1. David 2: 1-5
1
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was
troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians,
enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers* to tell him what he had dreamed. When
they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I have had a
dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.*" 4 Then the astrologers answered the king*,
"May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will
interpret it. “5 The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have
firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I
will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6
But if you tell me the dream and explain
it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the
dream and interpret it for me."
Magicians used sleight of hand to
satisfy and amuse the king by performing tricks and telling him what he wanted
to hear. The Enchanters would cast spells to appease the kings' troubled mind.
“The Hebrew word for sorcerers comes from Aramaic word Akkadian a word that can
also means witchcraft.” (HCSB) Astrologers were to see the future through the
stars and alignment of the constellations.
Why has the language changed after verses 4 to Aramaic? The
Chaldean account of the book of Daniel begins here with chapter four and ends
with Chapter seven.
The phrase “firmly decided” was translated from the Aramaic
word 'azad’ meaning gone. “Some versions
translate the phrase ‘my word is final’ as '‘the dream is forgotten." However, I believe the phrase is merely
telling us of the resolute attitude of the king.
Withholding the dream was the
kings' way of assuring that what the wise men told him was trustworthy. The king was looking for a supernatural
revelation. The entourage of magicians,
conjurers', enchanters were summoned and given a chance to meet the Kings'
challenge. On the surface, it might appear as though the king may have
forgotten his dream. However, it is more
likely the king wanted to have the assurance that his wise men were telling him
the truth. For no mere mortal could know
the Kings' dream and its meaning.
Therefore, if anyone could reveal the dream to him, he would be assured
their revelations source was supernatural and trustworthy. Today it seems as though the general public
still seeks revelations from magicians, conjurers', enchanters’ and
clairvoyants rather than Gods Holy Word.
(Dan 2:7 NIV)
7 Once more they
replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret
it."
It is obvious these wise men did
not have the power to tell the King of his dream. Their attempt to get the king to change his
mind and tell them his dream met with failure.
God was going to use the king's dream and its meaning to glorify Himself
through his servant Daniel.
(Dan 2:8 NIV)
8 Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to
gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided:
The phrase “firmly decided” means
the king has spoken is bound by law; he would not change his mind.
The king decreed that his dream and its interpretation would
be given to him; failure to do so would mean death. (Dan 2:6, 9 ESV) Once the king has given a decree or edict it
is law and according to the law of the Medes and Persians; no order or edict
issued by the king can be changed, not even by the king, not even by another
decree (Ester 4:11)
We will see this law becoming a problem to the king as we
continue our study of Daniel.
(Dan 2:9 NIV)
9
If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have
conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will
change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it
for me."
The dream was very disturbing, and
it was imperative that the king could trust its interpretation. Death may seem very drastic. We should realize the king in the past had
relied on wise men to guide his decisions.
Therefore, trust was key to their usefulness to the king. Because of the
importance of the king's dream, he demanded a higher standard for his dreams
interpretation.
The king knew these wise men were
capable of deceit. Only if they could
tell him his dream and its interpretation would the king be satisfied that it
was trustworthy and accurate.
(Dan 2:10 NIV)
10 The astrologers
answered the king, "There is no one on earth who can do what the king
asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any
magician or enchanter or astrologer.
The king was asking the impossible
of any mortal man. The wise men pleaded
with the
King not to ask such
a thing of them, saying there was no precedence for such an order.
We will soon see God work through his servant Daniel to make
the king realize that the God of heaven (Jehovah) was above all gods.
(Dan 2:11-13 NIV)
11
what the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except
the gods, and they do not live among humans. “12 This made the king so angry
and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise
men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them
to death.
The king became enraged at their
rebuff of his challenge. The king in his anger ordered all the wise men’s death
by decree (making it an immutable law).
Daniel and his friends were to be put to death along with
the wise men. Daniel and his friends did
not know of the king's challenge or his decree. They were not part of the
entourage summoned by the king.
Daniel and his friends had been faithful to God and believed
that God would spare their lives.
(Dan 2:14-15 NIV)
14 When Arioch, the
commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of
Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king's officer, "Why did
the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.
It is obvious, at this point to
realize that neither Daniel nor his friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah)
knew of the king's challenge or his edict.
God softens the heart of the commander causing him to listen
and to take the time to answer Daniel’s question.
(Dan 2:17 NIV)
1
7
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He
urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery,
so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men
of Babylon.
