Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

In Daniel 2 we encounter an incredible story.  It is not the type of story that a movie would be made from like David and Goliath but instead it is a drama with more twists and turns than a windy country road.

There are two major plots within Daniel 2.  The first starts with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  He is so disturbed by the dream that he calls in all of his chief officials to interpret the dream.  But Nebuchadnezzar will not tell them the dream.  He is a smart enough man to know that they may very well conspire to tell him what he wants to hear.  So to prove that they have been given insight into the meaning of the dream, they must first tell him the dream.  If they can do that he will be assured that their interpretation is accurate.

Of course Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men are unable to tell the king his dream or interpret it.  This makes Nebuchadnezzar furious and he orders the execution of all of the wise men including Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who weren’t with the group that was called before the king for some reason.

This in itself would be an interesting story with the resolution being whatever miracle God used to deliver Daniel and his friends but it isn’t the end of the story.  Daniel goes to the king and asks for time to interpret the dream.  Daniel is given both the dream and the interpretation and goes to the king the next day.

Daniel begins by acknowledging that God is the revealer of dreams and that he is simply a servant of God.  It is God who deserves the glory for what is about to be revealed.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was of a massive statue.  It had a head of gold, chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron.  Its feet were made of iron mixed with clay.  A rock is hurled from heaven and it smashes the entire statue and takes up the entire world.

Daniel interprets that Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold.  After him would come other empires, represented by the other metals, however the other kingdoms would be inferior to his.  The rock that comes from heaven represents the kingdom of God.  It will smash the kingdoms of the world and they stand no chance against it. 

Although Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t have known the specifics of the coming empires, we have the advantage of hindsight today and can see how the historical empires are represented within the statue.  The gold represents Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire.  Following the Babylonians were the Medo-Persians.  Daniel witnessed their coming and the overthrow of Babylon in one night.  Later came the Greeks, represented by bronze.  Finally the Romans came, represented by iron.

There is one kingdom that has not appeared yet as represented by the statue.  It will be a kingdom of iron mixed with clay.  Many refer to this as the Revived Roman Empire.  We may or may not be seeing the seeds for this empire being sown today.  Some believe that it is the United States as the US is modeled after the Roman system of government and even the architecture of many government buildings is made to look Roman.  Others believe that this Revived Roman Empire may be fulfilled in the European Union.  These people point to the way this organization operates and the fact that it began with the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1960.  Still others believe that this empire is still future and hold that it will be a literal Roman Empire with its seat in Rome.  The truth is that we don’t know and can’t be certain until it is fulfilled.

There are many other significant meanings behind each metal that is in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue.  They are explained in depth on my website.  What I find most interesting of all is that this statue is top heavy.  Gold is heavier than silver which is heavier than bronze which is heavier than iron.  If this were an actual statue it would fall over quickly and easily.  The point of this is to show God’s perspective on human governments.  They are destined to fail.  When the kingdom of God comes it will require no effort to topple the awkward and top heavy statue.  It will destroy them so completely that only dust will remain.

We get caught up in politics and government and we sometimes forget that God is the one in control.  He establishes authorities on earth and he can remove them from power just as easily as they are placed there.  Nebuchadnezzar will be reminded of this in Daniel 4. 

At the close of Daniel 2 however, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the power of God and promotes Daniel and his friends to high positions within his government.  God rewards not only Daniel’s faithfulness but his willingness to give God all of the credit and praise that was due to Him.