31 "THOU, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, 32 stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible. As for this image, his head was of fine gold, his breast and his 33 arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, 34 his feet part of iron, and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the 36 image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof 37 before the king. Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom 38 the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory; and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee to 39 rule over them all; thou art the head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that 41 crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou 42 sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the 43 feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one 44 to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay. 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 45 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof 46 sure. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an 47 oblation and sweet odors unto him. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, "Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and 48 the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret. Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor 49 over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was in the gate of the king."
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
What did Daniel say that the king saw in his dream? V. 31.
What general description did he give of the image?
Of what were the different parts of the image composed? V. 32, 33.
What object next attracted the attention of the king in his dream. V. 34.
What was done by this stone? With what result? V. 35.
What outward change was made in the materials composing the different parts of the image? What power removed them out of sight?
What happened to the stone that smote the image?
Having told the dream, what did Daniel promise further? V. 36.
How did Daniel describe the greatness of King Nebuchadnezzar? V. 37.
How extensive was his dominion? V. 38.
What part of the image was Nebuchadnezzar, or Babylon?
How did Daniel describe the next two kingdoms? V. 39.
What characteristic of the fourth kingdom was especially emphasized? V. 40.
What was represented by the mixture of materials in the feet and toes? What did the iron of the mixture indicate? V. 41.
What further statement is made about the mixture of materials in the feet? V. 42.
What specific course of action was indicated by the mixture of iron and clay? What will the result be? V. 43.
How is the setting up of the fifth kingdom described? In what respects will this kingdom differ from those which preceded it? How long will it continue? V. 44.
With what statements did Daniel close the interpretation of the dream? V. 45.
What high honor did Nebuchadnezzar pay to Daniel? What command did he issue? V. 46.
In what statements did the king acknowledge the superiority of the God of Daniel? V. 47.
What honors did the king confer upon Daniel? How did he show that he regarded the wisdom of Daniel superior to Babylonian wisdom? V. 48.
To what positions of responsibility were Daniel's companions appointed? How was Daniel honored above the others? V. 49.
NOTES.
1. IN a view, or vision, the record of which occupies only five verses of the Scripture, the Lord set forth the checkered history and final outcome of "the kingdom of the world," and showed the triumph of the kingdom of righteousness. The purpose of this dream is not to reveal in advance the history of the world. It certainly did all that, but this was simply a necessary step in the greater revelation of the final outcome in the contest between opposing principles. The dream was not given primarily to make it clear that there would be four universal kingdoms, which would arise one after another, but to show the temporary character of all the world kingdoms, and to reveal the nature, the time of setting up, and the eternal duration of the fifth kingdom, the kingdom which the God of heaven would establish. In order that we may have the whole picture clearly before our minds, it will be profitable to sketch the historical fulfilment of the dream, as far as it has been fulfilled up to the present time.
2. THE head of gold represented the Babylonian Empire of the Bible, which was founded in 612 B. C., by a revolt from the Assyrian rule, led by Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar. In 538 B. C., Babylon was conquered by Medo-Persia. Daniel described this kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar as "another kingdom inferior to thee." In B. C. 331 Medo-Persia was conquered by Grecia, under the leadership of Alexander the Great. This was "the third kingdom of brass." In B. C. 168, Grecia was conquered by the Roman power. This final step in the overthrow of the empire of Alexander the Great is mentioned in history as "the great victory gained by the Romans over Perseus, the king of Macedonia." The Roman Kingdom was "the fourth kingdom," which was to be "strong as iron." But of this kingdom it was said, "The kingdom shall be divided." And so it was. By the inroads of the Barbarians from the north, beginning with the invasions of the Visigoths, under the leadership of Alaric, A. D. 395, the Roman Empire was gradually broken in pieces, until, "by the establishment of the Herulian Kingdom of Italy, A. D. 476, the final destruction of the Roman Empire was accomplished." In the place of the Roman Empire, and occupying exactly the same territory, there had been founded ten kingdoms, according to the definite prophecy in the seventh chapter of Daniel. It was "in the days of these kings" that the God of heaven would set up His kingdom, and we may therefore conclude that after A. D. 476 and before the overthrow of these ten kingdoms the kingdom of heaven would be set up, that fifth kingdom which "shall stand forever." The time of the setting up of the fifth kingdom is more definitely determined by other prophecies, which we shall study later.
3. WHILE it is true that this dream and its interpretation do deal with the history of the world from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until the triumph of the kingdom of God in the earth, yet it is equally true that it is not the main purpose of the dream and its interpretation to give a brief outline of the events which we have just mentioned. These facts of history constitute the setting in which is revealed the working out of a great principle. This principle and its working make the real subject of the dream and its interpretation.
