Daniel 2 gives us the keynote of Daniel's prophecy, that is, “The Times of the Gentiles.” It is the Lord Himself, in Luke 21:2424And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24), who uses this significant expression. These times began with the transference of God's center of government from the Jew to the Gentile. The cause of this was the idolatry of the Jews, leading first to the break up of the twelve tribes into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and subsequently to Israel being deported to Assyria, and Judah to Babylonia. We shall see in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image a visualized portraiture of “The Times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:2424And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)).
Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, had a dream, the remembrance of which passed from him. With the despotism that marked these eastern potentates, he called upon the Chaldean astrologers to relate to him the forgotten dream, clearly an impossible thing to ask.
The Chaldeans were unable to comply with the King's request, telling him that only supernatural power could suffice for that purpose. Thereupon the King was furious, and commanded that the wise men of Babylon should be slain, including among their number Daniel and his friends.
Daniel goes in to the infuriated monarch, and asks him to give him time, and he will show him the interpretation.
Consider Daniel's faith in God. There is no hint of possible failure. He promised the interpretation.
The first thing Daniel does is to call his three companions to prayer. He was dependent, and God honored his faith. During his sleep God revealed the vision to His servant. In coming before the King, Daniel ascribes all the glory of the revelation to God.
The vision was briefly this: A great image, whose form was terrible. The head was of fine gold; the breast and arms were of silver; the belly and thighs were of brass; the legs of iron; the feet part of iron and part of clay. The King looked in his dream till a stone cut out without hands smote the image upon its feet, and broke them to pieces. The image was thus fallen, and in ifs fall the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces, so much so as to be likened to chaff on the summer threshing-floor, carried away by the wind. The stone that thus smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel gives the interpretation—a most remarkable proof of the inspiration of Scripture. Whatever date is assigned by critics to the Book of Daniel, nothing can rob this interpretation of its wonderful and minute prophecy.
Prophecy on the page of Scripture, fulfilled as the centuries slowly unroll the page of history, is such a proof of inspiration that only the wickedness and blindness of the unregenerate heart can deny.
Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is one of the most astounding and remarkable instances of this. The interpretation covers “the Times of the Gentiles”—delineates the rise and fall of four great world-empires, the coming and going of which are completely outside the region of the shrewdest guess. Nothing but God's omniscience in foretelling, and His omnipotence in controlling the affairs of the world, suffice to explain the interpretation of this wonderful dream. The interpretation was this:
Head of Gold symbolized the Babylonian Empire.
Breast and Arms of Silver symbolized the Medo-Persian Empire.
Belly and Thighs of Brass symbolized the Grecian Empire.
Legs of Iron, Feet part Iron and part Clay, symbolized the Roman Empire.
Note the deterioration in the materials used—gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay. There is no diminution of force, save in the clay, for iron is tougher as a metal than gold, but there is a diminution of glory indicated in this way.
Doubtless Nebuchadnezzar is pointed out by Daniel as the head of gold, because he received his position direct from God. “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” (Dan. 2:3737Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. (Daniel 2:37)).
With this gift of absolute power, as men say, God helped Nebuchadnezzar providentially to the securing of it. For proof of this read Jeremiah 27:1-81In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, 3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; 5I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. (Jeremiah 27:1‑8), a very remarkable passage.
In the case of the second Kingdom, the fact that it was a dual kingdom—the Medo-Persian—affords evidence of deterioration. We need go no further than the Book of Daniel for proof of this. Witness the impotence of Darius when he wished to deliver Daniel from the doom his nobles had planned for him.
The third Empire—the Grecian—on the death of Alexander the Great, was divided by his four generals, a still further deterioration.
The Roman Empire, the fourth Empire, is much more dwelt upon in the prophecy, because in its revived form it goes on to the end. The iron speaks, we believe, of the immense military power of that empire, the clay of the democratic element, which has developed under our eyes in such a striking way, and which marked it in its early days, for the soldiers of Rome chose their Emperor, and it likewise existed as a Republic.
The Roman Empire as it originally existed was broken up by the Huns and Goths in the fifth century, but Revelation 13:1-81And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:1‑8) foretells its revival. It was broken up, doubtless, to give time for the calling out by God of a people from among the nations to form the Church. But once the Church is raptured to heaven, the Roman Empire will revive again—its deadly wound shall be healed. Already there are many and ominous signs of its revival.
Without going minutely into details, Nebuchadnezzar is inflated by this dream. God gave him a vision of this composite image, the head of gold being designated as himself. In his folly he would make a whole image of gold, and call men on pain of death to worship it.
A tiny weak handful of Jewish captives—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—resisted this idolatrous command and were cast into the fiery furnace, heated seven times by the order of the infuriated monarch. The stoutest men of the empire, who threw the faithful witnesses into the fire, were themselves slain by the fury of the flame, whilst only their victims' bonds were burnt, their clothes and hair being untouched.
And as they walked in the midst of the furnace a fourth form appeared, even like that of the Son of God. The King, astonished, commanded the three Hebrew witnesses to come out of the fire, whilst he acknowledged the power of God in delivering His servants, and commanded that none should speak amiss of their God under pain of death, and promoted the erstwhile martyrs to be rulers in the provinces of Babylon.
We believe Nebuchadnezzar's making of the golden image to be a picture of the last Roman Emperor, who will at the instigation of the false prophet allow an image to be made of himself for the purpose of being worshipped, whilst the three Hebrew children cast into the fiery furnace affords a picture of the Jewish remnant that will refuse to worship the image and will go through the “great tribulation” and have to endure intense suffering as the consequence.
