Title: “Daniel Interprets the Dream” Scripture: Dan. 2:31-49
Type: Series Where: GNBC 10-19-25
Intro: Zig Ziglar once said, "A study of three hundred world-class leaders, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sir Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, Mother Teresa, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and Martin Luther King, Jr., revealed that 25 percent of them had serious physical disabilities and an additional 50 percent had been abused as children or were raised in abject poverty." (From a sermon by Ricky Nelms, Daniel, 7/29/2010). Well, true of Daniel. We have seen how He and his friends were forcibly taken from their homes and homeland hundreds of miles, suffered sexual abuse, culturally re/de programmed so as to become servants of a ruthless, pagan king in a country unlike anything ever seen. And yet, under God’s mighty arm they prospered and succeeded. We pick up today where we left off last week as Daniel makes known the king’s awful dream.
Prop: Dan.2:31ff will reveal 3 Important Elements of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
BG: 1. Last week saw the exciting drama of Neb’s dream and
2. “Daniel” – God is judge or God is my judge. Daniel lived up to his name. It’s important to know from an early age that we are responsible to God. 3. One of most powerful chapters of prophecy in the Bible.
Prop: Follow w/me in Dan. 2:31-49 as we see 3 important elements of the king’s dream.
I. The Interpretation of the King’s Vision: 4 Coming Kingdoms Vv. 31-43
A. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The Multiple Metallic Monster.
1. Technically this is not a “monster”, but rather a hideous and awe-inspiring statue of a body that had made this terrible tyrant’s heart faint with fear. V.31 tells us that the statue of the king’s dream was stupendous, extraordinary, it was awe-inspiring, it was terrifying. I think that as Daniel began to relate the king’s dream, Nebuchadnezzar began to move from cynicism and skepticism to unconcealed amazement and astonishment. As Daniel gave each detail the king became more drawn in, remembering more and more of the nightmare that had haunted him.
2. Vv.32-33 – Daniel describes the image of Neb’s dreams: 1. Head of fine gold, 2, breast and arms of silver. 3. Belly and things of bronze 4. Legs of iron. Feet of iron and potter’s clay. Possibly in the king’s mind he began to search to think of which pagan deity this could be. You see, Babylon was the womb of pagan idolatry. Was it Marduk, Enlil, Sin, Anu, Hadad, Shamash, Nabu, Ninurta, Ashur, Enki, Innana, Nergal, Tiamat, Ea…or a host of others?! No! It was the One True God, the God of Heaven, revealing divine revelation to this pagan king.
B. The Prophesied 4 Gentile Kingdoms vv.36-43
1. The Head of Gold is Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon. Vv. 36-38.
a. Notice the way Daniel refers to this, the first “world empire”. “You are the king of kings to whom God has given…” In Genesis we read that Adam was given dominion but lost it. The entire Old Testament repeated relates the abject and utter failure of the Jews to keep God’s Covenant and live as His Covenant people and now Daniel’s interpretation is ushering the “Age of the Gentiles” with 4 prominent world empires (3 which were still in the future.)
b. Daniel Informs Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom, authority, rule and reign are from God! Illust: An individual’s ethics might be troubled by this statement. “How can God use less than perfect people in His plan?” We have seen such questions raised in the last few elections by certain sectors of the Church. We wonder about the evil tyrants of times past. God is in control! The prophet Jeremiah, concurs with Daniel: “I (God) have given all these lands in the hand of Neb king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. And all the nations shall serve him until the time of his own land comes…” (Jer. 27:6-7)
2. As the “Head of Gold” Babylon was the greatest of these Gentile Kingdoms.
a. Jer. 27:7 – “until the time of his own land comes” Every nation, every culture, every individual, no matter how great or small, has a “clock” they must answer to.
b. In this astounding prophesy we see the key to understanding the rise and fall of empires and emperors is not military or financial, but rather moral and spiritual! The rise and fall of these great kingdoms is not an accident of history but rather it is the outworking of the eternal plan of the God of history! Judgment falls on kings and kingdoms when they turn from His laws and forsake His Word.
C. The Inferiority and Deterioration of the Kingdoms of Man
1. We notice with Each Kingdom that is Mentioned, We See a Deterioration of the Preciousness of the Metal. Babylon, the head is of gold. Next comes the chest and arms of silver. Silver is inferior to gold, yet precious. We see the division of this kingdom into two, “Medes and Persians or Medo-Persian Empire. It would be Cyrus, who would unite these two empires to replace and conquer Babylon. Cyrus would be born in less than two years from the point of this prophesy! It is Isaiah, who 150 years before Cyrus’ birth, names this ruler by name in 44:28 & 45:1, Referring to him as the Lord’s “servant” and specifying his mission in rebuilding Jerusalem and laying the temple’s foundation. The Medes & Persians would be the chest and arms of silver. Even less is made mention of the 3rd Gentile kingdom, symbolized by a further inferior metal, bronze. This was Alexander’s Greek Empire which would end with his sudden death at 32 yrs. of age and then be divided 4 ways between his successors, further deteriorating it’s influence. The belly and thighs or bronze was Greece.
