Daniel: Living a Life of Integrity Week 2

Fellowship meal after service today

No Small Group this Tuesday

Good morning, today we are continuing our series on the book of Daniel. Last week we examined Daniel chapter 1, which explained that the young man, Daniel, and 3 of his friends were taken by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, when the nation of Judah had been conquered. The young Daniel was taken to the king’s palace, where he underwent 3 or so years of training, in order to serve and advice this foreign king. Pretty much, right away Daniel and his friends were put in a position, where they had to choose between the principles they were taught as Jews and pleasing their captors. They chose wisely and God honored these young men by giving them favor with the king of Babylon.

That is a brief summary of chapter 1…today, we are going to look at the 2nd chapter of Daniel.

PRAY

Outline of Daniel Chapter 2

I. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar (chap. 2)

A. The dream of the king (2:1–16)

B. The dream revealed to Daniel (2:17–23)

C. The dream explained to Nebuchadnezzar (2:24–45a)

D. Daniel honored (2:45b–49)

I have Daniel 2 broken up into 4 parts, which is how we will cover it today. Now, Daniel 2 is pretty long, which is why I suggested that you read it beforehand, as I will not be reading every verse…but we will hit most of them.

It so happens that Daniel Chapter 2 is one of the most important pieces of prophetic literature in the entire Old Testament. Funny thing is, it does not fit the normal prophecy literature we see from the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. In the O.T., prophetic literature is almost exclusively God speaking to Israel through a prophet.

The second chapter of Daniel has been called the backbone of Bible prophecy. Daniel 2 unlocks the rest of the prophecies of the Book of Daniel, which, in turn, unlock the prophecies of the Book of Revelation. For a good handle on eschatology—the study of end times—you need to be thoroughly familiar with the Book of Daniel and of chapter 2 specifically

A. The dream of the king (2:1–16)

The 2nd chapter of Daniel opens up, with King Nebuchadnezzar having a dream. Except this wasn’t any ordinary dream. This dream caused much trouble for the king....he could not sleep, and as a result, the king got a bit cranky. Nebuchad. wanted to know what his dream meant, so he sent for the people who he had presumably used in the past to help with such matters.

Daniel 2:2–3 “So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream and am anxious to understand it.””

For the lack of a better term, I guess you could call these people the king’s spiritual advisors. I use the word spiritual in the broadest sense. It is important to note that Daniel was not one of the kings “spiritual” advisors…meaning the people he used to give him spiritual advice or to predict the future, or interpret dreams. This was not Daniel’s role. We know this because Daniel was not among the people initially called to interpret the king’s dream. Daniel doesn’t become involved until after the normal advisors fail.

Unfortunately for these advisors, the king goes on to ask an impossible task, according to mere human ability, or even demonic ability. You see, not only did the king want these men to interpret his dream, but he refused to tell them what his dream was. These advisors had to first, use their powers to discern what the dream was, then they had to interpret said dream.

Think of it this way…Rick, say someone comes to you and said that the previous night they went to a cubs game in the city. When the game was over, this guy went to his car and tried to start it…it would turn over, but it wouldn’t start. This guy says to you, I’ll pay you 1 million dollars if you will drive out to Wrigley Field and get it started....the only caveat is, he won’t tell you what type of car it is or where it is parked. What are the chances you would ever find the correct vehicle, before you get shot or arrested?

In essence, this is what the king was asking his advisors to do. Naturally, the advisors were not fond of this arrangement. Nebuchadnezzar goes on to explain what will happen if his advisors do not get it right:

Daniel 2:5–6 “The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My word is final: If you don’t tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a garbage dump. But if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you’ll receive gifts, a reward, and great honor from me. So make the dream and its interpretation known to me.””

As is typical of despot rulers, throughout the entire history of civilization, when things went bad, regardless of the reason, people would pay with their lives…and not just individuals, but entire families would be tortured and killed. There have been some really interesting studies done on rulers who have absolute power. We know the saying:

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, also known as Lord Acton, a 19th century English historian, politician, and writer.

What this means is that when a person has unchecked power, they will become overwhelmingly corrupt with enough time. This is the entire reason that people came over on ships to a new land…to get away from power that had become corrupted absolutely. When one person has the ability to make laws and kill on whatever whim they may have....it leads to absolute corruption.

