The Second Advent of Jesus Christ in Daniel 2.34-35 (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Wednesday August 28, 2024

The Day of the Lord Series: The Second Advent of Jesus Christ in Daniel 2:34-35

Lesson # 37

As we noted in our introduction, there are some “day of the Lord” prophecies which will be fulfilled through the Second Advent of Jesus Christ (Zech. 14:3-8).

At His “Second Advent,” the Lord Jesus Christ will terminate the seventieth week and the Times of the Gentiles.

He will destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).

At that time, the Lord and His armies will orbit the earth before landing on the Mount of Olives, which was the site of His Ascension (Acts. 1:9-11).

There will be a great earthquake when our Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-8) and will be a unique day having neither day nor night (Zech. 14:7).

The Lord Jesus Christ describes the Tribulation period in detail and His Second Advent in Matthew 24:29-31 and Luke 21:25-28.

The “Second Advent” of Jesus Christ is taught in both the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 2:1-9; 24:7-10; 96:10-13; 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 23:1-8; Daniel 2:44-45; 7:18-27; Zechariah 12; 14:1-9; Matthew 19:28; 24:27-31; Mark 13:24-30; Luke 12:35-40; 17:24-37; 18:8; 21:25-28; Acts 1:10-11; 15:16-18; Romans 11:25-27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2:8; 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 14-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 2:25-28; 16:15; 19:11-21).

The Second Advent of Jesus Christ is prophesied about in Daniel chapter two and Daniel chapter seven.

Daniel 2:34 You were in a trance like state staring as a rock cut out but not by human hands struck the statue on its iron and clay feet so that it crushed them. 35 Then, when the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold, were crushed as one, they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors so that the wind blew them away. Consequently, absolutely no trace of them was found. However, the rock which struck this statue became a great mountain so that it filled the entire earth. (Pastor’s translation)

In Daniel 2:34, the rock or stone refers to Jesus Christ, the God-man and the destruction of the feet by this stone represents His Second Advent, which will bring an end to Daniel’s Seventieth Week, all Gentile rule over Jerusalem and the world and will establish His millennial reign.

In Daniel 2:35, the stone becomes a great mountain and fills the earth which refers to the millennial reign of Christ which constitutes God’s kingdom on earth.

The stone striking the feet of the statue establishes God’s kingdom on earth forever according to a comparison of Daniel 2:34-35 with Daniel 2:44-45 since the chronology found in these two pericopes teaches that the Second Advent establishes God’s kingdom on earth.

This corresponds to what is taught in Revelation 19:11-20:6 and Zechariah 14:1-11.

That the stone refers to Jesus Christ and the stone destroying the feet of the statue refers to His Second Advent and the stone becoming a great mountain filling the earth coincides with these two passages of Scripture.

Daniel 2:44-45 makes clear that by this stone destroying the feet of the statue which represents the yet future final stage of the Roman Empire, God will establish His kingdom on earth, which will never be destroyed.

Secondly, the chronology found in Revelation 19:11-20:6 teaches that at His Second Advent, Jesus Christ will destroy Antichrist and the false prophet, imprison Satan for a thousand years and establish His millennial reign.

Also, the chronology of Zechariah 14:1-11 teaches that Jesus Christ will establish His millennial reign by means of His Second Advent.

The first seven verses of Zechariah 14 prophesy of Christ’s Second Advent and verses 9-11, speak of His millennial reign.

Zechariah 14:12-15 parallels Revelation 19:11-21, which both speak of Christ’s Second Advent whereas Zechariah 14:16 speaks of the millennial reign of Christ, which parallels Revelation 20:1-6, which does the same.

Therefore, in Daniel 2:34 and 2:44-45, the stone refers to Jesus Christ and the destruction of the feet by this stone represents His Second Advent, which will bring an end to Daniel’s Seventieth as well as all Gentile rule over Jerusalem and the world and establish His millennial reign, which constitutes God’s kingdom on earth.

In Scripture, a rock often refers to Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; Matthew 21:33-45; 1 Peter 2:4-8) and the rock as a title for Israel’s God appears in Psalm 78:35, Genesis 49:24, Deuteronomy 32:15, 18, 30, 2 Samuel 23:3, Psalm 42:9, Isaiah 30:29 and Habakkuk 1:12.

