Preliminary Note
The difficulties of sound exposition occur in the later chapters of this prophecy. The earlier ones, while not devoid of the prophetic aspect, have not the intricacies of the later chapters, nor the same possibilities of double fulfillment. Because of this, for the earlier part of the book, two chapters are being considered together. For the later sections this will not be possible.
We would also point out that, up to the time of the captivity, when God said of his Kingdom “It shall be no more until he come whose right it is”, Israel had been exclusively God’s people. “You only have I known…” Up to this time the Old Testament had been largely a record of Israel, both two and ten tribes, and Gentile nations had had no part. Now, however, immediately Israel is no longer exclusively God’s people, God begins to tell us what is the future of the Gentile nations, for now they have offered to them salvation equally with the Jews. Israel would not listen to God, so God turned to the Gentiles. The wedding guests were to be gathered from the highways and the byways, seeing the invited guests “with one accord began to make excuse… “
Chapters 1 and 2
The Book of Daniel is the smallest of the four major prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. It consists of 12 chapters only and is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ as being fully authoritative (Matt. 24:15). The siege of Nebuchadnezzar referred to in chapter 1:1 took place in 606/7 B.C., and as a result of this siege and the resultant capitulation to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and his three friends were among the first batch of captives to be taken to Babylon. Daniel was of the seed royal, and these four were selected for special intensive training, lasting three years, to qualify them to stand before the king. Babylonian writing was very intricate and consisted of over a thousand characters, and late discoveries have shewn that these ancient nations knew far more than did the European nations 150 years ago, especially in sciences like astronomy (largely intermingled with astrology), mathematics and medicine. At the end of the training Nebuchadnezzar himself, personally, conducted the “examination” to see if they were qualified to “stand before him.”
To help them thus to qualify, the king “appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat and of the wine that he drank.” This food had probably been offered in sacrifice to the gods of Babylon (of whom there were many) and would consequently be “defiled” to any Israelite. The prince of the eunuchs, under whose care they had been placed, was called Melzar, and God had brought Daniel into favour with this man and into his tender love. Daniel requested him that he should be excused defiling himself with the king’s meat, and to silence his objections Daniel proposed a 10-day test with a close physical examination at the end of it, the food during this period to be “pulse” (which was probably largely, if not entirely “vegetarian”). Melzar agreed, and at the end of ten days “their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.” The case was unanswerable, so Melzar took away the king’s meat and gave them pulse as they requested.
Let us note particularly v.17, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” At the end of three years Melzar brought them in before the king, and the king communed with them and found none like these four, therefore they were appointed to stand before the king, for he found that in matters of wisdom and understanding they were ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers in all his realm. Whether the “ten times’ was exactly literal or whether it was a general expression matters not, but it is evident that their qualifications were very high and justified the God-given training they had had.
It must have been quite early in their three years’ training period when Nebuchadnezzar dreamed the dream recorded in Daniel chapter 2. The text says “it was in the second year of his reign” (Let us notice that from chapter 2:4 until the end of chapter 7 the text is in “Syriac” — that is Aramaic — and then chapter 8 reverts to Hebrew.) Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He told his magicians etc. that he had forgotten it. Some think this was a device on his part to test them out; whether it was so or not does not affect the final issue. Naturally they said “Tell us the dream and we will tell the king the interpretation thereof.” In reply the king threatened dire punishment unless they could recall the dream to him; if they could recall it great rewards were held out. They replied again, speaking as before. Then the king told them bluntly that they were simply trying to gain time, that it was evident that if they could not tell him the dream then they were guilty of telling him lying and corrupt words. Again he told them, tell me the dream and then I shall know that you can tell me the interpretation. Then the wise men told him there was not a man upon earth who could do what he wanted. It was a rare thing the king demanded, and only the gods could supply the answer. This reply infuriated the king still more, and he issued the decree that all the wise men should be slain, and Daniel and his friends were included in this decree.
Arioch, the captain, was the one appointed to carry out this sentence, and Daniel asked him why the decree was so urgent and Arioch gave him details. Daniel then went in to the king and requested of him time, and assured the king that he would give him the interpretation. Daniel then went to his house, told the other three, and then they had a prayer meeting and God revealed the secret to Daniel in a night vision. Then they gave thanks to the God of heaven, recognising that he removed and set up kings and that he revealed the deep and secret things and had revealed unto them what they had requested of him.
Daniel then went to Arioch, telling him to hold his hand and not destroy the wise men, but “bring me in before the king and I will shew the king the interpretation”. Then Arioch went in to the king in haste and said “I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.” The king said to Daniel “Art thou able to make known to me the dream and the interpretation?” Daniel (like Joseph a thousand years earlier) disclaimed any ability that he had, but he assured the king that “there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and makes known unto king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” “The dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these” and he first reminded the king that he had been wondering what would come to pass hereafter and “he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.” Daniel then again emphasised it was not for any wisdom that he had, but rather for the intent to make known unto the king what shall come to pass, “that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart”.
