In the Days of These Kings

By Al Felder

“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed… it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).

History is full of kingdoms that rose with power and fell into dust. Empires have boasted, threatened, conquered, and demanded worship—only to be swallowed by time. But Daniel 2 shows us something different: God’s kingdom is not temporary. It is not built by human hands. It does not depend on armies, borders, or politics. And it cannot be crushed by the rise and fall of man.

Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is one of the clearest prophetic roadmaps in Scripture. It traces the march of world empires and then announces the moment when God would establish a kingdom that would outlast them all.

That prophecy matters because it anchors our faith in this truth: the kingdom of God is not a religious idea—it is a divine reality established in time and proven by fulfillment.

A troubled king, a forgotten dream, and a God who reveals

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him deeply. When he awoke, he could not remember it clearly, but the fear of it remained. He demanded that Babylon’s wise men tell him both the dream and its meaning. They failed. And in his fury, he ordered the death of the wise men.

That crisis is the moment God brought Daniel forward.

Daniel asked for time, and God revealed the dream and its meaning to him. Daniel then stood before the king and did what no human wisdom could: he accurately spoke the dream and interpreted it with confidence—not because Daniel was naturally gifted, but because God rules the future.

The image: four kingdoms of man

In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image—a towering figure made of different materials:

• A head of fine gold

• Breast and arms of silver

• Belly and thighs of brass

• Legs of iron

• Feet part of iron and part of clay

Then a stone was cut out without hands and struck the image on its feet. The entire image collapsed, like chaff blown away by the wind. But the stone grew into a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:31–35).

Daniel explained that the different materials represented a sequence of world kingdoms.

1) Babylon — the head of gold

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar plainly: “Thou art this head of gold” (Daniel 2:38). Babylon was the first major empire in this prophetic chain—glorious, powerful, and proud.

Babylon also carries a spiritual meaning throughout Scripture. It is repeatedly associated with rebellion against God. It becomes a symbol of man’s arrogance—building in defiance of God, boasting against heaven, and seeking glory apart from the Lord.

2) Medo-Persia — the silver kingdom

After Babylon would come another kingdom “inferior” in splendor but still mighty (Daniel 2:39). This second kingdom fits the Medo-Persian Empire, which overtook Babylon and ruled widely.

3) Greece — the brass kingdom

A third kingdom would arise and “bear rule over all the earth” (Daniel 2:39). The Greek Empire fits the description—swift, expanding, and influential far beyond military conquest, even shaping language and culture in ways that would later serve God’s providence.

4) Rome — the iron kingdom with divided feet

The fourth kingdom would be “strong as iron,” breaking and subduing (Daniel 2:40). Iron is a fitting picture for Rome—powerful, crushing, and disciplined.

But the dream also described a later division: feet and toes mixed with iron and clay. The kingdom would be partly strong and partly broken—unable to truly “cleave” together (Daniel 2:41–43). Rome eventually became divided, and its internal fractures proved the prophecy: no matter how impressive an empire looks, man cannot create eternal stability.

The turning point: “in the days of these kings”

Now we come to the central line—the one that should make every Bible student sit up straight:

“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom…” (Daniel 2:44).

The kingdom of God was not promised to appear during the Babylonian, Median-Persian, or Greek periods. Daniel locates it during the days of the fourth kingdom—Rome.

That is exactly what we find when we read the Gospels.

Jesus came preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). John the Baptist announced the same nearness. The message was consistent: the kingdom had not yet been established, but it was close.

Then Jesus made it even clearer: “There be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). The kingdom was not a distant idea—it was a near event, coming with power within the lifetime of some who heard Him.

The kingdom comes with power

Jesus told His apostles to wait for power from on high (Luke 24:49). That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2—when the apostles received power from the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel, and sinners obeyed the message.

From that point onward, something changes in the language of Scripture:

• Before Pentecost, the kingdom is spoken of as coming.

• After Pentecost, it is spoken of as present.

Paul would later say God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). You cannot be translated into something that does not exist. The kingdom exists because God established it exactly when Daniel said He would.

The stone cut without hands

Daniel’s prophecy does something else that is easy to miss: it explains the nature of God’s kingdom.

The stone was “cut out… without hands” (Daniel 2:45). That phrase highlights that this kingdom is not manufactured by human planning. It is not built by bloodshed, conquest, elections, or inheritance. It is established by God.

Peter later described Christians as “lively stones” built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). God’s kingdom is made of people—redeemed souls joined to Christ.

That is why the stone does not simply replace one empire with another. It breaks in pieces and consumes all these kingdoms (Daniel 2:44). In other words, God’s kingdom is the final authority. Every human power is temporary. Every empire is a chapter. But the kingdom of God is the story that outlasts them all.

Rome tried to crush it. Rome tried to silence it. Rome tried to intimidate it. And Rome fell.

The kingdom did not.

Why this matters now

Daniel 2 is not just prophecy—it is perspective.

If you belong to the kingdom of God, you belong to something that cannot be destroyed. You are not clinging to a fragile institution. You are part of a kingdom established by God, ruled by Christ, and destined to stand forever.

That should change how we see the world:

• Nations will shake.

• Governments will shift.

• Cultures will rebel.

• Institutions will crumble.

But Christ’s kingdom remains.

And the invitation remains, too: the kingdom continues to grow as men and women hear and obey the gospel of Christ.

Practicing what is taught

Here are practical ways to live with Daniel 2 in your bones:

• Refuse fear-driven living. Empires rise and fall; the kingdom stands.

• Anchor your identity in Christ’s reign. Don’t let politics or culture become your “kingdom.”

• Treat the church as eternal work. Invest your life in what cannot be destroyed.

• Obey the gospel with urgency. The kingdom is not entered by heritage or opinion, but by submission to Christ.

  
  

Reflection questions

1. Do I live as though God’s kingdom is eternal—or as though I’m depending on temporary things?

2. When the world feels unstable, where do I run first—fear, anger, or faith?

3. Have I allowed earthly kingdoms to shape my hope more than Christ’s kingdom?

4. Am I thankful that God’s kingdom was established by His power and not by man’s hands?

5. What would change in my daily life if I truly believed, “It shall stand for ever”?