Daniel 2:1-49
Most nights during the week before our girls go to bed, they want us to pray for their dreams. Specifically they want us to pray against nightmares, so we do. Dreams for us often revolve around what happened that day, what might be stressing us out, whatever we were watching or looking at before we went to sleep…And then, if we wake up in time to remember the dreams, we’ll sometimes share those dreams with our friends or family. “I had the craziest dream last night!” Or, “I had the worst nightmare last night.” But after we tell the dream, we kind of forget about it and go about our day.
Not so with dreams in biblical times. In Babylon, where we find ourselves in the book of Daniel, dreams held incredible significance, and were thought of as a very real prediction of the future. This context is helpful as we get into chapter 2 this morning, and see Nebuchadnezzar’s inner turmoil and frantic response to a terrifying dream that he doesn’t understand.
Big Idea: God’s sovereignty over earthly empires comes to completion with the eternal kingdom of Jesus.
Read Daniel 2:1-16
1. A Troublesome Dream
Shortly after Nebuchadnezzar becomes king, he starts having these dreams. He’s so troubled over them that insomnia takes over. The literal translation out of the Hebrew is “his sleep was done for.” Because dreams carried such weight and were thought of as direct communication from the gods, it’s understandable that he was frantic to know what his dream meant. We’ll talk about it in a few minutes at greater length, but his dream was essentially a statue made of different metals that got obliterated by a large stone. Was he the one getting destroyed? Was his kingdom going to come to an abrupt end? He had to know. So, he calls in all the wisest and most spiritual men in Babylon.
It’s a cohort of occultists, sorcerers, astrologers, and mixologists who practiced witchcraft. If anyone can interpret a dream from the gods, it was these men. Unfortunately for them, they were about to be exposed as frauds.
Understandably, these wise men want to know what the dream is, so they can offer up an interpretation. Instead, the king gives an ultimatum. “You tell me the dream AND the interpretation. If you don’t, you will be dismembered and your homes will be destroyed. If, however, you can tell me the dream and it’s interpretation, well then you will receive rewards and great honor.” We see another glimpse of just how evil Nebuchadnezzar was. They have some back and forth, the men ask again for the dream in detail, the king says “my word is firm, you’re just stalling at this point.” And then he realizes something. These men, who have probably been around for some time interpreting dreams, have been lying all along. These men hear the dream, and then come up with an interpretation that makes sense. But not this time. Nebuchadnezzar is essentially exposing their corruption. “If you can’t tell me the dream, then you aren’t really who you say that you are.”
And then the irony that comes from their lips. “Oh great king, what you are asking is impossible with man. Only the gods can do what you are asking of us!” Nebuchadnezzar is furious. Probably because he’s just exposed these wicked, deceitful men. Also because he still doesn’t have an interpretation for his dreams. So, what’s the solution? Kill everyone. If these men are corrupt, that means that every other wise man in Babylon is corrupt as well. This included Daniel and his friends.
As our attention turns to Daniel, notice his boldness and courage, and keep in mind that Daniel was still just a jr. wise man at this point. He had not been summoned to the king’s court to help with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream problem. The executioner is at his door, ready to lead him to his death, and what does Daniel do? WIth composure and discernment, he engages Arioch. “Why is this so urgent? What happened up there?” And then Daniel, working under the favor of the Lord, requests an audience with the king, and is granted one. And then, with Nebuchadnezzar breathing anger and murder, Daniel asks him to press pause on the mass slaughter, and allow him just a little bit of time to figure out the dream. And he grants it. Sovereignty of God. God working behind the scenes in an impossible situation.
So what does Daniel do? This is so important. He prays.
2. Daniel Prioritizes Prayer
Read Daniel 2:17-19a
Daniel immediately goes back to his friends, tells them the urgency of the situation, and tells them it’s time to pray. As Daniel is praying, God answers his prayer, and reveals to him the dream and it’s interpretation. So what does Daniel do? He doesn’t run back to Nebuchadnezzar to save his skin. He doesn’t run to his friends. He immediately praises God.
Read Daniel 2:19b-23
Daniel, with his life and the lives of many others on the line, goes before the Lord in prayer, and when the Lord answers his prayer, he is driven to praise. And now, it’s go time. And what we see next from Daniel is that before he tells Nebuchadnezzar the dream and subsequent interpretation, he gives glory to God.
3. Daniel Gives Glory to God
Read Daniel 2:24-30
Daniel, knowing very well the polytheistic pagan beliefs of the Babylonians, goes before the king and proclaims the truth about God. “It is God who has revealed this to me. It’s not my wisdom, it’s not my own power, it’s only because God showed it to me. So before we begin, I just want you to understand that.” In essence what Daniel is saying is that the Babylonians gods were unable to answer the king’s demand, but Daniel’s God was. Where Nebuchadnezzar’s gods were silent, Daniel’s God was not. Of course we know that’s because they didn’t exist. And then Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar what it all means.
