Daniel Chapter 2 Lesson

There is some confusion in dating here. Three years have already passed in chapter one, yet this is stated to be the second year of the reign. A similar problem arose in regard to the difference in dating between Daniel and Jeremiah earlier. The explanation here is that the Jewish count included the two years when Nebuchadnezzar reigned conjointly with his father, Nabopolassar. This verse gives the Chaldean reckoning as the second year, which is the fourth year by the Jewish reckoning.

(Dan 2:2) Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

(Dan 2:3) And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

The various functionaries are referred to by names revealing the means they used to divine secrets and the future. Astrologers predicted the future on the basis of observing the stars. The sorcerers probably indicate pretended consultation of the dead. But there were many occult sciences in Babylon.

(Dan 2:4) Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.

(Dan 2:5) The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

(Dan 2:6) But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

(Dan 2:7) They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.

(Dan 2:8) The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

(Dan 2:9) But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.

(Dan 2:10) The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, master, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

(Dan 2:11) And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except eloah, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

(Dan 2:12) For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

(Dan 2:13) And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

Just as today, the occult medium shrewdly tries to gain sufficient information about his subject in order to pretend secret knowledge. The king is rational enough to see through the claim: if their science can reveal the future, then surely it can reveal the contents of a dream in the recent past. His subjects vainly point out that the demand is unreasonable. It is no more unreasonable than their claims. However, when his anger triggers the death decree, he becomes clearly cruel, but the situation sets the stage for divine intervention.

(Dan 2:14) Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

(Dan 2:15) He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

(Dan 2:16) Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

(Dan 2:17) Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

(Dan 2:18) That they would desire mercies of the Eloah of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

After the failed attempt of the astrologers, Daniel and his friends try their hand. What is amazing is that so many people today rely on magic, consultation of the dead, and astrology, when these methods were proven false already so long ago.

(Dan 2:19) Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the Eloah of heaven.

(Dan 2:20) Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of Eloah for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

(Dan 2:21) And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

(Dan 2:22) He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

(Dan 2:23) I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou Eloah of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

It is remarkable here that Yahuwah uses the means of a night vision to give His message. Throughout the history of His people living under the world empires, but especially as a sign to his people in the last days, Yahuwah used the night vision to reveal messages to His prophets.

The book of Daniel is fundamental in establishing the true faith. Before, the faith of Israel was attached to a particular political system. With the book of Daniel, the faith is established under the conditions of a world empire. Since that time, we have lived in a world of empires. So the book of Daniel is fundamentally paradigmatic, showing the basis of faith under the very conditions in which we live. One strand of true faith is the recognition of valid night visions. This became the hallmark of true faith beginning with Daniel and extending to the close of the events predicted in that book.

(Dan 2:24) Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

Daniel begs the monarch for the lives of the dishonest imposters. True faith is non-violent, and does not make a distinction between righteous and wicked, but attempts to minimize despotic behaviour at every opportunity. The principle is absolute adherence to divine law, which permits co-operation and submission to established authority only to that extent. True faith is not to be aligned with imperial government. The theocratic system ended with the last king of Judah. After that, the faithful have a new paradigm of behaviour, the paradigm of Daniel.

(Dan 2:25) Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

(Dan 2:26) The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

(Dan 2:27) Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

(Dan 2:28) But there is an Eloah in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

(Dan 2:29) As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

(Dan 2:30) But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

Here again is a contrast between imperial, court behaviour, in which everyone flatters himself to the sovereign, and the behaviour of true faith. Daniel does not pretend to have special abilities. His attitude is in strong contrast with all of the occult imposters. The same contrast should be found today in the behaviour of the faithful toward representatives of government. Ingratiating behavior must be avoided, and absolute loyalty to the kingdom of Yahuwah exhibited. Any contact with goverment is an opportunity to give Yahuwah the glory that men normally take to themselves.

(Dan 2:31) Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

(Dan 2:32) This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

(Dan 2:33) His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

(Dan 2:34) Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

(Dan 2:35) Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

(Dan 2:36) This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

At this point the description of the dream ends, and the interpretation begins. The book of Daniel contains several visions, and each time the same format is found: vision first, interpretation second. This is important as we attempt to find the meaning of the visions and dreams. We must consult the interpretive section of the text before drawing conclusions.

(Dan 2:37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the Eloah of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

(Dan 2:38) And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

(Dan 2:39) And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

(Dan 2:40) And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

(Dan 2:41) And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

(Dan 2:42) And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

(Dan 2:43) And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

(Dan 2:44) And in the days of these kings shall the Eloah of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

(Dan 2:45) Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great Eloah hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Several important pieces of information arise from the interpretation of the dream. First of all, the sovereign is told that his power comes from Yahuwah. He has no power of his own, but only that which Yahuwah gives him. This is the basic piece of information that every believer must convey to those in power, if he comes in contact with them. Instead of flattering them, they must politely, and within protocol, be given to understand that the power they pretend to wield is mere pretense. Yahuwah is in control.

The details of the dream are in an image made of metals of decreasing worth, representing four world empires, of which the first is Babylon. The other three are not identified at this point, but later visions and the course of history will identify them with precision. Not only are we given to understand that there are four world empires beginning with Babylon, but that each succeeding empire is to be inferior in value to the preceding. History has fulfilled the prediction of this dream in the world empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and pagan and papal Rome.

Most importantly, the fifth empire, the kingdom of Yahuwah, is predicted to come and destroy all human empires, after which the unending kingdom of Yahuwah will be set up on earth.

(Dan 2:46) Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.

(Dan 2:47) The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your Eloah is the Eloah of eloah, and a dominator of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

This text shows that worship in the Bible does not always imply deity or divinity. Daniel accepted worship, that is bowing to him in prostration. He even accepted offerings and incense. But he did not for a moment imply to anyone that he was divine.

(Dan 2:48) Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. (Dan 2:49) Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

Although Daniel chapter two identifies only the first world empire, that of Babylon, history has shown the prediction to be correct, that three world empires would follow Babylon, and after that the world would be divided into kingdoms of iron and clay, weak and strong. These are the Medo-Persian empire (538 to 331 B.C.), the Grecian empire (331-168 B.C.), and the Roman empire (168 B.C. to 457 A.D.).