What do the Two Mountains Represent in Daniel 2:35 & 45?

Question

Daniel 2:33-35 (NASB)

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.

Daniel 2:44-45 (NASB)

44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.

The two mountains :

In verse 45 we read that a stone was cut of the mountain without the aid of hands, and in verse 35 that the stone that crushed the image, itself became a great mountain.

So, what do these "two mountains" represent?

Answer 1

Note: All my scriptural references are from the NKJV. The bold texts are the headings under which my path to an answer are carved.

a) The first Mountain in Daniel 2:44-45 represents God and his Kingdom

Deuteronomy 32:15 " But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God [who] made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Deuteronomy 32:18 Of the Rock [who] begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you.

Deuteronomy 32:19 " And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.

Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had surrendered them?

Deuteronomy 32:31 For their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies themselves being judges.

Mountains in scripture are symbolic of kingdoms. This is because the capital cities of almost all ancient kingdoms were founded on mountains. Daniel 9:16 clearly illustrates this fact: “Let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain.” Throughout the Bible there are tons of examples in which mountains mean cities (Psalms 2:6; 48:1; Isaiah 66:20; Jeremiah 51:25; and Joel 3:17) e.g

• Mount Seir was the site of Bozrah the capital of Edom.

• Mount Sion was the capital of Israel in Jerusalem.

Revelation 17:9 "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

b) How the symbol of mountains relate with Nebuchadnezzar's image

Mountains are composites of all that exists on earth. Iron, copper, gold, silver etc are dug out of mountains. Earth is a product of the decay of mountains. So the first mountain in this prophecy (Daniel 2:44-45) is the source or parent from which all the kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's image were born. This is the Rock of ages and its king is the Ancient of days.

c) The Stone cut out of the mountain is a symbol of Christ according to OT and NT prophecy

The stone cut out of the mountain is the stone that will be used to build the mountain of the Lord's house.

Isaiah 2:2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.

Ephesians 2:20-21 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

this stone:

Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Zechariah 4:7 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"

In Summary

So the first mountain is the kingdom of God. The stone cut out of that mountain is Christ's earthly kingdom which will grow into a mountain; a final and an eternal world empire

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Answer 2

The kingdom of heaven is the first mountain. Christ is the small stone removed from the kingdom of heaven without the work of human hands. He crushes the worldly kingdoms and establishes a new kingdom. The kingdom of God amongst humanity. This is the holy mountain, His Church. A living tabernacle for the living God, come down from heaven. He is the cornerstone.