04: World News & Prophecy - Daniel 2:1-23

[Darris McNeely] Daniel 2 is where this...we're getting into the deeper end of the pool of water here with Daniel. So I want you all here in the class and those of you that are online to buckle up, sit up straight, get engaged, get your little gray cells working and engaged up there because this is where it begins to...we get into a dream of Nebuchadnezzar and we begin to talk about what that dream symbolizes, four great empires, and we're going to lay a foundation. We're going to come back to the idea of these four empires in Chapter 7 when Daniel has his own dream and the interpretation is given to him there. And this is going to also lay a groundwork for the book of Revelation, particularly Chapters 13 and 17. The handout that I gave you of the chart there of the Gentile kings, which is also a part of the screenshot here, this particular chart, I've given you a handout, and for those of you watching online, we'll make this available online with some of the other handouts that we have from class so that you will have this.

This is a basic outline of the succession of the kingdoms that are prophesied in Daniel and Revelation. So you'll want to keep that full-color chart. As I said, I'm going to give you an even more detailed one at a later point, but this is where we are in the story. So we're going into the deep end. Buckle up. It's going to be a choppy ride, but I guarantee you that you're going to get through it. And as we go along here, we will begin to sort it all through. So let's start with Chapter 2 and beginning in verse 1. 

Daniel 2:1 "Now, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him." 

All right, we have to stop right here because what we have, and this is in your notes to kind of break this down, we have what might seem a problem if you've been paying attention from Chapter 1 where we said that Daniel and his friends went through a three-year program of training. And at the end of it, they came out summa cum laude, hired on the spot, promoted very high, given a Mercedes-Benz, no, maybe a Mercedes chariot to run around and do their jobs in.

But, now, here we have the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. An astute student of the Bible will say, "What's the difference? Is this a discrepancy?" No, it is not. It was a three-year program. And when we open the scene here in Chapter 2 verse 1, it is after that three-year program, but it is also called the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. How do we explain that? Well, the chart here that is part of your notes is on the screen, is very basic and simple. And it comes down to understanding what is in that middle column where it says accession year. The first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, which began in September of the year 605 when his father died. His father, Nabopolassar, was on the throne, and Nebuchadnezzar became king. But the way the reigns of the kings in the ancient world were calculated, that first year was not called their first year. It was called the accession year. And so the period from September of 605 to the spring, which is the month Nisan, of 604, less than a year later, would mark the time called the accession year. And his first year officially would be counted from the spring of 604 to 603, and then the second year from 603 in the spring to 602. And so that brings us to three years.

Daniel's training and of the others began during that accession year, and it was a three-year program began right away. And so when we come to Chapter 2 and verse 1, the second year here, and Daniel is being very precise as he records it because it was the way it was done at this time, and it helps us to also appreciate the integrity of the book. He's accurate in stating it as the second year. So you have the chart that basically lays it out there. I won't spend a whole lot more time on that. 

And so he has a dream, and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Now, the impact of the word here for troubled indicates that he was deeply troubled, deeply disturbed. He woke up startled, and he was afraid. Now, we all dream, right? You ever awaken from a dream and you're fearful or you're, "What was all of that?" It was so vivid in your mind that you wake up and you can't maybe go back to sleep. And you're wondering, "What did that mean?" And it might even have scared you into being awake. We have dreams like that.

Well, this was such a troubling dream for him that he obviously sensed that it was an extraordinary dream by what he saw, and perhaps he had had some questions in his mind about his future. He was now three years, you know, roughly into his reign and still campaigning, still trying to expand the empire, dealing with threats to the empire, getting into a building program, which he was known for, especially the city of Babylon, dealing with intrigue, maybe himself having gone through a period of time where it was on his mind. But the dream troubled him. Now, one of the things, as we're going to see, about this Nebuchadnezzar, God is working with him through...actually, through Daniel, He's working with Nebuchadnezzar in a way that we see no other Gentile king in the biblical record worked with. Nebuchadnezzar is confronted by Daniel, a servant of God, with answers, in this case, to this dream from God, from God.

And we're going to see in Chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar will actually write Daniel 4. There's no other instance of that in the Bible where a gentile king, a "non-member," if we want to look at it that way, writes a part of the Bible. But Nebuchadnezzar writes what is Daniel 4. And God's working with him in a multi-dimensional, multi-layered way as we will see. And it begins now with this dream, and Daniel is going to play a very critical role. But, first, the king does what he always would do. In verse 2, he gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. Well, of course, you would.