Before we read the dream, we need to understand that the prophecy that is behind it is really important to the overall prophetic nature of Scripture. In fact one commentator argues that “Daniel 2 is the ‘backbone of Bible prophecy’! How you approach the interpretation of Daniel 2 will affect how you interpret every other prophecy in the Bible. If you misinterpret Daniel 2, you are very likely to misinterpret many (if not most) of the end time prophecies, especially the Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
In fact, another commentator gives additional insight in the fact that “Daniel 2 provides the most comprehensive picture of world history from the time of Daniel, 600 years before Christ, to the consummation at the second advent of Christ.” So this next part is really important.
Read Daniel 2:31-45
4. Daniel Interprets the Dream
So what we have here is this large statue. The statue is made up of different kinds of metals. A head made of gold, chest/arms made of silver, midsection and thighs made of bronze, legs made of iron, and feet a mixture of iron and clay. We’ll talk about the stone in a minute, but let’s walk through each of these. Also, let’s not miss that God is the one who established the kingdom of Babylon, and allowed Nebuchadnezzar his power.
Vs. 37-38 - Head of Gold = Nebuchadnezzar → 605-539 BC
We see in verse 39 that the kingdoms come one after the other
Babylon was referred to as the "Golden City" because gold was found all through the city in decorations of shrines, temples, and other public buildings.
Vs. 39 - Chest/Arms of Silver - Medo/Persian Empire (Daniel 5:28) → 539-331 BC
Vs. 39 - Midsection/Thighs of Bronze - Greece → 331-146 BC
The Greeks were well-known for their bronze armor and weaponry.
Vs. 40 - Legs of Iron - Rome → It lasted by some accounts from 146 BC to 1476 AD in the West and 1453 AD in the East.
First, ancient Rome was noted for its use of iron in its military weaponry.
just as iron is able to crush gold, silver and bronze because it is stronger, so Rome would crush and shatter the ancient world. Ancient Rome did just that through its great military strength.
Now, to the matter of the feet and toes, this is where it becomes a bit more difficult, and there are different views on exactly who this might be. There are a few things we can know for certain, though. We know that this is a future empire that has not yet arisen. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, there has not been another that has risen.
Because it is a mixture of iron and clay, and Rome is associated with iron, there must be some fragment of a Roman Empire that exists in this future empire. We also know that the number 10 will be important in this empire, as toes are included in the description. Some will be strong like iron, others will be brittle and fragile like dried clay. We also see a parallel to these 10 toes to a mention of 10 horns in Daniel 7, and in that passage we learn that the 10 horns are 10 kings. We also see this in Revelation 13. So we know that the future empire will be a collaboration of 10 kings, some strong, some not so strong, and that once this empire is established, a stone will come flying in and destroy it all.
Many have termed this coalition the Revived Roman Empire, and while this term isn’t found in Scripture, it’s fitting given the mention of iron as an element of future rule. There is disagreement on what exactly that means. Some believe it’s actually Rome regaining world dominance and power. Others believe this is a generic term for a unified world political system. This seems to make the most sense given the 10 kings or nations that come together. We see in Revelation that this coalition of nations is led by the AntiChrist, but I think we’ve gone further than we need to for this morning. Actually, ok one more thing. Just because it’s fun to talk about.
John Walvoord, once President of Dallas Theological Seminary and thought of as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of biblical prophecy, says this: “In the light of the amazing unification of Europe under the Common Market and the pressures of a modern situation which make the survival of small, independent nations very difficult, such a move toward confederacy fits precisely into the temper of our modern international situation.” Many believe that the EU is the perfect template for this 10 nation confederacy to arise out of, with many of the countries being countries that were once a part of the Roman Empire.
Interesting to think about, but here’s the thing. We don’t know exactly. And while it’s fun to talk about, there IS something that we can be sure of, and that’s the stone that comes and does away with everything. A stone that forever destroys earthly empires and grows into a mountain covering the whole Earth. A stone not cut with human hands. A stone that is supernaturally made.
Psalm 118:22 - The stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone.
Isaiah 28:16 - See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
In Matthew Jesus quotes Psalm 118 in referring to Himself. Jesus is the Stone. Jesus is the Stone that will destroy the failed attempt by Satan to establish rule on this Earth. Jesus will destroy the “Revived Roman Empire.” But more importantly, Jesus will establish a kingdom that none can destroy, an eternal, everlasting kingdom of which He will reign forever.
In the last few verses of chapter 2, we see that Nebuchadnezzar recognizes the power of God. He calls Him the God of gods in verse 47, so we don’t see a complete turn from polytheism, but it’s a start. He promotes Daniel to ruler of Babylon, 2nd in command only to Nebuchadnezzar, while also being put in charge of all the wise men. Daniel takes advantage of this new position and has his 3 friends promoted as well.
Application
Empires come and go, but the Lord remains the same. Empires come and go, but the Lord will establish a kingdom that will never fall. Presidents come and go, but the Lord remains the same.
When our hope is properly placed in the coming kingdom of Jesus, what we face right now, while very real and sometimes very difficult, is easier to release to the Lord. When our mind is set on the promise of what is to come, we have confidence in the here and now. When we know that what’s coming is better than anything that could be true of our lives now, it’s easier to stand firm in the Lord.
