Sermon Tone Analysis

Daniel 2:31-49

 

 Last week we read how king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that distressed him to no end.

* He was worried about the future?

(Dan 2:29)

* Many people worry about the future.

* But as Christians we can have peace knowing God is in control.

* The king wanted to know what his dream meant so he called in his wise men.

* These guys could not give Nebuchadnezzar the answer to his dream.

* But God could & did through the person of Daniel.

* Daniel told the king, "Da 2:28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the *latter days*."

* So this week we are going to look at the dream & it's meaning.

31 *"You saw, O king, and behold, a great image.

This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.

* \\ 32* The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, \\ 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

\\ 34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it 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, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found.

But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

*

 

Show picture of image!

(Video of Daniel two?)

 

On hearing this accurate description, the king knew that Daniel was telling the truth and that what he said could be trusted.

Only the God of heaven who sent the dream could have helped His servant know and interpret the dream.

\\ 36* "This was the dream.

Now we will tell the king its interpretation.

\\ 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, \\ 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.

*

 

Nebuchadnezzar - Babylon - head of Gold

* It lasted from 636 B.C. to 539 B.c. Jeremiah called Babylon "a gold cup in the Lord's hand" (Jer.

51:7).

* At that time Nebuchadnezzar was indeed the "king of Kings".

* There was no one with anything like his power.

* Nebuchadnezzar was told that he received his *kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory* from God (who sets up kings and deposes them, v. 21).

* God is the One in control of the kingdoms & nations of this earth.

* Ro 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

* He knows the future because He plans the future.

* This doesn't mean that God is to blame for the evil things that leaders and nations do, but that He can overrule even their wickedness to accomplish His divine purposes.

* As children of God we should take comfort from this.

* As children of God we also should have hope & faith from this truth.

39* Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you,* 

Kingdom & king seem to be used interchangeably here in Daniel two.

Second kingdom is Medo-Persian

* The breast and arms of silver—The Medo-Persian kingdom (539-330 B.C.).

Darius the Mede conquered Babylon (Dan.

5:30-31).

* The arms of silver evidently represent the two nations of Media and Persia that together defeated Babylon.

Though that *kingdom* lasted over 200 years (539-330 b.c.), longer than the Neo-Babylonian Empire of 87 years (626-539), the Medo-Persian Empire was *inferior to* it, as silver compared with gold.

* The inferiority of each subsequent empire is expressed by the decreasing value of the materials.

* Inferior to Babylon?

In what way?

* In power?

No!

* In size?

No!

* In majesty?

Possibly.

* In morality?

Some say, "Daniel seemed to have been suggesting that the sinfulness of the world would continue to increase until the culmination of history."

* This is true, man gets worse with time until God steps in & acts.

*and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

*

 

Third kingdom - Greece

* The belly and thighs of bronze—The Grecian kingdom (330-63 B.C.).

Alexander the Great established what was probably the largest empire in ancient times.

He died in 323 B.C.

* Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persians between 334 and 330 b.c. and assumed authority over its peoples and territory.

By Alexander’s conquests he extended the Greek Empire as far east as the northwestern portion of India—an extensive empire that seemingly was *over the whole earth.*

40* And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things.

And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.*

The fourth kingdom is Rome

* The Roman Empire (63 B.C.-ca.

A.D. 475).

* The legs of *iron* represent the Roman Empire.

This fourth kingdom conquered the Greek Empire in 63 b.c.

* This empire was characterized by its strength, as *iron* is stronger than bronze, silver, and gold.

* The Roman Empire was stronger than any of the previous empires.

* It crushed *all the *empires that had preceded it.

(*iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things)*

* Rome in its cruel conquest swallowed up the lands and peoples that had been parts of the three previous empires and assimilated those lands and peoples into itself.

* In summary, the traditional interpretation is that the kingdoms represented by the image are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

* 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

*

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

\\ 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

*

 

There is a great deal of misunderstanding as to what these verse are referring to.

Some think they are referring to the ancient Rome empire & others something yet in the future.

* The key to understanding the passage rests on the interpretation of the rock that fills the earth.

* That the rock symbolizes the kingdom of God is specifically declared in the text (2:44–45).

* So the feet & toes of clay must be around at the start of the fifth & final kingdom.

* But there is disagreement concerning the nature of the kingdom referred to in Daniel 2:44-45.

* Some Bible teachers contend that vv.

44–45 refer to Christ’s spiritual kingdom in the hearts of believers that commenced at his first coming.

* Ancient Rome was ruling at that time; therefore the feet and toes represent that empire.

* The problem with this is why would the dream go from talking about real physical kingdoms to a spiritual one?

* Other Bible teachers maintain or teach that the kingdom in view is Christ’s physical reign on the earth inaugurated immediately following his second coming.

* It follows that if the kingdom described in v. 44 refers to Christ’s personal, earthly kingdom set up at his second coming, then the last part of the statue must represent an earthly empire existing immediately prior to Christ’s return.

The feet & toes, are they therefore another kingdom or are they Rome?

* The feet & toes are not called another kingdom, they are called the same kingdom in verse 42.

* But to be around at the second coming of Jesus there needs to be some kind of revival of the Roman Empire.

* This is possible because no other kingdom ever defeated of destroyed the ancient Roman Empire.

* Individual nations emerged out of the ancient Roman Empire.

Some of those nations and others stemming from them have continued till the present day.

* In other words the people of the Roman Empire are still around today.

* Yet these people do not mix together just like iron & clay do not mix together.

* I must say that this revived Roman Empire will not be set up until the time of or just before the Great Tribulation because Christ second coming & reign on earth is not until the end of the Great Tribulation.

* It is not the European Union as some have said.