Studies in the Prophecies
From the time of the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent the hope of salvation for the human family has depended upon that union of divinity with humanity which was revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. This is the vital fact of Christianity. The whole gospel revelation centers in this great truth. Much of the teaching of Scripture is molded upon this idea, even when it is not the principal subject of discourse, and a fuller meaning is seen in many portions of the Bible when they are viewed with reference to this fundamental truth of the gospel. A good example of this may be found in the familiar prophecy of the second chapter of the book of Daniel. The main facts of this chapter are briefly these: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, dreamed a dream which he was utterly unable to recall; he then called for his wise men, who professed to have the ability to make known hidden things; they agreed to give an interpretation to the dream if the king would relate it to them; when pressed under threat of death to reveal both the dream and the interpretation, they declared, “There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter, forasmuch as no king, lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter4 or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” In his fury at their failure to comply with his demand the king issued a decree to put to death all the wise men of Babylon, among whom Daniel and his companions were now included. On learning the reason for this action, “Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.” He and his companions then sought help from God, that they “should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night.” When Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, brought in Daniel before the king, he said, “I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.” Before he related the dream and made known the interpretation, Daniel declared unto the king, “The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” In simple language the prophet then told Nebuchadnezzar of the great image which he saw in his dream, and of the stone “which smote the image upon its feet,” and itself afterward “became a great rock, and filled the whole earth.” Then came the interpretation of the dream. Babylon, the head of gold, would be succeeded by another inferior kingdom, and then there would be a “third kingdom of brass,” and a fourth kingdom “strong as iron,” which would be “a divided kingdom.” “And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” It is plain that in this dream and its interpretation the gospel of the everlasting kingdom of God was preached to Nebuchadnezzar. An outline history of the world was announced to him from which he learned that one world-kingdom after another would exercise sovereignty for a longer or a shorter time, and that no world-power would be permanent. The real object of the dream, however, was to make known to the king “what shall be in the latter days,”—the setting up of the kingdom of God in the earth. And the great difference between each successive world-kingdom and this fifth kingdom is found in the fact that “it shall stand forever,” while they exist only for a time. The reason for this difference is not stated in so many words, but a little study of the chapter will show that it is clearly implied; and when this reason is discovered, it will be found to be the essential, vital principle of the gospel of Christ. In the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar it had seemed to be demonstrated that the religion of Babylon was superior to the religion of Jerusalem, while in fact it simply proved that the power of the true religion had been lost out of the lives of the professed people of God. Through the faithful captives in Babylon the reality of the power of the everlasting gospel was now to be made known in such a way as to challenge the attention of the whole kingdom. Heathenism was compelled to confess its own failure and the reason for it, and the essential truth of Christianity was revealed in its relation both to the individual believer and to the nations of the world. In confessing their inability to declare the dream to the king the wise men of Babylon said that “there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” In making this statement they proclaimed the creed of heathenism. The essential principle of all heathenism is self-assertion, confidence in self, that pride of self which refuses to acknowledge its utter weakness and its dependence upon one greater than self. Its counterfeit of Christianity is righteousness by works. It neither knows nor acknowledges such an experience as God manifest in the flesh, and claims immortality as inherent in man. It is the religion of man. On the other hand, the gospel of Christ proclaims the utter failure of man in himself, his entire dependence upon a power outside of himself, and that it is God who works in him both to will and to do. It says, “All flesh is grass. . . . Behold your God!” On its banners it places the name “Emmanuel,” thus declaring its essential experience to be “God with us.” Its all-conquering power is made available for actual victory by clothing divinity with humanity, and this is the mystery of the kingdom of God. This is “the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The revelation of this secret of godliness, this mystery of the kingdom of God, is the true philosophy of the prophecy of the second chapter of the book of Daniel. In giving history in advance it reveals the real philosophy of that history. It not only shows the weakness of all world-kingdoms, but it sets forth the reason for that weakness, and proclaims the gospel of the power of the kingdom of God,—the kingdom which is established in the hearts of mortal men, and enables them to stand forever. The wise men of Babylon declared that the gods do not dwell with flesh. Daniel made no statement in words, but demonstrated the fact by telling the dream and its interpretation, thus meeting successfully the very test which the wise men laid down. And the language used in recording this experience calls attention repeatedly to the revelation of a secret or mystery as the vital thing to be emphasized. With this suggestion in mind, read the eighteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and forty-seventh verses. Note the repetition of the idea of a secret revealed. This secret is the mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of godliness, the mystery of the kingdom of God. In this mystery is found the explanation of the eternal duration of the fifth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome,—all these great world-powers pass away, but from each of these kingdoms would be gathered out the subjects of the fifth kingdom, which would stand forever because of the indwelling of him whose years fail not. In studying and teaching the prophecy of the second chapter of Daniel we should remember that its purpose is to teach the gospel of the kingdom as it is embodied in the history of the world with its climax in the setting up of the fifth kingdom, and that the true philosophy of this history is the mystery of the gospel of Christ, Emmanuel, “God with us.”