Daniel Two ... A Background Study

Daniel 2 begins in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. *This would have been between April 603 BC and March 602 BC. It describes a dream that was distressing to the king, because he did not know it's meaning. Although we usually dismiss dreams as being the product of an "overactive imagination" or the result of something we ate for supper, dreams were not seen that way in the ancient Middle East. They were seen as significant and often taken to be nothing short of divine revelation. This explains the king's distress. He didn't know what his dream meant, but he knew that it was urgent to find out. As we read in Daniel 2, this dream was indeed a message from God about a series of empires that would appear in the coming centuries.

In verse 2, the king summoned magicians, conjurers, sorcerers and the Chaldeans to try to discover the meaning of the dream. The king explained to them that he had a dream and that he was anxious to know the meaning of it. The task of interpreting the dream was made more difficult because the king refused to tell them what happened in the dream. One possible reason is that Nebuchadnezzar was to be sure that they were telling him the actual meaning of the dream, rather than what he wanted to hear.

*In the original language text, Daniel 1:1-2:3 is in Hebrew, but verse 4 switches to Aramaic and continues in Aramaic until the very end of chapter 7. Chapter 8 reverts back to Hebrew because the rest of the book concerns the future of the Jewish people. Aramaic was the most commonly spoken language in the Middle East at that time, much like Arabic in the Middle East today. If the men who had been summoned by Nebuchadnezzar were from different parts of the Middle East, there would have been language barriers unless they spoke in Aramaic.

In verse 4, the Chaldeans asked Nebuchadnezzar his dream. The king responds by telling them to tell him the dream as well as the meaning. There would be great reward for them if they are able to do so, but failure would be catastrophic. Verse 5 states that if they failed to tell him the dream and it's meaning, they would be torn limb from limb and their houses would be destroyed. But in verse 6, he holds out the offer of gifts, reward, and great honor for those who are able to tell him the dream and it's meaning.

The wise men apparently found the task very daunting because they asked the king a second time to tell them the dream. The king again refused to tell them the dream. It is evident from verse 9 that he did not trust them, because he accuses them of using deceit and corruption. The king wants to know the true meaning of the dream. The Chaldeans were clearly feeling some anxiety because of the difficulty of the task and the price of failure.

In verse 11, they protested that there was no one anywhere who could tell the king both the dream and the interpretation. They said that there has never been any ruler who has made such a request. They clearly believed it was completely impossible. Speaking from a purely human perspective, it is quite understandable why they would think it was impossible. They said there was "no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh." The gods to whom they referred, who are actually false gods, did not involve themselves in human affairs.

The king was infuriated that they were unable to tell him the dream and the interpretation. He ordered that all of the wise men in Babylon were to be killed. This applied to captured Jews as well as the Chaldean wise men. Daniel asked for time to hear from God regarding the dream and the dream's meaning. Daniel also prayed with his friends about their situation, so that he would find favor with the king and their lives would be spared.

Verse 19 states that God showed the meaning of the king's dream to Daniel by giving Daniel a dream of his own. Daniel praised God for revealing this mystery and then proceeded to the palace to tell all that he had seen to the king. It is apparent that there was a sense of urgency, because Daniel rushed to see the king before the orders to kill the wise men could be carried out.

Daniel was quick to affirm to the king that it is God who reveals mysteries rather than him. Verse 27 says that Daniel informed the king that there were no wise men, conjurers, magicians or diviners that could reveal this mystery, but there is a God in heaven who is more than able to resolve this issue. Daniel pointed out to the king that the revelation and interpretation of the dream came from God rather than any human source.

Verses 31 through 35 describe the statue that the king saw in his dream. It was "large and of extraordinary splendor." Daniel said that its appearance was awesome. The head of the statue was made of fine gold and the breast and its arms were made of silver. The belly and thighs were made of bronze. Its legs were iron and its feet were partly iron and partly clay. A stone that was made without hands crushed the feet. The iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold were crushed and blew away. The wind carried the pieces far away so that they could not be found anywhere. The stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

In verses 36 through 45, Daniel explains the meaning of the dream. Daniel says that God has placed everything under the king's feet and caused him to rule over both man and beast. King Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. *For a despot like Nebuchadnezzar, his government was the ideal type and was therefore esteemed as highly as gold. The king's word was law, and even prior written law could not challenge the king's will. Yet Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar that even his government was still under God's control.

After Nebuchadnezzar, there would be another kingdom that would appear. However, this empire would be inferior to the Babylonian empire and would rule over the entire known world. There are actually two empires that could be referred to here. It could be referring to either the Medo-Persian empire that conquered the Babylonians or the Greek empire under Alexander the Great. The Medo-Persian empire was conquered by the Greeks, and Alexander's empire stretched from Greece and Egypt to the Indus River, which formed the border between Persian and India. The ancient country of Persia was located in modern day Iran.

It is also important to note that Daniel is taking a considerable risk in telling the king that his kingdom would be conquered by another nation. At that time, people lost their lives for delivering bad news to a king. Daniel showed considerable courage by saying such a thing to Nebuchadnezzar.

There is no doubt about the identity of the next kingdom described in verses 40 though 43. This is very clearly the Roman empire. The Romans crushed one nation after another throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Daniel said that there would be parts of this kingdom that would be strong, however, and other parts would be fragile. This did prove to be the case in various parts of the Roman empire. The integration of conquered peoples into the Roman army in later centuries proved to be part of the reason for the eventual downfall of the Roman empire. *From a ruler's point of view, iron was worth much less than gold, silver, or bronze. It was, however, ideal for the task of crushing one's enemies.

In verse 44, Daniel says that God will set up a kingdom that will never pass away. We know from later revelation that this will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. The establishment of Christ's kingdom will demolish all previous kingdoms, and Christ's kingdom will never end. This is what the stone symbolized in the king's dream when it crushed and completely wiped away the previous kingdoms. These things were made know to Nebuchadnezzar so that he would know what would happen in the future. Daniel testified to the truthfulness of the dream and the accuracy of the interpretation.

The king kept his promise to promote whoever was able to interpret the dream. He ordered that Daniel be given an offering and fragrant incense. The king recognized that God is able to reveal mysteries and that God is the "God of gods and Lord of kings." However, the king did say to Daniel, "Your God is a God of gods." (emphasis mine) This implies that Nebuchadnezzar had not yet accepted God for himself, despite recognizing God's supremacy. The king then promoted Daniel and presented him with many gifts. Daniel was appointed as ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the king's wise men. This meant that he was second in command in the entire Babylonian empire with only the king outranking him. Furthermore, Daniel appointed, with the king's consent, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into postions in the administration of the province of Babylon.

[jt]