Daniel 2
The statue of kingdoms
A visual flow from Babylon through Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, divided Rome, and the stone kingdom God establishes without human hands.
Daniel 2 Sequence
From Babylon to the stone kingdom
Gold
Babylon
605-539 B.C.
Daniel 2:37-38
Thou art this head of gold.
Explanation
Daniel does not leave the first symbol open to guesswork. He tells Nebuchadnezzar directly that the head of gold represents Babylon, with the king standing as the representative of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Gold fits Babylon's splendor. The city was known for royal magnificence, wealth, architecture, military strength, and religious pride. Yet Daniel is careful to say that Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, power, strength, and glory were given by the God of heaven. Babylon is glorious, but it is not ultimate.
The dates 605-539 B.C. mark Babylon's prophetic dominance from Nebuchadnezzar's first subduing of Jerusalem to the fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia. The head is first in the statue, but it is only the head. The dream humbles Babylon by showing that even the golden kingdom will pass.