That Was Some Dream . . .

Nebuchadnezzar had a frightening dream–it was not a nightmare, it was divine revelation. In his dream, the Babylonian king saw a statue of a mighty and brilliant figure which absolutely terrified him. But he was a man who prided himself on his ability to terrify others. Knowing this was no ordinary dream and that it foretold his own future as well as that of the empire he ruled, the king demanded that his court magicians recount the contents of the dream and then give the king an interpretation. When it became clear to Nebuchadnezzar that his magicians cannot recount the details of the dream, much less interpret it for him, the king grows furious and threatens his magicians with death–along with the entire palace staff, including Daniel and his three friends.

The image which the king saw in his dream had a head made of gold, its chest and arms were made of silver, its belly and thighs were made of bronze, while its feet were an odd mixture of clay and iron. Suddenly, in the dream, a rock hit the statue’s feet, shattering them and causing the entire statue to crumble into pieces. The fractured remains of the statue eventually disintegrate into dust which was scattered by the wind so that nothing remained behind. The rock which smashed the feet of the statue had been cut from a mountain without human hands, and rapidly grew into a giant mountain which eventually filled the entire earth. What did all of this mean?

This dream terrified Nebuchadnezzar because it had been given to him by YHWH (the true and living God worshiped by the Hebrews) who, in turn, revealed both the dream and its contents to a young Hebrew servant in the Babylonian royal court, who also happened to be a prophet of YHWH. In the dramatic conflict between Daniel and the wise men and magicians (the Chaldeans) which plays out in the Babylonian royal court (in reality this is a conflict between YHWH and the idols of Babylon), Nebuchadnezzar learns the fate of his empire. It will be defeated and destroyed.

At the same time, the people of God are given a panoramic vision of the four great empires which will arise and then fall until the coming of Israel’s Messiah (Jesus) who will crush each of these great empires as his kingdom extends into all the earth and endures until the very end of time. It is Daniel’s God, not Nebuchadnezzar’s “gods,” who rules heaven and earth, and directs the affairs of people and nations. King Nebuchadnezzar is terrified for good reason–his “gods” and his court magicians cannot help him. Nebuchadnezzar is at the mercy of YHWH.

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