Greetings Beloved in Christ Jesus. We bless the name of the Lord for the opportunity to present to you another episode of our daily study of the Scriptures. We thank God for the gift of life and for His benefits on us each new day. Praise be to God.
In our today’s episode 572, we shall be examining the concluding part of Daniel Chapter 2 titled:
This Is The Terrifying Dream The King Had And Its Meaning
In my previous post, we examined how an execution order was issued by the king, if his advisers failed to tell him his dream and its interpretations.
We read about how Daniel and his friends prayed, and God decided to reveal the mystery to only Daniel at night. Read Dan 2:19. Reason is because each of them had their own assignment in the foreign land. The friends’ assignment was to offer support in ensuring Daniel got an answer that would save all of them from the dangling sword of Nebuchadnezzar.
So, Daniel’s assignment was to receive the answer and deliver it.
Having received the answers, Daniel gave God the glory (Dan 2:19-23). They praised God, for His sovereignty and greatness.
So, what did the king dream about?
The King saw a giant statue standing before him and this is how the statue was described:
Head made of the finest gold.
The chest and arms were made of silver
The waist and hips were made of bronze
The legs were made of iron
The feet were made of partly iron and partly clay.
Now, here is the terrifying part…
As the king was still gazing in shock of what he was looking at, suddenly, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them.
Then at once, the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.
What does the dream mean?
The head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar himself considering the high position and empire that God has allowed him to acquire.
After him, there would be another empire not as great as Nebuchadnezzar, which is why it was made of silver. This represents the Medo-Persian empire, This happened around 539-331 BC as already prophesied by Jeremiah, Ezekiel and also Daniel himself that Cyrus (Persian King) was going to conquer Babylon and order the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem around 538 BC.
After that there would be a third empire of bronze, which would also rule all over the earth. This represents the Grecian Empire (Alexander the Great around 331-168 BC)
The fourth empire made of iron will also rule and shatter the earlier empires. This represents the Roman Empire which took place around 168 BC – 476 AD That was when the following ruled, namely Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Nero and Titus. They all ruled as Roman Emperors.
And then the feet which is made up of both iron and clay represents a divided empire, part of which would be strong and part of it would be weak. Here are some of the things Daniel said concerning this last part of the statue:
If you read Dan 2:41-44, you will find that:
1. The kingdom will be divided but retain some strength of the iron.
2. The kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak Dan 2:42.
3. The people of the kingdom will be a mixture but not remain united. Dan 2:43.
4. This will be the last ruling world empire which will usher in the everlasting Kingdom of God. Dan 2:44.
That’s what Daniel meant, when he says there would be the stone Kingdom which represents the Kingdom of God that will never end. It can never be conquered but will completely eradicate or demolish the earlier worldly powers and then last forever.
That is why the stone broke loose from the cliff and struck the statue, crushed the gold, silver, bronze, iron and the clay parts and shattered them into pieces.
God was simply showing Nebuchadnezzar what would happen in the future, when the world would come to an end, when the kingdoms of this world will cease to exist, and the Kingdom of God will be forever established.
Now, pay attention to each successive empire as they were reducing in value. As we move down the scale from one empire to the next, so also is their value diminishing – from Gold to silver to bronze to iron and then to clay.
What does this mean?
It means the world is gradually diminishing in value system. Things are getting worse each new day. As value system is diminishing, the rate of influence and strength to pollute the world is increasing. Morality is decreasing, while violence and military strength, violence and terror are increasing globally.
No wonder Jesus Himself says in Matthew 21:44 that And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.
Having listened to Daniel, king Nebuchadnezzar bowed down and worshipped the true God that Daniel served. He even offered sacrifices being their usual practice at that time.
He did not stop there. He offered Daniel a high position in the kingdom and presented him with many splendid gifts and put him in charge of the province of Babylon and made him the head of all royal advisers.
Now, Daniel did something very remarkable and touching at the same time. He requested that his colleagues (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who joined him in prayer during the time they were seeking God’s face for an answer) should be rewarded too.
So, in verse 49, the Bible says, at Daniel’s request, the King put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the royal court.
The implication of this is that never think your good deed will go unrewarded. One day, you will be remembered.
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let us Pray:
By the authority in the name of Jesus, I demolish evil empires sponsoring the shedding of innocent bloods, sponsoring moral decadence and creating divisions in Nigeria and anywhere in the world, their agenda are scattered and their mercenaries demolished, in Jesus name.
I declare, the Lord God will connect you with that human agent that will open your door of destiny fulfilment, in Jesus name.
All your sleepless nights of prayers and fasting either for yourself or for your loved ones will receive heaven’s attention to bring in unhindered answers, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: Reflection time on all the chapters you have read so far from the past six days and covering of missed chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Wednesday October 21, 2020 (DDMI)