This was the case with King Neb. Many of us might ask, why he would react so harshly. Well, other than being corrupt, there is one overriding reason: King Neb. was used to being in complete control. All of a sudden he had a dream that bothered him…that takes control out of his hands. Not only that, but as we will see, King Neb. was pretty obsessed with the future of his kingdom. Neb. was operating in fear and a lack of control. Combine that with absolute power and that is a dangerous recipe.

What the king was asking of these advisors was not humanly possible…to not only interpret the dream, but to come up with the details of the dream. The advisors tried to reason with Nebu., but to no avail. I think that Neb. was afraid that his advisors would simply tell him what he wants to hear. When none of the advisors could do what the king asks, Neb. ordered the deaths of all of his advisors…not just his spiritual advisors...

Daniel 2:11–13 “What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.” Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. The decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed, and they searched for Daniel and his friends, to execute them.”

Even though Daniel was not present when this madness went down, he was slated for execution as well. Of course, Daniel had no idea what was going on. It is difficult to really put yourself in this situation, as it is so foreign to the way our society generally operates. That said, just recently I saw a news story about North Korea, where Kim Jon Un decided to execute 30 party officials because they did not prevent a flood. We see Daniel’s response, starting in verse 14.

Daniel 2:14–16 “Then Daniel responded with tact and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation.”

If you recall, last week I drew your attention to Daniel’s attitude when it came to not eating the palace food. Daniel handled that with so much humility and grace. We see hints of that here as well. Now, to be fair, it’s not hard to act contrite when the executioner has an axe above your head. Still, Daniel continues to show amazing restraint in the face of difficulty.

When Daniel finds out that he and his friends are scheduled to be executed, he asks to speak with the King, in order to buy himself a little time. King Nebu. does give Daniel a bit of a reprieve. This shows how desperate the King was for answers. Perhaps the king sensed that Daniel was going to deliver. This whole story also shows just how much faith the King put in his advisors (other than Daniel and his friends). In what was probably a rare instance, the king did not want to be told simply what he wants to hear…he wanted the real meaning of this dream…it’s clear he did not have faith that his advisors would tell him the truth.

This is where we transition to the next part of our story:

B. The dream revealed to Daniel (2:17–23)

We are going to take this section and read it in its entirety…verses 17-23, then we will talk about it.

Daniel 2:17–23 (CSB)Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, urging them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men. The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens and declared: May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. I offer thanks and praise to you, God of my ancestors, because you have given me wisdom and power. And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king’s mystery.

At this point in our story, Daniel and his friends have been made aware that the king has ordered the execution of all of the advisors, regardless of their official duties. After asking for some more time, Daniel and his friends retreat into solitude with the Lord; asking God to reveal the kings dream and what the dream meant. Notice what the young men’s prayer was...

for mercy concerning this mystery

It might be difficult to know exactly what to pray in a situation like this…you would be so overwhelmed with emotion. Daniel asks the Lord, that God would, in his mercy, reveal the hidden things that only He knows. Daniel did not ask for wisdom or discernment or anything that can be accomplished in our own power. Daniel knew this situation would require what only the Lord can give... Daniel needed a true miracle in this situation. There was absolutely nothing he nor any other man could do to remedy this situation. No amount of talking, or money or time or wisdom or intelligence or influence could bring Daniel what he needed in this moment. Daniel, his friends, as well as the rest of the King’s advisors were dependent 100 percent on the mercy of the Lord.

This situation reminds me of a passage in Psalms:

Psalm 25:14 “The secret counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he reveals his covenant to them.”

After the Lord reveals the King’s dream and what it means, Daniel then offers up a prayer of thanksgiving. Daniel acknowledges God’s sovereign ability in 2 areas:

Daniel’s Prayer:

1. God is sovereign over the political affairs of humanity because he removes kings and establishes kings.

2. God alone can give revelation by giving wisdom to the wise and by revealing the deep, hidden things.

C. The dream explained to Nebuchadnezzar (2:24–45a)

We now get into the the kings dream…which can be difficult to understand. As soon as God reveals the King’s dream and its interpretation, he notifies the proper people and asks to be taken in front of the king.

