Lessons from the life of Daniel
Please first read Daniel 2.
This story is very similar to Joseph's experience (Genesis 41:1-40).
What was the king's reason for this demand? He he forgotten the dream? Or was he making a test that would validate the accuracy of the wise man' interpretation? I believe it was the latter.
Nebuchadnezzar understood political "spin" and double talk. A famous example in history comes from a story about the Oracle of Delphi.
This story is very similar to Joseph's experience (Genesis 41:1-40).
- The king had a troublesome dream, that seemed to have an important meaning.
- The "magicians and wise men" were not able to interpret the dream.
- God's man (Joseph & Daniel) correctly interpreted the dream, indicating that God had chosen to reveal something special to the king about the future.
- Joseph and Daniel both were elevated to high positions of authority in the government.
- For both Joseph and Daniel, the situation had to became worse before it became better.
What was the king's reason for this demand? He he forgotten the dream? Or was he making a test that would validate the accuracy of the wise man' interpretation? I believe it was the latter.
Nebuchadnezzar understood political "spin" and double talk. A famous example in history comes from a story about the Oracle of Delphi.
Delphi was the home of the temple of Greek god of Apollo. It seems that gasses escaped from a geological fissure, and a prophetess for Apollo would hallucinate on those gasses, make weird noises, and say weird things. Other priests would offer an official "translation" of the woman's unintelligible sounds as if they were messages from Apollo.
Prominent people often came to Delphi to ask advice from "the gods" through the Oracle. One such supplicant was King Croesus of a small but wealthy kingdom of Lydia, in what today is west central Turkey. Lydia was famous for its fertile soil for farming, and as a natural source for gold. Around the year 500, the Persian empire was advancing through the Middle East, and King Croesus wanted to stop it. He consulted the Oracle of Delphi, asking whether or not he should attack the vastly superior army of Persia. The message from the Oracle was that if Croesus attacked Persia, "a great kingdom would fall." Croesus took that as a positive message, and he made the attack. However, the great kingdom that fell was his own.
King Nebuchadnezzar was no dummy. He understood that his fortune tellers were skilled in making predictions and giving advice that sounded profound, but really meant nothing specific -- a lot like today's fortune cookies and horoscopes. If he reported his dream to the wise men, they could tell him anything, and he couldn't know if what they told him was true or not... unless they could also tell him the dream first.
And what exactly did he dream? He saw a large statue, made of four different metals:
Daniel said that the four parts of the body made of four different metals each represent four different empires. In this chapter he only identifies the first empire - Babylonia. The other three empires would come in the future. Since we have the advantage of now looking back in history, we understand who Daniel was talking about:
When Jesus stood on trial in front of Pontius Pilate, His enemies accused him of the crime of claiming to be a king. Jesus explained to Pilate: "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be given over to the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." (John 17:36 NCV)
The Kingdom of God is simply Jesus reigning as king in the hearts of people who trust Him. And, according to Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that Kingdom would grow.... and grow... and grow... and cover the whole earth. Also we see here a clear prediction that all kingdoms of earth will one day end -- as the planet earth will one day be completely destroyed and we will have the privilege of living under Christ's reign, not as Secret Citizens, with a New Heaven and New Earth, created by God's own perfect design, free from all the politics, free from all the misery that we experience here. (See Revelation 21)
God's revelation to Nebuchadnezzar specifically identified only the first of the four empires (Daniel 2:37-38). Later God revealed to Daniel the identity of empires #2 (Medo-Persian) and #3 (Greek) in Daniel 8:20-21, Daniel 10:20, and Daniel 11:2-3. We have the benefit of having the hindsight of history that enables us to identify empire #4 as Rome. Other future events that God revealed to Daniel with great detail includes
If we read ahead a few chapters in Daniel, we learn that God had another important lesson for Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. Daniel told the king:
And what exactly did he dream? He saw a large statue, made of four different metals:
- Gold head
- Silver chest and arms
- Bronze stomach and thighs
- Iron legs (feet were a mixture of iron and baked clay)
Daniel said that the four parts of the body made of four different metals each represent four different empires. In this chapter he only identifies the first empire - Babylonia. The other three empires would come in the future. Since we have the advantage of now looking back in history, we understand who Daniel was talking about:
- Gold head = Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian empire (626BC)
- Silver chest = the Medo-Persian empire (Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes; 539BC)
- Bronze stomach and thighs = Alexander the Great's Greek empire (330BC)
- Iron legs = Roman empire (63BC )
When Jesus stood on trial in front of Pontius Pilate, His enemies accused him of the crime of claiming to be a king. Jesus explained to Pilate: "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be given over to the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." (John 17:36 NCV)
The Kingdom of God is simply Jesus reigning as king in the hearts of people who trust Him. And, according to Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that Kingdom would grow.... and grow... and grow... and cover the whole earth. Also we see here a clear prediction that all kingdoms of earth will one day end -- as the planet earth will one day be completely destroyed and we will have the privilege of living under Christ's reign, not as Secret Citizens, with a New Heaven and New Earth, created by God's own perfect design, free from all the politics, free from all the misery that we experience here. (See Revelation 21)
God's revelation to Nebuchadnezzar specifically identified only the first of the four empires (Daniel 2:37-38). Later God revealed to Daniel the identity of empires #2 (Medo-Persian) and #3 (Greek) in Daniel 8:20-21, Daniel 10:20, and Daniel 11:2-3. We have the benefit of having the hindsight of history that enables us to identify empire #4 as Rome. Other future events that God revealed to Daniel with great detail includes
- the breakup of the Greek empire into four divisions (Daniel 8:22; Daniel 11:4)
- the conflicts between Seleucids in Syria (north), and the Ptolemies in Egypt (south) (Daniel 11)
- their conquest of Israel
- the horrors Israel suffered during that time
- the Maccabeean revolt
- the crucifixion of Christ (Daniel 9:24-26)
- the Roman destruction of the temple (Daniel 9:26)
If we read ahead a few chapters in Daniel, we learn that God had another important lesson for Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. Daniel told the king:
"God has given you authority and power.
He has give you might and glory.
He has put everyone under your control...
He has made you ruler over all of them." (Daniel 3:38 NIrV)
Clearly, God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know that his empire was not his own. God temporarily loaned it to Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuchadnezzar would have done well to acknowledge that. Sadly, this is a lesson that Nebuchadnezzar failed to learn as we will see in a future lesson. But lest we be eager to scold Nebuchadnezzar, we also need to learn this same lesson. Nothing we claim as our own is really ours. All that we have is on temporary loan from God. Like Nebuchadnezzar, we also would do well to live managers of God's treasures, for His good and for the benefit of other people.
Finally, a third lesson in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is a lesson for us -- Christ is eternal; everything else in this world is temporary. All kingdoms of this world eventually crumble into dust. But the Kingdom of Christ endures forever. Kings of this world establish and increase their power through death, or the threat of death. Christ also established His kingdom through death -- His own! His death on the cross in your place freed you from eternal slavery in the kingdom of Satan, and won for you the right of citizenship in heaven.
Finally, a third lesson in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is a lesson for us -- Christ is eternal; everything else in this world is temporary. All kingdoms of this world eventually crumble into dust. But the Kingdom of Christ endures forever. Kings of this world establish and increase their power through death, or the threat of death. Christ also established His kingdom through death -- His own! His death on the cross in your place freed you from eternal slavery in the kingdom of Satan, and won for you the right of citizenship in heaven.