The Stone and the Statue Text: Daniel 2:31-45
Introduction: Two Kinds of Kingdom
Every man lives his life in service to a king and in pursuit of a kingdom. There is no neutrality on this point. You are either building on the rock, or you are building on the sand. You are either a citizen of the kingdom of God, or you are a subject of the kingdom of darkness. The modern secular man likes to imagine a third way, a kind of enlightened, autonomous republic of the self. But this is a grand delusion. His proud kingdom of one is just a sad, little vassal state, paying tribute to the prince of the power of the air.
In our text today, God pulls back the curtain of history and gives Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful pagan king on earth, a guided tour of the future. And what the king sees is a tale of two kingdoms. The first is the kingdom of man, represented by a great and terrifying statue. It is impressive, it is splendid, it is awesome in appearance. It is everything that man, in his rebellion, strives to build. It is Babylon, it is Persia, it is Greece, it is Rome, and it is every godless empire that has followed in their train, right down to the secular humanist projects of our own day.
But the second kingdom is altogether different. It is not the product of human genius or military might. It does not appear with the sound of trumpets or the splendor of a royal court. It shows up as a stone, cut without hands. It appears small, almost insignificant. And yet, this stone is the key to all of human history. This stone is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the central lesson of this dream, the lesson that echoes down through the centuries to us, is this: the glorious, intimidating, man-made statue is destined for the chaff pile. But the stone will become a mountain that fills the whole earth.
This is not a message of retreat. This is not a quietist hope for a spiritual escape hatch out of a world doomed to failure. No, this is a declaration of war. It is the certain promise of Christ's total and absolute victory in history, on earth, as it is in heaven. This is the blueprint for the victorious advance of the gospel. And because this dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy, we can live with a rugged, joyful confidence in the face of the crumbling empires of our own day.
The Text
"You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great image; that image, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was rising up in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that image was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will say its interpretation before the king. You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory; and wherever the sons of men inhabit, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has made you rule with power over them all. You are the head of gold. But after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule with power over all the earth. Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. Now in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay; they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will cause a kingdom to rise up which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future; so the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy."
(Daniel 2:31-45 LSB)
The Splendor and Sickness of Man's Kingdom (vv. 31-33, 36-43)
First, let us consider the statue. It is described as great, large, of extraordinary splendor, and awesome in appearance. This is how the kingdoms of men appear to men. From the Tower of Babel to the halls of Washington D.C., man is constantly trying to build something that will make a name for himself, something that will scrape the sky and declare his own glory. And we must admit, these kingdoms can be impressive.
Daniel interprets the successive parts of the statue as a series of descending empires. You, Nebuchadnezzar, are the head of gold (v. 38). Babylon was magnificent. After you comes an inferior kingdom of silver, which was Medo-Persia. Then a third kingdom of bronze, which was Greece under Alexander, which would rule the earth. And finally, a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, which was Rome. Rome would crush and shatter all that came before it.
But notice the pattern here. This is not a story of human progress. It is a story of devolution. The metals decline in value, from gold to silver to bronze to iron. At the same time, they increase in hardness, representing a cruder, more brutal form of power. Man's story, left to himself, is not an upward ascent into enlightenment. It is a downward spiral into tyranny and decay. The glory fades, and only the brute force remains.
And it gets worse. The statue is top-heavy and fundamentally unstable. It ends with feet and toes of iron mixed with clay. Daniel is explicit: "it will be a divided kingdom" (v. 41). The iron represents the lingering strength and legacy of Rome, its laws and military might. The clay represents the weakness of the people, the internal divisions, the inherent brittleness of all human endeavors. Daniel says "they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay" (v. 43). This is a perfect picture of the futility of political maneuvering. All the royal intermarriages, all the diplomatic treaties, all the G7 summits, all the attempts to mix the iron of state power with the clay of popular consent cannot create a lasting unity. Man's kingdom is a monstrosity with clay feet. It looks impressive, but it is one well-aimed rock away from total collapse.
