Daniel Chapter 2
Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured For Christ Author:"All of those pastors who were of the liberal interpretation of the Scriptures, the modernist interpretation, which did not believe in Scriptural inerrancy, none of them was able to stand in the time of persecution that happened in Romania, simply because of the fact that it was very difficult to suffer, and be in prison, and possibly die for Jesus, whom you weren't sure even existed, or that He had died for your sins and risen from the dead."
The Book of Daniel, Chapter 2
(Daniel 2:1)
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
- No doubt having nightmares is stressful, even if it is not a, prophecy from God
- The spirit here is not the spirit that is what comes alive when we are born again at all
- The same exact thing happened to Pharaoh
- Pharaoh dreamed, he woke up, he was troubled in his spirit, he asked for interpretation from his occultic staff, none could interpret it, and it all came to pass anyways
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
(Daniel 2:2)
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
- Magicians, sorcerers, astrologers, soothsayers, etc. can only put thoughts into one's head.
- These are the staff advisors to the king
- Naming "the Chaldeans" as a title is like saying "the occultic"
- They cannot get out of one's head what God puts into one's head
- When we pray out loud, the enemy hears. When we pray silently and read the Word, only God hears and, if we are in His will and only in His will, we hear back, and it is confirmed both by the Word and the Holy Spirit
And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
- Wanting to know a dream shows this dream had a tremendous impact on Nebuchadnezzar
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
- "O king, live forever" is either a thing that was required to say out of respect, like we might say today, "Your Majesty" or, "Your Highness" to a royal
- "O king, live forever"is also repeated throughout Daniel, even towards Cyrus
- To live forever in the minds of these occultists is not what we think of as eternal life. It was a pagan concept of life after life, sheol, hades, not Heaven, certainly not hell.
- Another thing to note is that anyone can make up the meaning of any dream someone else has. No one can know the dream in the flesh, nor by a spirit. God has to reveal it if it is His will to do so.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
- This is where the supernatural realm fails, since it is not of God
- Either he forgot it or he was testing them......50/50 belief here
- In either case, the important thing is that THEY do not know the dream.
- There is no doubt that the devilish/demonic realm has power, but it is limited to deception, not reception
- The failure had very deadly consequences, showing that Nebuchadnezzar had power over many men, was desperate for an answer and was a bloodthirsty, maniacal murderer.
- The reputation of Nebuchadnezzar is that he did not make idle threats; he was literally a butcher.
- He roasted officers over the fire-he had absolute authority
- Making the house desolate forever was a decreed custom from Babylon all of the way to Greece, and even today in Muslim Nations. In Rome and Greece, entire neighborhoods would be vacant "forever"
- In Sudan from 1992-2001, a quarter of a million homes of Christians were burned and uninhabited
- 1.2 million overall, in Khartoum, Sudan
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. (Ezra 6:11)
Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
(Daniel 2:6)
But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
- Conversely, the man has power enough to reward this supernatural set of soothsayers if they can do the impossible
- All of the riches in the world are not going to get the revelation of God, from God
- Nebuchadnezzar does not know the source of the dream is from the real God of Israel, so perhaps he thinks that he can pay off the gods he thinks it comes from
They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
- Today we call this, "salesmanship" or "sleight of hand", or "just a little fine print. Nothing to be worried about. Just "sign right here and we will reveal the interpretation to you" or "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"
- These men know full well that they cannot discern the dream and they cannot make something up either, since Nebuchadnezzar had the dream-so, if any answer was wrong, he would know it immediately, making this an impossible situation for these men.
- This is LOSE-LOSE for the magicians, sorcerers, astrologers, soothsayers, Chaldeans
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
- Nebuchadnezzar thought he was on to their stall tactics, but this is not stalling per se. They simply have no clue about his dream
- This is a "time" honored stall tactic of politicians
- Nebuchadnezzar knows they are merely stalling
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
- Again, there is no wiggle room for the magicians, soothsayers, astrologers, sorcerers
- He again calls out their stalling tactics ("till the time be changed")
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
- They got one thing right here..even unbelievers know some truth
- One thing about truth.....those who do not know it? Are often dead silent and cannot, do not answer.