Then he recalled to the king the dream he had had (Dan. 2:31) “Thou, 0 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.”
Before we examine the interpretation in detail let us notice one or two general points. The image is top heavy. Gold is the heaviest metal of the four. Iron is least heavy, and the others are graded between the gold and the iron. The image has a predisposition to topple over. But not only does this gradation apply to weights, it also applies to values. Gold is very valuable, but iron, and still more so clay, is worth very very much less. Their malleability also varies the same way. There are only four empires of the kingdoms of men; the fifth one, and by far the greatest of them, is the Kingdom of God. Let us note, too, that while there are many similarities to Daniel chapter 7 where the man of God sees these things as beasts, there are many very marked differences. For example, in Daniel 2 the image is destroyed and blown away. In Daniel 7 only the fourth beast is given to the burning flame, but the others have their lives prolonged “for a season and a time”.
What interpretation did Daniel give Nebuchadnezzar? “Thou art this head of gold.” To Nebuchadnezzar the position truly was a golden one. He was the perfect despot. “Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive.” But Daniel emphasised that this power was all God-given. After him another kingdom was to arise — the silver one. This was the Medo-Persian empire, and the power of the ruler was restrained by the representatives of the 127 provinces, as we are told in the book of Esther — not so despotic as the head of gold. Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus the Persian some 70 years after the first captivity of Israel, and Belshazzar the last king was slain, after God had “weighed him in the balances and found him wanting.” Then in its turn Medo-Persia gave way to the whirlwind campaign of Alexander the Great, who commenced his world conquest about 332 B.C. After a campaign lasting about seven years he died, a very young man, after a drunken bout in his tent in Babylon. Details of his successors are given in the later chapters of Daniel. This was the brazen portion of the image. Last we come to the iron and later the iron and clay portions. The legs and feet were of strong but brittle iron, representing the Eastern and Western portions of the Roman Empire, which broke in pieces and subdued all kingdoms to itself. When we arrive at the toes, they were a weak mixture of iron and clay, utterly unstable. This mixture can represent the present day position which can be viewed as opposing sections from many angles, but all devoid of cohesion. Then Daniel tells the king that “in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, but it shall stand forever.” The destruction of the image was by means of the stone falling upon the feet, breaking them. The image topples over, and the stone grinds all to powder, and the winds of heaven blew it all away, and no trace could be found. Then the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Consider now the stone. It was cut out “by no human hand.” In other words by no human agency. The one represented by the stone was to be God’s son, born of a virgin. The stone is referred to all the way through Scripture.
The Stone
Look up and study the following references. All refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and each reference could make a profitable study:
- Gen. 28:22, 31:45, 49:24
- Exod. 20:25
- 1 Kings 5:17
- Psalms 118:22
- Isaiah 8:14, 28:16
- Daniel 2:34
- Habakkuk 2:11
- Zechariah 3:9
- Matthew 21:42, 44.
- Acts 4:11
- 1 Peter 2:4, 5, 7, 8.
Similarly the virgin birth is promised consistently all through Scripture. It commences with the promise of the seed of the woman, and many of the references coincide with those above. The references are too numerous to give all of them, but the following deserve detailed examination:
- Genesis 3:15, 49:24, 22:8
- Exodus 20:25, 26
- 2 Samuel 7:12
- Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 42:1, 52:13, 53.
- Jeremiah 31:32
- Zechariah 3:89
and very many more.
The descent of the stone upon the feet of the image will be fulfilled when Jesus, the Son of God, returns to the earth to take to himself his great power and to re-establish God’s Kingdom in the earth.
A final point arises. Has this image to be re-erected before the Lord returns, in order that it can be destroyed by him? This writer does not think so. If it were to be re-erected, would not the stone smite the image on the head, on the type of David and Goliath? But the stone falls on the feet. Not only so, but as commented earlier, all the image is ground up and blown away. Let us make a comparison. In Rev. 13 we have the vision of the ten-horned beast of the sea. This had a mouth like a lion, the feet of a bear, the shape of a leopard, and the various features of the dragon. Does not this suggest it has the features and characteristics of all four beasts, although three of them had gone? In just the same way, the ten toes will have the characteristics of the previous empires though the empires themselves have gone. In view of the location of the ten toes, this suggests that the initial judgements of the Lord will be on the ten horn confederacy in Europe, with which agree the final phases of the sixth vial, when Armageddon is definitely precipitated by the influence of the three frog-like spirits, “… and they (R.V. and R.S.V.) gathered them into a place called… Armageddon”. Rev. 17 also says the same, where we read that the “ten horns gave their power unto the beast”… “these shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them…” This could well be the first phase of the beginning of the subjugation of the earth by the Lord.
We are neither prophets nor prophets’ sons. It is most unwise to dogmatise. At the same time these things are given for our learning, and in view of the promise in chapter 12 “… at the end the wise shall understand…” we want to have receptive minds, sharpened by prayer. and the expectancy that our prayer will be answered by the One to whom all things are known.
Daniel The Prophet – (Part 3)