In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. He tells it to the soothsayers, who are unable to interpret it. Daniel is sent for. The King narrates his dream.
In it he saw a tree, great and strong and high, reaching up to heaven. Its leaves were fair, its fruit much, and it bore meat for all. The beasts of the field found shadow under it, and the fowls of the air lodged in its branches, and all flesh was fed by it.
A watcher and a holy one from heaven came down and called aloud that the tree and its branches should be hewn down, its leaves shaken off, and its fruit scattered, the beasts, rejoicing in its shadow, dispersed, and the fowls removed from its shelter. Nevertheless its stump was to be left in the earth, but bound with a band of iron and brass.
At this point the “tree” symbol is dropped, and the figure is changed to a man. Evidently the tree is symbolical of the greatness and wide-spreading power of the man introduced into the dream. He is to be wet with the dew of heaven, and eat grass with the beasts of the field. His heart is to be changed to a beast's, and a period of seven times is to pass over him.
This is said by the watcher and holy one to be the decree of the watchers and holy ones that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Daniel is now asked by the King for the interpretation of his dream. The prophet is amazed beyond measure, and is silent for one hour. Encouraged by the King he gives him the interpretation. He tells the monarch that the great tree symbolizes himself (Nebuchadnezzar) in all his greatness and widespread dominion. In its being cut down he was to behold his own doom. The idolatrous golden image was an affront to God that could not be passed over. The tree stump with its roots, bound with iron and brass, spoke of the kingdom being secured to him whilst driven from men and his dwelling being with the beasts of the field.
Daniel earnestly begs the King to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Such a course of repentance might lengthen his tranquility, but Daniel holds out no hope of the judgment being altogether averted.
Twelve months roll by. The King walks in his palace. He is lifted up with pride, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” (Dan 4:3030The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30)). Instead of acknowledging that God had put him into his position he ascribed all the glory to himself.
At that moment the blow fell. His reason forsook him. Men drove the erstwhile mighty monarch into the fields. He ate grass like an ox, his body was wet with the dew of heaven, his hairs grew like eagle's feathers, and his nails like eagle's claws.
At the end of the seven times his reason returned to him; and he praised God, saying: “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (Dan. 4:3737Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. (Daniel 4:37)).
In the doom of this idolatrous monarch, see a picture of the doom of the revived head of the Roman Empire. In giving up God men become like beasts. But whilst God graciously restores Nebuchadnezzar, doom full and final will overtake the impious head of the revived Roman Empire and his lieutenant, the false prophet.
The doom of the Babylonian Empire was finally carried out in the reign of Belshazzar. Daniel 5 is the only chapter in the book devoted to Belshazzar's history. It describes the great feast given to a thousand of his lords, how he impiously commanded the sacred vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple at Jerusalem, to be brought in, and used, as they praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. At that moment a mysterious man's hand appeared on the plaster wall of the King's palace, and wrote the startling words: “ MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (Dan. 5:2525And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. (Daniel 5:25)).
Affrighted, the King called for the astrologers, offering great rewards—scarlet clothing, a chain of gold, and the third place in the kingdom—to any person interpreting the fateful handwriting. None of the astrologers could gain the rewards.
That the King offered the third place in the kingdom as reward is a bit of circumstantial evidence so dear to the lawyer's heart, and so convincing in a court of justice. Belshazzar reigned with his father (Nabonidus). The associate monarch is not named in Daniel 5. It is believed he was away on military business at the time. Two places belonged to these two kings, hence the promised reward of a third place in the kingdom.
When the astrologers failed to interpret the writing to the King, the queen-mother told him of Daniel, and that he had the wisdom of the gods.
The prophet was brought from his obscurity, for evidently the King had not even heard of him, and was offered the glittering rewards. They were worth nothing, as the sequel showed.
Daniel reminded Belshazzar of the fate of his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, how his heart was lifted up with pride, how he lost his reason, how his heart was made like the beasts', and how he lived like the cattle in the field.
Then the solemn, withering indictment followed: “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven” (Dan. 5:22-2322And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 23But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: (Daniel 5:22‑23)).
God had noted the idolatrous feast which would even make sport of the holy vessels of the temple. So Daniel continued his terrible indictment. Each word must have fallen like a crushing blow on the heart of the intoxicated monarch.
MENE: God hath numbered thy Kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES: Thy Kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Profane history tells us how Darius diverted the river Euphrates, and, as Daniel's last words sounded in the monarch's frightened ear, he was even then at the gate. His troops entered the city through the dry bed of the river.
In the brief pregnant words of Scripture: “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldean slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old” (Dan. 5:30-3130In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. (Daniel 5:30‑31)).
Daniel 6 gives us the personal history of Daniel in the reign of Darius. It is noteworthy how God honored His faithful servant, and amid the change of kings and dynasties and the cataclysm of fate he was ever ready to serve the Lord.
The chief incident in the chapter is the well-known one of Daniel and the lion's den. The position of Darius, as tied by his nobles, contrasts with the complete autocracy of the Babylonian Empire, and fulfills the dream of Nebuchadnezzar when he saw the head to be of gold, the breast and arms of silver.
Doubtless these two incidents of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lion's den, will be very encouraging to the faithful remnant in the midst of the great tribulation, even as they would seem to be typical of that time.
The rest of the book, and the most important for us, is taken up with the description of Daniel's visions and the interpretations thereof as they occurred in the reigns of Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus.