Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream (Ch. 2).

        The king’s dream is not referred to elsewhere in Scripture, nor is any attempt made in Daniel to link it with the visions. Its purpose is not to give Nebuchadnezzar a preview of human history — why should God give this to a heathen king ? — but to teach him that God is sovereign in the affairs of men, raising up whom He will, and that at the end of an unspecified time of God’s own choosing, He would set up His kingdom on earth (ver. 44f). It is not even stated that each kingdom must immediately follow its predecessor. We need hardly doubt that both comings of our Lord are in view here. It is just because the revelation in the dream is general rather than detailed that no attempts at finding deeper interpretations have ever really carried conviction, except to those who have made them.