Daniel 2:44–45

Mark those words, "in the days of these kings." They are a complete answer to those who have tried to make this the birth of Christ. They call that moment the start of the kingdom of grace. At the time here spoken of, the empire is broken up and divided. Was that the case when the Lord was born? Nothing of the sort. Rome was then at its fullest power. There was not the smallest crack anywhere in the empire. There was only one ruler, and only one will in control... What then does the verse refer to? I believe it points to the closing scene of the Roman Empire: not to the time when Christ was born, but to when the Lord Jesus comes with divine power to judge. No doubt He is the stone; but this is a destructive stone, wiping out the kingdoms of the earth.

I differ from Mr. Myers in referring "these kings" (not to the four kingdoms, but) to the toes of the great image, that is, to the ten rulers of the revived Roman empire in the last days, existing at the same time, whose judgment makes way for the universal prevalence of God's kingdom, which Christ in person shall administer.

I am well aware that many expounders of the Word of God have tried to make out that this is the Gospel. I do not see how they make it out at all. I do not think the Gospel is very destructive, as this falling stone certainly is. And I ask you this: Did the Gospel ever smite the image? Never — the image smote Christ. It was the Roman power that killed the Lord Jesus. The Gospel has never set aside the civil power in this world. On the contrary, the Gospel has always suffered, and it will suffer right on to the end.

The little stone cut out without hands does not become a mountain until it has judged, broken in pieces and destroyed the image. And note: striking the image and then filling the whole earth is not the setting up of Christ's kingdom on the day of Pentecost. It is not an influence that changes the gold, the silver and the rest into the character of the stone. It is the sudden execution of judgment on the image — a blow that breaks it in pieces and leaves no trace of it behind.

The effort to find gradual and successive steps in Dan. 2:44, Dan. 7:26, and 2 Thess. 2:8 is unworthy of sound scholarship, and contradicts the plain object of the three texts, which describe nothing else or less than a sudden and complete extinction. Consuming in a slow way and by evangelical means is ruled out by the least approach to exact criticism, as well as by spiritual judgment.

It is as "the God of heaven" that God acts in giving power to the Gentiles. As "God of the earth" His throne was at Jerusalem, and will be when He again makes Himself known in that way. But His earthly throne has been set aside. Those who were responsible for holding and administering His authority acted wickedly. So He now acts as "God of heaven," giving authority to the Gentile monarch.

This kingdom set up from heaven is the kingdom of Christ (see Daniel 7:1-14). Its first act will be to break the "image" in pieces. Then, when Christ Himself formally establishes it in power, it will grow until it fills the whole earth. It will have no successor, for it will stand for ever.

The description of it as "a great mountain" suggests its permanence and stability... Sin has ravaged the world for centuries, and man has tried to dethrone God. In that same world there will be righteousness, peace and gladness.

Christians are called to live apart from the world, to suffer, to stay separate and to submit, like the crucified Lord here below. Now if Daniel 2:44 is wrongly applied to a kingdom already set up, the church has to subdue and destroy the imperial powers... Through that error the church becomes a rebel in Christ's name, instead of a holy sufferer, as Christ and His servants taught and practised.

Upon the feet of the image the stone fell. The stone is "cut out without hands" — that is, apart from man having anything to do with it. It is not human but Divine in origin. The first prophetic reference to the Lord Jesus as the Stone is in Genesis 49:24. When old Jacob blessed his sons, he broke off to say, "from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel." He appears under this same figure in Isaiah 28:16, and so on into the New Testament.

The legs of iron and feet of iron and clay in the image represent the Roman Empire, and the stone is not cut out of them at all. It never had any place in them. An image is something on which the hand of man has worked; the stone is untouched by the hand of man. It is a kingdom altogether different from all that had gone before it.

The "little stone" symbolizes a power that looks small. At once it destroys all that is high, great, and strong on the earth. At the first blow it reduces the entire imperial system to powder. So the attempt to make the gospel out of it wholly fails. The "little stone" is not the gospel or the church, but the kingdom of God which Christ enforces when He returns.

I ask you this: did the Gospel ever strike the image? Never — the image struck Christ. It was the Roman power that killed the Lord Jesus. The Gospel has never set aside the civil power in this world. On the contrary, the Gospel has always suffered, and will suffer right on to the end.

Note those words, "in the days of these kings." They are a complete answer to those who have tried to make this the birth of Christ. At the time spoken of here, the empire is broken up and divided. Was that the case when the Lord was born? Rome was then at its fullest power. There was not the smallest breach anywhere in the empire… I believe it refers to the closing scene of the Roman Empire. It points not to the time when Christ was born, but to the time when God "brings the Firstborn into the world." Then the Lord Jesus comes, not as the Nazarene to suffer and die, but with divine power to judge.

A stone, cut out without hands, is to fall on the entire image, and to destroy it utterly (Dan. 2:45). This, we learn, is God's appointed end for every kind of human government, whether monarchy or democracy. The whole thing must give way to a kingdom of divine order, built "without hands." No element of human imperfection may have a place in it.

This destruction of Gentile power comes before the stone fills the whole earth. Describing it as "a great mountain" suggests its permanence and stability… No other kingdom will ever follow this one. Sin has ravaged the world for centuries, and man has sought to dethrone God. In that world there will be righteousness, peace and gladness.

At the close, Daniel added two things. First, he repeated that the great God had made known to the king what would come to pass. Second, he assures the king of the certainty both of the dream and of its interpretation. A revelation from God differs from what is of man in exactly this. Everything outside the Bible dares to compete with it and claim men's ears. It is only a sea, an unformed mass of opinions and reasonings. Think of a soul worn out in its search for stable ground to rest on in view of death and eternity. How welcome is the unchanging basis laid for faith in the infallible Scriptures!