As Daniel appears before the king, before he tells the king about the dream, they have a brief conversation. The King wants to make sure that Daniel has succeeded in his plan to find out about the dream. In essence, Daniel tells the king that the reason all of his advisors have failed is because only the God of Israel can reveal such mysteries. Daniel tells the king that God has decided to reveal what will happen in the future. Daniel then makes sure to let the king know that he, Daniel, is no more special than any of his other advisors…the only difference is that Daniel knows the only revealer of mysteries.

Daniel 2:30 “As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.”

First thing I thought to myself after reading this rather lengthy interpretation is…wow, Daniel remembered all of that and he didn’t even have preaching software…pretty impressive! No exaggeration, if you took every book, paper, commentary or article written on Daniel’s interpretation of the King’s dream, it would fill up a small town library, no problem.

Beginning in verse 31, Daniel begins to explain, in great detail both the dream and the interpretation. It is a lengthy piece of scripture…I would encourage you to read it, if you haven’t already. First, let’s look at the image that Daniel saw:

Statue Image

Nebuchadnezzar saw a massive image of a man with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, a brass belly, iron legs, and feet and toes a mixture of iron and clay. Looking at this huge statue, Nebuchadnezzar saw a huge stone come rolling down and hit the statue in the feet and pulverized it entirely. Suddenly, the stone became a great mountain that filled the entire earth.

Imagine the King, sitting there on his throne, listening to Daniel retell every detail of his dream. Nebu. probably just sat there, mouth open, marvaling at the God of Israel.

After Daniel described the dream, he then launched into the interpretation of the dream. Instead of just reading it straight through, we are going to take each part of the dream and examine its interpretation separately. In all, there are 5 different parts to the dream. 4 of them are the different parts of the statue, while the 5th is the stone. Let’s start with the statue’s head

1. The head, or the Babylonian Empire

Daniel 2:36–38 ““This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the sky—he has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.”

Daniel spoke with much humility to Nebu. It is really easy to misunderstand what Daniel is conveying to Nebu. in verses 36 to 38. It almost seems like flattery…but that is not what the Lord is speaking through Daniel. This becomes clear as we progress through the interpretation. The truth is, at this time, the Babylonian empire was, indeed, all powerful on the Earth. It was an exceedingly wealthy kingdom, yet it was very corrupt. Babylon is refereed to throughout scripture in a number of ways:

1. The oppressor of Israel (Ps. 137:8)

2. Mother of Idolatry (Jer. 51:7)

Additionally, the same verses I just referenced also foretell the destruction of Babylon. Yet, despite this, God also used Babylon to punish Israel.

Jeremiah 27:6 “So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him.”

Historically, the Babylonian empire was (what is called) an absolute monarchy. It is believed that Babylon had a greater effect on the known world than any other empire in history. That is why it was represented by gold.

2. The breast and arms, or the Medo-Persian Empire

3. The belly and thighs, or the Grecian Empire

Daniel 2:39 ““After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth.”

The Medes and Persians, represented by two arms of silver were a constitutional monarchy that involved 2 kingdoms. They would overthrow the Babylonians in 530 B.C.

This actually happens in Daniel’s lifetime and is recorded in Daniel chapter 5. After Nebu. died, his son took the throne. God was displeased with this man...

Daniel 5:30–31 “That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.”

At this point, Daniel actually became a servant of the Persian-Medo empire, rather than the Babylonian empire.

Back to Daniel 2 though, Daniel tells Nebu that God had given him his authority, but soon Babylon would fall. Then, the empire that defeats his…they would in turn fall to a third empire....which is the Grecian empire.

The Medes and Persians would be overthrown by the Greeks in 330 B.C. … just a couple hundred years after The Persians defeated Babylon. By this time, Alexander had conquered the known world. Heartbroken and depressed that there were no more worlds to conquer, he died at the age of thirty-three in a drunken stupor. The Grecian empire was represented by brass because, as an oligarchy, it was less powerful than the Medo-Persian Empire. When Alexander died, he divided up the kingdom and gave the land to his 4 closest generals…which is thought to be the prophecy in Daniel chapter 7…which we will get to in a few weeks.

4. The legs (Roman Empire) and feet (?)

Daniel 2:40 “A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others.”

