Morning – September 25th, 2017 – Daniel 2: The Interpretation of the Great Image of Daniel 2

Morning – Daniel 2
Today: [Daniel 02] The Interpretation of the Great Image of Daniel 2. In this chapter, the king has a terrible dream that his counselors cannot interpret. On pain of death Daniel prevails before God and brings the king’s dream to him as that of an image made of various materials, depicting for the king and for us the tableau of human government from Daniel’s day to eternity when the mountain of the Lord’s house concludes the time of man with the physical, literal rule of Jesus the Messiah from the city of Jerusalem.
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[Dan 2:1-49] 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
In the previous chapter, we were introduced to Daniel and his three companions who were distinguished among the captives at the palace in Babylon and consequently elevated to the upper echelons of the elite core of counselors who stood before king Nebuchadnezzar. This is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule and Daniel will stand before this Chaldean ruler until his downfall and will continue through the first year of the rule of Cyrus who would grant permission for the people of God to return to their ancestral lands to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem as a province of the Persian empire.
As chapter 2 opens we see that the king dreams troubling dreams, suffering insomnia as a result. In the middle of the night the troubled sovereign calls for his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to stand before him and to shew him his dreams. The astrologers and soothsayers arrive but to their great consternation the king demands them to tell him what the dream and the interpretation was even though he himself cannot remember the dream. The Chaldean counselors cajole the king to come up with the dream and they assure him that they will indeed show him an interpretation that will be to his satisfaction. The king loses his temper and threatens to have his counselors executed by the cruellest means and their houses to be made into public toilets. Yet he goes a step further that if any of his counselors CAN tell the dream AND the interpretation that they would receive gifts, rewards and great honor for answering the concern of his heart.
The counselors uncharacteristically resist the king’s demands, saying to him that if he shows the dream that they would show him the interpretation thereof. The king’s anger grows and he accuses them of merely trying to stall their own executions so they can come up with lying and corrupt words to placate him in his fear caused by this unusual dream that he has had in the night. The king’s counselors throw their hands up in helplessness, declaring that no man alive could do what the king might ask, because they content mere mortals do not have access to information that only belongs to the gods.
To be corrected by his counselors for their own attempt to save their skin is too much for the king and he calls his captains to execute all the counselors, soothsayers, Chaldeans and sorcerers that are in his employ. The rounding up begins and in due course the captain of the king’s guard makes his way to Daniel and his companions to place him in hold until their executions could take place along with the remainder of the king’s counselors. When Daniel opens the door to Arioch of the king’s guard, he asks and is allowed to stand before the king. Apparently then, Daniel was not in the first group of counselors who were brought before the king in the middle of the night to interpret his dream. The king’s matter is made known unto Daniel and he asks for time to shew the king the dream and the interpretation of the dream.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. 24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
Daniel petitions the king for permission to seek the Lord for answers to the enigma of this dream that has gone from the king’s memory. He is allowed to do so and he returns to his three friends and asks them to agree with him in prayer (v. 18) for the answer the king demands so that they might not die with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Here we see a very important point we must learn when we are under pressure and facing time sensitive matters of great importance. First of all, we should seek for time or a delay before responding. Daniel did not react. He used his humility and his wisdom to buy time so that he could connect with people who were on his team who would stand in unequivocal agreement not for the hand of man to move but the hand of God. When you are up against the wall – refuse to react. Have the wisdom of Daniel. Find a way to delay not to deny the problem but to gather your resources and get some like-minded people to come into agreement with you for answers from God.
After this successful spiritual warfare strategy Daniel receives the answer from heaven and returns to the king to reveal not only the dream but the interpretation thereof. Daniel’s praise to God as a result of this revealing speaks deeply to us of the sovereignty of God in the affairs of men. God gives wisdom and God is in control of the times and the seasons. Great men and men of renown may think of themselves as men of their times but the times are not in their hands. Important men with great influence may think that only they can answer the great challenges of our day but remember this as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that only God changes the times and the seasons. God sets up king and he removes kings and this includes elected leaders. Man pulls the voting lever but God decides the outcome. To resist or rail against the outcome of an election is to reject the testimony of Daniel in the infallible word of God that if a leader is set up over us, for whatever reason – ultimately God is in control.
Daniel, having received his answer goes to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard and requests an audience with the king. He is very bold with the king, not seeking only to saving his own skin but demanding that the king agree to spare all the wise men of Babylon that he has sworn to execute because they could not do what Daniel will now demonstrate. What is the lesson for us? Faith works by love. Daniel wasn’t only thinking of himself. As a result, history tells us that Daniel established a guild of wise men from whom 600 years later 3 wise men came from Persia to seek Him who was called king of the Jews. The answers and agrees to Daniel’s terms. In his preamble Daniel reminds the king that the answer which none of the other wise men could provide was not coming from Daniel himself but from God only. Therefore, we see another important principle in such matters when we face them – HUMILITY. So what we have learned when we are under great pressure, facing time sensitive matters we must exercise 6 wisdoms:
1. Bide our time and seek a delay.
2. Seek the agreement of those who are like-minded toward us in the matter in prayer.
3. Then go before God and not man seeking answers to what is facing us.
4. When the answer comes – we must not give in to those demanding of us on their terms. We must deal with them on God’s terms and not their own impatience.
5. We must lead with the unconditional love of God even for those who might not be on our side in the matter.
6. Finally, in moving forward as victory is assured, we must move in humility.
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31 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. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 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. 35 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. 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. 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
The dream of the king is a panoramic apocalypse of the dispensation of man from the time of the patriarchs to the commencement of eternity future. Whatever you may believe or learn about the end times and eschatological truth – all must fall in harmony with their over-arching all-encompassing vision in the king’s dream that Daniel now interprets. V. 31 tells us that Daniel discerned that the dream of the king discerned by word of knowledge by Daniel was that of a great image. The head of the image is of fine gold. The shoulders and chest are of silver. The belly is of brass and the legs are of iron. Finally, the feet are of iron mingled with clay. As the king looks on, he sees a stone cut out of a distant mountain (even the mountain of the Lord’s house described at the close of Ezekiel’s vision) that strikes the image and it tumbles into ruin. After this ruin the mountain out of which the stone derived grows and grows and fills all the earth.
You will notice there is no contradiction from the king. He didn’t remember his dream but the words of Daniel so resonate with him that he has no doubt that Daniel account of what the dream was is accepted by the king as what actually came to him in the night. Daniel goes on to explain that the image and its varied construction speak of the kingdoms of the earth unfolded through time to the end of time.
1. The head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon.
2. The shoulders and breast of silver we no know was the kingdom of the Meads and the Persians.
3. The Belly of Brass is the empire of Alexander the Great.
4. The Legs of Iron are representative of the might of Rome and her 1000-year empire.
5. The feet of mixed iron and clay represent the varied and unstable governments from the time of the fall of the Roman empire in 384 down to the present time. The clay and iron speak of the mixed rulership make up of governments founded on representative governmental principles and those governments such a rule by totalitarian, iron rule.
6. The final kingdom of the rock cut out of the mountain and the mountain that fills all the earth is the 1000-year literal, physical reign of Christ over all the earth with His capital in Jerusalem itself.
There are many things we can deduce from this vision, but the most important for us to mention is that we do not see in this vision any other world government after the time of the empire of Rome. Many end time teachers claim that there will be an anti-Christ world-wide government over the entire earth. That is a supposition in contradiction to the vision of the king’s dream that Daniel interprets. Whatever others teach or whatever others may believe this first and most sweeping vision of the scope of the dispensation of man stands in divine inspired rejection of the idea that the anti-Christ predicted to come will ever succeed in actually governing the entire earth – which gives us a very different end time scenario than is commonly taught.