Daniel 2:34 tells the reader that this rock was cut out but not by human hands and Daniel 2:45 says that it was cut from a mountain, which refers to God’s kingdom, thus, the rock originates from God’s kingdom and Jesus Christ of course belongs to God’s kingdom in heaven.

In Scripture, a mountain is often a symbol for a kingdom.

Since the ancient Orientals regarded kings and kingdoms synonymously, the rock or stone of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream must represent not only the future kingdom of God but also its King who will be the Messiah (Psalm 2:2, 6), the Son of God (Psalm 2:4-12), the Son of Man who comes with the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13-14).

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is that person (Matthew 16:16; 26:63-64).

Therefore, the rock or stone represented the future kingdom of God and Jesus Christ Himself, thus Jesus Christ’s millennial reign is an extension of God’s kingdom in heaven.

The rock being cut from the mountain but not by human hands refers to the Father’s decision in eternity past to rule planet earth through His Son Jesus Christ, which is indicated by the fact that the rock strikes the feet of the statue, which refer to the yet future final stage of the Roman Empire under Antichrist.

The rock destroys the statue with this action, which refers to the Second Advent of Christ which establishes His millennial reign and the mountain refers to the Father and His kingdom and the rock refers to Jesus Christ and His millennial kingdom.

Thus, for this rock to be cut from this mountain signifies the act of the Father choosing His Son to establish His kingdom on earth.

Thus, Daniel 2:34-35 is teaching that Jesus Christ and His millennial reign are an extension of God’s kingdom in heaven since Jesus Christ is the Son of God and His millennial reign constitutes the Father’s kingdom on earth and that the Son’s millennial kingdom originates from the Father and His kingdom in heaven.

The feet of the statue refer to the yet final stage of the Roman Empire which is indicated by the fact that the feet of the statue represent an empire, which has not yet appeared on the pages of history.

The Scriptures indicate that it will be an empire, which is connected to the Roman Empire but inferior in character of authority in rulership as well as power or strength.

In fact, the Scriptures teach that it will be the final form of the Roman Empire, which will be composed of a ten-nation confederacy which can be described as a United States of Europe and this is all indicated by several factors.

First of all, the feet of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw were composed of a mixture of iron and clay.

The iron in the feet indicates that the empire represented by the feet is related to the lower legs of the statue, which we noted were composed of iron, which represented the Roman Empire.

Also, Daniel does not say that the feet represent a fifth empire, which further indicates that the feet represent an empire which is connected to the Roman Empire.

The ten horns mentioned in Daniel 7:24 were ten kingdoms, out of which one horn will arise who will destroy three of the other kingdoms and lead the other seven and persecute believers in Jesus Christ.

Daniel 7:26 says that this one horn called the “little horn” will be destroyed by God.

Daniel 2:44-45 teaches that this ten nation confederation depicted as ten toes of the feet of the statue will be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ, which is depicted as a stone cut of the mountain without hands.

Daniel 9:26 indicates that this little horn will be a Roman dictator as indicated by the phrase “the people of the prince who is to come.”

“The people” were the Romans who destroyed the temple forty years after the death of Christ and “the prince” refers to the little horn, i.e., the Antichrist indicating that the Antichrist will be a Roman.

This verse teaches that he will come to power after 483 prophetic years, which ended with the death of Christ on the cross.

Daniel 9:27 says that he will make a seven-year treaty with the leaders of Israel, which will begin the final seven prophetic years called the seventieth week and during the middle of this seventieth week after three and a half years, he will break the treaty and stop the sacrifices in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and declare himself God.

Nothing in history corresponds to the events described during this seventieth week and thus, the Second Advent of Christ has yet to take place.

Therefore, a comparison of Daniel 2:44-45 with Daniel 7:24 and 26 as well as Daniel 9:26-27 and Revelation 13 indicates that in the future, the little horn, i.e., the Antichrist will be the head of a ten-nation confederacy since he will be a Roman ruling over other nations which are close in proximity to him.

Just as toes on a person’s feet are right beside each other so this ten-nation confederacy will be geographically beside each other.