Daniel 2

Today we continue on with series on Daniel.

If you remember in chapter one, Daniel and his friends were part of the elite in Israel who had been taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar over 1000 km away  as the crow flies to Babylon. They were only teenagers but were forced indoctrination into the Babylon culture and religion, even having their names changed to to honours the gods and idols of Babylon. Daniel had made a vow not to defile himself and they had stood firm in refusing food from the king, an incredibly courageous thing to do, especially as teenagers.

You might be interested to learn that the book of Daniel is the only book of the Bible written in 2 languages. Hebrew, his mother tongue and Aramaic the language of the Babylonians demonstrating that Daniel was bilingual. 

Ch1  is in Hebrew 

Ch2-7 Aramaic - language of gentiles - suggesting a message for us. 

Ch 8-12 in Hebrew suggesting a message for Israel.

Notice they are still teenagers when chapter 2 begins. 

Daniel 2:1-6

Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

Nebuchnezzar was an evil man, his go to method of dealing with problems was to cut people in pieces. He wasn’t joking. In Jeremiah you can read how he ordered King Zedekiah of Judah’s sons to be executed, then blinded Zedekiah so that the last thing he would see was the murder of his sons, before taking him in captivity along with the rest of the elite of Israel to Babylon.

A wicked, murderous man is not going to sleep well. Nebuchadnezzar made an  order for them to tell him the dream and the interpretation. Surely only a psychopath would make an unreasonable request like that. It is certainly revealing of a cruel heart. Even so, if the wise men had the dream, it would have been easy for the them to come up with an interpretation. Any old fortune teller or even a psychologist can do that. When Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t tell them the dream, the wise men of Babylon protested. 

Daniel 2:7-12

They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.” The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.” 

Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t bow to their request, he wanted the truth, he knew there was something ominously important about his dream.

The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

There is only so far human rationalism can take you. Psychologists can only do so much. They cannot help you with deep spiritual problems, especially ones that come from sin. We aren’t just flesh and blood, man is also spirit.

Here they say something very revealing - that the gods dwelling is not with flesh. Many people believe in a god out there somewhere but who’s not interested in humanity. There can be no personal relationship with him as far as they are concerned. Worldly wisdom can’t give you a relationship with God. Other religions put God out there somewhere but he is not their Father, their friend. Only in Christianity God experienced humanity. Only the Gospel gives hope. In fact Jesus is called Emmanuel, God with us. The message of the Gospel is God became flesh and dwelt amongst us. 

Daniel 2:13-18

So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel heard the knock on the door and went to answer it. There stood Arioch his executioner with his sword. Most people would react with terror, not Daniel. Whatever he said to Arioch, he got a stay of execution and permission to go and see the king. 

Daniel did not have the interpretation when he boldly went and asked Nebuchadnezzar for more time, he had courageous faith. He was taking a risk not to have his head chopped off there and then but a bigger risk that if he didn’t get the dream and the interpretation that Nebuchadnezzar would do something far worse to him. Remember Nebuchadnezzar is not a nice guy. There are situations in life which you cannot solve, where you are completely reliant on the Lord. Furthermore, the stakes are raised even higher if you’ve got it wrong. Are you facing a situation like that today? Only God can save you. Not your own wisdom, not friends not parents not the government not any doctor. And without a relationship with him, you have nothing. So what did Daniel do? Pray !!! Not as a last resort when all else had failed. Daniel’s relationship with God was from when he was very young. He had confidence that the Lord would answer his prayers.

Notice though that Daniel asked his friends to pray with him. Jesus said when 2 or 3 are gathered in his name, he is is there in the midst of them. That’s why we have Share, Care and Prayer every week at PCC. We have 25 here on a Sunday morning, it a very good time to pray together for the help in the spiritual battles we are in !

Daniel 2:19-24

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.” Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”

Daniel’s first response was to thank God for revealing the dream and to praise the Lord for who he is. Often we thank God for helping us but Daniel also gave the Lord the praise he deserves for all the things he does for us. That’s a good thing for us to do in Church and in private when we remember the things the Lord has done just in the last week.

