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Which four kingdoms are represented in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel, Chapter 2? Nebuchadnezzar was the second king of the eleventh dynasty of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, whose capital was Babylon. His kingdom, together with that of Ancient Egypt, were offshoots of the former Neo-Assyrian Empire, which splintered shortly before
In King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the eternal kingdom was established when “a stone was cut out without hands, and ... struck the statue on its feet” (Dan 2:34). It crushed the statue so that not a trace of it was found. “But the stone … became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Dan 2:35)
Daniel’s recounting of the dream does not mention the toes; only “its feet partly of iron and partly of clay” (Dan 2:33). Daniel’s explanation of the dream adds the toes (Dan 2:41-42). It does not say how many toes the statue has, but the only logical conclusion is that the statue has one head, two arms, two legs and ten toes.
While acknowledging that the four Gentile empires given in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome) were literal, geopolitical empires, 55 Gentry’s interpretation requires that the smiting stone recorded at the conclusion of the dream be given a spiritualized interpretation.
Then the rock struck the statue at the feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces (34). And then the metals of the whole statue, plus the clay, became like chaff and the wind carried them away, and the rock that smote them became a great mountain that filled the whole earth (35).
That happened in the first century A.D., so the fourth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's dream was that which ruled over Jerusalem during the first century A.D. Daniel was given a vision of the fourth kingdom again when Belshazzar was king of Babylon, how it was different from the three before it (Dan. 7:7), terrible and exceedingly strong, with ...
"A stone was cut out of" a mountain without hands (Dan 2:45), crushed the statue but itself "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Dan 2:35). The immediate context explains these symbols to a large extent: The phrase “without hands” points to supernatural intervention. The stone struck the statue on its feet (Dan 2:34).
The identification of the first four kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's dreamed statue should generally lack controversial arguments, except the fifth. These initial four kingdoms are typically understood to be; Golden head represents Babylon empire; Silver chest and arms represents Persian and Median empire; Bronze belly and thighs represents Greece ...
Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar's prostration was not worship but a display and recognition of honour. It is unfortunate that the KJV uses the verb "worshipped" rather than the more sensitive "honoured" or similar. There is further circumstantial evidence of this conclusion: Before Daniel begins his explanation he gives all the honour to God (Dan 2:28)
Additionally, 60 cubits are approximately equivalent to 90 ft., or a 10-Storey building. By that, we can safely assume that the statue could be visible. So when the music starts all of the people inside Babylon would fall down and worship in the direction of the statue. Satan, just like Nebuchadnezzar, wanted worship.