Please don’t neglect to read the other chapters as well as they contain inspiring information of Daniels life and faith. Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar ,the King of Babylon sent his army to Jerusalem. In 586 B.C. his armies destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple built by Solomon, because of of God’s judgments as prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet, and Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar’s armies carried back to Babylon prisoners of war. Daniel and his friends were some of these prisoners. Daniel was reading the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah and he came to this passage of Scripture (Jeremiah 25:11) “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” So Daniel knew that he would be there a very good while. Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar had a very terrifying dream. He called on his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers, and some of his top advisers to interpret the dream without telling them what the dream was. This way he would know for sure if their interpretation was true or not. He threatened their lives and their homes if they did not come up with the right dream and interpretation. This was a very hard saying for those people whom Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar assigned this task. He had even forgotten the dream. Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar was a very ruthless king.
Verse 6-35) “But if you shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. The Chal-de’-ans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, Lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chalde’- an. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other they can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise man should be slain: and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to A’-ri-och the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: He answered and said to A’-ri-och the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then A’-ri-och made the thing known to Daniel. Then Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Han-a-ni-ah, Mis’-a-el, Az-a-ri’ah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteh up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my father’s, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. Therefore Daniel went in unto A’-ri-och, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. Then A’-ri-och brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Bel-te-shaz’zar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then 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; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Can you imagine how frantic these so-called wise man must have been, they had to come up with the dream, and the interpretation or be cut into pieces. The only wise men were Daniel, and his companions, because they sought the Lord, and the Lord revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel. Notice he gave God all the glory and the credit. This is so important to emphasize. We should always give God the credit for everything good that happens in our life.
Verse 36-39) “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and have made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” These verses tell of the great image which Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar dreamed and what each part means, the images head was of gold, this is talking about Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar in Babylon. The next inferior kingdom was the Medes ( they were an inferior empire to Babylon).One night some of the Medes swam under the wall of Babylon where the river ran into the city and managed to open the gates of Babylon and caught Neb-u-chad-nez’-ar’s army by surprise and conquered the city. The Medes then joined forces with the Persians, and became the Medo-Persian Empire. The third kingdom of brass after Babylon and Medo Persia was Greece. These kingdoms ruled the known world of their day including the land of Israel, and the Jews.
Verse 40) “ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” The fourth kingdom to rule the earth and the Jews from Babylon was Rome symbolized by iron to represent strong dictatorial rule, and the two iron legs are symbolic of the East and West Roman Empire, Byzantine and Constantinople.
Verse 41-43) “And whereas thou sawest 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 thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest 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.” The feet and toes of clay and iron that did not mix are symbolic of the different types of governments of man since the Roman empire such as democracies and dictatorships. The iron is symbolic of dictatorships which rule with strong control, and are like iron compared to the clay rule of democracies, and they don’t mix, as clay does not mix with iron. “They mingle themselves with the seed of men” is talking about the many different nationalities living together in the different countries. These are the last governments of man since Rome, before the last government of man, the antichrist’s. The 10 toes are the 10 nations that join with the antichrist in (Revelation Chapter 13). The Book of Daniel and Revelation go together like a puzzle that you must piece together to get a clear understanding, and the full meaning.
Verse 44) “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: 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 for ever.” This verse is talking about Jesus Christ coming back and setting up his kingdom forever.
Verse 45) “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone 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 hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” The stone cut out of the mountain without hands and that broke in pieces, all the other parts of the image, is symbolic of Jesus Christ taking over all the kingdoms of man.
Verse 46-49) “Then the king Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar fell upon his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him. 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 thou couldst reveal this secret. 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. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Sha’-drach, Me’-shach, and A-bed’-ne-go, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” Neb-u-chad-nez’-zar realizes that Daniel’s God is the true God, and he makes Daniel a great leader over all of Babylon and gives him much reward, so Daniel and his companions were free to worship God. This is truly an amazing dream, and prophecy predicting the empires of the world from Babylon to Christ, and it proves that God is real, and the Bible is the true word of God. For no man could have predicted the future with such accuracy unless God had spoken to him!
7 WORLD EMPIRES OF MAN;
1) Egypt: 2100 B.C. to 1491 B.C.
2)Assyria: 1490 B.C. to 606 B.C.
3)Babylon: 606 B.C. to 536 B.C.
4)Medo-Persia: 536 B.C. to 332 B.C.
5)Greece: 331 B.C. to 321 B.C. ( under Alexander The Great)
6) Rome: 146 B.C. to 400 A.D.
7) The Anti-Christ World Empire will be the last world Empire ruled by the devil possessed anti-christ until Jesus Christ comes to rule the world.
Say this prayer to be saved: Jesus, I want to know you, and to live forever in Heaven, I know I have made mistakes and done bad things- and I am sorry. Please forgive me. I know I don’t deserve it, but I accept your love and I accept you as my Saviour. I believe you died on the cross for my sins ,and rose from the dead. Please come into my heart and life and fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me peace. Amen.