44. The Image - Four Successive Empires

Scripture:  Daniel 2:31-43

Nebuchadnezzar had seen an enormous statue:

The Image (Daniel 2:31-33):

1.  A Head of Gold

2.  Chest and arms of Silver

3.  Belly and thighs of Bronze

4.  Legs of Iron with Feet of Iron and Clay

Interpretation of the Image  (Daniel 2:36- 43):

1.  Head of Gold 

     Nebuchadnezzar - you are the head of gold (Dan 2:38)

2.  Chest and arms of Silver 

     Another kingdom will arise but inferior (Dan 2:39)

3.  Belly and thighs of Bronze 

     A third kingdom will rule over the whole earth (Dan 2:39)

4.  Legs of Iron with Feet of Iron and Clay 

     A fourth kingdom and will be a divided kingdom (Dan 2:40-43)

Daniel 2:45 “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

This is a prophetic dream revealing to Daniel through Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the future. 2600 years have passed since the time of Nebuchadnezzar.  We have the advantage of hindsight to know what had happened in history in the last 2600 years.

From History, we have seen the above 4 successive Empires:

1.  Head - The Kingdom of Gold - Babylon  605-539 BC 

Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom was the first world power, which is modern day Iraq.  The Babylonians worshipped Bel Marduk made out out of solid gold.  The prophecy says that it would not last forever.  Another world kingdom will arise.

2.  Chest & Arms - The Kingdom of Silver - Persia  538 - 331 BC

 Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom crumbled into ruins when Cryus, the Persian General overthrew the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC.  We see this in Daniel 5:28 that it was the Medo-Persia that succeeded Babylon, just as God said it would.

3.  Belly & Thigh - Kingdom of Bronze - Greece 331 - 168 BC

The Kingdom of Greece defeated the Persians at the battle of Arbela in 331 BC.  Alexander the Great conquered the Medes and Persians, turning Greece into the world's 3rd great empire.  Dan 8:21 says Greece succeeded Medo-Persia, just as God said it would.

4.  Legs & Feet - Kingdom of Iron & Clay - Rome

After the death of Alexander the Graet, the Greece empire weakened and split into rival factions.  At the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, the 'iron empire' of Rome crushed Greece.  Rome continued to rule the world through the time of Jesus.

 Eventually Roman fractured into numerous kingdoms symbolized by the feet and toes, partly iron, partly clay.

Here is a picture that summarizes the above:

Tomorrow we will look at the 'Rock cut out of a mountain but not by human hands'.  :)

43. The Great Image & Its Interpretation

Date:  604 BC
Place: King's Palace
Scripture: Daniel 2:36-45


Read Daniel 2:36-45

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.

37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,

38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.

39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.

41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.

43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

You can watch the video here:

:)

42. The Dream - The Great Frightening Image

Time: 604 BC
Place:  King's Palace
Scripture: Daniel 2:31-35


Read Daniel 2:31-35

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 

32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 

33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 

34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 

35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Take note of the following 3 features!  

1.  The Great Frightening Image

• head is of fine gold
• chest and arms of silver
• middle and thighs of bronze
• legs of iron
• feet partly of iron and partly of clay

2.  A stone - not cut out by human hand

• struck the image on its feet 
• the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold - all broken in pieces
• became like chaff and the wind carried them away
• not a trace of them could be found

3.  The stone - became a great mountain and filled the earth

Now, Daniel has this unshakable confidence in God.  He is ready to interpret the dream to the King.
Stay tuned!

Tomorrow, we will watch a video and look at the interpretation.

:)

40. Daniel Blessed the Name of God

Time:  604 BC
Place: King Nebuchadnezzar Palace
Scripture: Daniel 2:20-23

Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
    I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

Obviously Daniel knows God's Name and he never forgot God's Name, Yahweh.  

And when God answers our prayers, we must bless the Name of God just like what Daniel has done.  Blessing the Name of God is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.  

David blesses the Name of God.  

Job blesses the Name of God.  

Paul blesses the Name of God.  

Zechariah blesses the Name of God.

Ethan blesses the Name of God.

The Levites bless the Name of God.

Ezra blesses the Name of God.

The Name of God is so important.
Does the Name of God matter to you at all?

It is God's Name that is going to be glorified and magnified in this answered prayer.


God's Name, Yahweh, appears in Daniel 6X, all appearing in Daniel 9.  

Daniel 9 is Daniel's earnest prayer interceding for Israel - Daniel knows Yahweh itimately.

• Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

• Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto Yahweh my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.

• Daniel 9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

• Daniel 9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before Yahweh our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

• Daniel 9:14 Therefore hath Yahweh watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice.

• Daniel 9:20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God.

When Daniel prayed this prayer in Chapter 9, he was already an old man, around 80 years old.

We can see that Daniel in all these years of Babylonian captivity, he called on God's Name Yahweh and prayed to Yahweh God.  The Name of God was very dear to Daniel's heart.

In all that we do and pray, let our concern be that God's precious Name be blessed forever and ever.  You can visit this website on The Name of God - Yahweh.



:)

39. Daniel & his 3 friends seek mercy from God

Time:  604 BC
Place: King Nebuchadnezzar Palace
Scripture: Daniel 2:15-23

Read Daniel 2:17-23.  I highlighted in RED the important words:

15 He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.

16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 

18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 

19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 

20 Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
    I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

This was a time of crisis for the King.

Look at how Daniel handled one crisis to another.
He did not hide with fear and ran away.
Daniel dared to speak up in faith.

Often our ministry is also met with one crisis after another.
We must have the boldness from above to solve one crisis to another.

Daniel was fearless and suggested to the raging king to give him time so that he could show the king the dream.  Why did Daniel make that request?  Obviously Daniel needed to join in prayer with his 3 friends to pray together to seek God's mercy to answer this request.

Daniel knew God could reveal the mystery to them if they waited on God.

Back in Daniel 1:17, "As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Daniel knew the spiritual power of oneness to get through to God so he went back to pray with his 3 companions.  Here is the precious lesson we can learn together. Though God had given Daniel this gift, but he knew the first priority was to commune with God, not alone, but together in one heart with his 3 friends.  They got on their knees to plead for God's mercy.

When we are in a situation of crisis, let us remember to go on our knees to get God's help and not to  human aid.  Let us remember not to take our troubles and dump them onto people, but together to pray for God to solve the crisis at hand.  Let us learn to go to God always in prayer.

Are you facing a crisis on hand?

Pray to God and plead His mercy.
Find his servants to pray together in one heart to seek mercy from God.

God will surely answer as He had answered Daniel's and their friends' prayers.



:)