Matthew Henry writes: “Praying friends are valuable friends; and it well becomes the greatest
and best men to desire the prayers of others.” (Matthew Henry)
We meet in corporate
prayer each Tuesday night to exercise intercessory prayer for our friends.
(Dan 2:19 NIV)
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9
During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel
praised the God of heaven 20 and said: "Praise be to the name of God for
ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he
knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23 I thank and praise you, God of my
ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what
we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king. “
The word vision translation from
the Aramaic word khay'-zev; (Aramaic) H2370; means a sight:—look, vision. The word dreams, on the other hand, refers to
things of less significance. (H2472) Daniel gives much praise and honor to God,
thanking Him for the dream revelation.
(Dan 2:24 NIV)
24 Then Daniel went to
Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and
said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king,
and I will interpret his dream for him."
We know the King had ordered the
wise men put to death. We also know that
Arioch did not seem to be in a hurry to put Daniel and his friends to death. Daniel and his friends were not part of the
group that had angered the king, provoking his wrathful edict. Arioch found David to kill David and his
friends along with the other wise men of Babylon. Daniel stayed the hand of Arioch by asking to
speak with the king. Arioch knew the king revered Daniel more than
the wise men and consequently agreed to let Daniel see the king.
I believe the king's edict was
intended for just those wise men the king had challenged. Daniel could, therefore, plead his case to
the king.
(Dan 2:25 NIV)
25 Arioch took Daniel
to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from
Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” 26 The king asked Daniel (also called
Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and
interpret it?"
Arioch did not slay the wise men of
Babylon and took Daniel to the king proclaiming that Daniel could meet the
king's demands concerning his dream. Arioch
brought glad tidings of Daniel to the king and in doing so; the king did not
ask if he had executed the wise men according to law. Instead, the king now desperate for answers
gives Daniel a chance to tell the dream and its meaning.
(Dan 2:27 NIV)
27
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain
to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who
reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to
come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were
lying in bed are these: 29 "As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind
turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is
going to happen.
Because Daniel was esteemed in the
king's eyes, when Daniel said the enchanters, magicians or diviners could not
do what his God could do, his words carried much weight with the king. (Dan 1:4
ESV)
Once again we see the wisdom of
Daniel as he addresses the king. Daniel
tells the king that the God of heaven spoke to him (the king). Telling the king
this would have given the king a connection God and a feeling of great
importance, because Daniel’s God revealed this dream to him.
(Dan 2:30 NIV)
30 As for me, this
mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone
else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you
may understand what went through your mind.
In the previous verse, Daniel
explains to the king that he made himself ready for the revelation by thinking
of the future before falling asleep.
Daniel told the king that he the king prepared himself for the dream;
this was accomplished by the king thinking of the future while lying in bed. We too as Christians, must make ourselves ready
for God’s revelations by praying to God before we sleep.
Daniel carefully explains why the
God of heaven chose Daniel to reveal the dreams meaning to the king. Notice how humble Daniel was by not
portraying himself as better as or smarter than anyone else, namely the
king. Daniel was chosen to help the king understand
the meaning of the dream. So the king
may know what the future holds for himself and his kingdom.
Daniel meets the kings first condition
(Dan 2:31-33 NIV)
31
"Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue--an
enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure
gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs
of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
The picture of Jesus
Dan 2:34 NIV
34 While you were
watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on
its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
(Dan 2:35 NIV)
35
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to
pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept
them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a
huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
(Dan 2:36 NIV)
36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the
king.
Notice the quote is using the word we. Daniel was referring to the God of heaven and
himself.
(Dan 2:37 NIV)
37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.
The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
The depiction of the head of gold, the most valuable metal
used in the statue, was used to denote Babylon (605-539 B.C.). Because of God granting Nebuchadnezzar
leadership ability; Babylon became the most powerful and most prosperous of all
nations. (Isaiah 14: 4, Jeremiah 51: 7, Revelation 18:16)
Daniel establishes the fact that all of the king's
accomplishments and all his power was given to him by the God of heaven. This statement might have bruised the kings
ego a little, but it also showed him that the God of heaven was in charge.
God gives, and he takes away. (Job 1:21 ESV) This statement
is as true today as it was during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
(Dan 2:38 NIV)
38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of
the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler
over them all. You are that head of gold.
This statement is reminiscent of the account of Adam in
Genesis. (Gen 1:26, Gen 2:19, Gen 2:20) God’s plan for humanity was for Adam to
have dominion over all his creation which ended when Adam sinned. Now Daniel tells the king that he was granted
all that God had intended for Adam.
Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon hence Daniel states that
he, the king, was the head of gold. Gold
although precious is not strong.
Succeeding rulers after Nebuchadnezzar would not be strong.
Has the United States been given another chance to become
prosperous like Babylon?
If this is so then we should take great care to give God the
recognition He deserves for placing the U.S. as a world power.
Daniel continues in the next verses to describe succeeding
world powers who were also thrown down.
(Dan 2:39 NIV)
39 "After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to
yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.
The second kingdom to rise to power, shown as the chest and
arms, would be Persia (539- B.C. 331 B.C.).
Persia is depicted as silver stronger than gold but still quite
weak. Silver is a precious metal but not
as valuable as gold. Indicating that
Persia would be a wealthy kingdom but not as wealthy as Babylon. We see the Persian kingdom in other scripture
Dan 5:28 and Dan 8:20.
“The first dynasty of the Persian Empire was created by
Achaemenids, established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of
Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires.[1] It covered much of the Ancient world
when it was conquered by Alexander the Great.”
(wickopedia.org)
The third kingdom, symbolized as the belly of brass is
Greece (331 B.C. -168 A.D.) (Dan 8:21, 10:20, 11:2-4) Brass although a harder
metal than silver is of less value. This
tells us although not as wealthy as the preceding kingdoms it would be of
greater strength. Persia was concord by
Alexander the Great of Greece in.
(Dan 2:40 NIV)
40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as
iron--for iron breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to
pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
The fourth kingdom Rome (468-176A.D.) symbolized as iron
legs. Iron, the hardest of all the
metals used in the King’s statue signifying Rome would be a solid kingdom, hard
and unrelenting.
Here are some interesting points to ponder about Rome and
it’s role in history:
• Rome
used Iron to forge weapons to defeat their adversaries.
• The
military of today takes its basic structure from the Romans.
• Rome
concord vast territories and ruled ruthlessly.
• Rome’s
rulers were intolerant of the Jews and their faith.
(Dan 2:41 NIV)
41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of
baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will
have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.
(Dan 2:42 NIV) 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly
clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
The feet of the statue were made of clay mixed with
iron. God was saying of this last
kingdom was the weakest of all the proceeding kingdoms. The two feet into ten toes foretold of a division
of the Roman empire. First into two
divisions Eastern and Western and the western divided again into ten separate
parts.
The famous quote “United we stand divided we fall” found in
the fables of Aesop serves well here.
(Dan 2:43 NIV)
43 And just as you saw
the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not
remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
The mixture of hardened clay mixed with iron was as brittle
as a china plate.
Because Rome had become divided, it became weak and
fragile. This situation was weakened
further by the intermarriage of Christian Romans with non-Christians.
The mixture of faith caused a fracturing of society, and
there was no longer unity.
So far we have discussed the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar, dealing with the rise and
fall of empires of Babylon's future. Now
Daniel tells the king of the destruction of this beautiful prophetic statue.
(Dan 2:44 NIV)
44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will
set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another
people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will
itself endure forever.
Does verse 44 tell us of the distant future of Babylon, or
of our distant future?
Verse 44 begins with “In the time of those kings.” This
tells me the period is sometime in the kingdoms as mentioned earlier, namely
the last kingdom, Rome. Jesus the Christ
was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar ruler of the Roman Empire.
Jesus sets in motion the plan for His kingdom (Christ's
earthly kingdom, the Christian church).
The destruction the Christian Church would never happen, nor will His
kingdom be governed by anyone else but Christ, for He is the head of the
church.
Jesus the Christ will destroy Satan's kingdom now on
earth. Many hold that Nero was an
antichrist (called by some the antichrist), because of his persecution of the
Christians. However, even though persecuted,
the kingdom established by Christ has endured even unto today.
The day will come when Jesus will bring His kingdom to earth
for a thousand years of peace.
(Dan 2:45 NIV)
45
This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by
human hands--a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and
the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place
in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."
(Dan 2:46 NIV)
46
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered
that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your
God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for
you were able to reveal this mystery."
Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges God as
supreme over all other gods. He did not
reject the gods of his ancestors and acknowledge the God of heaven as the only
god.
Scripture does not tell us whether Daniel accepted or
declined the Kings worship. I believe
based on Daniel’s past (Dan 6:7 and 10) that it would be highly unlike Daniel
to accept worship for himself but rather believed the king was worshiping
Daniel’s God through Daniel.
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and
lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of
Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49 Moreover, at Daniel's
request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over
the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
