Daniel 2:1-49 • Nebuchadnezzar's First Dream and Promotion of Daniel
- Steve Schott
- Mar 9
- 14 min read
Updated: 2 minutes ago
► The book of Daniel takes place during the exile of Judah into Babylon.
→ Starting with the events of 605BC, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, began his 3-phase process of exiling the Jewish people from Jerusalem to Babylon.
• 1st wave - occurring in 605BC, only a select group were taken away at this time. Included were the current king of Judea, Jehoiakim, as well as Daniel, and his 3 friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (2 Kings 24:1-5; 2 Chronicles 36:4-8).
• 2nd wave - about 597BC, King Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim's son) was taken captive, as was the prophet Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar also pillaged the temple in Jerusalem "all the treasures of the house of the LORD,..." (2 Kings 24:13). 10,000 captive were taken at this time (2 Kings 24:14-16).
• 3rd wave - King Zedekiah is captured, all of his sons were killed in his sight, then his eyes were put out, before being brought to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-7). Then the remaining valuable items from the temple are plundered, and the temple itself is destroyed. The remaining leadership are all killed, and the bulk of any remaining survivors are taken away (2 Kings 25:8-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21).
► We saw in chapter 1 how Daniel and his pals were equipped to serve in the Babylonian court, and now we have reached that point.
→ Daniel is about to be called on to perform..., well, a miracle of sorts. Not only is he going to be asked to interpret a dream the king has had; he's also going to be asked to say what the dream was, without it's contents being revealed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The King's Forgotten Dream
1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”
→ We see a reference to "the second year", which might be a little confusing. It might seem like a conflict with the 3 year training schedule, but it's not. because apparently at that time in history, Babylonians and Jews calculated dates differently Personally, I'm not sure I understand this, but suffice it to say, I'm not going to worry about trying to reconcile the dates through the rest of our study. I already know that Daniel is going to jump back and forth in time a couple of times, so I'll just deal with the subject matter when it comes.
• Suffice it to say, this particular event was early on in Nebuchadnezzar's reign.
→ The issue for this chapter is that Nebuchadnezzar has had some upsetting "dreams", for which he has no understanding of the meaning of them.
→ Neb calls on "the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans" to assist. While each of these words has some unique qualities, collectively these guys are the mystic bunch who are supposedly connected in some way with the supernatural. I don't know if they were really endowed with any greater power and/or understanding of supernatural things, but at least they portrayed themselves to be such.
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”
→ It is significant to mention, that from this verse, until the end of chapter 7, that this entire portion of this book was completely in Aramaic in the recorded text, not just in the Chaldeans response to the king.
→ The "wizards" (as I will refer to them) asked the king to tell them the dream, so that they could give an interpretation.
5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”
→ The king is adamant - tell me the DREAM and the INTERPRETATION.
→ He's putting it on the wizards completely to come up with not only an answer, but also the question.
→ With this ultimatum...
• If you don't, "you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap", which seems to me to be a fancy way to say I'll kill your families also.
• If you do, "you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor,..."
7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”
→ Once again, they ask for the king to tell them the dream.
8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.”
→ Nebuchadnezzar seems to be suspicious of the wizards, that they will just twist their response to his dream to their own benefit.
→ He's basically telling them that he won't trust their interpretation until they can tell him the dream.
10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”
→ The wizards once again balk, claiming that not only is the kings request "difficult", but that it is impossible, at least impossible for any man, and only possible if one was a god.
12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
→ We are going to see several times Nebuchadnezzar's "no middle ground" personality on display.
→ It's all or nothing with this guy.
→ "Give me what I want, no matter what it is, or I'm going to kill you!!!!!"
→ And now this is exactly what he intends to have happen.
→ He gives "orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon", and by default, this includes Daniel and his friends.
14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.
→ So it's apparent that Daniel and his friends weren't even at this event, but because of the outcome, they were also to be killed regardless.
→ Daniel gets the scoop from the captain, and heads off to see the king.
16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, 18 so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
→ So Daniel requests of the king some extra time, which he is apparently given.
→ He meets up with his cronies, and they pray for "compassion from the God of heaven", not so much for revelation, but so that the wizards, including Daniel and his guys, would be saved from the king's wrath.
The Secret is Revealed to Daniel
19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel said,
→ As a result of the prayers of Daniel and his friends, God has "revealed to Daniel" "the king's matter."
→ First order of business was to "give thanks and praise" and to give honor to God for His infinite "wisdom and power;...".
24 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”
→ Second order of business is to save not only himself, but his friends, and all the other wizards at the same time, from the edict of the king.
25 Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” 26 The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. 29 As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 30 But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
→ Thirdly, Arioch got Daniel in front of the king. Nebuchadnezzar asks Daniel, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen AND (emphasis mine) it's interpretation?"
• Daniel responds that it is impossible for any number of wizardly people to provide that info to the king.
