All the Gentile empires in Nebuchadnezzar's dream are shattered together by a stone cut without hands and blown away like chaff, leaving the stone to become a kingdom that fills the earth.
Daniel 2:34–35 shows a stone striking the image on its feet of iron and clay, after which the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold are broken to pieces together and become like chaff that the wind carries away. Les Feldick teaches this happens at the Lord's return at the end of the tribulation, when the final world empire, the revived Roman Empire, is crushed along with every trace of Gentile rule.
Daniel 2:34-35 — This is the core passage describing the stone's destruction of the image and the total disappearance of every empire.
Daniel 2:44-45 — These verses give the interpretation: God sets up an eternal kingdom that breaks in pieces and consumes all these kingdoms.
Daniel 2:34-35 records that a stone 'was cut out without hands' and smote the image 'upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.' Then 'the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold' were '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.' The same verse says 'the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.' In the interpretation, Daniel 2:44 says 'in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed' and that this kingdom 'shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.' Daniel 2:45 adds that the dream is certain and its interpretation sure. The image itself, described in Daniel 2:32-33, has a gold head, silver breast and arms, brass belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet of iron and clay, while Daniel 2:38 tells Nebuchadnezzar, 'Thou art this head of gold.'
Les Feldick sees Nebuchadnezzar's dream as a divinely given sequence of Gentile empires: Babylon is the head of gold; the Medes and Persians are the chest of silver; the Greeks under Alexander are the belly of brass; Rome is the legs of iron; and the feet and toes of iron and clay point to a revived Roman Empire. He notes the metals go from most valuable to least valuable and end in a mixture 'not even good for anything' (Clips 1, 3, 4, 6). Les teaches that when the Lord returns at the end of the tribulation, He strikes that image on the empire then functioning — the iron and clay of the toes, the revived Roman Empire — and crushes everything that 'smacks of Gentile rule and empire.' He then applies Daniel 2:35: all the metals are broken to pieces together and become like chaff, which the wind carries away. The residue of the great Gentile empires will disappear with the Second Coming of Christ, after the armies of the Antichrist are crushed at Armageddon (Clips 1, 2, 5). The stone that smote the image becomes a great mountain, which Les identifies as an earthly kingdom — not the church — that fills the whole earth, exactly as Psalm 2 pictures the Son receiving the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (Clip 0).
Les identifies the head of gold as Babylon, the first empire; the chest of silver as the Medes and Persians; the belly of brass as the Greek empire under Alexander; the legs of iron as Rome; and the feet and toes of iron and clay as the final, revived Roman Empire. He also points out that the metals move from most valuable to least valuable, ending with a mixture that is not good for anything.
Les takes the phrase 'cut out without hands' to mean the stone had to come from the eternal God rather than from human effort or political power. He connects this to the Lord's return at the end of the tribulation, when the image is struck on its feet of iron and clay.
Les places the smiting of the image at the end of the tribulation. He relates the tribulation to God's wrath as described in Psalm 2, and says that after the tribulation God declares, 'Yet have I set my king on the holy hill of Zion.' At His return, Les says, the Lord also crushes the armies of the Antichrist at Armageddon before the chaff of Daniel 2:35 is blown away.
Scripture says the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carries them away so that no place is found for them. Les uses the lightness of chaff to show how completely the residue of Gentile empire will be blown away at the Second Coming. The stone then becomes a great mountain filling the earth.
Les emphasizes that the kingdom pictured in Psalm 2 — the Son asking for the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth as His possession — is an earthly kingdom, not the church. That matches Daniel 2:35's picture of the stone becoming a great mountain filling the whole earth. The Gentile empires are gone, and Christ's kingdom fills the earth instead.
Les notes that Daniel chapter 7 shows basically the same Gentile empires, but as wild beasts rather than different metals. He calls it 'the same unfolding of history,' so the fate of those kingdoms is the same as in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Tribulation, Then the Earthly Kingdom
Les connects the tribulation to God's wrath after Messiah's rejection and then describes the kingdom that follows, showing the sequence leading to an earthly kingdom.
The Lord Strikes the Final Empire
At the end of the tribulation, the returning Lord strikes the image on the feet of iron and clay, the revived Roman Empire, crushing all Gentile rule.
The Stone Cut Without Hands
Les explains that the stone cut without hands had to come from the eternal God, and quotes Daniel 2:34-35 showing the metals broken to pieces like chaff.
Babylon as the Head of Gold
Les identifies Babylon as the first empire and notes the metals decline from gold to iron and clay, helping viewers see the sequence leading to the final empire.
Medes, Greeks, and Rome in the Image
Les traces the silver to the Medes and Persians, the brass to Alexander the Greek, and the iron to Rome, showing the historical progression of Gentile empires.
Chaff Blown Away at the Second Coming
Les explains that the crushed metals become like chaff and are carried away, so the residue of Gentile empires disappears with the Second Coming.
The Metals and Toes of the Image
Les recalls the exact makeup of the image — gold head, silver chest, brass belly, iron legs, and ten toes of iron and clay — so hearers can picture the empire progression.
Daniel's Parallel Vision of Wild Beasts
Les shows that Daniel 7 is a parallel prophecy: the same Gentile empires appear as wild beasts, confirming that the two visions tell the same story.
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.
This verse records the moment the image is struck and the destruction of the empires begins.
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.
This verse shows the total annihilation of the empires and the stone becoming a kingdom that fills 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.
This verse explicitly identifies Babylon as the first empire, the head of gold in the image.
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.
This verse explains that God's eternal kingdom will replace all the Gentile kingdoms.
Daniel 2:45: 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.
This verse confirms the divine origin of the stone and the certainty of the prophecy.
The stone cut without hands strikes the feet of the image, and the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold are all broken to pieces together. They become like chaff that the wind carries away, with no place found for them. Then the stone becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth — the eternal kingdom God sets up.
Les places the striking of the image at the end of the tribulation, when the Lord returns and crushes the final empire, the revived Roman Empire, along with all Gentile rule. He also ties it to the defeat of the Antichrist's armies at Armageddon, after which the chaff of Daniel 2:35 is blown away.
Les says it is an earthly kingdom. The Son is given the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession, and the stone becomes a mountain filling the whole earth. He distinguishes this kingdom from the church.
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