The fourth kingdom that Daniel describes in an interesting one. It is represented both by iron (the strongest metal at that time) and also clay (a very soft and brittle substance). It is widely believed that the legs are the Roman Empire, who defeated the Grecian empire. Now, this is where is can get tricky. Let’s read how Daniel describes what happens

Daniel 2:41–43 “You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.”

There are a few different ways that people interpret this. Some believe that the clay represents the latter years of the roman empire…where they became too far spread out were invaded by a mixture of foreign nations…eventually, the Romans would intermingle with these foreign nations. Daniel also points out that this kingdom of Iron will be divided up into 10 nations. According to those who subscribe to this, when the barbarians invaded the Roman empire, that is when this happened.

The other interpretation deals with Israel.

According to these people, the fourth kingdom (Iron) is the Roman empire (same as before), however, the divided kingdoms do not come into existence until Israel is restored in 1948…these people believe that modern day Europe, which was all Roman at one time is the divided kingdoms…instead of Europe being just one nation, it is many nations, all of them intermingling and therefore weakening themselves.

As I said before, once we get to Daniel chapter 7, we will be discussing this dream again.

I apologize if that is confusing to you....let’s now look at the 5th part of the dream. In a moment I will summarize and make it easier to understand.

5. The Stone (The Kingdom of God)

Daniel 2:44–45 ““In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation reliable.””

In Neb. dream, he saw an enormous statue that was crushed by a large stone that came from the side of a mountain. Most importantly, this stone was not being controlled by an observable force.

Image of stone being removed from the mountain.

It’s almost like something out of a apocalyptic movie, where a giant asteroid smashes down on earth. Daniel tells the king that one day, God will crush all other kingdoms and bring about, in essence, the Kingdom of God, which will endure forever.

There are 3 main interpretations as to what the stone represents

What does the stone represent?

1. The Kingdom of God (in general)

1 Corinthians 15:24 “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.”

2. Christ

Matthew 21:42–44 “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is what the Lord has done and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.””

3. Combination of Christ and the Kingdom of God

Revelation 11:15 “The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

The important thing to remember here and it’s what I believe Daniel was trying to convey…is that God is the one who is in control and will ultimately bring an end to earthly governments.

D. Daniel honored (2:45b–49)

Daniel 2:46–49 “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown, worshiped Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him. The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.”

The king was overjoyed that Daniel was able to interpret his dream. He showered Daniel with all manner of praise and gave him the authority over all of the other advisors. Additionally, Daniel was appointed as prime minister over the entire country. A whole bunch of people were alive because Daniel trusted the Lord in the midst of a terrible situation. Although Nebu. doesn’t decide to follow Daniel’s God at this point, eventually it will happen.

Conclusion:

There are a number of ways that we can take Daniel Chapter 2, as it relates to our walk of faith with the Lord. In fact, I rewrote my conclusion 3 times because I never felt settled with the result. When we look at the book of Daniel, there is a consistent theme that runs through just about every story…including Chapter 2. Related to this theme is the difference between Daniel, his friends, and the King. When Neb. found himself troubled over this dream, who did he run to for answers? He ran to other people…these people were just as incapable to providing answers. Daniel, on the other hand, when faced with extreme circumstances, where does he run? He goes to fellow followers of God, but more importantly, He goes to the source of all answers…God, Himself. I would say that is one of the main themes that run through the book of Daniel. Except, and here is the important part, Daniel did not just run to God when trouble came his way. He had made a habit of seeking the Lord on a daily basis, even multiple times a day, in order to stay in constant communication with the Lord.

This is clearly applicable to us, as we are still called to commune with our Lord. Scripture instructs us to ask, seek and knock, to pray for wisdom, just like Daniel did in our story today. Additionally, we are called to live like Daniel. Daniel did not just give lip-service to the Lord, Daniel lived with intentional integrity. All of the small choices that we make throughout our day, while seemingly disconnected, are in fact, what determines our character and integrity. It’s my challenge to all of us this morning to take the practices and principles of Daniel and place them deep within our heart. We must prioritize our relationship with Christ over our flesh and our fear.

I want to end by reading part of Proverbs chapter 2.

Proverbs 2:1–11 (CSB)My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity so that he may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of his faithful followers. Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you. Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you.