Daniel 2 - The King's Dream and the Divine Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
“Is God still in control? Does He still reign upon His throne?”
That’s the question God’s people were asking in exile.
[CONTEXT] Daniel 1:1 tells us…
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Along with King Jehoiakim and the vessels of the house of God, Nebuchadnezzar also brought back to Babylon some of the royal family and members of the nobility, "youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court,” (Daniel 1:4).
Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, belong to this group of outstanding young people.
Though they learned the Babylonian language, culture, and religion, and although they received Babylonian names, they did not lose their identity as son of YHWH.
They did not eat Nebuchadnezzar’s food or drink his drink, choosing instead to eat vegetables and drink water.
Miraculously, when the time came for examination, they were all fatter (i.e., healthier) than any others.
God gave these four young men knowledge and intelligence. They entered Nebuchadnezzar’s personal service, and he found them ten times better than all the other magicians and conjurers in his realm (Dan. 1:19-20).
To Daniel especially, God gave him understanding in all kinds of visions and dreams (Dan. 1:17).
But how would anyone understand Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t telling anyone about his dream?
[TS] We want to see this chapter in two PARTS tonight…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Part #1: The Dream, the Difficulty, the Decree, and Daniel (Daniel 2:1-24)
Part #1: The Dream, the Difficulty, the Decree, and Daniel (Daniel 2:1-24)
1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 “But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.” 12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, 18 so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 23 “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.” 24 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”
[EXP] Many of us have had a dream that left us with a bad feeling. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream left him troubled, anxious, and sleepless. Because he knew the dream was meaningful, he wanted to understand it, but how could he be sure to trust someone’s interpretation of that dream? He came up with a test of sorts: He would demand the dream be told to him before the interpretation was given. If someone could tell him what the dream was, then he could trust their interpretation as true.
The magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans (supposed experts in magic and interpreting dreams) all came before Nebuchadnezzar, and said, “Tell us the dream, and we’ll tell you what it means.”
But Nebuchadnezzar reiterated his terms with a threat.
5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.
But Nebuchadnezzar also reiterated his terms with a promise.
6 “But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s supposed experts tried to stall, once again asking for the dream so they could explain its meaning, but Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t having it.
His experts said that what Nebuchadnezzar wanted was impossible. It was just too difficult. It would take a god to do what Nebuchadnezzar demanded, and they said that gods don’t dwell on earth with mortal flesh (Dan. 2:11).
Nebuchadnezzar was furious and decreed that all of his wise men (his supposed experts) should be killed.
This included Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
When word reached Daniel of Nebuchadnezzar’s decree, Daniel asked for an appointment with Nebuchadnezzar to tell him the dream and its meaning.
Daniel then went to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and asked them to pray.
Specifically they asked God for compassion, insight into Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, so they wouldn’t die.
The mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and Daniel praised the God of Heaven.
20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 23 “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Daniel then said, “Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king,” (Dan. 2:24).
Faced with what seemed to be an impossible task, Daniel had faith.
He asked for the appointment with the king before he knew the dream or the interpretation.
He was trusting that God would provide both.
Faced with what seemed to be an impossible task, Daniel requested prayer.
He asked Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to pray that the Lord would be compassionate.
And when the impossible task was made possible, Daniel gave God all the praise.
Daniel praised God for being in control of times and epochs, kings and kingdoms, wisdom and wise men.
He praised God for illuminating what was hidden in the darkness of Nebuchadnezzar’s mind.
[APP] First Corinthians 10:11 tells us that “these things happen to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” This means that as followers of Jesus, we ought to learn from Daniel.
First, think of faith, prayer, and praise in terms of salvation.
What was required for you to be saved?
Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God, and we are saved by grace through faith, this not of ourselves but the gift of God.
Did you pray when you were saved?
Probably, even if only, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” We prayed in this way when we were saved because all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Did you praise the Lord after your salvation?
I sure hope you did! But if not, do it now! In fact, do it again even if you did it before!
Praise Him for His sovereign control in choosing you before the foundation of the world!
Praise Him for illuminating what had once been darkness to you; He has shone you His glory in the face of Jesus Christ!
Daniel praise the Lord because he and his friends were saved from Nebuchadnezzar.
How much more should we praise the Lord because we’ve been saved from the curse of sin and death.
Secondly, think of faith, prayer, and praise in terms of sanctification.
Sanctification is holiness, and because Jesus is worthy, we want to live holy lives. We want to choose righteousness and wisdom, but the path is not always so clear.
When the path isn’t clear, we must have faith.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do with faith is wait for the Lord to make the path clear.
