"THE LASTING KINGDOM" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 5/12/26

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44)

King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is having wild dreams that require interpretation. After some initial misguided attempts, Nebuchadnezzar turns to Daniel. In the first chapter, Daniel and his friends, notably wise and capable, are recruited to serve in the royal palace, where they are soon pressured to forsake their Jewish identity by adopting Babylonian ways. They refuse and choose faithfulness to God’s law instead. This decision puts them in grave danger, only for God to ultimately deliver them.

The King’s dream in this chapter is about a large statue that dominates the landscape and is made up of four different types of metal. Daniel says the statue symbolizes a sequence of kingdoms, with Babylon as the head. Suddenly, a huge rock flies in and shatters the statue, turning it into a mountain. Now, this dream is the first of many symbolic visions in the book, and it introduces a basic storyline. Daniel says that the statue represents a train of human kingdoms following after Babylon that will fill God’s world with violence. One day, however, God’s Kingdom will come and humble the arrogant nations of the world, filling the earth with the healing and justice of God. At the end, this Kingdom will be the only one left standing. God’s Kingdom will last.

Verse 44 opens by referring to “…the days of these kings…” and this does not mean the time of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, or Roman kings/emperors, but rather the days of Christ’s life. He was born during the time of Augustus Caesar and was crucified during the reign of Tiberius. Word of His life and teachings would continue to be spread throughout the ages. This is what Daniel spoke of, not any literal kings, but things that control our ideals and shape our values. At the end, Christ will overcome this harmful culture that operates contrary to His values and will put it into His followers’ hearts to hate and burn all antichristian thoughts. They will be destroyed at last, but God will set up a Kingdom which will never be destroyed.

This Kingdom of the Messiah will have only one perfect King, and He will break apart and humiliate all secular kingdoms. They will subsist no longer, and Christ's will be no more eclipsed, subverted, and overthrown by the powers of earth and hell. Christ as King protects and defends his subjects from their enemies, and they will be brought low. Christ's Kingdom will then be more extensive, more peaceful, and more prosperous than any. All enemies will be put under the feet of Christ, and His church; the beast and false prophet will be no more, and Satan (along with all the wicked) will be ruined.

There will not be a speck of earth’s kingdoms remaining to be left to another, but they will be fully dismantled and subdued. All those kingdoms will be either broken into pieces and utterly destroyed or become subject to the Heavenly Kingdom. This far better Kingdom will stand throughout time in this world, and to all eternity in the next; it will be an everlasting Kingdom. Irenaeus, an ancient Christian writer, says:

“the great God hath signified by Daniel things to come, and he hath confirmed them by the Son; and Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and bring in an everlasting one, which is the resurrection of the just; for he saith, the God of heaven shall raise up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed.”