Daniel 2

1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar*, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

*H5019 נְבוּ־כַדנֶאצַּר Nbuw-Kadne’tstsar (neɓ-oo-kad-nets-tsar’) n/p. “a gateway to your excellent father Nebo” Nebo is primarily known as the god of wisdom, writing, and scribes. He is also associated with prophecy and vegetation. Nebo is often depicted holding a stylus and a clay tablet, symbolizing his connection to writing and recording. Is it any wonder that he wanted to “enlighten” the Hebrews?

Nebo is the son of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, and the goddess Sarpanit. The influence of Nebo extended beyond Mesopotamia. His name and attributes were known in the wider ancient Near Eastern world, and he is sometimes mentioned in biblical texts, such as in the Book of Isaiah.

² Then the king commanded to call the magicians,¹ and the astrologers,² and the sorcerers,³ and the Chaldeans,⁴ for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

1. H2748 חַרְטֹם chartom (char-tome’) n-m. a horoscopist (as drawing magical lines or circles).
2. H825 אַשָּׁף ‘ashshaph (ash-shawf’) n-m. a conjurer.
3. H3784 כָּשַׁף kashaph (kaw-shaf’) v. כַשֵּׁפָה kashaphah (kaw-sha-faw’) [feminine] (properly) to whisper a spell, i.e. to incant or practice magic. Witch.
4. H3778 כַּשׂדִּי Kasdiy (kas-dee’) n/l. a “Kasedim” or Chaldean. The Chaldeans were a Semitic-speaking people who settled in the region and became prominent during the Neo-Babylonian Empire, around the 9th to 6th centuries BCE. These are the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael.

³ And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

⁴ Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack*, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.

• H762 אֲרָמִית ‘Aramiyth (ar-aw-meeth’) adv. (only adverbial) in Aramean.

⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

Have you ever had a dream that shook you awake? The panting, the sweats, a nervous energy or an internal shiver and yet you cant remember it all? I have. Likewise, I have had the earth shattering dream and remembered way too much… bugged me for days. The first scenario is where the king is trapped.

⁶ But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

⁷ They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.

⁸ The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. (you’re making excuses to drag this along)

⁹ But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. (they have started ‘bargaining’ with the king for more time to think about the issue)

¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

He has asked them the impossible. To actually read the thoughts of another human being. This fraud is perpetrated upon millions on a daily basis through psychics, mediums and palm readers. The practice of ‘befriending’ the patron and walking a line of suspected averages of human behavior and BAM we have a discovery, break-thru, or epiphany that matches some lost/lingering/lamenting desire. That’s when the hook is set.

¹¹ And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

¹² For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³ And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

¹⁴ Then Daniel answered with counsel (prudence) and wisdom (in command) to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

¹⁵ He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

It does not appear that Daniel had been directly addressed by the king and as a prisoner Daniel would not be eligible to address the king without the help of Arioch.

¹⁶ Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

¹⁸ That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

• Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”
• Isaiah 13:19 “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”

²⁰ Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

²¹ And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

²² He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

• John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
• Mark 4:11-13 “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?”

²³ I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

• Joel 2:27-29 “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
• Acts 2:16-18 “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:”

²⁴ Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

²⁵ Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

²⁶ The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

²⁷ Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

²⁸ 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 dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

This is about to be a major success or the worst thing ever. Daniel begins with telling the king that his God is better than the kings gods. The first recorded “my dads better than your dad” playground fight. Except…. Daniel wont go home with a black eye…. he becomes Lion Chow…. kings…. they’re so sensitive.

²⁹ As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

³⁰ But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

Daniel tells them that this interpretation is not for his notoriety, rather, this is to expose the king and his weaknesses.

³¹ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.(H1763 דְּחַל dchal (deh-chal’) v. to be formidable.)

³² This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

³³ His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

The beautiful part of prophesy is fact it addresses multiple facets of life. The classical interpretation of this image is that it represents the governments of the land as Daniel explains. I would like to present an additional level to this prophesy.

I can see the evolution of religion. Yeshua did NOT come to create religion and yet men have done just that. We had a king, the King of Kings, and the people rejected him.

• 1 Samuel 8:4-8 “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.”
• John 1:9-11 “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

With this information in mind… we could see the “faith once delivered” is the head (leadership) of fine gold. Then men substituted God for human leadership (Pharisees/Talmud) and this is silver… not quite as valuable. The bronze is the mixing of religious ideas from the various invading nations. The Iron is the solidification of mixed religious activities in the establishment of the Catholic/Roman church. We live currently in the era of the feet. Paganism reigns in the modern “Christian” church yet there are those that can read through the bias to see the true words of the King. It mirrors the parable of the wheat and tares.

• Matthew 13:25-30 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
• 1 Peter 2:7-8 “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

³⁴ 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 brake them to pieces.

³⁵ 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 threshingfloors; 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.

³⁶ This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

³⁷ Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

It would appear that Daniel is “stroking his ego” but Daniel is using the prudence which he was endowed to communicate bad news to the king.

³⁸ And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

³⁹ And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

⁴¹ And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

⁴² And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

⁴³ And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

• Head of Gold: Represents the Babylonian Empire.
• Chest and Arms of Silver: Represents the Medo-Persian Empire.
• Belly and Thighs of Bronze: Represents the Greek Empire.
• Legs of Iron: Represents the Roman Empire.
• Feet partly of Iron and partly of Clay: Represents a divided kingdom, often interpreted as the divided Roman Empire or future kingdoms that are partly strong and partly brittle.

The 501(c)3 churches I have attended in the past would constantly say that we are “the hands and feet of Jesus” and I would contend they are just the feet of religion, not faith.

⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never 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.

This should be taken as a “slap in the face” to anything men think that they have total control over.

• Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

⁴⁵ Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and 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 sure.

⁴⁶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.

⁴⁷ The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

⁴⁸ Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹ Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

This would be a very high honor for Daniel as this terminology is idiomatic. To set at the gate meant you were and official judge to matters concerning the city. Think of it as the Babylonian Supreme Court. For us think of it in Gods economy….

• Isaiah 42:16 “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation (trials and tribulations) also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

God used the desperate situation of the dream to reveal his power and might, enough so, Nebuchadnezzar confessed YHVH as the supreme God. This was unheard of in that day, AND God preserved Daniel and the faithful making them a way to escape. There will be no pretribulation rapture.

• Matthew 10:22 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
• James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”