Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Great Metallic Image (Daniel 2)
Class Notes
The King's Dream and the King's Vain Appeal to his Wise Men (Daniel 2:1-13)
Nebuchadnezzar has a troublesome dream to which he calls
all the wise men of Babylon that he may know its meaning (Daniel 2:1-3)
This event occurred in the second year of his reign (Daniel 2:1),
but prior to this event Daniel and his three friends were under the tutelage of the king's wise men for three years
(Daniel 1:5)
after which time they stood before the king to be examined by him (Daniel 1:18)
The answer to this seeming difficulty is that the time
of Daniel's captivity (Daniel 1:1)
was the year prior to Nebuchadnezzar's first year (Jeremiah 25:1) and is marked from the time of his co-rule with his father, but the
time of his dream is counted from the time of his sole reign as monarch (Daniel 2:1)
Nebuchadnezzar's troublesome dream (Daniel 2:1,3)
was in response to that which occupied his mind - the future of his kingdom (Daniel 2:29)
The wise men play up to the king ("O king, live forever")
and invite the king to make known his dream to them, so that they may interpret it for him (Daniel 2:4)
The language of the text from this verse on thru the end
of chapter 7 is Syriac (Western Aramaic), which comes from Aram (the ancient name of Syria)
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom marks thebeginning
of the "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24
cf. Jeremiah 25:8-9)
and so, fittingly it is to this king that God makes known to the world the course of the Gentile empires to rule
His people when they are "without a king" until they seek their King in "the latter days" (Hosea 3:4-5)
The king responds curtly that "the thing" ("the
command") is gone forth from him - if you don't make known to me both the dream and its interpretation, then
you and your property will be utterly destroyed (Daniel 2:5)
Perhaps the reason for the king's abrupt reply is that
ALL his wise men had already been shown to be ten times inferior to four of the king's captives (Daniel 1:19-20)
The king also assures them that if by some divine miracle
they are able to make known the king's dream and its interpretation then they will be greatly rewarded and honored
(Daniel 2:6)
The wise men politely reiterate their request and promise
(Daniel 2:7),
but the king refuses to acquiesce and accuses them of stalling for time by agreeing among themselves to "speak
lying and corruptwords" in hope of escaping the king's destructive decree (Daniel 2:8-9)
The wise men seeing that the king will not relent - drop
all pretense and confess their utter helplessness to satisfy what they consider to be an unreasonable request to
be put forth by any king (Daniel 2:10-11)
Man devoid of the Spirit of God CANNOT reveal to the king
what only God has prepared for His own and reveals to His own (I Corinthians 2:9-11 cf. Isaiah 64:4;
Amos 3:7)
The king becomes enraged over the last assertion of the
wise men that they cannot reveal to the king what only the gods can know "whose dwelling is not with flesh"
and orders the destructive decree to be carried out against ALL the wise men of Babylon, which included Daniel
and his three friends (Daniel 2:11-13)
Like Pharaoh's magicians of old - the wise men of Babylon were made to ackowledge, "this is thefinger
of God" (Exodus 8:19)
Destroying those who were the custodians of ALL the nation's
culture and learning (Daniel 1:4)
can only be done by one who ruled with absolute authority and so it was with Nebuchadnezzar, "whom he would
he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down" (Daniel 5:18-19)
The King's Dream and Daniel's Blessed Communion with his God (Daniel 2:14-30)
Daniel inquires with "counsel (prudence)" and
"wisdom (discretion)" concerning why the hastiness of the king's death decree (Daniel 2:14-15)
Daniel's communication with "Arioch" (Hebrew,
"fierce lion"), the captain of the king's "guard" ("executioners"), was in keeping
with the Lord's command in sending forth His apostles, "be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as
doves" (Matthew 10:16)
The name "Arioch" fittingly first occurs in
reference to the king of "Elissar", i.e. "Assyria" (Genesis 14:1) as one of the overlords of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:2-4)
who crushed their rebellion (Genesis 14:8-11)
God honors Daniel's discerning and respectful approach
to Arioch and inclines this "fierce lion" to "make the thing known to Daniel" (Daniel 2:15)