Daniel 2:25-30

Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 

Once Arioch heard that Daniel had the dream and interpretation, he quickly took Daniel to the king. I’ve no doubt Nebuchadnezzar was losing patience with Arioch for not carrying out his orders on Daniel immediately and had threatened Arioch as well. Arioch wanted to tell Nebuchadnezzar the good news and save his own skin as well !

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

Daniel makes it clear to Nebuchadnezzar that it was not Daniel’s wisdom but God alone in Heaven who revealed the dream. He makes it clear there’s nothing special about himself that he could do it by his own ability, no reason to feel special. Do we ever take credit for something God has done? It’s tempting to do, isn’t it ?

Daniel 2:31-36

“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.

This was the dream that gave Nebuchadnezzar sleepless nights. He had a sense of foreboding. The statue was huge and intimidating. The value of the materials decreased from head of gold down to silver down to bronze, then iron then finally iron and clay. We know in the Olympics the value of the gold, silver and bronze medals. Conversely, the strength of the metals increases from head down to legs. Iron is stronger than bronze which is stronger than silver which is stronger than gold. Only the iron and clay mixed together are obviously weaker, so the foundation is weak. Nebuchadnezzar had a strong sense that something was dreadfully wrong despite all outward appearances of the strength of Babylon. Many people appear strong to the world but underneath they are not right with God and have that same sense of foreboding.

Daniel 2:37-42

You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 

Daniel starts by calling  Nebuchadnezzar the king of kings. But Daniel was not merely flattering the king. He tells him that God is the one who put Nebuchadnezzar in charge, it is God who reigns.

But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.

This was a dream about the future going on to the last days, so relevant for us today. It is said that the Chapter 2 dream is from man’s perspective on Earth and later on in Chapter 7 that the dream about the future is from God’s perspective in Heaven.

Daniel told the king that there would be another kingdom that would supersede his.

The vision that Daniel saw was 100% prophetically accurate, far clearer and superior to anything Nostradamus wrote who people rave about today.

There is no doubt of the identity of the 4 empires that have already passed. First the Babylonian empire, then the Mede-Persian empire, then Alexander the Great and the Grecian empire, then the Roman Empire. You must remember that the last 2 empires were far in the future when Daniel gave the interpretation. Even the silver chest and arms of the Mede-Persian empire were nearly 70 years in the future at this point in time.

Daniel 2:43-45

As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

Many people have speculated about what will be the final empire of iron and clay right at the end of history before Christ comes. Some are now saying that the iron represents machinery and the clay represents man and therefore the final empire will be made up of people who are part human, part machine. But the fact that Daniel’s interpretation specifically mentions mingling with the seed of men alludes to what we see today, medical science tampering with semen or human DNA, even mixing with animal DNA in the attempt to create a superior human race.  What isn’t hard to imagine now is that this will finally bring forth a Beast-like creature, part human, part animal something akin to the movie the Island of Doctor Moreau. Who would have thought of that years ago but now it is not difficult to believe. Daniel 7 tells us that 10 kings will arise out of a 4th beast, we will come to that later. But we can definitely say that the ten toes of iron and clay are these 10 kings and the Rock will come and smash them, bringing down the entire world system.

The final kingdom is the Kingdom of God which will reign forever. This kingdom has already started when Jesus came. 

Luke 16:16

“The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

But remember Jesus came as a servant and died as King of the Jews. Even though he is already the King of all those who believe the Gospel, He will be crowned Supreme King over all when he returns. King Charles waited 73 years to be crowned King but Jesus has been waiting 2000 years !

After that, Man will never reign again. No more House of Windsor, no more White House, no more Kremlin, no more Empires !

Daniel 2:46-49

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

When Nebuchadnezzar realises the truth of what Daniel told him and the extent of the revelation from God and the glory of the Kingdom of God, he starts worshipping, it’s not very clear but he appears to be worshipping Daniel rather than the Lord, though words of praise for the Lord come out his mouth. Some people are too much in awe of God’s servants and fail to recognise that it is the Lord they should be worshipping.

But to God be the Glory !