Nebuchadnezzar Dreams of the Great Imageby GrahamWeir
2:32Daniel 2:32
This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
The verse describes the upper part of the great image shown in Nebuchadnezzar's forgotten dream, its head of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, and its belly and thighs of brass. The head of gold is Babylon in its height, and more particularly Nebuchadnezzar himself, the breast and arms of silver are the universal kingdom of Media and Persia that replaced it, and the belly and thighs of brass are Grecia that conquered in turn and held world dominion. The metals decreasing in value and purity from the head downward show the kingdoms deteriorating in power and glory because they grew morally base in forgetting God and making void His law. The succession proves God is the ruling power in world affairs who removes kings and sets up kings, bringing human pride and glory to nothing, while earthly kingdoms pass away in contrast to His everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar in pride read the flattering image as exalting himself and set up a statue on the plain of Dura made entirely of gold to claim Babylon would endure forever, yet the prophecy has been fulfilled in the rise and fall of kingdoms in literal historical order, confirming the inspiration of Scripture.
Dream Context and Image
This is part of the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, which he could not bring to remembrance when he awoke and which he demanded his wise men both tell and interpret. The magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans on whom he depended could give no light in his perplexity and failed him, though threatened with death and promised gifts and honor, asking him to recount the dream first. Daniel desired time of the king and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Daniel and his fellows, and the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision through wisdom given by God, making known with its interpretation what had been forgotten many years before Belshazzar's feast.
As Daniel related the facts the dream came fresh to the king's mind, and the interpretation was given showing the remarkable events that were to transpire in prophetic history. The verse describes the upper part of that great image: head of fine gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, forming parts that represent events to come and reveal God's power over the kingdoms of the world. God himself gave such symbolic pictures to his prophets to represent the lessons they were to give to the people, appealing to the understanding through the sense of sight so the lesson could be better understood than in any other way. These symbolic prophecies were to be represented plainly upon tables, that he who read might understand, and making and using pictures for teaching is not prohibited by the second commandment, which prohibits image worship.
Its interpretation revealed heaven's glory and wisdom to the Hebrew captives who depended on God rather than to those captivated by Babylon's splendor. Its lessons were given for people living in the present day, and the failure of the king's wise men represents the failure of learned people who lack discernment and knowledge from God to understand prophecy.
Kingdoms Symbolized by Metals
The head of fine gold is Babylon, then at the height of its power. More particularly it is Nebuchadnezzar himself in the glory and excellence of Babylon. It stands first and preeminent among four world-moulding empires under Nebuchadnezzar, great and golden. Yet it passed away in 538 B.C. under the weaker rulers Nabonadius and Belshazzar, in the same generation in which the revelation and warning were given.
The breast and arms of silver are the second universal kingdom, Media and Persia, which soon replaced Babylon and succeeded it. That Medo-Persian kingdom ruled the world for 207 years. The belly and thighs of brass are the third kingdom that would succeed the second, Grecia, which conquered its predecessors and held universal dominion. It became the world power under Alexander the Great after Persia, and after his death his kingdom quickly divided and became vulnerable to Rome, the rising power that followed it.
These kingdoms of gold, silver, and brass are those symbolized in Daniel 7 by the lion, bear, and leopard: Babylon, Persia, and Greece.
Testing and Moral Decline
Each empire shown in the upper part of the image was granted its appointed place and predicted time of trial to prove by obedience or disobedience whether it would exalt the one true God and fulfill His purposes. Babylon as the head, then a second kingdom of breast and arms, then a third of belly and thighs, each in succession was thus tested, and failing the test its glory faded and its rule passed away to make room for the next.
The descent from gold to silver to brass, becoming less pure and valuable from the head downward, shows that the kingdoms deteriorate in value and in power and glory. That decreasing worth marks nations separating further from God and sinking in moral value. The deterioration is moral, seen in growing immorality from making void the law of God and turning from Him. Had they kept the fear of the Lord ever before them they would have been given wisdom and power that would have bound them together and kept them strong.