2. The Fourth Gentile Kingdom Demonstrates The Further Deterioration of Man.
a. This kingdom has more written about it than the previous three combined. V.40 We see this is a mighty, strong, and cruel kingdom…as strong as iron…crushing and shattering all things. This is the Empire of Rome with it’s legs of iron. The chief mark of Rome was its resolute will to conquer. It wanted to stamp its mark on the world. And yet we see that for all of her strength, Rome was inherently weak w/ it’s base, feet of iron and pottery! Humanism and humanity has and offers no sure foundation. At first glance v.43 seems to be a difficult verse to interpret, however, I think this is partially cleared up by Jer. 31:27. Daniel is simply stating what man endeavors to manage and manipulate with marriages and alliances, the God of the Bible (Daniel 2:44) will thwart and carry out His plan and purpose.
b. Illust: Many of us can remember the tumultuous days of 1991. The USSR was the world’s other superpower. Massive military and influence. Yet no one realized how weak it really was. Failed coup by Boris Yeltsin in August began the unraveling of the “evil empire”. On Christmas Day of 1991 Gorbachev resigned and on Dec. 26, the ignominious announcement was made that stunned the world: The USSR no longer existed! Communism inherent weakness. The Roman Empire was soon divided into two portions, corresponding to the two legs of iron of this image. One division was in the West, centered in Rome; the other was in the East, with Constantinople its capital, Rome was inherently weak because of its religion and morality and fell from within.
D. Applic: Neb’s dream was God demonstrating the inherent decline of the world kingdoms of man.
II. The 5th Kingdom: The All-Conquering Kingdom of Christ. vv. 34-35, 44-45
A. First, We See the Stone that Destroys these World Empires vv. 34-35
1. Christ is the Stone that Conquers and Crushes all the Kingdoms of this World.
a. V.34 – This is one of the most important pictures of all prophecy. Stone of Supernatural origination comes careening into and crushing the unamalgamated feet of this fearsome statue! Illust: Have you ever seen in person or by video the planned implosion of a high-rise? Controlled charges. Boom! The whole structure falls in upon itself. That is exactly what we see here. Once the feet are crushed the whole statue implodes in upon itself. I think JRR Tolkien’s imagery of the destruction of Sauron symbolically captures this event. As the ring is swallowed in the lava fires of Mt. Doom, the Tower of Sauron collapses and then explodes shattering and sending debris for miles.
b. Who is this stone? The Stone is Christ! Acts 4:11 “the stone you builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone.” Quotation from Ps. 118:22. That Stone grew and became a great mountain filling the whole earth! Psalm 62:6 declares of Jesus: “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” But Christ is also the rock of judgment. I Peter 2:8 declares: ““A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”
2. Christ is the Rock of Salvation as well as the Rock of Judgment.
a. “The incarnation of Christ was a divine invasion into human history in which the divine majesty and glory of God were veiled in Jesus’ humanity. (GE Ladd) READ Ps. 1:4-5. These wicked kingdoms will be obliterated like chaff without trace when Christ conquers them! (v. 34)
b. Dt. 32:15 “They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.” In Dt. 32:4 we read He is a perfect rock of judgment!
B. Second, We See the Divine and Conquering Kingdom of Heaven. Vv. 44-45
1. God Establishes His Eternal Kingdom in Christ.
a. God has established His Kingdom. V.44 “In those days of the kings” – Depending if you are Reformed or Dispensational, you may interpret this verse differently. The Reformed view would see the KOH being established from all time with the people of God throughout history past. Dispensational would focus primarily on this last kingdom (Rome), where undeniably the greatest advancement in the KOH took place with the life and ministry of Christ in its very midst.
b. Back in v.28 Daniel introduced this pagan prince to the King of the Universe: The God of Heaven Who reveals mysteries! V. 45 – Daniel comforts the king by informing him that this dream will be fulfilled in the future. The Kingdom of God is both present but its culmination is also future. the same God that can read your mind already knows the future!
2. All Countries & All Cultures & all Peoples will Concede to Christ’s Kingdom!
a. Listen to a section of a sermon preached by Ray Steadman in Feb. 1969 “The interesting thing now is that every single nation of this western hemisphere was begun by one of the nations of the Roman empire. Our entire Western world is Roman to the core. You can see that even in our own history. We have a senate which is one of the fundamental bases of our government, and which we copied directly from the Roman senate. The very republican form of the United States government is based upon the republic of Rome. Our courts, our laws, our military, all reflect the courts and laws and military forms of the Roman Empire. We even derived our national symbol from Rome. The American eagle is known throughout the world as were the Roman eagles in the days of Rome's power.” When Steadman wrote sermon the West was at its zenith of cultural influence. In a few months America would land men on the moon with Apollo 11. It seemed there was no limitation to power and might of the West in general and America in particular. And yet we ultimately have no real strength because much of our culture is built upon potter’s clay and is brittle to the core. We have rejected the morality of God and abandoned the word of God.
b. Illust: We live in sin and call it “cohabitation”! Men are emasculated (Figuratively as well as literally) have abandoned and abdicated their responsibilities to their family most notably the Black community in America sees 70% of their children being raised in homes by single mothers and wonder why crime rates are exponentially higher than any other ethnicity! Women have bought the cultural lie that they must compete with their husbands and cannot find true fulfillment loving their husbands and children (If they even want to have children.) and encouraging other mothers to do the same. Parents play out their personal fallen fantasies encouraging their children’s biological and psychological confusion! And we attempt to defend it all in the name of the virtue of “Democracy”. Honestly, do you think God gives one fig about “Democracy”? God has no Congress or Cabinet. He needs no advisor. He is the Divine Sovereign. He is the benevolent Dictator, He has absolute rule and reign and Sovereignty! He is coming back. He is the Lord and Savior. You and I will bow down.
c. Applic: Christ rules! Christ reigns! Have you trusted Christ?
