Daniel Chapter 2a Series

Daniel – Chapter 2 Part A

A. Chapter 2 Outline

I. The King and his Pagan Advisors (2:1-13)

a. The Fear (2:1)

b. The Frustration (2:2-13)

i. The Counsellors (2:2)

(1) Magicians

(2) Astrologers

(3) Sorcerers

(4) Chaldeans

ii. The Charge (2:3)

iii. The Cop-out (2:4-7)

iv. The Command (2:8-13)

II. The king and God’s Prophet (2:14-49)

a. God Reveals the Dream to Daniel (2:14-23)

i. The Request (2:14-16)

ii. The Revelation (2:17-19)

iii. The Rejoicing (2:20-23)

b. Daniel Reveals the Dream to Nebuchadnezzar (2:24-49)

i. The Information (2:24-35)

(1) A Statue (2:24-33)

(2) A Stone (2:34-35)

ii. The Interpretation (2:36-45)

(1) Of the Statue (2:36-43)

(2) Of the Stone (2:44-45)

iii. The Elevation (2:46-45)

B. Message

The second Chapter of Daniel has well been called “The A-B-C of Prophecy.” It contains a complete and yet simple prophetic picture. It is in the form of a dream given to a heathen monarch.

As you turn from chapter 1 to chapter 2, the atmosphere in the kings palace changes radically. Chapter 1 closes with recognition and security, but chapter 2 introduces rejection and sorrow.

This chapter also launches us into the Gentile portion of the Book of Daniel. Beginning with the answer of the Chaldeans in verse 4, the Holy Spirit directed Daniel to change from Hebrew to Aramaic. To anyone reading the book in its original languages, the change would be abrupt, calling for special attention. It makes us ask why this change is made. The answer is found in the story.

I. The King and his Pagan Advisors (2:1-13)

a. The Fear (2:1)

When Nebuchadnezzar first came to Jerusalem to conquer, he was not yet king; he was acting for his father, Nabopolassar, back in Babylon. This accounts for the seeming contradiction between the three years of training for Daniel 1:5 and the “second year” of the king’s reign in Daniel 2:1

Nebuchadnezzar awoke with a start; he was fearful because of a dream. The Lord gave him a dream that he could not understand and it scared him. That the Lord God Almighty would communicate His truth to pagan Gentile king is evidence of the grace of God. The phrase “dreamed dreams” may suggest that this one dream kept recurring.

The Lord had given two dreams to Pharaoh in Genesis 41, another Gentile ruler, and Joseph had interpreted them; and God also gave a dream to the magi who came to worship Jesus in Matthew 2:12, and they were Gentiles.

b. The Frustration (2:2-13)

i. The Counsellors (2:2)

The king did what any ancient ruler would do: he summoned his special advisors to help him understand the significance of this dream that had interrupted his sleep and robbed him of his peace. These special advisors had the reputation of being wise men.

(1) Magicians

The magicians wielded the rod of office. Their function was to repel demons and evil spirits by means of special spells and incantations. They were also fortune tellers they would use they magic to tell the future.

(2) Astrologers

The astrologers were prophets who cast horoscopes and studied the stars, announced the will of heaven, and predicted the future.

(3) Sorcerers

The sorcerers used witchcraft, these people became the tools of Satan to unveil the unknown. Pharaoh kept similar advisers in his court Exodus 7:11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. In the Law, God commanded that the Hebrews have no dealings with such people Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

(4) Chaldeans

The Chaldeans were a special class of people, distinct from the ordinary Babylonians Jeremiah 22:25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

They seemed to have comprised a special class within the priesthood. They were the elite, a group made up of those people of exclusively Chaldean lineage. They also seemed to have a special relation to the temple of Bel-Merodach in which Nebuchadnezzar had put the temple vessels that he had plundered from Jerusalem.

ii. The Charge (2:3)

The request was a simple one from the king – he just wanted to know what his dream meant. He knew that it was significant; he knew that the truth of this dream meant something drastic, either for him or for those surrounding him, but what did it mean?

However, being an unregenerate man without the Holy Spirit, he could not know the meaning of the simplest things of life about him. He, like many before him and like millions since, resorted to anyone who could even hint at what the future held. He turned to the world instead of to God. Mathew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: [8] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.