Daniel 2 by Mrs. M. E. Steward

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Apr 18, 1912

By Mrs. M. E. Steward

MRS. M. E. STEWARD

THIS chapter contains encouragement for all who seek knowledge for a laudable purpose. Probably Nebuchadnezzar was anxious to know the future, that he might the better rule his own kingdom. God gave the heathen monarch a dream, but he did not remember it. The Lord made it known to Daniel, the captive prophet of Israel, who told the king his dream and its interpretation.

The dream had three parts:—

1. “A great image, . . . and the form thereof was terrible.” Dan. 2: 31.

2. “A stone, . . . cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet, . . . and brake them to pieces.” Verse 34.

3. “The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Verse 35.

Three points explaining the image:—

1. The great image represented the four universal empires of earth.

2. Said Daniel to the king, “Thou art this head of gold.” King and kingdom are used interchangeably. “After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” This was Medo-Persia, which succeeded Babylon, in 538 B. C. Grecia succeeded Medo-Persia in 331 B. C. Rome followed Grecia about 168 B. C. Verses 38-40.

3. These changes were a continued degeneracy. The Bible speaks of Babylon as the golden city, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, the glory of kingdoms. Descending from gold, through silver and brass, the image ends with iron and clay, emblem of weakness.

Three characteristics of Babylon:—

1. Babylon was the largest city the world had ever seen. It was fifteen miles square, sixty miles in circumference, and had fifty straight streets, one hundred fifty feet wide. It was laid out in beautiful parks and gardens, with magnificent residences, one of Nebuchadnezzar’s palaces being eight miles in circumference. The city was enclosed by an immense wall, surrounded by a ditch of equal dimensions.

2. Babylon was the richest city the world had known. It was a golden city, in a golden age, in a golden country. The land yielded two and three hundred-fold. Babylon and her daughters, the cities of Babylonia, were the spoil of nation after nation.

3. Babylon was the proudest city of ancient times. God spoke concerning Babylon as follows:—

1. “Babylon shall become heaps.” Jer. 51: 37. Keith says, “Vast heaps constitute all there is now left of ancient Babylon.” “Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.” Isa. 13: 20. Captain Mignon testifies that neither Arabians nor shepherds can be induced to approach the ruins near night, because of a belief of a multitude of evil spirits, by which they claim the ruins are haunted. “Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures.” “Our guides told us that all the ruins abounded in lions and other wild beasts and venomous reptiles.”—Keppel.

2. “Behold, I . . . will make thee a burnt mountain.” Jer. 51: 25. This refers to what was originally the tower of Babel; later it was the center of Baal-worship, that is, the worship of the sun. “On the summit of the hill are immense fragments of brickwork, tumbled together, and converted into solid, vitrified masses. On examining the base of the mountain contiguous to these huge, transmuted substances, it is found quite in its original state. I draw the conclusion that the consuming power acted from above. I should be inclined to attribute the catastrophe to lightning from heaven.”—Sir Robert Ker Porter. “Lightning from heaven, as a token of God’s wrath, broke off the top of their tower.”—“Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. I, page 92. “I can not portray,” says Captain Mignon, “the overpowering sensation of reverential awe that possessed my mind while contemplating the extent and magnitude of ruin and desolation on every hand.”

Such fulfilment of prophecy has a threefold result:—

1. It proves the supernatural foresight of God.

2. It establishes his word.

3. It silences skepticism.

There are three important things about the stone:—

1. It was cut out without hands. Worldly kingdoms are established by the hands of men; but God sets up this kingdom. It is the kingdom of heaven.

2. It smites the image on the feet. The feet and toes were not completed till 483 A. D.; consequently, the stone must strike the image after the year 483 A. D.

3. The image has not yet been struck, for earthly kingdoms are still in existence. The next great event is the setting up of the kingdom of God, which, we shall find, is not far in the future. It will fill the whole earth, and never pass away.

Sanitarium, Cal.