interpretation on pain of death.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream That Predicted Every World Empire — Daniel 2
So I imagine we might as well come immediately to chapter 2, where indeed we have Nebuchadnezzar now all shook up because he had this tremendous dream, and it must have been a nightmare of all nightmares, otherwise he wouldn't have been so belligerently and antagonistically against all his magicians trying to get them to recover the dream. I mean, he's just at the end of himself.
Dream Links to the Antichrist
Les teaches that the dream was the catalyst for Nebuchadnezzar's actions in Daniel 3: puffed up with pride, the king built a golden image and demanded universal worship — a pattern the Antichrist will repeat when he unites all pagan religions under one image of himself.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream That Predicted Every World Empire — Daniel 2
Now I think just to give us a little hint of how huge that must have been in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, just turn the page a second, go over to chapter 3, because I have to feel that this dream somehow or other was a catalyst to what Nebuchadnezzar actually does then in this next chapter. And this is interesting.
Ninety-Foot Golden Image
Les notes that while the dream's image had only a gold head, Nebuchadnezzar's response was to make an entire image of gold — about 90 feet high and 9 feet wide — and set it on the desert sands for the whole known world to worship.
Daniel 2:31: Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Introduces the great image that is the centerpiece of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Daniel 2:32: This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Lists the first three metals of the image: gold, silver, and brass.
Daniel 2:33: His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Completes the metal sequence with iron legs and iron-and-clay feet, the final stage of the image.
Daniel 2:34: 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.
Shows the stone striking the feet of iron and clay — the empire Les identifies as the revived Roman Empire at Christ's return.
Daniel 2:35: 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.
Describes the total destruction of the image and the stone becoming a mountain filling the earth.
Daniel 2:38: 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 identifies the head of gold as Nebuchadnezzar, the first of the Gentile empires.
Daniel 2:39: And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Announces the second (silver) and third (brass) kingdoms that follow Babylon.
Daniel 2:40: 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.
Identifies the fourth kingdom as strong as iron — the Roman Empire in Les's teaching.
Daniel 2:44: 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.
The eternal kingdom of God that replaces all Gentile empires when the stone strikes the image.
Daniel 3:1: Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Shows Nebuchadnezzar acting on the dream's catalyst by constructing his own golden image.
In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great human image — a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2:32–33). Daniel interpreted it as a succession of Gentile kingdoms beginning with Babylon.
Daniel tells the king directly, 'Thou art this head of gold' (Daniel 2:38). Les Feldick teaches this is Babylon, the first of the great Gentile empires.
A stone cut out without hands strikes the image on its feet of iron and clay and breaks the whole image to pieces (Daniel 2:34–35). Les teaches this is Christ at the end of the Tribulation destroying the revived Roman Empire and all Gentile rule.
Les Feldick suggests the dream was a catalyst: having seen the glittering head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar became filled with his own power and made an entire image of gold, about 90 feet high, demanding that the whole known world worship it — a preview of the Antichrist's end-time image worship.
Watch the Teaching: Biblical Timeline: Creation to Christ's Kingdom!