Daniel and the Dream of Nebuchadnezzar

Study of Daniel Chapter 2:24-49

In Daniel chapter 2, God is revealing His plan for the "Latter Days," which we are now living in. He revealed to Nebuchadnezzar "what should come to pass hereafter" which is a period called the "Time of the Gentiles."

The Time of the Gentiles is the period beginning with the captivity of the Jews in 606 B.C. and will extend until Christ returns again to place everything under His sovereignty and end the empires of man. 

Hebrews 10:12-13  But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.  He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool  HSCB

The Time of the Gentiles

The Time of the Gentiles focuses on those empires that have control over Jerusalem in some way. You sometimes hear the phrase "Fullness of the Gentiles" used synonymously with "Times of the Gentiles".  But they are slightly different time periods.

• The Fullness of the Gentiles is a "smaller" period beginning in Acts 2 and extending until the Rapture of the Church. 
• The Fullness of the Gentiles refers the mystery of the Church. 

Romans 11:25-29  So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: A partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.   And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.  And this will be My covenant with them when I take away their sins."  (Isaiah 59:20-21)

Regarding the gospel, they (unbelieving Jews) are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.  HSCB

Acts 15:13-17  After they stopped speaking, James responded: “Brothers, listen to me!  Simon Peter has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name. And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

"After these things I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent.  I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, so the rest of humanity may seek the Lord—even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, declares the Lord who does these things,  known from long ago."   (Amos 9:11-13)   HSCB

The latter days consist of the time of occupation of the Jewish homeland by Gentiles. Within that time period a mystery, not revealed entirely to Daniel but hinted at in Daniel Chapter 9, the church is born by the first coming of the Messiah. The Jews rejected their Messiah, and thus, a hardness of their hearts remains until the Church is removed, and God then deals again with Israel and the nations of the world through Israel at Christ's second coming.

God is a Revealer of Secrets

We pick up the story where Daniel and his friends fasted and prayed and received from God the contents of the dream and its interpretation in Daniel chapter 2.  Remember, Daniel is facing an angry and threatened monarch who has already threatened their deaths.  God is faithful to reveal secrets to His chosen to fulfill His will.

Daniel 2:31-35 “My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.  The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay.  As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.  NKJV

The Dream's Meaning

Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan, so the dream was in symbolic terms he would understand and appreciate as an idol worshipper.  The dream reveals that the image is NOT to be worshipped, because it will be destroyed!

However, in Daniel chapter 3 this is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did - he set up an image to be worshipped.  The darkened minds of men seek to worship the creation instead of the Creator: 

Romans 1:24-25  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. NKJV

• This image is of a man, because this represents the kingdoms of man -- they share the nature of man as well, as they glorify their own works and demand exaltation over other things.
• The metals increase in strength, aligning with the cruelty of the kingdoms in view.  (Again, other kingdoms of earth existed but are not in focus here).
• Only four kingdoms are in view.  Other kingdoms rose and fell in history, but these are in view concerning God's plan for the redemption of mankind.
• God decreed Babylon was the 'greatest' of the four kingdoms, and the succeeding kingdoms were inferior to the prior one.
• The metals decrease in value from gold to iron -- the head has more honor than the feet.  This means the existing form of government we have isn't the form God intended for Adam or what will be installed when Christ returns.  It will be an absolute monarchy.

The Stone Cut Without Hands

• A stone cut without hands is unusual, and implies a supernatural force is at work
• The stone struck the feet - indicating when the everlasting kingdom would begin - during the fourth empire but before the 10 toes.  It did not hit the head or body of the statue.
• The stone ground the statue to dust - indicating the eradication of earthly kingdoms forever!

Matthew 21:44  Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!  NKJV

• The stone would grow to encompass the entire earth as the four empires crumbled to dust and were remembered no more.   
• The mountain (Christ's government) would grow to replace all other sovereignties.
• The "Fifth" empire will be Jewish and will end Satan's rule on earth!

This explains why forces of darkness have such hatred for Jews.  Satan already knows his destiny, and how it will come about - through the bloodline of Jews.

Hosea 3:4-5 For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.  NKJV

Mountains symbolize government

Biblical symbology utilizes mountains for government.  This is typical of many old civilizations that picture the "gods" living on Mt. Olympus or in the clouds.  Recall the Law being given on Mt Sinai, or the transfiguration of Jesus on Mt. Hermon.

Isaiah 2:2 (exact same words repeated in Micah 4:1)  In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it.  NKJV

Idioms such as "stone", "mountain", "clay" or "iron" are expositionally static throughout the Bible.

The Principle of the Dream

Do not glory in nor put faith in man made institutions -- especially to the point we exalt them over God.

The world views youth as gold, growing less and less valuable to society as we grow older until we are aged and not worth clay.  Ironically as we grow old and eventually die, we turn back to dust.  Yet youth often lacks wisdom and experience.   Therefore, wisdom is not honored.

The four kingdoms of the dream are part of Satan's kingdom.  These governments demanded worship in place of the One True King.  What they exalted is what God despises.  Our current society worships money, power, fame and lust.  These are the sins of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.

So, like the dream suggests, the world degenerates from earlier ages, starting from creation when God declared it was "good" to a state of total depravity around the world today.