• He continues by saying BUT, God "reveals mysteries", and is showing you the future.
• Daniel points out to the king that he has received this info NOT because he is superior to any of the other of the king's wizards, but simply because God wants Nebuchadnezzar to understand what is coming in the future.
The King's Dream
31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
→ The dream in a nutshell...
• Big statue.
• Head made of GOLD.
• Breast and arms of SILVER.
• Belly and thighs of BRONZE.
• Legs of IRON.
• Feet of IRON and CLAY.
• Giant STONE, "cut out without hands", smashes the feet, causing the collapse of the entire statue.
• No trace left of the statue - the stone becomes a "great mountain".
The Interpretation - Babylon the First Kingdom
36 “This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
→ The head of gold is Babylon - specifically it is Nebuchadnezzar.
→ God is telling Neb, that of all of this statue, or at least of what it represents, Nebuchadnezzar is the greatest part of it.
→ God is basically telling him that Neb only has this kingdom, that he only has this power, because God has given it to him.
Medo-Persia and Greece
39 “After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
→ "After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you,..." - this will be the breast and arms of SILVER.
• This would be the Medo-Persian kingdom.
• Which will commence in 539BC when Cyrus II becomes the ruler of Babylon.
• This kingdom would last from 539 to 331BC.
→ "Then another third kingdom of BRONZE,..."
• We know this will be Greece, the kingdom of Alexander the Great and the cronies that follow after him.
• Alexander will live from 356-322BC.
• After his death, the captured lands will be divided between his surviving generals. We'll take a deeper look at this when we deal with chapter 8.
• This kingdom would last from 331 to 146BC.
Rome
40 “Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
→ The IRON legs represent Rome, in it's fullest and most aggressive form.
• The nation of Rome began in 146BC and lasted until 476AD in the west.
• The eastern portion of Rome, also known as the Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453AD, until the Ottoman Turks took over Constantinople.
→ The feet of IRON and CLAY would represent some form of a re-unified Rome, but one that is in multiple packages.
• This is believed to be a future kingdom.
The Divine Kingdom
44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
→ This we believe to also be a future kingdom, but just not any kingdom.
→ This will be God's Kingdom, at the end of time, with Jesus sitting on the throne.
Daniel Promoted
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court.
→ This first episode gives us a pattern for Nebuchadnezzar. 1st he will make exorbitant demands, with threats of death for non-compliance, and then when God intervenes, Neb will humble himself.
→ There's no middle ground for this guy. From one extreme to another.
→ He's just threatened death to ALL of the wise guys of Babylon, including Daniel and his buddies, and after God has intervened, Neb is now bowing down to Daniel, an 18 year old boy whose just started working his first job.
→ On the plus side, Nebuchadnezzar DOES give credit to God Himself, when he says "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery."
→ This won't be the last time that Neb praises God.
• Is he a believer?
→ Neb goes on to give Daniel a promotion. In fact he makes Daniel, the kid, the boss of all the wise guys.
→ Daniel also secured a promotion for all of his pals.
So What?
► None of us will probably ever be in this same predicament.
► Interpreting dreams is one thing, but telling your patient what the dream was? That's an entirely different therapy session.
► But Daniel does show us some characteristics that we should consider adopting.
→ Daniel's first response when apprised of this situation was to stave off the killing of ALL the wise men, not just himself and his friends.
• He didn't even know yet exactly what the problem was or how to solve it.
→ Then he approached the king to verify exactly what the situation was so he would know what needed to be done.
• When he came before the king he showed humility, rather than coming in hot-headed, letting the king know what an idiot he was acting like.
→ Once he knew that the task was impossible, he turned to God, asking the One for whom nothing is impossible, to resolve the situation.
→ Then, when he had the requested information for the king, he again approached him, and presented to him all that the king needed to hear.
→ BUT, Daniel first made a point of telling Neb that this info didn't come from himself, but it was God who gave both the dream, and it's interpretation.
Posts in this series
► Daniel 2:1-49 • Nebuchadnezzar's First Dream and Promotion of Daniel
► Daniel 4:1-37 • Nebuchadnezzar Dreams. Goes Insane, and Comes to His Senses
► Daniel 5:1-30 • The Handwriting on the Wall
► Daniel 6:1-28 • Daniel in the Lion's Den
► Daniel 7:1-28 • Daniel's Dream and Visions of Four Beasts
► Daniel 8:1-27 • Daniel's Vision of a Ram and a Goat
► Daniel 9:1-27 • Daniel's Prayer and Seventy Sevens
► Daniel 10:1 to 11:1 • Daniel's Mourning and Terrifying Vision
► Daniel 11:2-35 • The Kings of the South and the North
► Daniel 11:36 to 12:13 • The King Who Exalts Himself and the End Times
Photo • 2022/02/03 - Snow at our home in Claremore, OK
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by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org”
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