Daniel petitions the king (most probably thru Arioch)
to grant him time with the assurance that he would show the king the dream and its interpretation (Daniel 2:16)
Daniel doesn't request of Arioch an appearance before
the king until God makes known to him "theking's matter" (Daniel 2:23-24)
Daniel's boldness of faith, "he would show the king
the interpretation" (Daniel 2:16),
stands in sharp contrast to the wise men's fear of unbelief, "none can show it before the king, except the
gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh" (Daniel 2:11)
Daniel shares with his three friends the information he
received from Arioch concerning the king's death decree, so that in prayer together they would petition the merciful
"God of Heaven" to make known "this secret" and have their lives spared (Daniel 2:17-18)
Like Joseph of old their confidence was in God and NOT
in themselves (Genesis 41:15-16)
Likewise any spiritual understanding that we have is FROM
"the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory" (Ephesians 1:17-18)
It's God's desire that His saints (like Daniel and his
three friends) share their burdens together in prayer to Him (II Corinthians 1:11)
God grants the answer to Daniel in the peaceful sleep
of night (Daniel 2:19)
what the wise men vainly sought and labored for during the day (Daniel 2:10)
God delights to do for His own what they cannot do for
themselves, e.g. God made a covenant with Abram concerning his promised seed and promised land "in the same
day" (Genesis 15:18) that He caused "a deep sleep" to fall on him (Genesis 15:12)
Daniel responds to God's revelation of His secret (Daniel 2:19)
with a seven-fold praise of the DivineRevealer (Daniel 2:23):
"He changeth the times and the seasons" (Daniel 2:21)
for it is He Who made the "worlds", i.e. "ages" (Hebrews 1:2)
and they are, therefore, "in His own power" (Acts 1:7)
"He removeth kings and setteth up kings" (Daniel 2:21)
as both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar found out (Daniel 5:18-28)
"He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to
them that know understanding" (Daniel 2:21)
as can be seen in Daniel (Ezekiel 28:3 cf. Daniel 2:19)
and in the "wise" of his people at "the time of the end" (Daniel 12:9-10)
"The light dwelleth with Him" (Daniel 2:22)
for it will be His Word of Prophecy which will serve as a "light that shineth in a dark place" till the
return of Christ Who is called the "Day Dawn" and the "Bright and Morning Star" (II Peter 1:19 cf. Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:16)
Daniel intercedes for the sparing of the wise men of Babylon
(Daniel 2:24)
These wise men of Babylon were magicians, astrologers,
and sorcerers (Daniel 2:12
cf. Daniel 2:2)
No such intercession would have been made for an Israelite
under the Law (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)
However, God's dealing with the nations during the time
that Israel was under the Law was different from that of His people and so Daniel's intercession for these ignorant
Gentiles was in keeping with God's view of them (Acts 17:22-31)
Daniel commands Arioch to "bring me in before the
king" with the assurance that "I will show the king theinterpretation" (Daniel 2:24)
Daniel's confidence of faith before this Gentile
executioner was the same confidence which God enjoined upon His prophets to His rebellious people (Jeremiah 1:4-9; Ezekiel 2:1-6; Ezekiel 3:4-9)
The apostle Paul enjoyed this same confidence of faith
(II Corinthians 4:13) quoting the very Words of his Savior (Psalms 116:10)
Arioch responds to Daniel's assurance by hastening to
the king with these words "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king
the interpretation" (Daniel 2:25)
No doubt Arioch's "I" message to the king was
made in hope of a bountiful reward from the king
The king turns to Daniel and inquires of his ability to
make known his dream and its interpretation (Daniel 2:26)
This is a question asked by one who is yet to know that
TRUE wisdom, might, and riches ONLY come from knowing Him Who alone "exercises loving kindness (to the undeserving),
judgment (for the oppressed), righteousness (Messiah's reign) in the earth" (Jeremiah 9:23-24 cf. Jeremiah 23:5-6)
Daniel replies to the king that his wise men cannot reveal
that which ONLY the "God of Heaven" can and will reveal to the king - "what shall be in the latter
days" and, therefore, "what shall come to pass" (Daniel 2:27-29)