And this can even be said of the church, which in many places of the world has become complacent and would be unrecognizable to the early church martyrs.  Instead, much of the church has become corrupted by the dirt and mire of the world instead of transforming the world.  It is now brittle and without any strength, like the miry clay in the toes.

Daniel's Interpretation

First Daniel explains the dream...

Daniel 2:36-49 “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.  Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.  Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.   

“After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth.  A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others.  You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay,  and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle.  You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay. 

 “In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.  You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation certain.”   NKJV

You can imagine at this point Nebuchadnezzar is ready to hear the interpretation.

   "Now you have my attention."   

God sometimes needs to grab your attention so you will listen.

A breakdown of the dream's interpretation

The interpretation defines there are only four gentile kingdoms in view.  Daniel chapter 7 clarifies it is four, not five.  There are other known kingdoms like Egypt, Akadians, the Sythians, but these do not impact Jerusalem directly in the same way these four kingdoms will.

Each kingdom has less sovereignty at its head.  While Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute monarch.  In Daniel 5, we will see the establishment of  the "silver" kingdom, of the Medes and the Persians.  Cyrus and Darius could not be "above the law" and had to abide by their decrees (see Daniel chapter 6 concerning Darius and Daniel in the lion's den).   Hellenistic kings had no dynasty or divine right by the gods to rule.

The "iron" Kingdom of Rome started as a democracy of sorts, then turn into mob rule after several emperors.  It was united for a while (63 B.C. until 364 A.D.), then split into two halves by emperor Valentinian.  Then the kingdom was ruled by ten procurates (including Felix, Festus, and Pontius Pilate) that were technically sovereign to Rome.  

And Rome continues to exist to this day. The East remained until Constantinople was sacked in 1453 A.D., and the leadership fled to Russia and became the Tsars!  Czar is Russian for Caesar.  The power in the west shifted from Rome to France (Charlemagne in 800 A.D. called his empire "the Holy Roman Empire").  Then power shifted to Germany in 962 A.D. with the advent of the Kaisers.  European royal families and popes ran Europe until the current century.

Theories about the ten toes 

Clay is an idiom for the people.  Iron and clay won't mix as the various cultures and groups would not adhere to one another - and they never will as they will be destroyed by the Kingdom of Christ.  

There are many allusions to the 10 toes that correspond to the Kingdom Parables of Jesus.  We see that it starts small like a mustard tree and expands throughout the earth (like leaven in the dough, it permeates it and transforms it permanently).

The key to remember is the fourth kingdom exists in some form until the return of Christ.

The Stone vs Kingdoms of this World   

The builders of man's empires rejected this Stone, yet it was raised and supported by no human - but was by divine initiative.  Now it has become the head of the corner - it is a kingdom not originating from this world.

   

The world's kingdoms (I think without exception throughout history) have been at war with Christ's kingdom.  Yet Christ will overcome, starting small like a mustard seed and growing to encompass the entire world.  

Will everyone submit to the sovereign rule of Christ?   No, but a time will come when He will abolish sin and thereby remove all who do not bow to Him.  The gates of hell, referred to in Peter's confession in Matthew 16, will not prevail against the Kingdom of God.  Gates are defensive therefore it is the Kingdom of Heaven that is advancing throughout the world against the kingdom of hell, and we are crashing its gates and storming its strongholds!

• God's kingdom will consume all other kingdoms
• God's kingdom will never be destroyed, or inherited by another
• Jesus will rule with an iron scepter   (Revelation 12:5)
• God's perfect kingdom is not a democracy or representative republic.  It is a monarchy.  

The world is already judged, and this stone both will and already has broken the kingdoms of this world.  The empires are decaying in their corruption and yet still have power.

Nebuchadnezzar's Response

Daniel 2:46-49 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell down, paid homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him.  The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”  

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.  At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.  NKJV

A principle for us to see in this story: everything on this planet will be brought under the authority of Jesus Christ someday and He will reign forever.  Believers should begin submitting to that authority today.

The interpretation and description of the dream were so complete and accurate Nebuchadnezzar had no questions or objections.  He simply fell to the ground in worship.  God had left no doubt in the mind of this arrogant king that Yahweh is the one true God.

Application for Christians today

We see Daniel and his friends and wonder how they can be so brave and faithful.  They literally were told they would be executed if no one could interpret the dream, and they immediately set about praying to God for answers.  They didn't know the end of the story - Daniel could not know how things would work out, but faced an angry ruler with peace and spoke the truth.  How is it that Christians, who have the interpretation of the dream today, cannot be as brave as they?

All power originates from God (Jeremiah 25:9-11, 27:5-7)  For us, the church is a monarchy which is ruled by the word and the Spirit - it is a kingdom not of this world but in it.  It is called the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.  God does not admire what men admire.  He offers a perfect and everlasting kingdom if only we will choose it.  The pomp and ceremony of this world's empires, the parades of military might and the wealth of the nations will all be crushed by the stone not cut with hands, ground into powder and blown away like chaff in the wind, never to be remembered again.

What God reveals is certain and true and cannot be altered.  Amen and Amen.

_____________________

Scripture citations are from:  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson