Daniel 2.35b-The Rock Became A Great Mountain And Filled The Whole Earth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 11, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:35b-The Rock Became A Great Mountain And Filled The Whole Earth
Lesson # 60
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:31.
This evening we will complete our study of Daniel 2:35 by noting that Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that the rock which struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth.
Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (NASB95)
“But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “but” which is followed by the feminine singular noun ʾě∙ḇěn (אֶבֶן) (eh´-ben), “a stone” which is followed by the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” and then we have the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb meḥā(ʾ) (מְחָא) (mekh-aw´), “struck” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun ṣelēm (צְלֵם) (tseh´-lem), “the statue” and then we have the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb hǎwā(h) (הֲוָה) (hav-aw´), “became” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the masculine singular noun ṭûr (טוּר) (toor), “a mountain” which is modified by the adjective rǎḇ (רַב) (rab), “great.”
The conjunction wa is introducing a statement which stands in contrast to the previous result clause in verse 35, which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that there was absolutely no trace of the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold of the statue as a result of the rock striking the statue on its iron and clay feet.
In Daniel 2:35, the conjunction wa is introducing a statement which records Daniel telling the king of Babylon that the rock which struck the feet of the statue became a great mountain and filled the earth.
Daniel’s interpretation in verses 44-45 and other passages of Scripture such as Revelation 19:11-21 and Zechariah 14:1-11 reveal that the rock represents Jesus Christ and the mountain refers to the kingdom of God and the mountain filling the earth refers to Christ’s millennial reign.
Therefore, the contrast is between the destinies of the kingdoms of mankind which are governed by the devil and sinful men and the kingdom of God which is governed by the Son of God.
The contrast is between the future of the kingdoms of men and the kingdom of God.
The contrast is between who will ultimately rule this earth and who will not.
The noun ʾě∙ḇěn means “a stone, rock” referring to a hewn rock piece from bedrock.
In Daniel 2:45, this stone is said to be cut from a mountain but not by human hands whereas Daniel 2:34 says that this stone is said to strike the statue on its feet and crushes them.
In Daniel 2:44-45, this stone is said to destroy the kingdoms represented by the body parts on the statue and will establish God’s kingdom on earth, which will never be destroyed.
Both, Daniel 2:34 and Daniel 2:45 say that this stone was cut out of a mountain but not by human hands signifying the divine character of this rock or stone.
The Lord Jesus Christ teaches in Matthew 24:29-31 and Luke 21:25-28 as well as the apostle John in Revelation 19:11-20:6 that the stone refers to Him.
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 establish His millennial reign.
In Daniel 2:35, the stone become 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.
The verb meḥā(ʾ) means “to strike” in the sense of hitting an object.
Here it is used of the rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream “striking” the iron and clay feet of the great statue, which represented the yet future Revived Form of the Roman Empire under Antichrist.
Here the verb represents Jesus Christ at His Second Advent striking Antichrist and his revived form of the Roman Empire with the result that it was destroyed along with all remembrance of the forms of government, which reigned during the times of the Gentiles, which were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
They were represented respectively by the head of gold of the statue, the silver chest and arms, the bronze belly and thighs and the lower legs of iron.
This verb indicates that Jesus Christ at His Second Advent will employ physical violence to overthrow antichrist and his empire, which is further supported by Revelation 19:11-20:6.
As was the case in Daniel 2:31-32 and 34, the noun ṣelēm here in verse 35 means “statue” and not “idol” and was in human form as indicated by Daniel’s description of it in verses 31-33.
In verse 31, he describes it as being immense in size and standing in front of him with an awesome appearance whereas in verse 32, the statue is described as having a head of gold, a breast and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze.
In verse 33, Daniel describes the statue as having legs of iron and its feet were composed partly of iron and clay.
Daniel 2:36-38 reveals that the head of gold represents Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.
The silver arms and chest of the statue represent Media-Persia since Daniel 2:39 says that an inferior kingdom would follow Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom and human history records Media-Persia immediately following Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon as a world empire.
The bronze belly and thighs of the statue represent Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire since Daniel 2:39 also says that the kingdom after Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, which was Media-Persia would be followed by another world empire and human history records Alexander’s Greek Empire following Media-Persia.
The lower legs of iron represent the Roman Empire since Daniel 2:40 tells the reader that the third kingdom would be followed by a fourth world empire, which history records as being the Roman Empire.
The feet and toes of the statue were composed of a mixture of iron and clay which is connected to the fourth kingdom since it is composed of one of the elements of the fourth kingdom, iron, which represents a yet future kingdom.
Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 as well as Daniel 9:26-27 reveal that this kingdom will exist during the seventieth week of Daniel and will be governed by Antichrist.
The verb hǎwā(h) means “to become” and denotes the change of state or condition of the rock which was cut out from a mountain but not by human hands.
The word denotes that this rock went from being simply cut out from a great mountain to becoming a great mountain itself.
In Scripture, a mountain is often a symbol for a kingdom and the mountain mentioned in Daniel 2:35 refers to Jesus Christ’s millennial reign on planet earth, which will perfectly manifest or embody on earth God’s kingdom, which is also in heaven.
This is indicated by Daniel’s interpretation in verses 44-45 as well as Daniel 7:13-14, 27 and 28, Revelation 19:11-20:6, Zechariah 14 and other passages of Scripture.
The noun ṭûr is modified by the adjective rǎḇ, which means “great” in the sense of being preeminent over others and having a larger impact than others.
Here it denotes Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom as being preeminent over other Gentile kingdoms, which reigned during the times of the Gentiles.
