The Four Kingdoms

God wanted to move Daniel to the top echelon of the Babylonian government and He used Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to orchestrate Daniel’s rise to power. It started with a dream that the king forgot. The court magicians offered to provide an interpretation but their gods were powerless to reveal the dream.

Not so with Daniel’s God. He revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel. God had elevated Nebuchadnezzar and there would be an additional three kingdoms after his death. Babylon was the first kingdom, Persia was the second, and the third was Greece.

Many have claimed that the fourth kingdom was Rome, but Daniel’s words reveal this can’t be the case. What we have instead is the first reference to the global kingdom of the Antichrist with a nod back to the way it was during the days of Noah. Jesus is the rock that will smash the statue and break the fourth kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with Daniel’s God, but the prophetic message went over his head.