BIBLE STUDY LESSON 15

SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS

THE KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S STRANGE DREAM

From Daniel 2

During the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar awoke one night from a terrible dream. It disturbed him so much he could not get back to sleep. Furthermore, he could not remember what he had dreamed. In the morning he summoned all his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and other Chaldeans to come and tell him what he had dreamed. These people immediately reported to the king. [I’ve had a bad dream,] he told them, [and I must know what it means.] [Tell us what the dream was, and we will tell you what it means,] these men answered. [I don’t remember what the dream was,] the king insisted. [But I command you to tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means. If you can’t, I will have you torn limb from limb and will have your houses destroyed. On the other hand, if you tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will give you great gifts, rewards, and honours.] The men answered again: [You must first tell us what the dream was. Then we will tell you what it means.] [You are only stalling for time,] Nebuchadnezzar said. [You know that I will destroy you if you can’t answer, so you want to deceive me until some tragedy happens to me. First tell me what I dreamed. Then I will know that your interpretation of the dream is true.] [But there isn’t a man on earth who could tell you what you have dreamed,] they protested. [And there isn’t a king on earth who would expect his people to do such a thing. You are asking something so difficult that only the gods could give you an answer; and they aren’t here among us.] The king was furious when he heard these protests. He immediately gave orders that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. When the orders went out, Daniel and his friends were among those who were to be executed. [Why has the king ordered such a harsh punishment?] Daniel asked Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, when he went out to arrest the wise men of Babylon. Arioch told Daniel what had happened. Daniel acted with such great wisdom that he gained an audience with the king. He asked the king to give him time so that he might tell him the dream and its interpretation. When the king granted Daniel’s request, Daniel went home and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his friends, about the matter. Together they pleaded with YHVH to show them the secret and keep them from being destroyed with the other men of the land. That night YHVH revealed the king’s dream to Daniel in a vision. Daniel praised YHVH for what he had done:

[Praise the Name of YHVH forever. To Him belongs all wisdom and might. The times and seasons are in His hands, and the kings of the world are in His power. Wise men receive their wisdom from Him, and understanding men build upon His knowledge. He reveals what is otherwise deep and mysterious, for darkness hides nothing from Him, and He shines His own light upon these things. O YHVH of my fathers, I thank and praise You, for You have given me wisdom and strength and have revealed what I requested, making known to me the king’s dream.]

Daniel went back to see Arioch, whom the king had appointed as the executioner for the wise men of Babylon. [You must not kill these men,] Daniel told Arioch. [Let’s go see the king, for I can tell him what he dreamed and what it means.] Arioch brought Daniel before the king as quickly as he could. [I have found a man among the captives of Judah who can tell the king what he has dreamed and what it means,] Arioch said, [Are you really able to do this?] the king asked Daniel. [No man on earth, not even your wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers, can tell you what you dreamed and its meaning,] Daniel answered. [But there is a YHVH in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has revealed to you in a dream what will happen someday. Let me tell you first what you dreamed. Your dream was about the future which YHVH was revealing to you. I am about to tell you what you dreamed, not because I am so wise, but because YHVH has revealed this to me for your good. You dreamed of a great and mighty statue which shone with extreme brilliance. As it stood before you, it had a terrifying appearance. Its head was made of the finest gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you stared at this awesome sight, a Rock was cut from the nearby hills by a force beyond the power of man, and it came crashing against the feet of iron and clay, shattering them into pieces. With its feet destroyed, the statue came tumbling to the ground in a broken mass of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, crumbling into a powder so fine that the wind blew it away. Then the Rock grew and grew until it became a great mountain which filled the entire earth. This was your dream. Now let me tell you what it means. You are a great king above many kings, but YHVH in heaven is the One who has given you the kingdom, power, might, and glory which you now have. He has given you absolute rule over the people of your far-flung provinces, and even over the birds of the air and the animals on the hillsides. You are the head of gold. But when your kingdom is ended, another kingdom less glorious will arise. This is the breast and arms of silver. Then a third kingdom, the bronze one, will be less glorious than the second. A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, strong enough to crush people and break them in pieces. But the feet of clay and iron represent the division of this kingdom. It will try to strengthen its pieces through marriages, but clay and iron will not mix, so this kingdom will fail. In the midst of these kings and kingdoms, YHVH in heaven will cause a new kingdom to arise, one which will never be destroyed or conquered. It will break the other kingdoms into pieces and it will remain great forever. This kingdom is represented by the Rock cut from the hills by a superhuman force and which destroyed the gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay. So YHVH has revealed the future to you. These things will happen exactly as I have told you.] Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell before Daniel to worship him and commanded his people to present offerings and burn incense before him. [Your YHVH is YHVH of all gods and Lord of kings, and the One who reveals mysteries, for He has shown this mystery to you,] said the king. The king made Daniel ruler over all Babylon and chief of all the wise men of his kingdom. He gave him great honour and many expensive gifts. At Daniel’s request, the king put his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself remained in the king’s court and set up his seat of authority in the king’s gate.

COMMENTARY

THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES

At the height of Babylon’s power, Daniel dared to predict the end of the Mesopotamian civilization, already thousands of years old. The struggle between Babylonia and Assyria had dominated Mesopotamia’s history, although foreign invaders like the Hittites, Cassites and Hurrians controlled the region at times. The Babylonians gave Assyria its philosophy and thought, but the Assyrians excelled in commercial and military affairs. Assyria first conquered Babylonia around 1100 B.C. under Tiglath-pileser I. After three centuries of political instability, the Assyrian Empire staged a comeback. Its rule went as far as Syria and Palestine, exiling the northern Israelites to Assyria and remote corners of its empire. Again, plagued by revolts, the Assyrian Empire was easy prey for the Medes and Chaldeans, who conquered their neighbours and divided the spoils. The Chaldeans from southern Babylonia received the territories that included Palestine. The neo-Babylonian Empire, represented as a head of gold in the king’s dream, lasted less than a century. Nebuchadnezzar’s weak successors surrendered rule to Cyrus the Persian in 538 B.C. The Achaemenid dynasty of Persia, seen in the dream’s silver breast and arms, met its downfall two centuries after it rose to power. Alexander the Great set up a Hellenistic Empire, appearing in Daniel’s vision as a bronze belly and thighs. The Greeks’ power fell to the Romans, who built an empire of iron. But the image’s feet of iron mixed with clay suggested the Roman Empire’s split into east and west under Constantine in 300 A.D.