It also denotes that Christ’s kingdom will have a larger impact on human history than these Gentile empires since God Himself will be the governmental head of this millennial kingdom and will be a perfect ruler who will also lift the curse of sin and Satan from the earth by means of His omnipotence.
“And filled the whole earth” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “but” which is followed by the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb melā(ʾ) (מְלָא) (mel-aw´), “filled” and then we have the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “whole” which is modifying the feminine singular noun ʾǎrǎʿ (אֲרַע) (ar-ah´), “the earth.”
This time the conjunction wa is a marker of result meaning that the word is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous statement.
The verb melā(ʾ) means “to fill” in the sense of filling up a space in total and refers to the rock which became a great mountain “filling up” the entire earth.
Since the great mountain represents Christ’s millennial kingdom, the word indicates that this kingdom will be universal or rule planet earth with every nation at that time under its jurisdiction.
The noun ʾǎrǎʿ means “earth” referring to that which composes planet earth, namely, the dry land, the various bodies of water on the earth and the atmosphere.
The word is modified by the noun kōl, which denotes totality and means “the entire” earth will be under the jurisdiction of Christ’s millennial kingdom with no exceptions or distinctions.
Therefore, these two words teach that Jesus Christ’s reign on planet earth for a thousand years will be total and complete in the sense that every man and creature will be under His jurisdiction.
Daniel 2:35 brings to an end Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar the content of his recurring dream, which thus fulfilled the demand which the king made of his occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers.
This verse teaches that Jesus Christ will ultimately rule planet earth.
The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ Himself will reign bodily in Jerusalem for a thousand years as the King of the earth and Israel will be head of the nations.
Jesus Christ will establish His millennial reign at His Second Advent.
He will come from heaven with the elect angels and the church to deliver Israel from Satan and the non-elect angels and Antichrist, the false prophet and the Tribulational armies.
During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years.
Israel will be regathered and the four unconditional covenants that the Lord established with the nation will be literally fulfilled.
There will be perfect social, economic, environmental and political conditions during the millennial reign of Christ.
During this time, God will make a display of the absolute authority of divine government through the rule of the Messiah.
Men will be subjected to and tested by the authority of the King.
The millennial reign of Christ will literally fulfill the four unconditional covenants that God established with the nation of Israel: (1) Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; Ex. 6:2-8). (2) Palestinian (Gen. 13:15; Ex. 6:4, 8; Num. 34:1-12; Deut. 30:1-9; Jer. 32:36-44; Ezek. 36:21-38). (3) Davidic (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Ps. 89:20-37) (4) New (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:8-12; 10:15-17).
During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years since he will be thrown into prison at the Second Advent of Christ according to Revelation 20:1-3 before the millennial reign begins (Rev. 20:1-3).
The millennial kingdom will be a glorious kingdom (Is. 24:23; 4:2; 35:2).
The King will administer to every need and there will be complete comfort and rest in the millennium (Is. 12:1-2; 29:22-23; Jer. 31:23-25; Zeph. 3:18-20; Zech. 9:11-12; Rev. 21:4).
There will be the administration of perfect justice to every individual (Is. 9:7; 11:5; Jer. 23:5; 31:23; 31:29-30).
Jerusalem will become the center of the millennial earth (Isaiah 2:2-4; Jeremiah 31:6; Micah 4:1; Zechariah 2:10-11).
Because the world is under the dominion of Israel’s King, the center of Palestine becomes the center of the entire earth.
Jerusalem will be the center of the kingdom rule (Jeremiah 3:17; 30:16-17; 31:6, 23; Ezekiel 43:5-6; Joel 3:17; Micah 4:7; Zechariah 8:2-3)
Righteousness will be the descriptive term characterizing the rule of the Messiah as a whole.
Christ will be the King reigning in righteousness.
Isaiah 32:1 Behold, a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. (NASB95)
The fact that Christ will reign over the nations of the earth from the throne of His holiness will be according to the promise of the Davidic covenant.
Psalm 89:35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. (NASB95)
The millennial kingdom will also be characterized by truth.
Jesus Christ will judge the world with His truth (Ps. 96:10).
The millennial kingdom will be characterized by the full manifestation of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
The Spirit will indwell all believers during the millennial reign of Christ (Ezek. 36:22-28; 37:1-14).
National and individual peace is the fruit of the Messiah’s reign (Is. 2:4; 9:4-7; 11:6-9; 32:17-18; 33:5-6; 54:13; 55:12; 60:18; 65:25; 66:12; Ezek. 28:26; 34:25; Hos. 2:18; Mic. 4:2-3; Zech. 9:10).
Joy will also be a distinctive mark of the millennial age (Is. 9:3-4; 12:3-6; Jer. 30:18-19; 31:13-14; Zeph. 3:14-17; Zech. 8:18-19; 10:6-7).
There will be a full knowledge of the Lord during the millennium because of the indwelling presence of the Spirit in the subjects of the Lord (Is. 11:1-2; 41:19-20; Hab. 2:14).
This knowledge will be the result of the instruction that issues from the Lord Jesus (Is. 2:2-3; 12:3-6; Jer. 3:14-15; Mic. 4:2).
The Scriptures make clear that the world government during the millennium will be under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 2:2-4; 9:3-7; 11:1-10; 16:5; Dan. 2:44; 7:15-28; Obad. 17-21; Mic. 4:1-8; 5:2-5; Zeph. 3:9-10; Zech. 9:10-15; 14:16-17).
The millennial reign will be marked by the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 12:1-6; 25:1-26:19; 56:7; 61:10-11; 66:23; Jer. 33:11, 18, 21-22; Ezek. 20:40-41; 40:1-46:24; Zech. 6:12-15; 8:20-23; 14:16-21).