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Study #1 - Daniel 2
"The Metal Man Image"
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1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
2 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.
3 And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
5 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.
6 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.”
7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”
8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
9 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.”
10 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.
11 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.”
12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
14 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;
15 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.
16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 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.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.
21 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.
22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.
23 “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.”
24 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.”
25 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.”
26 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?”
27 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.
28 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:
29 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.
30 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.
31 “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.
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 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.
35 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.
36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
38 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.
39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 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.
41 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.
42 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.
43 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.
44 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.
45 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.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
47 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.”
48 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.
49 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.
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Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and it had a profound affect on him. God gave him the dream and then made him temporarily forget it. But he had to know what the dream was about. So he calls in the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans. (All his supposedly wisest men on payroll). He tells them he had a dream and he wants them to tell him what he dreamed and to give him the interpretation. They butter him up with kind words and then tell the king that he must tell them what he dreamt and they will interpret. He refuses and tells them what punishment is in store if they don't tell him and what rewards are in store for the one who does reveal it. They again ask for the dream. He again tells them they must tell him the dream and the interpretation. A Chaldean states THERE IS NOT A MAN ON EARTH who can do what the king requests, only the gods who do not dwell with men. The king gave the decree to destroy all the wise men in Babylon.
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Daniel and the three friends that were captured with him from Judah, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, lived together and were considered very wise. They were in advanced schooling in Babylon. Daniel's Babylonian name was Belteshazzar and his three friend's Babylonian names were Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. When the captain of the guard Arioch came to Daniel and told him the decree he must execute, Daniel was able to tell Arioch that he would let the king know that he will tell the king his dream and interpretation, just give him a little time. Arioch and Daniel became friends on the over 1,000 mile journey from Judah to Babylon. Daniel got the needed time. He then went to his home and consulted with the three friends and they, being strong in faith, sought God for the dream and it's interpretation.
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God gives Daniel the dream and it's interpretation. Daniels gives God the glory and the praise.
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Daniel appeals to Arioch to stop the killing of the wise men as he will tell the king what he wants to know. Arioch ushers Daniel into the king and announces he has found a captive from Judah who can reveal the dream and it's meaning. Verse 27, Daniel can't resist rubbing it in about how all his high paid staff couldn't answer his demand. Then in verse 28 he gives tribute to his God in heaven as the source of the revelation.
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Daniel describes this great image that Nebuchadnezzar saw having a gold head, chest and arms of silver, thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet part of iron and part clay. Then a rock strikes the image on the feet and destroys it.
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Daniel begins the interpretation. Verses 36-38, Daniel identifies the Babylonian empire and Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold. The first of four empires to rule the world. Verse 39 describes the next kingdom to arise (chest and arms of silver) and just as silver is inferior to gold, so this kingdom would be inferior to Babylon. Then a third kingdom would arise, the brass or bronze kingdom, then a fourth kingdom would arise, an iron kingdom. Ruthless in it's description in verse 40. Next in verses 41-43, he explains how the kingdom falls and becomes a mixture of strong and weak nations. Verses 44-45, while in the time of the feet, a great stone would strike it and break it in pieces consuming them, and God would set up a kingdom that would not be destroyed.
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The king was astounded and remembered the dream as Daniel revealed it. He then placed Daniel in a position of high honor along with his three friends.
Daniel 2, written in the 6th century before Christ, accurately forecasted the future of the world from Daniels time to the second coming of Christ.
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The First World Empire - BABYLON
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Verse 38. The Head of Gold kingdom was Babylon and it ruled the world from 612 BC to
539 BC. (73 years). It was known for its magnificent displays of wealth, especially the hanging gardens and golden lions that were all throughout the kingdom.
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The Second World Empire
The MEDO/PERSIAN KINGDOM
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Next, in verse 39, the chest and arms of silver kingdom was the Medes and the Persians who overthrew Babylon in 539 BC and ruled the world as the Medo-Persian empire from 539 BC to 331 BC. (208 years).
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The Third World Empire - GREECE
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The third kingdom of bronze or brass had Alexander the Great leading its armies and took over rule of the world as the Grecian empire from 331 BC to 168 BC. (163 years) Alexander conquered the Medes and the Persians at the battle of Arbela. At the time of Daniel's writing this book of prophecy, Greece was only a fishing port.
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The Fourth and Last World Empire - ROME
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Then in verse 40, the brass kingdom was crushed by the iron monarchy of Rome represented by the two legs of iron. That final battle was the Battle of Pydma in 168 BC. The two legs represented the two great divisions of the Roman empire, eastern and western Rome. Rome ruled the world from 168 BC to 476 AD. (644 years). Between the years 351AD to 476AD, a series of invasions by Barbaric tribes from northern Europe completely overran the Roman Empire and brought it to its knees. In 476 AD the fall of the Roman empire was complete. There would NEVER be another nation of men that would rule the earth again. Verses 41-43 reveals the feet part of iron and part of clay, the ten toes symbolized the 10 nations that would arise out of the fall of the Roman empire. Some would be strong (iron) and some would be weak (clay). Just as iron and clay would not adhere, neither would these nations be able to adhere.
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Ten Nations Arise From the Ruins of ROME
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Nation Number
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Known Then As
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Known Now As
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1
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Alemanni
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Germany
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2
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Franks
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French
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3
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Bergundians
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Switzerland
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4
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Suevi
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Portugal
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5
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Anglo-Saxons
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England
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6
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Visigoths
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Spain
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7
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Lombards
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Italy
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8
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Heruli
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Is No More
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9
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Vandals
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Is No More
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10
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Ostrogoths
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Is No More
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Verse 43 talks about the mingling of seeds. There were numerous marriages between royalty of different nations, but they failed to unite the divided nations. A world divided to this day, from 476 AD to 1999 AD, no one nation has ever ruled the world again. Some have tried and failed. For example: Charlemagne tried and failed. In the 7th century he launched 53 expeditions against 14 nations. Spain had Charles the 5th try in the 16th century and failed. France had Louis the 14th try in the 18th century and failed. Treaty of Ulrecht in 1713. Napoleon tried in the 19th century and met his waterloo in 1815. Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolph Hitler and Mussolini all failed in the 20th century. Because God's prophecy can't fail. Verse 43 is the time we live in. The time of the end. The great stone that will strike the feet, is the Rock, Jesus Christ and His second coming.
The study of Daniel 2 is important for a couple of reasons. First, the prophecy occurred early in the reign of the first kingdom. God accurately forecasted the worlds future, with three successive kingdoms and no more world kingdom. We now live in the time of the toes, awaiting Christ's Second Coming. The Second reason this prophecy was important is because it lays a foundation for the prophecy naming the beast that will arise from one of these kingdoms that will be disclosed in Daniel chapter 7.
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