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
- Again, more truth. no one can do such a thing except God
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- This was a 100% annihilation of all astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, Chaldeans, etc.
- An entire class of people was at stake of being killed
- This would include Daniel (a wise man)
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
- It is now over for the wise men of Babylon
- It is obvious that they could not give Nebuchadnezzar neither his dream nor the interpretation thereof
Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
- He answered "with counsel and wisdom", not just answered
- The decree went forth, and is now being carried out-it was not a joke/practice/test run
- This shows the absolute authority Nebuchadnezzar had in Babylon
- This Arioch the captain of the king's guard is also the captain of all of the executioners who would carry out the task and give the order to kill them
He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
- You cannot just stop a decree of a king like this by questioning what the rush is, without some sort of rapport
- This was unknown to Daniel what was going on, as he was not included in the number present before the king to know and interpret his dream
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
- This shows even more rapport to be able to do this.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
- This is Daniel's people backup-his companions
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
- Today we call this an emergency prayer meeting
- It was pretty much a done deal for the wise men of Babylon
- Without intervention, they were dead
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
- Validation that on earth, no man can know another's dreams. Only God can.
- He revealed it to Daniel. He could have revealed it to anyone, technically, but only to Daniel
- He would never reveal it to occultists, nor can the enemy reveal it to anyone, since the dream is from God Himself
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
- This is acknowledgement of the source of all wisdom and might-God
- One has to be thankful that they will not be killed along with many others, including their companions
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
- Man thinks events are cyclical, but only the natural world is cyclical
- There is a cyclical nature to the nation of Israel, and nations that fall away and repent, and believers who do the same, which we call repent, rinse and repeat
- But history is anything but cyclical and is advancing along God's timeline, at His pace.
- Man cannot alter history in any way-"He changeth the times and the seasons"...not us
- As we shall see when he gives Nebuchadnezzar the dream and the interpretation, he is saying here he knows what the dream is by the mention of God's Sovereignty over man's empires.
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
- What He does not reveal, is hidden, unknown and, most importantly, unknowable.
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
(Isaiah 45:3)
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
(Daniel 2:23)
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
- Because of God alone, Daniel is the only one who has the answer for Nebuchadnezzar.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
(Proverbs 16:1)
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
(Daniel 2:24)
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.
- Halt the execution! I have the king's answer!
- At this point, Daniel had better be right, in the human realm, or else they will all lose their heads-literally
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.
- Arioch proudly and falsely claims that he is the hero here, finding the answer in Daniel.
- Did Arioch find Daniel or vice versa? The above verse tells us Danile went to him, not hi mto Daniel
- So often we think we did something great, when Gid does it and we claim the glory for it.
When you kneel before God, you can stand before men
(Daniel 2:26)
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?
- The Babylonian name given to Daniel is Belteshazzar
- He is asking if Daniel can give the answer, not verbally, but spiritually
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;
- The bad news......man cannot do it, even "spiritual men"
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;
- He does not say HE can do it either
- The Real Revealer of hidden things, God Himself. The God in Heaven
- Q: Did God put the visions in his head? Or is this just a dream?
- This vision is for today, the latter days also........throughout history
(Daniel 2:29)
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.
- Again, God is called out as the Great Revealer
- "He that revealeth secrets"
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.
- It must be remembered that these wise men are standing there, around the throne and listening
- He now reveals that this answer is by grace, not by anything Daniel has done
- the "their" here must be the Trinity, since it is plural, and God is the reveal-er of both the dream and interpretation.
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.
- Awesome, terrible, great image, demands reverence
- Brightness, standing before Nebuchadnezzar
1. Frightful; adapted to excite terror; dreadful; formidable.
Prudent in peace, and terrible in war.
The form of the image was terrible. Dan 2.
2. Adapted to impress dread, terror or solemn awe and reverence.
The Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. Deu 7.
Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. Psa 99.
He hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have See n. Deu 10.
3. adv. Severely; very; so as to give pain; as terrible cold; a colloquial phrase.
(Daniel 2:32-33)
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
- A man of different metals
- Iron impure, with clay
- Arranged in order of preciousness and specific gravity, and degenerate in value, increase in strength until the last one
- Two legs start the separation of the body....once that happens, the ten toes now completely separate out and, being made part of clay, crumble.
