A DREAM REVEALED
The dream is revealed during the night to Daniel. God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know what his future would bring and also the future of the whole world. At the same time the fact that the book of Daniel is with us now means he wanted this knowledge to come down to us. This book corresponds in many ways to the book of Revelation written by John the apostle.
Daniel 2:19-23 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: "Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and desposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king"
Wouldn't it be great to pray to God for knowledge and wisdom tonight and receive it in a dream during the night and remember it in all detail. Well, I for one do not spend 3 or 4 times a day on my knees praying to God daily, in fact, too many other things are allowed by me, and this places barriers between myself and my LORD. Daniel did not allow anything to come between himself and our LORD. Not even the wrong foods, and especially alcoholic beverages. How many of us can come to the standards and spiritual height of Daniel?.
Daniel 2:19-23 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: "Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and desposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king"
Wouldn't it be great to pray to God for knowledge and wisdom tonight and receive it in a dream during the night and remember it in all detail. Well, I for one do not spend 3 or 4 times a day on my knees praying to God daily, in fact, too many other things are allowed by me, and this places barriers between myself and my LORD. Daniel did not allow anything to come between himself and our LORD. Not even the wrong foods, and especially alcoholic beverages. How many of us can come to the standards and spiritual height of Daniel?.
A DREAM INTERPRETED
Daniel stops the exceution of the wise men of Nebuchadzzar by Airoch. He asks Aricoh to take him to the king so he can interpret the dream.
Daniel 2:24-49 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king , and I will interpret his dream for him."
Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means." The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?"
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadzzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:"As you were lying there, o king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of Mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, these mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large stuate--an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearence. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze its legs of iron and partly baked clay. 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. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time 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. "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory: in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze,will rule over the whole earth. there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron-for iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw 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. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And 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. "In the times 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. 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 the interpretation is trustworthy." Then King Nebuchadnazzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 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." Then the king placed Daniel in a high postion 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. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshacd, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
Daniel is speaking of the four major kingdoms that have existed on the earth. The first was the Babylonian Empire or modern Iraq. The second was the Medo-Persian Empire or Iran, the third was the Greek Empire which was the work of Alexander the Great. The last but not least is the Roman Empire. That is where we are right now. Notice that the feet and the toes are partly iron and partly baked clay. That is our world today. We are a divided world, divided governments, divided people, divided religions. Even the Antichrist with the Euorpeon Union will not be an all powerful emperor. Perhaps the United States can consider itself more iron than clay. However, there is too much poverty in our mist to be a complete iron power. Funny that the USSR called the division between them and the western world the Iron Curtain. At the time their cruelty was very great. And their poverty devastating. Britian flew high for some time, but came down, as did Germany. Rome has the Holy Roman Empire Catholic Church. You can say they have a lot of Iron through her. However, the church has a lot of poverty in her mist, too. And her religion is tainted by voodoo, santeria, and witchcraft which some churchs incorporate in wiith the regular church services. No, there is not really a one Super Power that can claim to be all iron as the Roman Empire was allowed by Our LORD Jesus Christ to be once long ago. The Rock is Jesus who with his coming, and His death on the cross, defeated death and Satan in one blow. Now, we wait for Him to come and blow all these failing powers and miserly kingdoms away, and; for Him to come set up His one and only Kingdom, as He promises in this book of Daniel. Come LORD Jesus!
Daniel 2:24-49 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king , and I will interpret his dream for him."
Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means." The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?"
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadzzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:"As you were lying there, o king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of Mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, these mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large stuate--an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearence. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze its legs of iron and partly baked clay. 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. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time 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. "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory: in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze,will rule over the whole earth. there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron-for iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw 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. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And 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. "In the times 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. 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 the interpretation is trustworthy." Then King Nebuchadnazzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 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." Then the king placed Daniel in a high postion 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. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshacd, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
Daniel is speaking of the four major kingdoms that have existed on the earth. The first was the Babylonian Empire or modern Iraq. The second was the Medo-Persian Empire or Iran, the third was the Greek Empire which was the work of Alexander the Great. The last but not least is the Roman Empire. That is where we are right now. Notice that the feet and the toes are partly iron and partly baked clay. That is our world today. We are a divided world, divided governments, divided people, divided religions. Even the Antichrist with the Euorpeon Union will not be an all powerful emperor. Perhaps the United States can consider itself more iron than clay. However, there is too much poverty in our mist to be a complete iron power. Funny that the USSR called the division between them and the western world the Iron Curtain. At the time their cruelty was very great. And their poverty devastating. Britian flew high for some time, but came down, as did Germany. Rome has the Holy Roman Empire Catholic Church. You can say they have a lot of Iron through her. However, the church has a lot of poverty in her mist, too. And her religion is tainted by voodoo, santeria, and witchcraft which some churchs incorporate in wiith the regular church services. No, there is not really a one Super Power that can claim to be all iron as the Roman Empire was allowed by Our LORD Jesus Christ to be once long ago. The Rock is Jesus who with his coming, and His death on the cross, defeated death and Satan in one blow. Now, we wait for Him to come and blow all these failing powers and miserly kingdoms away, and; for Him to come set up His one and only Kingdom, as He promises in this book of Daniel. Come LORD Jesus!