The Lord said to me…”I will
test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
The Plumbline is a blog to
encourage the Body of Christ.
# 7 Daniel - The
interpretation of the dream (2:36-45a)
Daniel 2:36 (NLT) “That was the dream.
Now we will tell the king what it means.
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| God's Source of "LIGHT" |
Daniel’s interpretation
makes it clear that the image revealed the course of Gentile kingdoms which in
turn would rule over the land of Palestine and the people of Israel.
Nebuchadnezzar, head of the Babylonian Empire, was represented by the head of
gold (v. 38). His father had come to power in Babylon by military conquest, but
Nebuchadnezzar received his dominion and power and might and glory from God
(who sets up kings and deposes them, v. 21). Nebuchadnezzar’s rule was viewed
as a worldwide empire, in which he ruled over all mankind as well as over
beasts and birds. At the time of Creation the right to rule over the earth was
given man who was to have dominion over it and all the creatures in it (Gen.
1:26). Here Nebuchadnezzar by divine appointment was helping fulfill what God
had planned for man.
The second portion of the
statue, the chest and arms of silver, represented the
rise of the Medes and Persians (cf. 5:28; 6:8; also cf. 5:31). The
Medo-Persians conquered the Babylonians in 539 b.c. The arms of silver
evidently represent the two nations of Media and Persia that together defeated
Babylon. Though that kingdom lasted over 200 years (539-330 b.c.),longer than
the Neo-Babylonian Empire of 87 years (626-539), the Medo-Persian Empire was
inferior to it, as silver compared with gold.
The belly and thighs of
bronze represented the third kingdom to arise. This was the Grecian
Empire (cf. 8:20-21). Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persians between
334 and 330 b.c. and assumed authority over its peoples and territory. By
Alexander’s conquests he extended the Greek Empire as far east as the
northwestern portion of India—an extensive empire that seemingly was over the
whole earth.
The legs of iron represent
the Roman Empire. This fourth kingdom conquered the Greek
Empire in 63 b.c. Though the Roman Empire was divided into two legs and
culminated in a mixture of iron and clay, it was one empire. This empire was
characterized by its strength, as iron is stronger than bronze, silver, and
gold. The Roman Empire was stronger than any of the previous empires. It
crushed all the empires that had preceded it. Rome in its cruel conquest
swallowed up the lands and peoples that had been parts of the three previous
empires and assimilated those lands and peoples into itself.
The empire that began as
iron regressed to a state of clay mixed with iron.
This mixture speaks of progressive weakness and deterioration. Two metals
together form an alloy which may be stronger than either of the metals
individually. But iron and clay cannot be mixed. If iron and clay are put into
a crucible, heated to the melting point, and poured into a mold, when the pour
has cooled the iron and clay remain separate. The clay can be broken out which
leaves a weak casting.
The Roman Empire was characterized by division (it
was a divided kingdom) and deterioration (it was partly strong and partly
brittle). Though Rome succeeded in conquering the territories that came under
its influence, it never could unite the peoples to form a united empire. In
that sense the people were a mixture and were not united. (Other views of this
mixture of strength and weakness are suggested: [a] the empire was strong
organizationally but weak morally; [b] imperialism and democracy were united
unsuccessfully; [c] government was intruded by the masses, i.e., mob rule; [d]
the empire was a mixture of numerous races and cultures.)
Daniel then focused on the
overthrow of those kingdoms. The time of those kings may
refer to the four empires or, more likely, it refers to the time of the 10 toes
(v. 42) since the first four kingdoms were not in existence at the same time as
apparently the toes will be (cf. comments on the 10 horns of the fourth beast,
7:24). Nebuchadnezzar had seen a rock hit and smash the image (2:34). The
statue was destroyed by the rock, not by human hands. In Scripture a rock often
refers to Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah (e.g., Ps. 118:22; Isa. 8:14; 28:16; 1
Peter 2:6-8). God, who had enthroned Nebuchadnezzar and would transfer
authority from Babylon to Medo-Persia, then to Greece, and ultimately to Rome,
will one day invest political power in a King who will rule over the earth,
subduing it to His authority, thus culminating God’s original destiny for man
(Gen. 1:27).
In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream the smiting rock became a
mountain that filled the whole earth (Dan. 2:35). In Scripture a mountain is
often a symbol for a kingdom. So Daniel explained that the four empires which
would rule over the land and the people of Israel would not be destroyed by
human means, but rather by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the striking
Stone. When He comes He will establish the messianic kingdom promised to Israel
through David (2 Sam. 7:16). At His return He will subjugate all... kingdoms to
Himself, thus bringing them to an end (cf. Rev. 11:15; 19:11-20). Then He will
rule forever in the Millennium and in the eternal state.[1]
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