- Toes and feet make statues stand or fall
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.
- Cut without hands.
- This is a supernatural kingdom
- This has to be Christ's reign in the millennium, as all other kingdoms are gone, and his fills the wwhole earth
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.
- All kingdoms on earth eventually fall, fail, once and for all.
- God is the one who sets them up, and the one who takes them down.
- Again, to repeat, this has to be Christ's millennial kingdom, 1,000 year reign on earth, as all other kingdoms are gone, and his fills the whole earth
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
- There is no doubt that a king who has this dream, not knowing God, would be very confused, since he would not believe in a God who can foretell things like empires generations away into the future.
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
- God is the giver of kingdoms
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
- Head of Gold-Currrent Babylonian Kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar-Conquered by Medo-Persians, who did not destroy Babylon (Babylon ruled from 606-539 B.C.), Babylon was the secondary capital
- Silver-Medo-Persian Empire-Cyrus, (of mixed parents, Persian and Mede) the "Persian Empire", who conquered, but did not destroy, Babylon was secondary capital. (539-332 B.C.)
- Brass-Greek Empire-Alexander the Great conquered the Persians
(kingdom was later divided by four generals (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June
323 BC)) His four generals divide it up after he dies a
young man, having had nothing left to conquer. This is the 400 silent
year period, more or less. According to
Josephus, Alexander was shown the book of Daniel's
prophecy, presumably chapter 8, which described a mighty Greek king who
would conquer the Persian Empire. He then proceeded to spare
Jerusalem and pushed south, conquering his
way into Egypt.
- Iron mixed with Clay-Ancient Roman Empire (68 B.C.)-Splits up, never conquered, revived in the last days
(Daniel 2:38)
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.
- This is so far good for Nebuchadnezzar
- He forgets that this also is working from the top down
- He also is not the entire thing, just the head, no body, limbs, etc.
- Nebuchadnezzar is not the last king on earth, just the one at the time of the prophecy
- None of these are the most important, either. The King of Kings is the most important
- All parts of the body make up history; he is just the head and they are all together working to make all of history to the end, from then to now and into the future
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
- The Medo-Persian Empire under Cyrus was, compared to Babylon, like silver is to gold
- Silver is stronger, but less precious, glorious, rare than gold
- Brass is a symbol of judgment in the Bible-stronger than silver, less precious
- The Brass was the Greek Empire, founded by Alexander
- The Greeks were known as an empire of judgment
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.
- Rome was a worldwide kingdom which subdued all others and was around at the time of Jesus Christ
- This simply imploded, collapsed into ten kingdoms
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.
- It was not conquered, it was divided up, broke in pieces
- Dutch, Spanish, French, Germans, British, all had their empires, but not for long.
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.
- This above is proof that they were partly strong and partly weak, or broken
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.
- Clay: People?
- Miry Clay: Dust, made from dust
- "with the seed of men".......means "they" is not men.....could it be today, the Genesis 6 repeat of cloning or messing with man's DNA??
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.
- The Millenial Kingdom of Jesus Christ cannot be destroyed Every word in this verses is self-explanatory, really
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.
- This is all of world history from then to now and future, revealed to a pagan king, by a humble man, getting the dream and interpretation from God Himself
- Complete, Divine, God-Man Revelation
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
- Well, he shouldn't have worshipped Daniel per se, but he did recognize Daniel's God
- It is not recorded, but I am sure that Daniel told him to get up, or maybe through someone else, as you did not always tell Nebuchadnezzar what to do
- In Genesis 41, Joseph did the same for Pharaoh, with the same result.
Any thing offered or presented in worship or sacred service; an offering; a sacrifice.
Bring no more vain oblations. Isa 1.
(Genesis 41:43)
And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
(Daniel 2:47)
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.
- Nebbie gets it right!
- Again it needs to be repeated
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
(Isaiah 45:3)
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
(Daniel 2:48)
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.
- Sometimes, in this world, even evil people do great things for God's people
- This is a similar thing that Jesus does and did for us, a parallel
Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
(Ephesians 4:8)
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Daniel 2:49)
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.
- Never forget your friends when you move up.
Daniel Chapter 3
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