When the path isn’t clear, we must pray for understanding.
And it sure wouldn’t hurt to ask some faithful friends to pray along with you.
And when the path is made clear, we must praise the Lord.
Praise Him for His sovereignty and wisdom, for His compassion, and for His mercy.
[TS] King Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men said it would take a god dwelling with mortal men to do what Nebuchadnezzar requested.
Daniel knew a God like that, and He had revealed to Daniel the dream and its interpretation.
Look at vv. 25-49…
Part #2: Revelation, Interpretation, and Exaltation (Daniel 2:25-49)
Part #2: Revelation, Interpretation, and Exaltation (Daniel 2:25-49)
25 Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26 The king 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 before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 “However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. 29 “As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 30 “But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. 31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 “The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 “You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 “After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 “Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 “In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 “As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 “And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. 44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 “Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 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 prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court.
[EXP] Daniel comes before Nebuchadnezzar and makes it clear that the dream and its revelation have been given to Daniel as a mercy from God to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel said…
30 “But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
Then Daniel described Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Nebuchadnezzar.
The king had seen a statue with a head of fine gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay.
As the king saw the statue in his dream it was struck by a stone cut without hands—meaning it wasn’t a stone shaped by man, but a divine stone from heaven.
The stone struck the statue on the feet of iron and clay, crushing them and bring down the rest of the statue as well. All the gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay collapsing and blowing away like dust in the wind.
But the divine stone grew into a mountain and filled the earth.
We aren’t told how Nebuchadnezzar responded to Daniel at this point, but I imagine that he had to pick up his jaw from the floor.
How in the world did Daniel know what he dreamed?
Maybe there was something to this God that Daniel worshipped.
Then Daniel gave the interpretation of the dream.
Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian kingdom was represented by the head of gold.
After the Babylonian kingdom, another kingdom would arise (the silver kingdom), which many believe was the Medo-Persian Empire. The Medo-Persians did rule after the Babylonians.
After the silver kingdom, a third kingdom of bronze would arise and rule over the earth. Many believe this was the Greeks who did rule over the known world.
After the bronze kingdom, a fourth kingdom of iron and clay would arise. Many believe this was Rome, which was very strong in parts but also very unstable in parts too.
If the value and strength of the metals in this statue tell us anything its that each kingdom would be a little less wealthy than the one before and a little more powerful than the one before.
But the big idea to latch onto is that its during that fourth kingdom of iron and clay that the divine stone will come and setup a kingdom that will never be destroyed, a kingdom that will never end, a kingdom that will end all other kingdoms, a kingdom that will endure forever (Dan. 2:44).
This is, of course, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Divine Stone is certainly King Jesus.
[APP] A little later Daniel will have a vision of a Son of Man who comes before God Almighty, the Ancient of Days.
This Son of Man is presented before God, and God gives to Him dominion, glory, and a kingdom.
The dominion is described as an everlasting dominion.
The glory is a glory that will not pass away.
The kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
When the angel came to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, he said…
31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
All throughout Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus’ favorite reference for Himself was the Son of Man. Some say that was because Jesus was identifying with the rest of humanity, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of Man in Daniel 7 who received form the Ancient of Days a kingdom that would have no end, the same kingdom that God said in Daniel 2 would arrive during the Roman kingdom of iron and clay.
During the Roman kingdom Jesus came preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” (Matt. 3:2).
The wise men in Nebuchadnezzar’s day said that what he requested couldn’t be done except by a god, but they said gods didn’t dwell with mortal flesh.
Well, Jesus is the God who took on mortal flesh to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven; a kingdom that will never be destroyed, a kingdom that will never end, a kingdom that will end all other kingdoms, a kingdom that will endure forever
There is most certainly a God who dwells close to mortal men but not to just reveal dreams, but to be the fulfillment of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.
The Name of that God is Jesus.
And His kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
After hearing his dream and its interpretation, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel.
The rewards promised to the one who could accomplish this impossible task were given to Daniel.
Nebuchadnezzar said in v. 47…
47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
Daniel was then promoted, showered with gifts, made ruler over the province of Babylon, and chief of the wise men.
At Daniel’s request his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were also promoted to administrators over the province of Babylon while Daniel was serving at the king’s court.
And all along the way, God’s people in exile were reminded then as they are reminded now that God is still in control.
He is in control of times and epochs.
He is in control of kings and kingdoms.
He is in control of wisdom and wisemen.
He is still in control.
Jesus is on the throne.
And He always will be.
[PRAYER]