If you can, open your Bible and read along with me. We’re in Daniel Chapter 2:24 – Daniel was standing in front of the king…
“The king said to Daniel (whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar—meaning Bel, protect his life! – Bel was the chief Babylonian god), ‘Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?’
Daniel replied, ’There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the kings secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed. While your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.” Daniel 2:26-30
Before Daniel even got started, he gave all the glory to God! He made it clear that he was not interpreting this dream by his own power and intellect. At this point, we should stop and examine ourselves…Are we taking credit for what God does through us? God alone deserves the honor. Think about that. I know I’ve been guilty at times. If so, repent. And from now on, point to God… and carry people to Jesus. We can do this by acts of love and compassion, and if we give God the credit for our actions, unbelievers or truth seekers will want to know more about this God we serve:)
“In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze. Its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.” Daniel 2: 31-36
Daniel just told King Nebby his dream. He now has the king’s undivided attention:
“The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. You are the head of gold. But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to the world. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush everything it strikes. The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some strength of the iron. But while some parts of it will be strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.” Daniel 2:37-43
This comes directly from the NLT Commentary… The head of gold on the statue in the dream represented Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian Empire. The silver chest and two arms represented the Medo-Persian Empire, which conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. The belly and thighs of bronze were Greece and Macedonia under Alexander the Great, who conquered the Medo-Persian Empire (334-330 B.C.). The legs of iron represented Rome, which conquered the Greeks in 63 B.C. The feet of clay and iron represented the breakup of the Roman Empire, when the territory Rome ruled divided into a mixture of strong and weak nations. The type of metal in each part depicted the strength of the political power it represented. The rock cut out of the mountain depicted God’s Kingdom, which would be ruled eternally by the Messiah, the King of Kings. The dream revealed Daniel’s God as the power behind all earthly kingdoms.
Wow! After that, King Nebby told Daniel…
”Truly your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.” Daniel 2: 47
Then Nebby was a happy king, and promoted Daniel to a high position and gave him many gifts. Daniel remained in the king’s court, and was also able to request that his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were also to be in charge of all the affairs of Babylon.