Daniel deflects away any would-be bestowed personal honor
by affirmingto the king that this secret wasnot revealed to him, because of him possessing
any more wisdom "than any living" (Daniel 2:30),
i.e. the king's wise men (Daniel 2:27)
Indeed, Daniel associates the act of revealing the king's
secret with his three friends and countrymen (Daniel 2:36
cf. Daniel 2:17-18)
The king's secret is NONE OTHER than the "mystery
of God", which "shall be finished" (Revelation 10:7) when "all these things shall be finished" (Daniel 12:7),
i.e. to "finish the transgression" of His people and to "bring in the everlasting righteousness"
of Messiah's kingdom (Daniel 9:24
cf. Daniel 2:44)
The King's Dream and its Interpetation and its Reward(Daniel 2:31-49)
The king's dream depicted a great and excellent (exceeding)
and terrible (formidable) image (Daniel 2:31)
of a man whose body parts were described by 4 different metals in 5 different parts (Daniel 2:32-33)
The biblical concept of an image concerns the issue of
authority which goes back to God's purpose for the creation of man - to have authority (dominion) over the "works
of His hands" (Psalms 8:4-6), i.e. the earth and all that is contained therein (Genesis 1:26-28 cf. Genesis 9:4-6)
The image is top-heavy with the metallic body parts described
in a downward direction - the body parts described proceed from the most prominent part (the head) to the least
visible (the feet) and their corresponding metals begin with the most precious (gold) and end with the most common
(iron)
The predicted course of the "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24)
follows the SAME DOWNWARD TREND as their PAST HISTORY when they likened the "glory of the uncorruptible God"
to an "image made like unto corruptible man" and then to "birds" which
they can hold and then to "four-footed beasts" which they can control and finally to "creeping things"
which they can step on (Romans 1:23)
The end result in both cases was and will be the same
- "believing (the) Lie" (II Thessalonians 2:11), i.e. "to worship and serve the creature more than the Creator"
(Romans 1:25),
which reaches its climax in the world's worship of the Beast (Revelation 13:2-4), i.e. " the Man of Sin" and "the Son of Perdition"
(II Thessalonians 2:3-4 cf. John 6:70;
John 17:12)
The "Stone cut without hands", i.e. the Lord's
"foundation Stone" (Isaiah 28:16) will smite theimage on its vulnerable part
(the feet consisting of part iron and clay) causing the whole image to be toppled (Daniel 2:34)
at the return of Israel's Messiah (Acts 13:33
cf. Psalms 2:7-9)
Then shall "Heaven's King" sweep away these
kingdoms like the wind sweeping away the summer chaff and His kingdom ("the great mountain") will "fill
the whole earth" (Daniel 2:35
cf. (Revelation 11:15-19)
Daniel having told the king his dream (Daniel 2:36 cf. Daniel 2:31-35)
now proceeds to give its interpretation for which he and his three friends beseeched the "God of Heaven"
and so acknowledges his prayer warriors by the "we" in the "telling" ofthe
interpretation (Daniel 2:36
cf. Daniel 2:17-18)
Nebuchadnezzar is personally and uniquely identified by
name as the "head of gold" (Daniel 2:37-38)
This is significant because God calls Nebuchadnezzar "My
servant" giving him the sovereigntyover the earth (Jeremiah 27:5-7) just as He gave it to Adam at his creation (Genesis 1:26-28)
This prophecy was given at the beginning of Jehoiakim's
reign over Judah (Jeremiah 27:1)
In the very year that king Jehoiakim "cuts out"
the words of the Lord with his pen knife and "burns" the roll in the fire - the Lord "cuts off"
Jehoiakim's seed from the "throne of David" and confirmed His Word via Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Jeremiah 36:9-11,22-24,27-31 cf.Jeremiah 25:1; Jeremiah 36:1-3; Daniel 2:1)
The "inferior" kingdom to arise after Babylon
and identified as the "breast and arms of silver" (Daniel 2:39
cf. Daniel 2:32)
is the kingdom of Media-Persia (Daniel 5:24-26,30-31; Daniel 6:1,28) and is also pictured as the "ram with two horns" (Daniel 8:20)
in Daniel's vision given to him during the reign of Babylon's last king (Daniel 8:1-2)
The "third kingdom of brass" (Daniel 2:39 cf. Daniel 2:32)
"which shall bear rule over all the earth" is the Grecian kingdom pictured as the "rough goat"
(Daniel 8:21),
which "came from the west on the face of the whole earth" (Daniel 8:5)
and "smote the ram" and "cast him to the ground" (Daniel 8:7)
The Grecian kingdom was divided among Alexander the Great's
