Voices of the Prophets: Daniel Nebuchadnezzer's Dream

                        We need to move on to the prophet Daniel to examine several prophetic

portions revealed in the book that he was responsible for authoring. Before we actually begin moving through the texts of the book it will be helpful to understand some things about this man greatly used by God. Daniel was subjected to the Babylonian captivity at a very young age probably in his teen years. He spent virtually his entire life in Babylon spanning the seventy years of Judah’s captivity.  A little more than half of the Book of Daniel is prophecy. The remainder is history to provide context for his prophetic dreams and visions. So we will be looking at some of the historical aspects but featuring the amazing chronological revelations of prophecy. Before we begin I would like to recommend my book These Prophets and the Revelation which brings together the Books of Daniel and Revelation and places them in context of revealing current world developments both political and economic which are bringing us ever closer to the fulfillment of Daniel’s inspired revelations.

            Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had a dream. It was a dream that greatly troubled him although he was unable to remember much of its content and its meaning completely escaped him. He called for the magicians, sorcerers, and astrologers to provide him with the content of his dream and more importantly its interpretation. The wise men in Babylon included some of the Hebrews including Daniel. The Chaldeans failed the king’s request and were not able to provide him either the content or the interpretation. In anger the king decreed a sentence of death upon the wise men of Babylon. Daniel, who was in favor with the king heard of the matter and was called upon by the king and he assured him that God was able to provide him the content of the dream as well as its interpretation. He petitioned for mercy upon the members of the king’s counselors who had failed him and they were spared at Daniels’s behest.

            “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 dreams, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these.  As for thee O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what would come to pass hereafter: and he that  revealth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.” (Daniel 2: 28-29). What Daniel is about to reveal to the king is a summary of future world history from the standpoint of kingdoms and empires.

          “Thou, O king, sawest and beheld 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, and 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 break them into 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 threshing floor: 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. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof to the king.”(Daniel 2:31-36).

            “Thou, O king art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And whosesoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fouls of the heaven hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of Gold.”(Dan 2:37-38).

            “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, (This we discover through scripture to be the Medio-Persian Empire) and another third kingdom of brass, (The Kingdom of Alexander the Great), which shall bear rule over all of the earth.”(Daniel 2:39).

            And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:(The Roman Empire)for as   much   as iron breaketh in pieces and subdoeth all things and as iron breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.(Dan 2:40).

            “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be  of the strength of iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as for the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of miry clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave to one another, even as iron is not mixed with miry clay (Dan. 2:41-43).(We will cover this fourth and final kingdom in detail as we move through the book of Daniel).

            And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall not 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 forever.” (Dan 2:44).

            “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it break in pieces  the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, 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 cure.”(Dan 2:45). 

            What has been summarized for us is the projected history of the kingdoms of this world which will ultimately all experience judgment and destruction, and will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

David Lance Dean                          website,book availability and blogs:

                                                            authordavidlancedean.com

P.S. Because Daniel’s prophecies carry us to this present day we will post a series of seven blogs focusing on the end of the age.