Introduction
A. The Downfall of Governments
The eventual decline of the United States isn’t something that should shock us. All nations go the way of all flesh, ending in collapse and ruin. Anything established on the wisdom and power of man will suffer the same kind of deterioration man himself has suffered since the Fall. Dissipation is man’s history–
man is not ascending; he is descending. History reveals a succession of defeats. Empires begin, reach a peak, fade, and then die as another is built out of its ashes. America is deteriorating just as every other nation has in the past. Our nation has feet of clay like the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:33).
B. The Dominion of the Gentiles
The world is a vast stage with the curtain still down. The actors are behind the curtain preparing for the last scene in the drama of human history. That final scene takes place in the latter days, and it is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Daniel takes us behind that curtain before it rises and give us insight into the unfolding of the last act of human history.
1. Its duration
Daniel 2:31-45 presents the history of the world under Gentile rule. Jesus said this about it: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). Those times began with the Babylonian Captivity and will end with the second coming of Christ. We are living in that time period right now. Israel does not possess the fullness of its inheritance as promised in the Abrahamic or Palestinian Covenants (Gen. 15:18; Deut. 30:1-9). Nor does it dwell in peace. Gentile nations have dominated that part of the world since Nebuchadnezzar, and will continue to do so to some degree until Jesus comes again.
Daniel 2 reveals how God transferred the leadership of the earth from the Jewish nation of Israel to the Gentiles. Israel was to be God’s messenger to the world, but Israel tragically failed and will not return to its former glory until Jesus returns.
2. Its backdrop
As we come to the book of Daniel, Israel has been taken into captivity. Daniel himself is a captive, but because of his unique capabilities, he has been elevated to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar as an assistant in Jewish affairs. It is in that important position that he received the prophecy of Gentile domination through the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
Comfort for the Israelites
Why did God give a prophecy about Gentile domination at the very time that the domination began? Because the nation of Judah had recently been taken into captivity by Gentiles and God wanted the people to know it wouldn’t be a permanent situation. If the Israelites came to believe there was no hope for them as a nation, they would have questioned God’s credibility. He had said He would maintain His people and would always keep His covenant with them (2 Sam. 7:16). And He has!
At the time the prophecy was given Jerusalem was in ruins and the Temple had been torn down. Its sacred vessels had been carried off and placed in the temple of an idol. God’s glory had departed from the people (Ezek. 11:22-23). The children of Israel stood weeping on the banks of Babylon without a song in their hearts (Ps. 137:1-4). In this saddened state they wanted to know if God had forsaken them forever and forgotten His covenant. The prophecy of Daniel 2 gives a resounding no.
Before we look at God’s revelation through the dream, we need to review Daniel 2:1-30.
Lesson
I. THE DREAM RECEIVED (vv. 1-30)
Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king who didn’t believe in the God of Israel, was lying on his bed one night trying to sleep when he began to think about what would happen to his empire when he died (v. 29). Aware that other empires had come and gone, he fell asleep and dreamed a special dream given him by God: a panorama of history from his reign until the return of Jesus Christ. That’s “the times of the Gentiles” Jesus referred to (Luke 21:24).
A. The Consummation of History
Daniel 2:28 frames the dream: “There is a God in heaven who revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, what shall be in the latter days.” The key phrase, “the latter days,” is not restricted to Nebuchadnezzar’s lifetime. It is an eschatological term in Old Testament prophetical writings referring to God’s future dealings with mankind, consummated in the kingdom of Messiah (e.g., Gen. 49:1; Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Jer. 23:20; 30:24; 48:47; 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 10:14; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:1). The Greek term translated “the last days” is used the same way in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 2:17-21; 2 Pet. 3:3-4).
B. The Succession of History
In verses 28-29 Daniel says, “Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these: As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he who revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass” (emphasis added). “What shall come to pass” indicates that Nebuchadnezzar was to learn about a succession of events in history leading to the latter days.
We have seen that although Nebuchadnezzar had the dream, he forgot it (see pp. xx-xx). God allowed him to forget it to expose the wise men as phonies and give Daniel an opportunity to answer the king’s request. Daniel became the channel of God’s revelation.
II. THE DREAM RECALLED (vv. 31-35)
Since the king had forgotten his dream, Daniel first had to recount it before he could interpret it: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image [statue]. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form of it was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest until a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then were the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; 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. 2:31-35).
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