Babylon passed away because in prosperity she forgot God and ascribed the honor and glory of her prosperity to human achievement. Medo-Persia was visited by the wrath of God because His law was trampled underfoot while wickedness, blasphemy and corruption prevailed. The kingdoms that followed cast God off and were even more base and corrupt, sinking lower and lower in the scale of moral value as they forgot Him, until the vast empire of Rome crumbled. Those who refuse to obey God's law are humiliated and tested and receive the penalty of transgression unless they humble their hearts and confess their sins.
The same downward course in the metals fitly shows deterioration of religion, for men grow weak morally and spiritually just in proportion as they forget God. Sin ruins nations when even religious leaders have not a good conscience toward God. Those claiming to be Protestants leave the old landmarks and depend on forms, ceremonies and outward display to make up for lack of the purity, piety, meekness and lowliness found in obedience to God.
God's Rule and Everlasting Kingdom
The gold, silver and brass of the upper image belong to a succession of universal kingdoms given their place at a predicted time and appointed place, and the foretelling of their rise and fall hundreds of years beforehand demonstrates that God is the ruling power in world affairs, changing times and seasons and removing kings and setting up kings to fulfill His own purpose. The interpretation of the dream shows that He rules over kingdoms and is more powerful than earthly rulers, with power to set up and remove kings. Each kingdom was granted a period of trial whether it would exalt the one true God, proved by obedience or disobedience, and failing that test its glory faded and it passed away to make room for the next.
The history of these successive kingdoms shows God bringing down human pride and glory and bringing human glory to nothing. God alone is great and rules over present events and the future.
The dream and its interpretation were light given through Daniel to exalt Jehovah as more powerful than any other kingdom and to bring even idolatrous minds into reasoning contact with truth about Babylon and the kingdoms after it. It showed Nebuchadnezzar, himself represented in the excellence of Babylon by the head of fine gold, that the God of heaven is Ruler over all monarchs and kings of earth, that His name goes forth as God over all gods, and that rulers of earthly kingdoms have a Ruler in the heavens. Daniel read the dream in the light of the living Oracles, showing that all, whether king or subjects, must read dreams and providence in that light and not read the Scriptures in the light of dreams.
The image places even golden Babylon within a revelation of future kingdoms of men, showing that earthly kingdoms do not last forever but pass away despite magnificence. Babylon's universal empire would eventually fall and be followed by other kingdoms, and these earthly kingdoms would in turn be superseded by God's everlasting kingdom, which will never be destroyed or pass away. The dream reaches to the close of time and shows the relation of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom to the kingdom of heaven, foretelling that God would establish an everlasting kingdom which will fill the earth.
In contrast to earthly kingdoms that rule by ascendancy of physical power, the revealed kingdom is Christ's kingdom to uplift and ennoble fallen humanity, banishing every carnal weapon and instrument of coercion. It is the kingdom the Lord was to establish and by His own power maintain against all the power and craft of Satan, made known even to proud Babylon and to Nebuchadnezzar himself as part of purposes hidden for many generations. Its light is to shine from God's faithful watchmen in these last days.
Nebuchadnezzar's Idolatrous Misuse
God had given Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom with its prosperity and greatness for God's own glory and had designated Babylon the head of gold, but the king and his counselors took that golden head as a flattering image of Babylon and of the king himself that encouraged him to exalt himself, magnify himself, and accept worship. The metals of decreasing value showed that the nations would decline in worth as they separated further from God, yet the place given first and foremost to his kingdom flattered him into self-exaltation. Daniel had interpreted the dream in the light of the Scriptures, establishing that all, whether king or subjects, must read dreams and providence in the light of the living Oracles and must not read the Scriptures in the light of dreams. Nebuchadnezzar instead read the interpretation in accordance with his own idolatrous mind, ambition, and human understanding, turning the dream toward himself rather than its true meaning as explained from Scripture.
