Daniel 2:14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, went out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel responded with discretion and tact. 15 “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” he asked. Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give him the interpretation.17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 18 urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven 20 and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. 23 To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.” BSB
The king has had a number of dreams but starting in verse 23, it switches to the singular “dream” indicating that there is one in particular that is bothering him. The faith of Daniel and his companions is evident as they immediately turn to God for help after learning about the king’s decree. They understand that all wisdom and power belongs to God and any wisdom and power they (or we) might have comes directly from Him.
Daniel 2:24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.” 25 Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.” 26 The king responded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream, as well as its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these: 29 As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen. 30 And to me this mystery has been revealed, not because I have more wisdom than any man alive, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. 31 As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay. 34 As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; for iron shatters and crushes all things, and like iron that crushes all things, it will shatter and crush all the others. 41 And just as you saw that the feet and toes were made partly of fired clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet some of the strength of iron will be in it—just as you saw the iron mixed with clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever. 45 And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.” 46 At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court. BSB
The head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian (or as some point out, the neo-Babylonian) empire. As glorious and powerful a king that he is (the most powerful on earth at this time), there is some bad news delivered by Daniel who states that his kingdom will end and be replaced by another kingdom. The kingdom to follow has a chest and arms made of silver. The word translated as “silver” (Strong’s 3702 kesaph) can also refer to “money” with the root of the word meaning “to long for”. As such, the reference could mean that the next kingdom is inferior because silver is worth less than gold or it could point to a kingdom that focused on wealth i.e., it is inferior because it is more worldly in nature than the Babylonians. In each case, the future material while less in value is stronger than the materials preceding it (iron versus gold, for example).
The most common explanation as to these kingdoms are: Babylon (gold), Medo-Persian (silver), Greece (bronze) and Rome (iron). Some will separate the legs and feet as an extension of Rome into the modern age or as a future kingdom of the Anti-Christ just prior to the end of the age (a possible fifth kingdom, if you will). Depending upon your viewpoint, the uncut stone can be seen as the first incarnation of Jesus or as His Second Coming.
For those with an amillennial or even a postmillennialist viewpoint, the stone uncut by human hands is the church. The premillennialist approach differs by questioning whether the prophecy has been completely fulfilled or not. The comparison is made between the ten toes of the statue with the ten horns in Daniel 7:7 and the ten kings in Revelation 17:12 as indicative that this prophecy has not been completely fulfilled. From this viewpoint, the stone uncut is the Second Coming of Christ who will immediately smash all of these earthly kingdoms into bits and establish His eternal kingdom.
The point here is not so much trying to figure out who the kingdoms are/were but rather to focus our attention on the stone uncut by human hands as this is a kingdom not dependent upon human agency. None of these earthly kingdoms are permanent but are merely the run-up to the Kingdom of God. In other words, while these earthly kingdoms are part of God’s purpose, they are merely a player in the story and not the story.
Surprisingly, Nebuchadnezzar pays homage to Daniel after hearing the interpretation of the dream. Apparently what he heard from all of this was that he is a powerful king and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Nebuchadnezzar, who interestingly enough God refers to as “My servant” in Jeremiah 25:9, either makes a personal confession or at least an acknowledgment regarding God, yet there is no Jonah moment where he repents nor did he suddenly cast aside all false idols. It may be nothing more than the fact that the pagan gods of this time were localized in nature so the fact that a foreign, unknown God can step in and overpower the Babylonian deities made a big impression on him. As to Daniel, he doesn’t flaunt it but is clear that he represents the one true God.
There are some today who adhere to the view that God is completely sovereign and in control of everything that happens in the world (and to us) while there are others who believe that free will is controlling. The classical view is that in the big picture God is sovereign and in charge of history but for now, God is also allowing other wills to operate in the universe. While this sometimes looks a little chaotic, what should be clear is that God is in charge and there is a kingdom coming that will endure forever.
Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” BSB