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Daniel

Chapter 2
{Daniel explains Nebuchadnezzar's dream}
1~~ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
  {604 BC},
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed many dreams {divine revelation}, wherewith he was troubling his own spirit
  {mental attitude sin of fear},
and his sleep broke from him {insomniac}.

2~~ Then the king called in the scribes
  {legal department - they wrote in hieroglyphics},
and the astrologers
  {intelligence agency - the mumbo-jumbo crowd- predicted actions
  of other nations},
and the sorcerers
  {Foreign Relations department - public relations people- they
  entertained but also practiced demonism and witchcraft},
and the Chaldeans
  {Department of Religion - the priestly class}
that they might reveal to the king his dreams.
So they came and stood before the king.

3~~And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream,
and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

{Note: The king knew that if he told them the dream, they would fabricate an interpretation. So he is making THEM tell him the dream first!}

4~~Then spoke the Chaldeans {priestly class}
to the king in Syriack {Aramaic},
"O king, live for ever
  {standard greeting when addressing the king}
tell your servants {advisors} the dream,
and we will show the interpretation."

5~~The king answered and said to the Chaldeans,
"I have issued a decree.
If you will not make known to me the dream,
with the interpretation thereof,
you shall be cut in pieces,
and your houses shall be made a dunghill
  {you and your family killed - your house torn down and that place
  will become the public toilet and garbage dump!}."

6~~"But if you show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me money and rewards {chariots, armor etc} and great honor {promotion in rank and status}. Therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof."

7~~They answered again {evasively} and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it."

8~~The king answered and said, "I know of certainty that you would gain the time {you are stalling!}, because you see the thing is gone from me {because I have already declared your punishment if you fail}."

9~~"But if you will not make known to me the dream, there is but one decree for you. For you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me . . . till the time is changed {until the king drops the matter or the king reveals the dream}. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation thereof."

10~~The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, "There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter. Therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean."

11~~"And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh {not here on earth}."

{Note: God used this situation to demonstrate the fallacy of human reason. As long as a believer depends on his own reasoning power and tries to solve his problems apart from the Lord, he will bump his head on the wall.}

12~~For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

{Note: The king is so furious with the Chaldeans that he decrees that ALL wise men are to die!}

13~~And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain. And they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

14~~Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom {using a doctrinal frame of reference} to Arioch the captain of the king's guard {similar to the head of the FBI}, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

15~~He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

16~~Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.

17-18~~Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah . . . his companions {believer fellowship} 18~~ . . . that they would desire mercies {grace in action} of the God of heaven concerning this secret {prayer} . . . that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19~~Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20~~Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever . . . for wisdom and might are His {Daniel got his answer and responded in praise}."

21~~ "And He {Jesus Christ} changed the times {succession of events - 5 cycles of discipline in view} and the seasons {dispensations}. He removed kings, and set up kings. He gives wisdom {application of bible doctrine to the experience} to the wise {in context, refers to believers} . . . and knowledge to them that know understanding {principal of him who has . . . gets! Building doctrine upon doctrine.}."

22~~"He {Jesus} reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness {unbelievers}, and the light dwells with Him."

23~~"I thank you, and praise you, O you God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known unto me now what we desired of You. For You have now made known unto us the king's matter."

24~~Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said this to him, "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will showed to the king the interpretation."

25~~Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said this to him, "I {glory-grabbing} have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation."

26~~The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar {the king called him by his 'new name' Belteshazzar}, "Are you able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?"

{Note: Just as Arioch had the opportunity to grab glory - approbation lust - Daniel now has the opportunity to take the credit to himself.}

27~~Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded . . . the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers {pagan counterpart to prophets} CANNOT reveal to the king! {a statement of a fact here}"

28~~"But there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are
these . . ."

{Note: Being grace oriented, Daniel gives the credit where the credit is due.}

29~~"As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter. And He that reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass."