His pride led him to imagine that his earthly kingdom would grow still more extensive and powerful, instead of considering the end of earthly kingdoms and the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom. He wanted his kingdom to become greater, as if the image were made entirely of gold. He therefore set up a great golden statue on the plain of Dura that resembled the vision's image in its general features but was deliberately changed to be made entirely of gold. By imitating the dream image while rejecting its message that his kingdom would not endure, he symbolized his claim that Babylon would be eternal, indestructible, all-powerful, and would rule over all other kingdoms. He wrongly took the head of gold as reason to build an image wholly of gold and demand its worship.
He set it up as an object of worship in place of God, to convert all nations to worship the excellence of Babylon and himself. The people were commanded to worship it as a sign of loyalty to Babylonian rule, exalting Babylon as supreme and worthy of universal allegiance even though the image's meaning had been made plain. What God had revealed to make known His purposes for the nations and important events of the future was thus misinterpreted and misused to glorify human power and to hinder the spread of truth. The king and his counselors sought to reject that truth while using its light as authority for idolatry.
The three faithful servants who would not bow were brought into the fiery furnace, where Christ walked with them. That deliverance wrought upon Nebuchadnezzar to believe in God and His superior power. Yet Babylon still fell in an hour of feasting and revelling.
Fulfilled Prophecy and Present Message
The head of gold, breast and arms of silver, and belly and thighs of brass belong to a vision in which figures and symbols represent events in the history of the world in historical order, extending to the close of time and toward the close of earth's history. They form one link in a connected chain of prophecy fulfilled in the rise and fall of kingdoms in the most literal manner, the metals standing for successive kingdoms. That fulfillment is recognized through corresponding historical events set out in the record of history.
The fulfillment has come with wonderful exactness, confirming the inspiration and reliability of Scripture. That exactness proves the Scriptures inspired and gives an anchor against rationalism and skepticism, leading to positive faith and confidence in Scripture. Study of Daniel's prophecies on this ground led to the belief that the coming of the Lord is at hand and was near.
The prophecy can be understood and can be explained even to children. Showing its literal fulfillment together with the signs of the times gives tangibility to faith in the second coming of Christ. It makes a deep impression on those who have studied prophecy without definite knowledge of when it is fulfilled, bringing before the people the solemn and important truth that the coming of the Lord is at hand. This corrects the idea that Christ will come invisibly as a thief to take the saints secretly and afterward come down through the air to old Jerusalem where the Jews have returned and all will still have opportunity to repent and be saved.
The verse describes the upper part of the great image shown in Nebuchadnezzar's forgotten dream, its head of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, and its belly and thighs of brass. The head of gold is Babylon in its height, and more particularly Nebuchadnezzar himself, the breast and arms of silver are the universal kingdom of Media and Persia that replaced it, and the belly and thighs of brass are Grecia that conquered in turn and held world dominion. The metals decreasing in value and purity from the head downward show the kingdoms deteriorating in power and glory because they grew morally base in forgetting God and making void His law. The succession proves God is the ruling power in world affairs who removes kings and sets up kings, bringing human pride and glory to nothing, while earthly kingdoms pass away in contrast to His everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar in pride read the flattering image as exalting himself and set up a statue on the plain of Dura made entirely of gold to claim Babylon would endure forever, yet the prophecy has been fulfilled in the rise and fall of kingdoms in literal historical order, confirming the inspiration of Scripture.
Dream Context and Image
This is part of the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, which he could not bring to remembrance when he awoke and which he demanded his wise men both tell and interpret. The magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans on whom he depended could give no light in his perplexity and failed him, though threatened with death and promised gifts and honor, asking him to recount the dream first. Daniel desired time of the king and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Daniel and his fellows, and the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision through wisdom given by God, making known with its interpretation what had been forgotten many years before Belshazzar's feast.
As Daniel related the facts the dream came fresh to the king's mind, and the interpretation was given showing the remarkable events that were to transpire in prophetic history. The verse describes the upper part of that great image: head of fine gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, forming parts that represent events to come and reveal God's power over the kingdoms of the world. God himself gave such symbolic pictures to his prophets to represent the lessons they were to give to the people, appealing to the understanding through the sense of sight so the lesson could be better understood than in any other way. These symbolic prophecies were to be represented plainly upon tables, that he who read might understand, and making and using pictures for teaching is not prohibited by the second commandment, which prohibits image worship.
