When Daniel appeared before the king he began thus: “The secret which the king wants to know, no wise men can tell. But there is a God in heaven, the revealer of secrets, and He has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will come to pass in the remote future” (ii. 27, 28). The dream was this: He saw a big statue, its head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs and feet of iron and clay. A large stone fell upon the legs of the statue, broke them, and the whole statue fell together and was crushed into pieces; then the stone grew larger, and filled the whole earth. The following was the interpretation of the vision: The statue represented a series of earthly kingdoms; the gold was Nebuchadnezzar, the silver referred to his successors, the brass to the Persian government, the iron to the Greek, and the mixture of iron and clay to the kingdoms that would then follow, all of which would ultimately be overthrown, and the Divine kingdom would then be recognised by all. Daniel was greatly rewarded; he and his friends received high positions in the government of the empire. (2.) Nebuchadnezzar erected a large statue, and commanded that at certain times all should worship it; disobedience was to be punished with death. Daniel’s friends did not bow before it, and were accused before the king. They said to the king, “There is a God whom we worship; He can save us from the burning furnace and from thy hand, O king. And if He does not save us, let it be known to thee, O king, that we shall not worship thy god, and not bow down before the golden image which thou hast set up” (iii. 17, 18).