The Divine Invasion (vv. 34-35)
Into this vision of human glory and decay comes a disruptive force. It is not another metal, not another man-made empire. "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands" (v. 34).
This is the central point. "Without hands." This kingdom is not of human origin. It is not a political party, a social movement, or a philosophical revolution. It is a supernatural act of God. This is the virgin-born Son of God, entering history. This is the kingdom that Jesus announced was at hand. It is not built by human ingenuity; it is given by divine grace.
And what does this stone do? It doesn't negotiate with the statue. It doesn't seek a place on the statue's advisory board. It doesn't try to polish the clay feet. It strikes the image on its feet and crushes them. The attack comes at the foundation, at the point of greatest weakness. And when the feet are shattered, the whole thing comes down. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time" (v. 35). All the glories of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome are pulverized together. The kingdom of Christ does not come to reform paganism; it comes to replace it.
The result is utter annihilation. The remnants of these mighty empires "became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found" (v. 35). This is what God thinks of the proudest achievements of rebellious men. They are dust. They are chaff. The judgment of God is not just a renovation; it is a demolition. Where are the gods of Babylon now? Where is the glory of Rome? They are footnotes in history books, cautionary tales of pride that comes before a fall.
The Unstoppable Mountain (vv. 35, 44-45)
But the story does not end with destruction. This is not a vision of anarchy. The demolition makes way for a new construction. "But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (v. 35).
This is the victorious, optimistic, postmillennial heart of the prophecy. The kingdom of Christ starts small, like a stone, but it is destined for global dominion. It grows. It expands. It advances inexorably until it becomes a great mountain that fills everything. This is not a picture of the church being beaten back into a corner, holding on by its fingernails until Jesus comes to rescue a defeated remnant. This is a picture of total, comprehensive victory.
Daniel makes the timing explicit. "And in the days of those kings", that is, in the days of the Roman empire, "the God of heaven will cause a kingdom to rise up" (v. 44). This is precisely what happened. While Augustus was ruling from Rome, a baby was born in Bethlehem. While the iron legions kept the peace, the Prince of Peace began his ministry. The stone was cut and cast into the world. And ever since, it has been about its mountain-growing business.
And this kingdom has three defining characteristics. First, "it will never be destroyed." It is invincible. Second, it "will not be left for another people." There is no fifth kingdom of man coming. Christ's kingdom is the final kingdom. Third, "it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever" (v. 44). The gospel is not simply a message of personal salvation; it is a world-conquering force. It is the power of God to topple thrones and dominions, to remake cultures, and to claim every square inch of this world for Christ the King.
Conclusion: Certainty and Trustworthiness
Daniel concludes his interpretation with a statement of absolute confidence. "The great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future; so the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy" (v. 45).
This is where we must live. We are not tossed about on a sea of historical chaos. We are not victims of meaningless chance. History is a story, and our God is the author. He has told us the ending in advance. The statue falls. The stone prevails.
What does this mean for us, living among the iron-and-clay shards of Western civilization? It means we must not be intimidated by the splendor of the statue. The media, the academy, the state, they all project an image of awesome, terrifying power. But they are standing on clay feet. Their internal contradictions are legion. They are brittle, divided, and doomed.
It also means we must not despise the day of small things. Our work for the kingdom often feels like a small stone. A family worship time, a faithful sermon, a quiet act of charity, a Christian school built one brick at a time. These things do not make the evening news. But these are the instruments God is using to grow His mountain. The Great Commission is the mountain-building project. Every time the gospel is preached and a sinner is converted, the mountain grows. Every time a Christian family raises their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, the mountain grows. Every time Christians build institutions that honor Christ, the mountain grows.
The dream is certain. The kingdom of man, in all its arrogant glory, will become chaff. The kingdom of Christ, which began as a stone cut without hands, will fill the whole earth. Therefore, do not lose heart. Do not fear their threats. Do not be impressed by their splendor. Put your hand to the plow and do not look back. You are on the winning side of history, because you are a citizen of the kingdom that stands forever.