After overcoming many nations, Nebuchadnezzar the king spent his time, effort, and riches in improving Babylon. He built temples to heathen gods, expanded the city, and built magnificent walls. On the roof of one building he planted many varieties of trees and plants.

One evening Nebuchadnezzar was wondering what the future held. While he slept, God spoke to him in a dream. Alas, the next morning he could not remember what he was shown. He called his counselors, but they were unable to tell the dream or its meaning. The king became angry because of the hypocrisy and lies of those who claimed to know about dreams. So, Nebuchadnezzar ordered for all the wise men to be killed. This order included the Hebrew students. Daniel must die for the failure of his teachers!

Calmly, Daniel requested time and promised to tell the king the meaning of the mysterious dream. But he did not try to come up with some answer of his own. Instead, he humbly trusted God. With his three friends, Daniel asked God to explain what the king had forgotten, and God rewarded the prayers of his servant. Then “Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation” (Daniel 2:24).

Dear reader, how do you react when someone happens to threaten you? Are you as calm as Daniel was? Do you know that God will answer your prayers? In 1 John 5:14, 15, He promises to hear your prayers, “And we have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with His will, He listens to us. And since we know that He listens to us, then whatever we ask, we know that we have the things which we have asked from Him” (Richard F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech).

When Daniel was brought before the king, he said, “The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 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. 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. 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. 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 is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 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. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these [divided] 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. 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” (Daniel 2:27–45).

How many symbols do we find here? Six:

1. The head of gold.

2. The chest and arms of silver.

3. The belly and thighs of brass.

4. The legs of iron.

5. The feet and toes of iron mixed with clay.

6. The stone that destroys the image.

How many empires do we find in history and prophecy since Nebuchadnezzar? Six:

1. Babylon.

2. Followed by Medo-Persia.

3. Followed by Greece.

4. Followed by Rome.

5. Followed by the ten divisions of the Roman Empire.

6. Followed by the kingdom of God "which shall never be destroyed." Then the Lord will recreate this planet, so that His kingdom can fill it. The symbols, explanation, and history all agree.

God wanted to tell Nebuchadnezzar three things:

1. That poorer nations would rule the civilized world after him.

2. That God gives various nations the opportunity to worship and serve Him and help others, but if they do not use the opportunity wisely, He will destroy them and give the opportunity to someone else.

3. That whatever each nation might do with God’s blessings, in the end God would rule over all. God is giving you the opportunity to worship and help others also. If you use this opportunity wisely, you will live forever; if not, you will be unhappy and finally be destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar, what choice will you make?

Reader, what choice will you make?