68.    NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM

"Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets".

Aim

To show how God blessed faithful Daniel and his friends in Babylon and revealed the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream to them.

Nebuchadnezzar, thp king, took many captives to Babylon each time he came down against the kingdom of Judah. Among the early captives, were Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The king was determined to teach them the "learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans ", because he could see that they were clever and noble young men. In this way he hoped to wipe out all thought of the God whom they had worshipped in Judah and persuade them to worship and honour the gods of Babylon. He did not realize, however, that these young captives were men of outstanding faith who would rather die than forsake Yahweh their God.

Daniel 1 and 2

DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS ARE PUT TO THE TEST: Daniel 1: 3-21

As part of his plan to persuade the young princes of Judah to be come worshippers of his Chaldean gods, king Nebuchadnezzar changed their names and made them answer to names which honoured the gods of Babylon. Then he commanded them to be served every day with meat and wine from his own table. Daniel and his friends realized that such meat and wine had no doubt been dedicated first to the king's heathen gods, for this was the custom of the land. So they asked the officer in charge of them to give them pulse (beans and peas) and water instead. He was afraid to disobey the king's command but agreed in the end to put it to the test for ten days. At the end of this time it was obvious to all that Daniel and his friends were "fairer and fatter in flesh " than all those who ate the king's portion (v 15). God blessed them in the eyes of the king's officer because of their faithful obedience to Him. Though in a heathen land, far off from the land God had given to their fathers, these young men continued to worship their God, and He continued to bless them, giving them "knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Dan iel had understanding in all visions and dreams " (v 17).

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM: Daniel 2

One night king Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a strange and terrifying \ dream. It disturbed him so much that he could not get back to sleep. He I called for all his wise men that they might explain the meaning of such a troubling dream, for he was determined to find out what it meant. So they came and said to the king, "Tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation " (v 14). Nebuchadnezzar knew that his wise men were very clever, but he did not want them just to make up interesting stories to put his mind at rest. He wanted to know the truth. So he re fused to tell them the dream. This seemed to them to be most unreasonable. How could they possibly know what the king had dreamed upon his bed! But the king would not change his mind. Either they told him the dream and the interpretation, or they would die. "There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter," they complained, "there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things           there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is } not with flesh" (v 10, 11).

The king was furious and sent out a decree to slay all the wise men € "and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain" (v 13).

When Daniel heard of the king's command to kill them all, he asked the captain of the guard, "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" (v 15). When the captain explained the reason, Daniel immediately asked for time and he would make known to the king both the dream and the interpretation. So Daniel and his three friends prayed to God to save their lives by revealing to them the king's dream. God heard their prayers, and showed Daniel both the dream and its meaning. Full of confidence, Daniel went in before king Nebuchadnezzar.

"There is a God in heaven, " he said, "that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days" (v28).

DANIEL REVEALS THE DREAM: Daniel 2:31-35

In his dream the king had seen before him a great image towering over him. It was extremely bright and glowing and its whole appearance was terrifying.

The HEAD of the image was of fine GOLD.

The BREAST and ARMS were of SILVER.

The BELLY and THIGHS were of BRASS.

The LEGS were of IRON.

The FEET were of IRON and CLAY.

As he looked he saw a stone "cut out of the mountain without hands ", which struck the image on the feet, smashing them to pieces. As the feet crumbled the whole image toppled and fell. It broke completely into pieces and the wind blew it away "like the chaff of the summer threshing floors" (v 35). The stone that struck the image grew and grew till it became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.

INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM: Daniel 2:37-45

This then was Nebuchadnezzar's dream and Daniel went on to re veal to the king the meaning of it all.

"The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory," Daniel explained. "Thou art this head of GOLD" (v 37,38). The four metals which followed represented four world em pires which would come after Babylon.

The SILVER stood for MEDO-PERSIA.

The BRASS stood for GREECE.

The IRON stood for ROME.

The feet of IRON and CLAY represented divided Europe, which we see today as partly strong and partly weak.

The image that stood before him represented the KINGDOM of MEN, for every empire that was shown in the image was ruled over by men who neither knew nor obeyed the God of Heaven. They were all hard, cruel and warlike. Their only purpose in life was to make them selves powerful and rich, by making life miserable for the hundreds of thousands of poor people who were oppressed by them. Today, we are living during the last days of the kingdom of men. The same wickedness which was seen in the ancient kingdom of men, is still seen amongst its leaders today. They are all godless men who enjoy power over the peo ple and the fame and riches of their position.

THE STONE POWER: Daniel 2: 44-45

What did the stone represent? It was only small to begin with, but it struck the feet of iron and clay causing the whole image to be destroyed. The STONE power represents the KINGDOM of GOD.

The Lord Jesus Christ will return from heaven to destroy the King dom of men. First of all he will overthrow the armies of the nations, which will have come into the land of Israel to fight against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2). From there his kingdom will grow until it fills the whole earth. It will be established upon the ruins of all the other nations of the world.

Unlike the Kingdom of men, the Kingdom of God will have a king who is wise and just, ruling in the fear of God (2 Samuel 23:3). He will be kind and compassionate and will care for the poor and needy. (Psalm 72 beautifully describes the king who will reign over God's Kingdom). The world will be at peace when all men obey him and in the end God's glory will fill the whole earth (Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:9).

When will this happen? Daniel was able to show that these things would come to pass in the days when the whole image stood upon its feet of iron and clay. "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 he left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).

LESSON FOR US

The dream which troubled Nebuchadnezzar is exciting for us be cause it speaks of our day, reaching right down from that head of gold to the time when the Stone-power will be revealed. Any day now the Lord Jesus Christ may appear. He himself gave us words of warning: "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come " (Matthew 24:42). He wants us to remain faithful to him, so that we may be able to help him change the world into a glorious and happy place in which to live.

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1.              What did Nebuchadnezzar want to teach Daniel and his fellow captives?

2.              Why did Nebuchadnezzar change the names of Daniel and his friends?

3.              Why did they refuse to eat the king's meat?

4.              What did they ask for instead of meat and wine?

5.              How did God bless Daniel and his friends?

6.              Why did Nebuchadnezzar refuse to tell his wise men his dream?

7.              What did the wise men say to the king when he would not tell them his dream?

8.              How did Daniel know what the king had dreamed?

9.              What happened to the image when the stone struck the feet of iron and clay?

10.          What does the stone represent?

11.          Who will destroy the Kingdom of Men?

12.          Where will the Kingdom of God be established?

Detailed Answers

13.          Describe the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.

14.             (a)     Tell what the stone did to the image.

(b)            Tell what happened to the image.

(c)            Tell what happened to the stone after that.

15.          (a)     Tell what the Kingdom of Men is like.

(b)     Show how the Kingdom of God will be very different.

Additional Answers

16.     Trace the picture of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw and write down:

(a)           What each part was made of.

(b)           What empire each part represented.

(c)            Draw the Stone in your picture and show what it did and who it represented.