four generals, i.e. "the four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven" (Daniel 8:8; Daniel 11:4)
from which two kingdoms prevail - the "king of the north" and the "king of the south" (Daniel 11:5-6)
The "toes" are an extension of the "feet"
(Daniel 2:41)
and are said to be "part iron andpart clay" (Daniel 2:42),
which correspond to the "ten horns" of Daniel's non-descript beast and also said to be "ten kings"
as part of the fourth kingdom concerning Daniel's inquiry (Daniel 7:19-20,23-24)
Daniel's non-descript beast is described in the Book of
Revelation (Revelation 13:1-2) as a combination of Daniel's first three beasts and more (Daniel 7:3-7)
The "toes" (kings) are a mixture (mingling)
of "part iron and part clay", which is interpreted as they would mix (mingle) with the "seed of
men", butNOT "cleave together" (Daniel 2:43)
The "cleaving together" is a reference to the
transgression of the marriage relationship (Genesis 2:24) by the "sons of God" (angels) in cohabiting with the "daughters
of men", which brought the Divine judgment of the Flood (Genesis 6:4
cf. II Peter 2:4-5; Jude 6)
The kingdom will be "partly strong (iron) and partly
broken (fragile or brittle clay)"(Daniel 2:42-43)
The "iron" refers to the angelic heavenly princes
who control the human earthly monarchs (Daniel 10:12-13,19-20)
ALL the angelic heavenly princes with the EXCEPTION of
two rebelled with Satan (Daniel 10:21)
Leviathan, the "piercing and crooked serpent"
who will be punishedin the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 27:1)
is an allusion to Satan being bound in the Bottomless Pit at the coming of the Lord (Revelation 20:1-2)
Leviathan (Job 41:1)
is said to "esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood" (Job 41:27)
and he is called a "king over ALL the children of pride" (Job 41:34)
God as the "Potter" refers to His people
as "molded clay" in His hands (Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:21,23), but the "burnt clay" in the image (Daniel 2:43)
is the unmolded breakable clay that is associated with the rebellious "vessels fitted for destruction"
(Romans 9:22)
The fourth kingdom will become one Gentile demonic superstructure
oppressing God's people (Daniel 7:25
cf. Revelation 13:5-7)
comprised of the Antichrist, the "seed of the serpent" (Genesis 3:14-15), who will be indwelt by Satan (Revelation 12:3,9; Revelation 13:1,3-4) along with the ten kings who will be indwelt by Satan's ten heavenly
princes "who have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast ... and shall
give their power and strength unto the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13)
"In the days of these kings" (Daniel 2:44),
i.e. in the time of the "ten toes" ("ten kings") of the fourth kingdom (Daniel 2:40-43 cf. Daniel 7:19-20,23-24),
the "God of heaven" will "set up a kingdom" - the "kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 4:17),
"which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people" (Daniel 2:44),
i.e. it will be Messiah's "everlasting kingdom" and it shall be "given to the people of the saints
ofthe Most High" (Daniel 7:27
cf. Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:32-33)
These ten kings will reign over ten nations comprising
the SAME territory God promised to Abraham and his seed, i.e. Israel (Genesis 15:18-21) and these ten kings will seek todestroy Israel (Psalms 83:4-8)
Messiah's kingdom will consume the kingdoms described
in the metallic image (Daniel 2:44)
crushing them ALL TOGETHER at the SAME TIME and sweeping them ALL away as the wind sweeps away the "chaff
of the summer threshingfloors" (Daniel 2:35)
- "the seventh angel sounded ... saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of His Christ" (Revelation 11:15)
The "mountain" from which the "Stone was
hewn" (Daniel 2:45)
is Mount Zion to where Messiah will return to His people (Isaiah 59:20)
The "mountain" that "fills the whole earth"
(Daniel 2:45)
will be Messiah's kingdom whose throne (seat of authority) in Mount Zion will extend to the "uttermost parts
of the earth" (Psalms 2:6-8 cf. Isaiah 2:2-3; Isaiah 11:9)
"The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof
is sure" (Daniel 2:45),
i.e. this "sure word of prophecy" (II Peter 1:19) "shall come to pass" (Daniel 2:45),
because He Who "framed (prepared) the worlds (ages)" (Hebrews 11:3), is the same One Who "revealed this secret (mystery)" to
Daniel (Daniel 2:18-19 cf. Revelation 10:7)