30~~"But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any other person, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your own right lobe {heart}."

{Note: Here Daniel shows his humility and has a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA) in this face to face meeting with the great and powerful king. His life is in the hands of God and he is just not going to worry about anything in this world.}

31~~"Thou, O king, saw, and beheld a great image. This great
image . . . whose brightness was excellent {brightness refers to color and excellent is the glamour of the empire represented by various metals of the image} . . . stood before you. And the form thereof was terrible {refers to great strength and power - terror inspiring}."

{Note: This starts to explain most of the book of Daniel and Revelation also. Jesus Christ controls history. Sidenote: All history is somehow related to Jesus Christ, Israel, and the resolution of the angelic conflict.}

32~~"This image's head was of fine gold {represents the Chaldean empire}, his breast and his arms of silver {Medes and Persians}, his belly {Graeco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great} and His thighs of brass {Hellenistic monarchies}."

33~~"His legs of iron {Roman Empire}, his feet part of iron {Revived Roman Empire of the Tribulation} and part of clay {undetermined nations}.

34~~"You saw that a stone {gigantic rock - a stone so large it has never reduced in size - Jesus Christ} was cut out without hands, which smote the image {2nd Advent of Christ} upon his feet that were of iron and clay {if you break the feet the image falls}, and brake them to pieces {Armageddon}.

35~~"Then {at the 2nd Advent} was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors {Baptism of Fire at the 2nd Advent}. And the wind {Divine Judgment at the 2nd Advent} carried them away, that no place was found for them {no place for them in the Millennium}. And the stone {Jesus Christ} that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."

36~~"This is the dream. And we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."

37~~"You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory."

38~~"And where so ever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has He given into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold {the Chaldean Empire at its zenith under Nebuchadnezzar}."

39~~"And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you {Persia under Cyrus and later Darius the Great was the 'silver'} . . . and another third kingdom of brass {Graeco-Macedonian empire under Alexander the Great} which shall bear rule over all the earth."

{Note: When Alexander the Great died at 32 years old, his empire was divided under 4 spheres of influence under his 4 generals - Seleucus, Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus.}

40~~"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron . . . forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things. And as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."

{Note: Rome and Carthage became powerful in the West. Syria, Egypt and Macedonia were the powers in the East. These make the legs of iron that supplanted the thighs of brass. After many years of fighting, the Mediterranean became a Roman lake!}

41~~"And whereas you saw the feet and toes . . . part of potters' clay, and part of iron . . . the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron . . . forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay."

{Note: Up to this point . . . for us, the book of Daniel has been historical. But we know from Paul's teaching that the Church Age was not known or taught in the Old Testament - it is part of the Mystery doctrine of the Church Age. So, now we jump to eschatology - future events. The 'feet of iron and clay ' will occur in the Tribulation and will be the 'Revived Roman Empire'.}

42~~"And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron, and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken."

43~~"And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."

{Note: The toes indicate a ten-nation confederation will make up the Revived Roman Empire. Some (iron) will dominate the others (clay). (Sound like the United Nations?) }

{Note: The 'seed of men' directs our attention to the religious aspect of the final formation of the Revived Roman Empire. We do not yet know its form, but could be similar to a 'World Council of Churches {religions of the world unite!).}

44~~"And in the days of these {Tribulational} kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed {the Millennium}. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45~~"Forasmuch as you saw that the stone {gigantic rock} was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold . . . the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

{Note: There are many passages of Scripture where Jesus is referred to as the ROCK!}

46~~Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him {commanded others worship Daniel also}.

{Note: We know from verse 30 that Daniel already gave the credit to the Lord. We can assume he accepted the 'praise' without comment knowing this was the best way to advance the plan of God. As we will see, his only 'special request' of the king was for his companions - true grace orientation.}

47~~The king answered unto Daniel, and said, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret."

48~~Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

49~~Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon {high positions of authority}. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king {similar to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court today}.