BaptistWay Press® Premium Commentary By Dr. Howard Batson Pastor, First Baptist Church Amarillo, Texas Studies in Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel) Lesson Three The Dream Revealed Focal Text Daniel 2:31-49 Background Genesis 41 Main Idea This passage demonstrates God’s sovereignty over his people’s past, present, and future and gives His people continued confidence and hope. Question to Explore Daniel used his position for kingdom purposes. In what practical ways can you use your position, gifts, and abilities for God’s kingdom? Teaching Aim To lead adults to learn that the highest form of devotion is to always seek to exalt God ahead of themselves. Quick Read The dream and the interpretation were both from God, most of which is now factual history. And the best is yet to come. Page 1 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Three. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in Premium Commentary are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org Daniel 2:31-49, The Dream Revealed Introduction The king was clearly in a crisis. Having been troubled by a terrible nightmare, Nebuchadnezzar could find no one—not a magician, conjuror, or sorcerer—who could both re-tell and interpret his dream. In a fit of frustration, he demanded that Arioch, his chief bodyguard, destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Despite their ineptness, the Chaldean wise men spoke truth to the king, “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” (v. 11). Seeking to destroy all the sages as commanded by the king, Arioch approaches Daniel and his friends to kill them (v. 13). In the midst of much prayer, however, God delivered to Daniel both the dream and its interpretation. Approaching the king, Daniel echoed the Chaldean wise men when he too admitted that no conjuror, magician, or diviner is able to declare the king’s dream. Daniel continued, “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” (v. 28). In our present lesson, Daniel both delivers the long-awaited dream and makes known the mystery that had troubled the king. Commentary The Statue (2:31-33) Doing what the Chaldean sages could not, Daniel declared the king’s dream with clarity. In the dream, the king saw a gargantuan statue, one of extraordinary splendor. In ancient near-Eastern dreams, gigantic figures were a frequent theme.1 For example, Marneptah, the 13th century pharaoh, had a dream envisioning a giant statue of Ptah, the Egyptian creator god.2 Not only did large statues inhabit the dreams of ancient kings, they were also a part of the greater culture. Herodotus (1.183), in fact, reports that at the temple of Bel in Babylon there was a figure of a man, twelve cubits high (approximately 20 feet tall), made entirely of solid gold. As in Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare, the use of precious metals to form such statutes was also quite common.3 Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, however, was unique in that it depicted not a god, but the course of the kingdoms of history. Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare contained a statue made with a casting of a combination of different metals. While the layered metals seem odd to our sensibilities, statues built in Babylon and Persia often contained a combination of precious metals including bronze and iron joined and covered with gold and silver.4 Page 2 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Three. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Daniel 2:31-49, The Dream Revealed While the text itself makes no mention of the monetary value of the various metals, the careful reader will quickly note that the value of the metals employed in making the statue decline in value from head to toe; the head is cast out of fine gold while the feet are a combination of iron and common clay. Although many modern translations describe the statue as “awesome” (v. 31), a better translation would be “dreadful.5 Taken as a whole, the various metals suggest a combination of both costliness and strength. Yet, as we cast our eyes to the bottom, to the feet, we realize that the brittle clay represents vulnerability in what would otherwise be a foreboding figure for any nightmare. Surely this statue anticipates the statue to be formed by Nebuchadnezzar himself in chapter 3.6 The Stone (2:34) Two characters create the plot in Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare—the statue and the stone. The stone does not represent something created, as it was “cut out without hands.” All cosmic elements are divided between the created and the creator. Therefore, we can conclude with some confidence that the stone represents the creator himself. The plot unfolds as the stone strikes the statue’s one point of vulnerability, the clay feet. David’s smooth stone, which struck the armor-covered giant, comes to mind. In David’s case, of course, the vulnerable target point was the head and not the feet. The Chaff (2:35) As the stone struck the feet, the entirety of the statue was demolished. The crushing was so comprehensive that all the precious metals were simultaneously broken apart into chaff-like particles which were simply blown away by the wind, leaving no trace of the once-fearsome figure. Surprisingly, the striking stone was transformed into an enormous mountain capable of filling the whole earth. The Interpretation (2:36-45) Daniel, apparently, was not above using a little flattery in revealing the mysteries of the megalomaniacal king’s dream. He began his interpretation by describing Nebuchadnezzar as the “king of kings, to whom the God of heaven had given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory.” “King of kings,” a superlative title, was also applied to Nebuchadnezzar in Ezekiel 26:7. It was used, likewise, as a title for Persian monarchs.7 Despite Daniel’s kind words to the king, however, we must not miss Daniel’s central message: God is the maker and breaker of kings and kingdoms. Already in his song of thanksgiving, Daniel had declared that God “removes kings” and “establishes kings” (v. 21). Now, though packaged in praise, Daniel was communicating, once again, that Nebuchadnezzar held power only as a gift from the God of heaven. God himself gave Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom, power, strength and glory (v. 37). Lest the reader miss Page 3 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Three. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Daniel 2:31-49, The Dream Revealed Daniel’s message, he repeated it again in verse 38, where he restated that he (the God of heaven) had placed all creatures under the rule of the king. Thus, because of God’s own choosing, Nebuchadnezzar was, for the moment, the head of gold (v. 38). Great debate exists, however, concerning the identity of the other kings/kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare. While we should not miss the overarching message that God is sovereign and kingdoms rise and fall, we will attempt to deal, nonetheless, with the details concerning the identity of the future kingdoms. Below are two interpretive schemes that represent the two most common readings of the kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare. Five kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare Elements of the Scheme 1 Scheme 2 Dream Head of Gold Nebuchadnezzar/Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar/Babylonian Empire Empire (605-539 B.C.) Arms and chest of Medo/Persian Empire Medo Empire silver (539-331 B.C.) Belly and thighs of Greek Empire Persian Empire bronze (331-146 B.C.) Legs of iron/feet Roman Empire Greek Empire of iron and clay (146 B.C.-A.D. 395) Stone/mountain Kingdom of God Kingdom of God We can be certain of the identity of the head of gold, as we are told by Daniel that it is Nebuchadnezzar, meaning the Babylonian Kingdom. Likewise, we can surmise with certainty that the stone/mountain represents the overpowering kingdom of God, which both crushes all kingdoms of men and fills the earth with God’s reign and rule (v. 44). The only uncertainties concern the earthly kingdoms that fall in between. The two most popular views among scholars are designated as the “Greek view” and the “Roman view.” The Roman view is held by most conservative scholars and actually can be traced back as early as Josephus.