Daniel 2:44 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed’ – this is the stone cut out without hands, which strikes and shatters the image. In time of the Roman Empire comes the kingdom of Christ. God’s kingdom is coexistent with all these empires in a sense, but with the incarnation and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven, his purpose becomes crystal clear. Christ was born of a virgin by the power of the Spirit – a supernatural birth, a stone quarried without hands. So the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar, interpreted by Daniel, is a tremendous insight into the conflict of the ages: the conflict between world powers who rule by human ingenuity and control – those who put their trust in men – and the rule of God. What an encouragement for Daniel, his companions, for believers at that time, and for the people of God in all ages! What a comfort to us in day of small things, days in which the media, et cetera, take control. Yes but all this is temporary. Christ is the stone cut out without hands which will overcome all opposition. Everything seems to be against the Messianic hope and the promise of Christ. And then this great disclosure: all these worldly empires are only temporary. This vast invincible empire is coming to a close. There will be another inferior one – geographically greater, but inferior. That will fall all too soon, and another, and another, and then the kingdom of Christ will be revealed. ‘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.’ Unlike the four earthly empires represented by the vision, the empire that God establishes will not give way to another, but will last forever. It will break in pieces and consume those other kingdoms. It will not do what all earthly kingdoms do, and grow weak and collapse, but it will continue to grow stronger throughout the history of the world. Even when the world ends, the kingdom of Christ will carry on, because it is an eternal kingdom, and Christ will put down all opposition to his rule. Evidently, when the Babylonian Empire was destroyed, though it was utterly destroyed, its culture, its way of thinking, its military methods, and some of its buildings even, lived on in the next empire, so that, in a sense, when the statue is destroyed, all four empires are destroyed at once. The Medo-Persian Empire borrowed a lot from the Babylonians, and the Greek Empire borrowed a lot from its forebears, and the Roman Empire simply perfected all the techniques and methods of the flesh. So although those empires have passed, they are all still one big statue energised by the same principle, all gaining from each other. And they were all destroyed at once by the coming of the Messiah and Calvary and the Christian faith and the conquest of the hearts of men and women, gathering out a people for God's position, God bringing all human rules, in accordance with his timing and will, to an end. But the kingdom of Christ lives on. God’s decree is certain. Daniel knows that the dream is certain.