The prediction of God’s kingdom is most clearly described in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.  This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth (Dan. 2:31-35).

The great image was totally destroyed by the stone that was cut out without hands.  The entire image was carried away by the wind and the stone grew into a great mountain and filled the entire earth. Daniel gave the interpretation.  The image represented four kingdoms “which shall bear rule over all the earth.”  The stone cut out without hands is God’s kingdom.  God’s kingdom destroyed the four kingdoms that bore rule over all the earth and became a mountain which filled the whole earth.  Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, the first of those four kingdoms which ruled the world.  Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world in (606 BC).

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.  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 (Dan. 2:39-40).

We know the second and third kingdoms which ruled the world were the Medo-Persia empire (536 BC) and the Grecian empire which began in 329 BC under Alexander the Great (Dan. 8:20,21).   The fourth kingdom was Rome which ruled the world from 55 BC to 475 AD.  God promised that during the reign of this fourth kingdom (Rome) that he would set up his eternal kingdom that would never be destroyed.

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.  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 (Dan. 2:44-45).

The stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, was God’s kingdom.  His kingdom would break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms – Chaldea, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.  This is the reason that the Jews were anxious for the kingdom to come.  Rome began to rule the world 55 years before Jesus was born.  It was a very cruel oppressive ruling empire which the Jews bitterly hated.  When Jesus foretold that the kingdom was at hand, the Jews were ready to escape from Rome’s oppressive hand.  They were looking for the king (Messiah, Christ) of the kingdom.