|
A HISTORICAL DREAM |
|
A young man who helped his father on the farm, presented himself to the deacons of the Church stating that he desired to become a preacher. On being questioned as to his call to preach, he replied that the night before he had had a dream and in the dream he had seen in the sky, written in large characters of gold, the letters P. C. He interpreted it to mean, "Preach Christ."
He was invited to preach in the following service. When he was through, the chairman of the deacons walked up to him and said, “My young brother, I think you have misinterpreted your dream. After listening to you preach tonight, it is my opinion that the letters P. C. you saw in your dream does not mean, in your case, Preach Christ. I think it means Plough Corn. You best go back to the farm.”
In our last study we saw a troubled Nebuchadnezzar. It was a historical dream. As we saw in our last study, his dream was the most comprehensive picture of world history found anywhere in the Bible.
Nebuchadnezzar was greatly distressed by a dream he’d had and to complicate matters more, he had been unable to find anyone who could tell him the meaning of the dream. The dream had had such impact upon him, for fear that he would not be given a proper interpretation, he had demanded that anyone who sought to interpret the dream, first tell him what the dream was. If they could tell him his dream, then he was confident they could tell him the meaning of the dream.
Since no one could tell him either the dream or the meaning, he gave the decree that all his wise men be slain. It was then that Daniel and three friends stepped into the picture. They went to God in prayer and God revealed the dream and the meaning unto Daniel. We read in verse 19, “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” God showed Daniel the dream and the meaning of the dream.
In verses 24-49 we find Daniel going before Nebuchadnezzar and giving him the interpretation of the dream.
Let’s look at these verses by first noticing:
1. THE MESSAGE OF THE DREAM
We read in verses 24-26, “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?”
When Daniel was brought before Nebuchadnezzar, he was asked two questions: 1) Can you tell me the dream I had? 2) Can you tell me what the dream means? Now, let’s look at how Daniel answered the king.
First, Daniel spoke of:
A) The Revealer of the Dream
Daniel seized the opportunity to magnify His God. If you remember, in our past studies we have seen how Daniel and several Jewish youths had been carried away to Babylon and everything had been done to strip them of their religious heritage. Nebuchadnezzar’s goal was to get them to abandon their God and embrace the gods of Babylon. When Daniel stood before Nebuchadnezzar, he used it as an opportunity to show Nebuchadnezzar the inability of his gods verses the ability of His God. Daniel’s reply to the king stressed the following facts.
First, he began by reminding the king of the inability of his wise men to either show or interpret his dream. We read in verse 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.”
Secondly, he made it clear who was the source of the dream and the One who gave him the interpretation of the dream. We read in verse 28, “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets.” Daniel was making it clear that it was not one of the Babylonian gods, but His God, the God of Israel, who gave the dream and showed the meaning of the dream to him. This was a bold step for Daniel for it minimized Nebuchadnezzar’s gods and exalted his God. Daniel was declaring that the gods of Nebuchadnezzar lacked the ability of His God. Thirdly, Daniel gave all glory to God and disclaimed any credit or glory for his knowledge of the dream and its meaning. We read in verse 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.” After declaring who was the revealer of the dream, Daniel spoke of: b) The Revelation of the Dream Before Daniel gave the interpretation of the dream, he explained the purpose of the dream. We read in verses 28-29, “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; [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.” The purpose of the dream was a revelation of “what shall be in the latter days” and “what shall to come to pass.” It was a revelation of the future, a historical and prophetic dream. It would appear while one night lying in bed Nebuchadnezzar had got to thinking about his future and the future of his kingdom. God not only showed him his future, but the future of world history as well. One great truth that is revealed in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the book of Daniel is that God is in charge of all history. As the little children’s song says, He’s got the whole world in His hands. The Bible reveals that there is a direction and purpose in history and that God is the One with the hand on the wheel and is ordering the course of world affairs in fulfillment of His purpose and plan. As it has been well said, history is His story. Since He is the One in charge, He has always known what would and will happen in history and how things will turn out. Therefore, He knows the future and can reveal the future. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was but God giving a revelation of not only Nebuchadnezzar’s future, but the future of the world as well. After making it clear the source of the dream and who had shown him the dream, Daniel then tells the king the dream and gives it meaning. This leads us to notice not only the message of the dream, but also: 2. THE MEANING OF THE DREAM We read in verse 31, “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image.” You can be sure that Daniel had the undivided attention of Nebuchadnezzar. The minute he mentioned an image, he knew that Daniel was not fluke. As Daniel described the dream, he first spoke of: A) What the King Saw Personally in the Dream David told Nebuchadnezzar his dream in verses 31-35: “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. 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. 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.”
Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream a magnificent image. It was described as a “great image,” speaking of its size. It’s “brightness was excellent” which describes how it was dazzling in appearance because of its metallic construction. It was “terrible” in its form which simply means that it was awesome in appearance.
The head of the image was made of gold; its arms and breast of silver; its belly and thighs of brass; its legs of iron, and its feet a composition of iron and clay.
Then in the dream something happened to the image. Suddenly a stone that was cut out without hands struck the image with incredible force completely destroying the image to where nothing of it remained. It became like chaff that was blown away by the wind.
The stone that destroyed the image was then seen becoming a gigantic mountain that filled the earth.
I can see Nebuchadnezzar sitting on his throne with eyes as big as saucers as Daniel said to him in verse 36, “This is the dream.” This was the dream the king had personally seen in his dream. Then Daniel said “we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.” When Daniel gave the interpretation of the dream we see: b) What the King Saw Prophetically in the Dream As already stated by Daniel, the dream was to reveal the latter times and what shall come to pass. There was a prophetic meaning to the dream. Let’s walk through this interpretation of the dream with Daniel and how the dream gives us a comprehensive picture of history. As you look at the dream you find that each section of the image speaks of certain kingdoms or empires. First, Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream a head of gold and Daniel revealed that the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar himself and the Babylonian empire. We read in verses 37-38, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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.” The Babylonian kingdom or empire lasted from 612-539 b.c. This was a kingdom of power, strength, and glory. Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar that God had given him his kingdom which once again reminds us that God is in the One in charge of all history. Secondly, Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream that the arms and chest of the image were made of silver. We read in verse 39, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” History is our friend in knowing who this empire was for we know that Medo-Persians conquered the city of Babylon in 539 b.c. This kingdom is illustrated in the dream as both chest and arms symbolizing the two divisions of this kingdom. It is represented by silver which is inferior to gold, and as the arms are inferior to the head. The Medo-Persia kingdom was larger geographically, but inferior in its quality of government and rule.
Thirdly, Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream that the belly and thighs were made of brass. We read in verse 39 of “another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” History tells us that the Medo-Persia empire was followed by Greece who had conquered the then known world by 331 b.c.
Fourthly, Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream that the legs of the image were made of iron. We read in verse 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.” This kingdom we know to be the Roman Empire which lasted until 476 a.d. This was a empire that ruled with iron, crushing and demolishing all resistance. All of this was future for Nebuchadnezzar, but for us it is history. We can look back and see how events unfolded just a God predicted through the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. Since God is in control of history, He can predict the future.
But there is more to the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. He saw ten toes made of iron and clay. We read in verses 41-43, “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.” For us, verses 37-40 are history and verses 41-45 are prophecy. The ten toes represent a kingdom that is yet to rise to power. Since these toes are made partially of iron, it would imply a revival of the Roman Empire that is represented by the legs of iron. The ten toes seem to indicate a federation of ten kings or an alliance of nations from the part of the world that originally made up the Roman Empire. These ten toes being of both iron and clay would seem to indicate that this federation is made of both strong and weak nations. That they are not seen as cleaving to one another would seem to indicate that they are separate nations although allied as one. There are many who see the European Union, which is made up of nations from the old Roman Empire as the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy. The final part of the dream involved the stone destroying the image. We read in verses 44-45, “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 for ever. 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.”
The kingdom represented by the ten toes will be in power at the time Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom upon the earth. He will conquer and destroy the nations of the world and set up His kingdom and it will last stand forever.
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was historical and prophetical. Just as what we know as history was fulfilled just as God said, we know that what has not been fulfilled with be fulfilled. The accuracy of Bible prophecy in the past only assures of the accuracy of the future.
In closing notice:
3. THE MINISTRY OF THE DREAM
I say ministry, because God used Daniel’s ability to know and interpret the dream to accomplish certain things in Daniel’s life. First, notice:
a) Daniel is Praised
We read ion verses 47-48, “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.”
There was an acknowledgement of Daniel and also of His God. Nebuchadnezzar recognized Daniel’s superiority over all his wise men and even recognized Daniel’s God as being superior to the gods of Babylon.
b) Daniel is Promoted We read in verses 48-49, “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.”
Daniel was given both presents and position. Daniel became the most influential man in Babylon apart from Nebuchadnezzar himself. Daniel also used the opportunity to advance the conditions of his friends getting them the position of being charge of the affairs of Babylon. As for Daniel, he sat in the gate of king….He did the king’s business.
The dream served as a ministry in Daniel’s life. God used the dream to not only give us a glimpse of the future, but also to exalt and elevate Daniel. Yes, God is in charge and all things are always working for our good and His glory. © 2006 by the Living Word |
