Dan 2:34 | KingComments | STEP | The whole statue rests on a construction of iron and clay. That shows how unstable it is. Proof of this is provided when, under the watchful eye of Nebuchadnezzar, a stone is cut out that hits the statue at the feet. The special feature of the cut out stone is that it is “cut out without hands”. This means that no human or human effort is involved here, but that God Himself cuts out this stone and works this result (cf. ; ). As a result of the collision of the stone with the statue, the statue does not just fall down, no, the whole statue is crushed by the stone, nothing remains of it. All materials are blown away by the wind as if they were chaff on a summer threshing floor. The statue is so thoroughly crushed that there is no trace of it to be found. As the last part of his dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees the enormous contrast between the vanishing of the statue without a trace and what happens to the stone. The stone grows so much that it finally fills the entire earth. What happens to the statue finds its fulfilment just before the establishment of the kingdom of peace where Christ will reign for thousand years. Just before the dawn of eternity something similar is happening. For then heaven and earth flee away from the face of Christ, Who sits on the great white throne, “and no place was found for them” ( ). The destruction of the statue also contains a lesson. When at the end of time, in the last days, the statue is destroyed, this destruction concerns the whole statue, so all the empires, and not just the last empire. Each empire that has conquered the previous empire has taken in elements of the conquered empire. Therefore, after the destruction, still something remained. Therefore, all the empires are destroyed at the same time in what is left of them. Whatever has been said about the stone, whatever explanation was given, it is clear that this stone has never filled the whole earth and that this stone still does not fill the earth. The extermination of the world empires has yet to take place. This means – and this is the lesson – that we still live in the history of the four world empires. We are now ready for the explanation. It is worth remembering that we do not need history to explain what we read in God’s Word, but that it is the other way around. We need God’s Word to explain history. In retrospect, history always seems to confirm what God has said in His Word beforehand about how it will be.

‏ Daniel 2:34

The End of the Statue

The whole statue rests on a construction of iron and clay. That shows how unstable it is. Proof of this is provided when, under the watchful eye of Nebuchadnezzar, a stone is cut out that hits the statue at the feet. The special feature of the cut out stone is that it is “cut out without hands”. This means that no human or human effort is involved here, but that God Himself cuts out this stone and works this result (cf. Job 34:20; Col 2:11).

As a result of the collision of the stone with the statue, the statue does not just fall down, no, the whole statue is crushed by the stone, nothing remains of it. All materials are blown away by the wind as if they were chaff on a summer threshing floor. The statue is so thoroughly crushed that there is no trace of it to be found.

As the last part of his dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees the enormous contrast between the vanishing of the statue without a trace and what happens to the stone. The stone grows so much that it finally fills the entire earth. What happens to the statue finds its fulfilment just before the establishment of the kingdom of peace where Christ will reign for thousand years. Just before the dawn of eternity something similar is happening. For then heaven and earth flee away from the face of Christ, Who sits on the great white throne, “and no place was found for them” (Rev 20:11).

The destruction of the statue also contains a lesson. When at the end of time, in the last days, the statue is destroyed, this destruction concerns the whole statue, so all the empires, and not just the last empire. Each empire that has conquered the previous empire has taken in elements of the conquered empire. Therefore, after the destruction, still something remained. Therefore, all the empires are destroyed at the same time in what is left of them.

Whatever has been said about the stone, whatever explanation was given, it is clear that this stone has never filled the whole earth and that this stone still does not fill the earth. The extermination of the world empires has yet to take place. This means – and this is the lesson – that we still live in the history of the four world empires.

We are now ready for the explanation. It is worth remembering that we do not need history to explain what we read in God’s Word, but that it is the other way around. We need God’s Word to explain history. In retrospect, history always seems to confirm what God has said in His Word beforehand about how it will be.