"36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." (Daniel 2:36-45)

In order to understand what Jesus and John meant when they said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," we need to understand exactly what that kingdom is. To help with our understanding, we need to take a look back in the prophecy of Daniel to learn a few details about the establishment and character of this kingdom.

The prophecy is found in Nebechadnezzar's dream that Daniel recalled and interpreted for him. In his interpretation Daniel describes the establishment of several earthly kingdoms that match up with our fact about world history. Knowing the facts about these earthly kingdoms, we can draw conclusions about the kingdom of God and its establishment.

The first kingdom was a head of gold. Daniel tells us that was Nebechadnezzar himself and the Babylonian empire.

Another kingdom was to come up after Babylon that was large but not as strong. History and the life of Daniel tells us that this was the Persian Empire.

After the Persian Empire, the Greeks gained power. This explains why so much of the world spoke Greek and why portions of our New Testament are in the language.

After the Grecian Empire, there was to be a nation that is very powerful like iron. That nation we know to be the Roman Empire. But this nation had a weakness part of its toes were iron the other were clay. This weakness would be its downfall. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands destroyed this empire. That stone is none other than Jesus Christ!

Jesus established His kingdom during His earthly ministry. By "at hand," He meant that it is hear now. This confirms the prophecy in Daniel. The kingdom of Heaven (or God) took the place of the Roman Empire and brought about its defeat.

Daniel also tells us that this kingdom will consume all other nations and it will last forever. The reign of Christ is right now not after a time of tribulation. Jesus Christ is on His throne at this very moment and we can see Him there in the visible manifestation of that kingdom which is His church.