What does Daniel 2:44 mean?
At the end of Nebuchadnezzar's disturbing dream (Daniel 2:1–3), he saw a supernatural stone shatter the base of a massive statue (Daniel 2:31–34). The statue's components were pulverized and the stone grew to fill the entire earth (Daniel 2:35). Daniel has explained the dream as a prophecy about the kingdoms which would rule after Babylon (Daniel 2:27–28, 36), represented by the statue's head (Daniel 2:37–38). This would be followed by the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires (Daniel 2:39–43).In this verse, the symbolism of the stone is revealed. The stone which shattered the statue is a kingdom set up by God, which will never be overcome. Daniel reiterates that the stone—this future kingdom—would not be established by human hands, but by the power of the Lord (Daniel 2:45). While hindsight and history identify the other kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there is some debate about the exact identity of this final realm.
Many views of the end times include belief in a millennial kingdom: Christ's personal, direct, earthly political rule over the world for a thousand years. The initial followers of Jesus anticipated this kind of rule (Acts 1:6). Descriptions in the book of Revelation (Revelation 20:1–6) and other Old Testament prophecies (Zechariah 3:8–10; Micah 4:2–4; Deuteronomy 30:15) also suggest such a political fulfillment. Some who hold this view see the nation formed by the stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as this literal government headed by Christ. As with some of Daniel's other prophecies (Daniel 9:24–27), this interpretation implies time gaps between events.
Other commentators interpret the final kingdom in this dream to be the spiritual rule of Christ in the hearts of Christian believers. This view includes some who believe in a literal millennial kingdom as well as those who do not. The stone in the dream strikes the brittle, clay-iron amalgam of the Roman Empire, and then grows to fill the earth (Daniel 2:34–35). According to some interpreters, this predicts the establishment of Christianity in the last days of the Roman Empire and the gospel's spread around the globe.
The phrase "in the days of those kings" may refer to the ten rulers represented in other end times prophecies (Daniel 7:7–8; Revelation 13:1).
Daniel 2:31–45 provides both the content and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream (Daniel 2:1–3). The dream describes what is sometimes called "the latter days" or "the times of the Gentiles." This is part of a section of the book of Daniel recorded in Aramaic (Daniel 2:4—7:28), the common language of Babylon at the time. The image seen in the dream includes a progression of shapes and materials, representing a sequence of kingdoms, their characteristics, and their eventual fates.
King Nebuchadnezzar tests his magicians, demanding they tell him what he has dreamed, rather than merely inventing an interpretation. When they fail, he prepares to execute the entire department of wise men. Daniel promises he can meet the king's request and is given a special vision from God. The king dreamed of a massive statue shattered into powder by a supernatural rock. Daniel accurately describes this and interprets it as a prophecy about kingdoms which would come after Babylon. The king appoints Daniel and his friends to positions of power and influence over Babylon.