You know, today, I guess, if a president, prime minister, had a crisis in his mind or a troubling situation to deal with, who would he call in? The horoscope makers? The witches? Those that were worshipping nature in America, Britain, Australia, Norway, which they are? No, they'd call in their political advisors, their cabinet, their secretaries to get to the heart of a problem, to find a solution, but not so with Nebuchadnezzar and the way the world was at this time. You call magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers, people who slit the belly of an animal and drag its guts out on the table and then try to read it, "What does that mean for the future?" Or they consult the stars and make sure that, you know, things are lined up astronomically to give good portents or omens for action, for plans, for the army going to war, to build a building even, or to do something else in a civic nature that was quite significant. And so they call in these who were practicing magic.

Daniel 2:3-4 Well, they came, “And they stood before the king, and he said to them, ‘I've had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.’ The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, ‘Oh, king, live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we'll give you the interpretation.’” 

Now, these guys were pretty smart, so they thought. They had no clue what he dreamed. And so they're thinking, "Okay, let's get him to tell us the dream. Then we'll go back to our rooms and our round table, and we'll come up with an answer. We'll all agree on it, and then we'll go back into the room, and we'll give them the big PowerPoint on it." That's what they would have done.

But Nebuchadnezzar was pretty clever. He didn't get to be king, succeeding his father, casting aside any rivals and other problems that always happen when there's a transition at the top. 

Daniel 2:5-6 He said, "Nope, my decision is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces." And maybe he said that with a smile, I'm going to chop you up. I'm going to chop liver out of you. “And your houses will be made an ash heap.” So your wife and your kids aren't going to have a place to go back to. That's what's going to happen. “However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and honor,” not to mention your own life. “Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation."

Daniel 2:7-10 Well, they knew that they were being exposed. "’Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we'll give you the interpretation.’ And the king answered, ‘I know for certain that you would gain time because you see that my decision is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.’ The Chaldeans answered, ‘There's not a man on earth that can tell the king's matter. Therefore, no king, lord, ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.’" 

Well, probably, this was the first time Nebuchadnezzar had to challenge them on this. And they were finding out that there was a new sheriff in town, Nebuchadnezzar, and he did things differently. 

Daniel 2:11-13 They said, “‘It's a difficult thing the king requests. There's no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.’ For this reason, the king was angry, very furious, and he gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men. They sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.”

So Daniel and his friends are going to be caught up in this dragnet. It's probably done at night, kind of a midnight massacre as it goes out, this killing that begins. Now, let me pause there. I want to go back to verse 4, and we need to note a technical linguistic point here.

Daniel 2:4 It says at verse 4, "Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic." 

Something happens in the text of Daniel at this point that is important. Aramaic is a different language from ancient Hebrew. Very similar, it was spoken even at the time of Christ, but it was different. It was different in this way. It was a known language by all nations, most all the prominent nations. We have a term for that today. It's called the lingua franca, all right? Here's another little French word here for you to know, lingua franca. Essentially, and this is not a direct translation of that, but this means that it's a universal language. It's a language by which everybody...you can communicate with people in most parts of the world. And Aramaic was that type of language.

We have a lingua franca language today. Does anybody know what that might be? English. English is a universal language. Today, English is the lingua franca of the modern world. I mean, I can go...I made a world trip in July, Australia, Thailand, and what else? Singapore and Africa. And I could speak with people in the hotels, restaurants that spoke English, and many people, most people in the airports, and you would find people on the street learning that as well, knowing that. Not everybody in some of these areas, but English is looked upon. It is the prime language that people do want to learn. That's why English as a second language is a highly sought course that people coming to America, especially if they want to learn English, or before they may come from parts of Asia or Africa, they will take an English as a second language class online usually so that they can speak English. And it is an entrée to a better life.

There's one other thing about English you should know. When we get on a jet airliner and go anywhere in the world, those pilots are speaking English to the air traffic control around the world, all right? So an Israeli...let's say a French jet, Air France, that flies from Paris to Abu Dhabi and lands, they're speaking not French, not Arabic, they're speaking English to those air traffic controllers there. That's a requirement to be in those jobs. English is a lingua franca. And so Aramaic was that for the ancient world. And so why was that important and why is that important to Daniel? It's important for this reason, that Daniel begins now to talk to the gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar, and his message from this point is going to go and be about gentile kingdoms, Gentile powers. In fact, this is going to continue until Chapter 7 and verse 28. And after Chapter 7, the text of Daniel picks back up in Hebrew. So from Chapter 2 and verse 4 to Chapter 7 and verse 28, Daniel is written in Aramaic.

And as we will see, what happens in those chapters is dealing with these large Gentile powers of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome that the message is going to, which tells us that very likely when Daniel wrote this down, at whatever point during his career, as he wrote down the events that became the book, it would be logical to assume... We don't know this from the text or any other necessary history, and so this is something that I would say we would infer, but I think it's a logical inference that Daniel 2, the events of Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, in some form, either as one unit or in piecemeal chapters, small books, if you will, that went out, were widely distributed and other nations that were a part of this world at the time, okay?

