DANIEL — LESSON 3

Scriptures for Lesson 3 are taken from Daniel 2.

In Daniel Lesson 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a very puzzling dream. He called in all his wise men and told them to tell him his dream and then interpret if for him. They were of course unable to do this so the king ordered all his wise men to be killed. Daniel and his three Hebrew friends were among the captives who were in wise man training would also be killed. Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah went straight to God asking Him to provide the answers that King Nebuchadnezzar wanted. God answered and revealed to Daniel the dream and its interpretation.

In Daniel 2:24-35, Daniel goes to Arioch, the man who was to kill all the wise men and asked to see the king, explaining that he could interpret the king’s dream. So Daniel was taken to the king . When the king asked him if he was able to interpret the dream, Daniel said that he could not, no man could, but the God who was in heaven had revealed it to Daniel. Daniel then proceeded to tell the king his dream and interpret its meaning. The king’s dream was this:

[Daniel 2:31-35] (31) ”Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. (32) The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, (33) its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. (34) While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. (35) Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

The great statue made up of different types of metals and earth represents kingdoms that will rule over that part of the world for about 600 years.

The interpretation that was given to Daniel by God is this:

[Daniel 2:36-38] (36) “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. (37) Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; (38) in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

More specifically the great statue represents the kingdoms that will rule over Israel. That is why it begins with the gold head that represents Babylon. Babylon was the first to rule over Israel after they conquered Judah and carried away captives to Babylon In 606 BC.

[Daniel 2:39] (39) “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.

The kingdom that comes next made of silver covering the chest and arms represents the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. They will take Babylon in 538 BC. It says that this kingdom will be inferior to Babylon, thus it is represented by a metal that is less valuable than gold. The next kingdom to rule will be Greece and they are represented by bronze. Led by Alexander the Great, the Greeks conquered the Persian Empire, including all of Palestine in 333 BC.

[Daniel 2:40-43] (40) Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron — for iron breaks and smashes everything — and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. (41) Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. (42) As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. (43) And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

The fourth kingdom is represented by the two legs of the statue and they are made of iron. This fourth kingdom is Rome. The two legs represent the eastern and western Roman Empires. Greece was finally taken by the Romans about 63 BC. Herod the Great was proclaimed King over Israel by Rome in 37 BC.

Next on the statue we have the feet made of a mixture of iron and clay. These represent world empires that will rule after the fall of the Roman Empire. They will be many different nations, some weak and some strong and not united in purpose, therefore making them weak. Following the fall of the Roman Empire we have the Church Age and the nations that have ruled and will rule until the end of the church age. That is the time period we are in today.

On the feet we have ten toes. They, too, are made of iron and clay. They likely represent ten nations that will rise up during the time of the Antichrist and his empire.

[Daniel 2:44-45] (44) “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (45) This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

You will see on the statue a rock. This rock is cut out of a mountain by the hand of God and it will come down and crush the world nations that are in power at that time. Daniel then tells Nebuchadnezzar that the great God has shown the king what will take place in the future and he can be certain that it will come about.

[Daniel 2:46-47] (46) Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. (47) The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

Has Nebuchadnezzar truly believed that God is the only God? Not likely. He probably believes that Daniel’s God is more powerful than most gods and that Daniel’s God is a ruler over other gods as future lessons will reveal.

[Daniel 2:48-49] (48) Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. (49) Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

King Nebuchadnezzar has now put Daniel in the position of his chief wise man, given him valuable gifts and made him chief ruler over Babylon next to the king. The other three Hebrew boys are given positions as administrators or like governors over other provinces under Babylonian rule. But the king keeps Daniel there at the royal court with him. Notice that the other three Hebrew boys are now referred to by their Babylonian names.

I would like at this time to point out that God has allowed Babylon to take much of Israel, His chosen people captive. However, God has placed Daniel in a high political position where he will be able protect the Israelites during the seventy years that they are captives in Babylon. Also note that here in Babylon, one of the captives is the prophet Ezekiel. God has placed him here with his people to watch over them spiritually and to give them God’s messages all the time that they are in exile in Babylon. Even though God is not with them as a nation anymore, He is watching over them and protecting them.

Lessons we can learn for our lives from Daniel chapter 2:
1: God knows the future.
2: God is in control of the nations.
3: God protects and provides for His people.
4: If you have accepted Christ as you Savior, you are one of God’s people.
5: I believe that God uses us to watch over each other.

Next week, Nebuchadnezzar reacts to his vision.

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