“I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of a king.”
– Daniel 2:23
Hi James and Ellen,
When you have had a dream, do you always remember what you dreamed? After you have had a dream, do you sometimes believe that what you dreamed will come true? Have you ever told your dad or ma or a kid friend about a dream that you had and your dad or ma or the kid friend who you told your dream interpreted for you what was in the dream? If you had a dream that you just cannot remember what you dreamed, would you ask your dad or ma or a kid friend to tell you what you dreamed? The despotic, tyrannical king – whose name was Nebuchadnezzar, who was in 604 B.C. ruling over the powerful, expanding neo-Babylonian empire had a very troubling dream. When the Nebuchadnezzar woke up, Nebuchadnezzar could not remember the contents of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar not only desperately wanted to know the contents of the dream; he also really wanted to know what the dream meant. Because Nebuchadnezzar could no longer sleep because of having a constant, gnawing anxiety of not knowing what the contents were of the dream that he had and what the dream meant, Nebuchadnezzar became so furious with the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers in Babylonia because they could not tell him what he had dreamed about in the dream – let alone being able to interpret what the dream meant, Nebuchadnezzar decreed that all the wise men who was living in Babylonia be killed. Daniel – who was on the list of Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men, was directly affected by Nebuchadnezzar’s utterly irrational, harsh death edict. Daniel 2 has Daniel’s report of his role in telling Nebuchadnezzar what his haunting dreams were about and the meaning of these dreams.
As Arioch – who was Nebuchadnezzar’s commander of his guard, was about to enact Nebuchadnezzar’s diktat to kill all the wise men who were living in Babylonia, Daniel – who was known to Nebuchadnezzar by the name of Belteshazzar, used tact and wisdom to speak to Arioch – to ask Arioch if he would go to Nebuchadnezzar to set up a time with him to talk. After Daniel met with Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel got Nebuchadnezzar to hold off killing him until he knew what the content and meaning of his dream was, Daniel asked his three buddies – Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were known in Babylonia by the names of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, to pray urgently to God – to plead with God for His mercy by telling Daniel what Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was and to give Danial the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. God during that night revealed to Daniel – in a vision, the content and the mystery or meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel right away began praising God for answering his and his friends’ beseeching, persistent prayers so quickly. Verse 23 says, “I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of a king.”’ Nebuchadnezzar – in his dream, had seen an enormous, dazzling statute. The statute’s head that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream was made from pure gold, the statute’s chest and arms were made from silver, the statute’s belly and thighs were made from bronze and the statute’s feet were made from iron and partly baked clay. While Nebuchadnezzar – in his dream, was looking at and admiring the statute, a rock that had been cut out without the use of tools smashed against the statute’s feet causing the awesome statute to come crashing down to the ground with every element of the statute becoming like threshing floor chaff that wind easily blew away. The tumbling rock became a mountain that overwhelmed planet Earth.
It had to have been a heady thing for Nebuchadnezzar to be told by Daniel that the pure gold head represented him – that God – as the God of the heavens, had given him for a season, dominion, power, might and glory over all mankind as well as over the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. What Nebuchadnezzar did not know was that in 539 B.C., the Medo-Persian empire army would overthrow the Neo-Babylonian empire army. The silver chest and the arms of the statute that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream represented the Medo-Persian empire. Then in about 330 B.C., the Greek empire – led by Alexander the Great, replaced the Medo-Persian empire. The thighs and the bronze belly of the statute that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream represented the Greek empire. Over time, the Greek empire was replaced by the Roman empire. The Roman empire were the iron and partly baked clay feet of the statute that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The diminishing value of each metal – from head to feet, represented the decreasing power and declining grandeur of the rulers of each successive empire. The Babylonian empire leaders were dictatorial while the Roman empire leaders were democratic. The random, rolling overpowering rock denotes a fifth kingdom – which is God’s eternal kingdom that is being built on the sinful empires that were being reigned over by wicked dudes. Because Nebuchadnezzar was really pleased with Daniel for having told him his dream and for having interpreted his dream to him, Nebuchadnezzar positioned Daniel as the Babylon province ruler, he gave Daniel gifts and he placed Daniel in charge of all the wise men. Your grandpaa usually does not remember what he has dreamt. Your grandpaa believes though that a dream at times has a meaning or a message that God is passing on to him. Your grandpaa knows that he needs to be a lot more conscious of knowing that Jesus is always with him.
Daniel 2 (1011)