“Filled the Whole Earth.”

 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:31-35 ESV)

We often speak of the messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament. We also know that Christ is found in every book of the Bible in some way or fashion. I have often taught that if you read the Bible looking for Christ, the Holy Spirit will open your mind to the often missed truths in the Scriptures.

In this passage, we find Daniel, who was called upon by King Nebuchadnezzar to interpret his dream. Daniel was held in high esteem for his ability to interpret dreams and visions through the power of God. Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed of a large statue, made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and mixed iron and clay. As Daniel interpreted the dream for the King, God revealed to the king, through Daniel, that multiple Kingdoms would follow Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.

As Daniel revealed the properties of each kingdom, Daniel ended with the feet of the statue represented by iron and clay, as it was a divided kingdom. Then Daniel described a large rock that was “cut out,” not by human hands. It is this rock that destroyed all the kingdoms and became a huge rock that filled the earth. This was the foretelling of the coming kingdom of God, which would destroy all kingdoms and reign eternally.

When we look at New Testament scripture, we see that Jesus is that rock. Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”(Matthew 21:42). Luke wrote, in 6:48, “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” Jesus is the foundation on which, in our salvation, we build our lives upon.

Paul wrote, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22) Jesus is the rock in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the rock of ages, who will, in the second coming, destroy all things, and in the process, create a new heaven and a new earth.

We should all understand that the Bible is one continuing story of one author, God. It is told by Him through many scribes, those who wrote the 66 books of the Bible under God’s divine inspiration. This story tells of the beginning of humanity, its fall in sin, and the foretelling of one who would rejoin God’s people to God through salvation in Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you asked Him to free you from your sin and make you righteous before God? Have you changed your mind, turning from your sin in repentance? Seek Christ now. He holds back your sin with one hand, beckoning you to come to Him with the other. At some point, He will drop both hands, and the offer will be withdrawn. Do not wait; no one but our Father God knows the time of the second coming.

Grace and Peace.