And it was written then in a language that these nations would understand, and we know from history that they did. They were way up here in what are called the steppes. We know that they spoke Aramaic. The nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppes, they spoke Aramaic. And so, if God's communicating to the Gentile nations through Daniel, it's logical that those letters and that wording would be in language that people would understand. And so what we can conclude from this is that probably the events of the book of Daniel had wide distribution in their day. We won't read about that in history. History has a way of changing and morphing, being obliterated, texts are lost, libraries are destroyed, and people that we would know like in Abraham, of Moses, events like the exodus, they go through changes, or they're not even found. And it leads a modern critic of the Bible to say, "Well, we're not quite sure there was an Abraham. The Hebrews kind of invented that story because we don't always find corroborative texts from that ancient period mentioning that in every case."

Now, the flood stories is kind of an exception because virtually every ancient people have a flood story. It's not exactly like we have in Genesis with Noah named that way, but there is a flood story. That seems to be universal. There's a creation story. Most of them are far different from what we read in the book of Genesis. But finding a reference in a tablet to Abraham, I don't know, that mentions Abraham, but I don't know that's been found. In Israel with Israeli archeology, they have made great press over certain little bitty finds that will mention a biblical character from the time of Jeremiah, King Hezekiah. And there's one little coin that's been found that seems to be mentioning...I believe it's Isaiah, the prophet. But there's enough of the coin missing that archeologists say, "Well, we don't know that for sure. It may be 90% certain, but that 10% leaves us with the inability to make a conclusion that, yeah, this was a coin that may have belonged to Isaiah, the prophet, taken from a time archeologically that coincides with Isaiah, the prophet."

So these little bitty scraps that do come to light through archeological digs through the years lead us to...you know, they excite the public and the field of archeology and biblical history because many of them do mention, and I could show you that in another module, evidence that we do have of biblical characters that are mentioned. In fact, there are quite a few biblical characters that have been mentioned. Now, a mention has been found in tangible archeological finds, obelisks, and other texts and monuments that corroborate aspects and parts of the biblical record more than most people realize. We have a handout on that. Probably, we can make that available at a later time. Okay, so the point of this digression is that the story of the biblical record is something here, at least in Daniel, a portion of it that is intended to go to Gentiles and to witness to them about God is written in a language that they would understand. So that's important to note at this point. So we're kind of in that. Even though we're reading English, it is an Aramaic section here.

So let's go back to verse 14. The word has gone out. There's a midnight massacre going on. Wise men are being killed. Daniel and his companions are being sought.

Daniel 2:14-16 "And so, with counsel and wisdom," verse 14, "Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon, he answered and said to Arioch, the king's captain, 'Why is the decree from the king so urgent? Why is the decree from the king so urgent?' Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. And Daniel went in, and he asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation."

That's pretty bold for Daniel to do that, to go to Arioch and then to go in and even make a petition to the king, telling us that he had a bit of access to the king, because the decree is already made. And when a king like Nebuchadnezzar gave an order, it was to be carried out immediately, no questions asked.

Daniel 2:17-18 But here's what Daniel does. “He went to his house, and he made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” 

What a remarkable thing to do. Danger's at the door. They could be dragged out of their room at a moment's notice and summarily executed. They have the boldness to go and ask for a stay, but then they go and they kneel down and pray. They seek the mercies of God. Now, Daniel does...not only do they pray, but notice in verse 17, Daniel goes, and he says, "Hey, guys, we've got a problem. We need to work together." You know, when we have such a need, a time of crisis hits us, friends are invaluable. Relationships with people that we can confide in, seek wisdom from, pray with is invaluable. Cultivate your relationships to that quality, to that quality of people that when you need help, when you need counsel, when you need someone of, let's say, a sound mind and wise perspective to help you know how to deal with a problem that has come up or perhaps even comfort you through a time of anxiety or trial, you've got that person to go to.

Daniel and his friends worked that way together. Daniel knew this was not all on him and that they collectively needed to go to God. Don't be afraid to confide some of your needs to people and ask them to pray for you. And it can be done in the privacy of their prayer time, or you might do that in a collective moment in private, and that's all right to do as well. But make that a part of the qualities that define your friendships and your relationships with the people that you develop. You will develop that type of relationship here at ABC with people that you're now beginning to get acquainted with. And God willing, you will develop some friendships that may last you the rest of your life. That would be ideal. And quality in the depth. You know, I have friends that I've made at college, Ambassador College, more than 53 years ago that are still a part of my life. One of them called me yesterday. We had a talk. And others I'm in regular contact with. That's a long time to have a friendship. Sometimes friendships don't last 12 months, 12 years. Fifty-three years, that's pretty good.