III. Daniel: A Man Living in Two Kingdoms
A. Daniel Was a Man Living in the Kingdom of this World.
1. Daniel was Rewarded for his faithful service to the King.
a. This great king was obviously impressed. He wasn’t in the habit of showing such respect to anyone, especially a foreign teen-aged slave who was about to be executed with the rest of the wise men. This confirmed that Daniel accurately reported the dream and skillfully explained its meaning.
b. The king promoted Daniel: Daniel not only had his life spared, but he was promoted to high office – and he made sure his friends were also promoted. It was fitting that Daniel’s friends got to share in his advancement, because they accomplished much of the victory through their prayers. Christian, when you get promoted in life, remember your friends and remember the God Who has blessed you.
2. Our Primary Purpose in the Kingdom of this World is to Point others to Christ!
a. Your God is the God of gods: Nebuchadnezzar knew that it wasn’t Daniel himself that revealed these things, but Daniel’s God revealed it through Daniel. Daniel wanted the glory to go to God, and it did. (When God gives you or me a platform by which we can speak to the public or have the ears of elites be it thru …sports, music, service, success, academics, specialized area of interest, make sure you point people to Christ and that you give the glory to Christ! (Young men 3 things you can touch that will quickly discredit your ministry: Glory, God, Girls.) (
b. Some people wonder if Nebuchadnezzar is converted at this point? No. Neb in awe but not converted. Many a person in awe of God but not converted. Neb would become converted, but later in the book. Make sure just because acts like a Christian they are a Christian. Just because they go to church or say “Christian things”. Illust: Earlier this week after pulling off what may be the greatest Peace Deal of this century, President Trump made an interesting admission to a Peter Doocy question. “Last week, you said that you had hoped ending the war in Ukraine might help you get into heaven. What about this peace accord? Trump: “I am being a little cute now,” “I am not sure anything can get me into heaven. “I am not sure I will be able to make heaven. I am not sure I am heaven bound, but I have made life a lot better for a lot of people.” You are absolutely correct Mr. President, there ISN’T ANYTHING you can do to get yourself into heaven. But praise God! Christ has done everything you need to get to heaven! Eph. 2:8-9 declares: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” Turn to Christ! Repent of sin and pride. If God can save a Nebuchadnezzar He can save you! Trust Christ alone.
B. Daniel Was a Man Who Mindfully Lived for the KOG while living in this world.
1. Daniel Realized though he lived in Babylonian kingdom he ultimately lived in another.
a. If we go back to vv. 35 & 44 we realize that the coming of the KOG takes place in such a way that the empires of the world collapse before it. Thus, the KOG precedes the NT because it ran parallel w/the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and finally Rome. The KOG appeared in stages and began to grow and continues to grow. It was present then and is present now and it will be present in the future until its ultimate culmination at Christ’s 2nd Coming. The decisive moment for the KOG came in the days of the 4th Empire, Rome, w/coming and ministry of Christ.
b. What was the first message Christ preached: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk. 1:15, NASB)
2. As Christians today we too can have confidence of God’s faithfulness to His People, Plan, and Program.
a. Two truths to encourage you today: 1. If you are in Christ, then you, by faith, are already a member of Christ’s Conquering Kingdom. 2. The people of God have complete assurance of the ultimate triumph of the KOG! It’s fine to get all caught up in the prophesies of the 4 Gentile kingdoms, but don’t miss the main point of the chapter: In both the dream and its interpretation, the KOG ultimately triumphs!
b. Illust: God’s Kingdom will grow in spite of opposition. 1949, when missionaries were forced to leave China due to Communists, were about 100k Evangelical believers. Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 tried to wipe out. Chinese Christians were forced to “own” their faith and go underground. By 1980’s when missionaries began to secretly return, wondered what would find. Eliminated? No! 20 million! Today, many believe China has largest Christian population of any country in the world at 140 million souls!
Conclusion: As we have seen and will continue to see in this book, Daniel was a man of prayer. The habit of private prayer will help us to live for the Kingdom of God while living in the Kingdom of Man, it will help us to live a Godly life in an Ungodly world. In prayer, we 1) Kneel under God to withstand the false gods of society; 2) Kneel in private to stand in public; 3) Kneel heavenward to walk earthbound.
C. Conclusion: I want you to notice God transformed Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath into His praise, and the chapter began with Daniel under a death sentence (v.14) ends with him sitting in the king’s court! (v.49)
