Daniel Chapter Two: The King's Dream
An example of Babylonian artefacts as seen in the British Museum, London
Daniel chapter two reveals a prophecy that will be repeated again and again throughout Daniel and Revelation, and it relates to the rise and fall of various world powers until the end of time.
Chapter Overview
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that troubles him greatly (vs1)
He calls upon all the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans to 1) tell him the dream, and 2) give the interpretation/meaning of the dream. They are unable to do so (vs 2-11)
In his anger, the king declares that all the wise men of the kingdom should be killed (vs 12-13)
Daniel gets wind of the decree. He asks the king to be patient. Daniel volunteers to interpret the dream. He goes to the home of his three friends for help, and they all pray (vs 14-18)
God reveals the dream and its interpretation to Daniel in a night vision. Daniel prays a prayer of thanksgiving (vs19-23)
Daniel prepares to interpret for the king by reminding him that God is the one who reveals secrets, and it is from Him that he received the wisdom to interpret the dream (vs 24-30).
A description of the dream is given: there was a great image (idol/statue) whose head was made of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron; and its feet was part iron and part clay. A stone strikes the image on the feet and destroys it. The stone then becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth (vs 31-35)
The interpretation of the dream: Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is the head of gold. After Babylon, a series of successive kingdoms will arise. The final kingdom will be as strong as iron but also partly broken. In the days of this last divided kingdom shall God establish his own, and it will last forever (36-45)
Nebuchadnezzar is led to acknowledge Daniel’s God as the true God. Daniel is made the ruler over the province of Babylon as well as chief of the governors. Daniel requests similar rewards for this three friends (vs46-49)
Q&A
What is the significance of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
During this time, Babylon was a great and powerful kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar had everything at his beck and call, and had just taken captive the people of God. He had everything, and yet he almost overturned his whole territory to find out the meaning of this strange dream he had. This isn’t the only time in the Bible when a person of power is disturbed by a dream:
Abimelech, after being fooled by Abraham to believe that Sarah is his sister, receives a dream from God:
Genesis 20: 2, 3, 6, 7
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
In this story Abimelech wants to take Sarah for himself because she is beautiful, but God reveals to him that she is in fact Abraham’s wife. God spoke to Abimelech not to scare him, but to prevent him from sinning because he knew that he was unaware of the truth. God actually wants Abraham to pray for Abimelech, which he does, and Abimelech’s household is blessed with children (Genesis 20:17,18).
A dream is a way in which God can convey messages to us. Although Abimelech had little knowledge of the true God, he was still able to identify Him within the dream, and was disturbed by it. In the same way Nebuchadnezzar, all powerful and mighty, was equally disturbed by his own dream. God wasn’t just fooling around, he wanted to make his presence known in Nebuchadnezzar’s life, and he wants to be present in ours, too.
Who are these wise men of Babylon? And why couldn’t they interpret the dream?
Babylon was a kingdom of idol worship, and as such the king’s wise men practised arts that utilised pagan/heathen practices. Magicians, astrologers and sorcerers. The Chaldeans were a people from what we now call Southern Iraq. Described in Hosea 1:6-11 as strong, fierce and warlike,they were also known to practice soothsaying, astrology and fortune-telling. There is a similarity between the wise men who Nebuchadnezzar surrounded himself with and the advisers of Pharaoh.
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
(Exodus 7:10-12)
Despite their impressive display, Pharaoh’s men still lost against God’s power, and the Hebrews were set free. Likewise, Nebuchadnezzar’s men were incapable of doing what he asked. The king was clever and cunning enough to ask them to not only interpret, but describe his dream back to him. Many fortune tellers and so-called clairvoyants use the information already given to them to make predictions by reading the body language of their subject; facial expressions and gestures of affirmation. We call this cold reading. If Nebuchadnezzar had told the dream to his wise men, they would have made up their own interpretation and made predictions based on trickery. And just like Pharaoh’s magicians, the wise men of Babylon were unable to be of assistance.
What was different about Daniel’s method?
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
-Daniel 2: 17 & 18
Why did Daniel choose this method?
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;
But there is a God 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;
(verses 27 & 28)
Daniel prayed to God for wisdom, and he was rewarded for his faith, as detailed in verse 19:
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
When it comes to significant events that will happen in the future, what action does God say He will take?
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7
And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Numbers 12:6
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:
Let’s break it down, starting from verse 31:
HEAD OF GOLD
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.
32 This image's head was of fine gold…
BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER
…his breast and his arms of silver,
(middle of verse 32)
BELLY AND THIGHS OF BRASS
his belly and his thighs of brass,
(final section of verse 32)
LEGS OF IRON
His legs of iron…
(first part of verse 33)
FEET OF IRON AND CLAY
his feet part of iron and part of clay.
(the rest of verse 33)
THE STONE
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.
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.
Verses 34 & 35
So now we know what the dream consisted of: a giant statue made from various metals. These components all have prophetic and historic meanings, which will be explained in the next section, the interpretation.