Of course, my marriage has been for 51 years to my wife, and she's my best friend. But friendships are precious and valuable. I don't know how I would have gotten through life without having that network. And sometimes people come and go in that network as well. You'll have friends that may last for five decades or more and then others that may come on at a different time and be closer than those that maybe you had when you were younger. That's the way life happens to be. But this was a moment of crisis. Their life was on the line, and Daniel went to them, and he made it known. And, guys, we've got to appeal to God, the God of heaven. The God of heaven. Notice that phrase in verse 18, "We need to seek the mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret." Daniel had no inside knowledge of what Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. He knew that they had to have grace, favor, and mercy from God for that so that they would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:19 Then says, "Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And so Daniel blessed the God of heaven." 

So very simple, direct statement. Daniel gets the vision. Seems to be rather quick. There's not exact time mentioned here, but we could assume maybe 24 hours, maybe that night. I don't know.

Daniel 2:20 “And he answered and said, ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and might are His.’”

And so this...he immediately gives credit to God. He doesn't take it upon himself. He doesn't think, "Wow, boy, you know, all burning of the midnight oil, acing all the tests, graduating at the top of the class, paid off." No, he didn't earn any of that. Note that he said in verse 18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven. You know, mercy is something that we don't earn. One of my friends said one time in a sermon, you know, be glad we don't get what we earn from God. What we've earned is death. But God's grace forgives those penalties and that sin. We don't get what we have earned or what we might deserve. We do get His mercy. We get grace. And Daniel had not earned anything to be awarded this vision, even though he was living righteously. And that's an important point for us all to know.

And, for you, as you're developing your spiritual relationship with God, we obey because God teaches us to obey. We keep His word. We obey His law. We keep the Sabbath. We pay our tithes. We follow the way of God. We read the Bible, and we live by every word of God. But that doesn't earn us anything. It doesn't earn us salvation. It doesn't earn us forgiveness of any one sin. Forgiveness comes by God's grace. "That not of ourselves. It is the gift of God," Paul writes. So always remember that. While we are created for good works, Paul says in Ephesians 2, we understand that God has been merciful to us, granted us grace, and we worship Him, we obey Him as our response to Him. And Daniel's in that motto because he gives God the credit for this revelation, and we should always as well. Just always remember that.

Daniel 2:21-23 And he says, "For wisdom and might are His, and He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank you and praise you, oh, God of my fathers. You gave me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's demand." 

This is a powerful section of Scripture here through verse 23 that Daniel offers up to describe God's character and His abilities there. Verse 21, I'll just comment on briefly. "He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." Sometimes when we interpret this in a modern setting, we might say that, you know...and people do, when we say we, I'm saying people beyond the church as well, religious people, they might think that a particular ruler is there by God's design. We may think that about a president of the United States or a prime minister of England or Australia, significant nations in the world.

Does God remove and set up every king or president or prime minister? Is He involved in every parliamentary decision, every election of a president every four years in the United States of America? Well, maybe, maybe not, maybe yes, maybe no. We have evidence from Scripture that God allowed Israel to set certain rulers on their own before them. He may not have been involved in every situation. Did God put David on the throne? Yes, He did. Did He put Solomon there? Yes, He did. There was that dynastic succession plan for the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. But God also had some pretty harsh things to say there. When we come into the modern world and we look at rulers of any large empire, any large country, we always have to be careful as to what we might conclude as to whether or not a particular king, ruler, president, prime minister, significant individual in history is there by God's design, that God put them there, He raised them up or He allowed them to be removed.

Now, I think that God does, and I could name individuals. I will name Winston Churchill, the World War II prime minister of Great Britain. I think that he was a man for the hour, a man for the time. I think that could be said of certain United States presidents as well and other kings and leaders throughout history, not everyone. Some were great by inherent abilities. Others had greatness thrust upon them as the saying goes. But when it comes to the plan and the purpose of God, God is going to make sure that that plan and purpose unfolds in the time and in the season and in the way that He designs it. And we can see that. And we can see God working even with Gentile kings. Cyrus the Great, I had him on the board in the last class. Ezra 1 opens up with God inspiring Cyrus, the Gentile king, to let the Jews go back from Babylon to Judah. Cyrus was not a converted man. He was not what we would call a church member. But God worked through him to further His purpose and plan, which was for the Jews to go back.

So I think a large point to take out of this verse is that no king or ruler at any time and place in history is going to thwart the plan of God. And should the time and the season be aligned with where God is, He may bring certain ones and work with certain ones in ways to advance His purpose and plan among humans and among nations. I think that we can conclude with safety. So we should be careful not to apply verse 21 to every political individual and only probably in retrospect of history and experience make whatever judgments or conclusions we might and then in line with God's purpose and God's plan. Well, that takes us through verse 23. And I will cut it off there. We will pick it up with verse 24 in the next class and Daniel's explanation of the dream, which will then get us into that deep end that I'm talking about. So hold on to all the accessories and handouts and everything that I've given you today. You'll need them as we progress further.