Its interpretation revealed heaven's glory and wisdom to the Hebrew captives who depended on God rather than to those captivated by Babylon's splendor. Its lessons were given for people living in the present day, and the failure of the king's wise men represents the failure of learned people who lack discernment and knowledge from God to understand prophecy.
Kingdoms Symbolized by Metals
The head of fine gold is Babylon, then at the height of its power. More particularly it is Nebuchadnezzar himself in the glory and excellence of Babylon. It stands first and preeminent among four world-moulding empires under Nebuchadnezzar, great and golden. Yet it passed away in 538 B.C. under the weaker rulers Nabonadius and Belshazzar, in the same generation in which the revelation and warning were given.
The breast and arms of silver are the second universal kingdom, Media and Persia, which soon replaced Babylon and succeeded it. That Medo-Persian kingdom ruled the world for 207 years. The belly and thighs of brass are the third kingdom that would succeed the second, Grecia, which conquered its predecessors and held universal dominion. It became the world power under Alexander the Great after Persia, and after his death his kingdom quickly divided and became vulnerable to Rome, the rising power that followed it.
These kingdoms of gold, silver, and brass are those symbolized in Daniel 7 by the lion, bear, and leopard: Babylon, Persia, and Greece.
Testing and Moral Decline
Each empire shown in the upper part of the image was granted its appointed place and predicted time of trial to prove by obedience or disobedience whether it would exalt the one true God and fulfill His purposes. Babylon as the head, then a second kingdom of breast and arms, then a third of belly and thighs, each in succession was thus tested, and failing the test its glory faded and its rule passed away to make room for the next.
The descent from gold to silver to brass, becoming less pure and valuable from the head downward, shows that the kingdoms deteriorate in value and in power and glory. That decreasing worth marks nations separating further from God and sinking in moral value. The deterioration is moral, seen in growing immorality from making void the law of God and turning from Him. Had they kept the fear of the Lord ever before them they would have been given wisdom and power that would have bound them together and kept them strong.
Babylon passed away because in prosperity she forgot God and ascribed the honor and glory of her prosperity to human achievement. Medo-Persia was visited by the wrath of God because His law was trampled underfoot while wickedness, blasphemy and corruption prevailed. The kingdoms that followed cast God off and were even more base and corrupt, sinking lower and lower in the scale of moral value as they forgot Him, until the vast empire of Rome crumbled. Those who refuse to obey God's law are humiliated and tested and receive the penalty of transgression unless they humble their hearts and confess their sins.
The same downward course in the metals fitly shows deterioration of religion, for men grow weak morally and spiritually just in proportion as they forget God. Sin ruins nations when even religious leaders have not a good conscience toward God. Those claiming to be Protestants leave the old landmarks and depend on forms, ceremonies and outward display to make up for lack of the purity, piety, meekness and lowliness found in obedience to God.
God's Rule and Everlasting Kingdom
The gold, silver and brass of the upper image belong to a succession of universal kingdoms given their place at a predicted time and appointed place, and the foretelling of their rise and fall hundreds of years beforehand demonstrates that God is the ruling power in world affairs, changing times and seasons and removing kings and setting up kings to fulfill His own purpose. The interpretation of the dream shows that He rules over kingdoms and is more powerful than earthly rulers, with power to set up and remove kings. Each kingdom was granted a period of trial whether it would exalt the one true God, proved by obedience or disobedience, and failing that test its glory faded and it passed away to make room for the next.
The history of these successive kingdoms shows God bringing down human pride and glory and bringing human glory to nothing. God alone is great and rules over present events and the future.
The dream and its interpretation were light given through Daniel to exalt Jehovah as more powerful than any other kingdom and to bring even idolatrous minds into reasoning contact with truth about Babylon and the kingdoms after it. It showed Nebuchadnezzar, himself represented in the excellence of Babylon by the head of fine gold, that the God of heaven is Ruler over all monarchs and kings of earth, that His name goes forth as God over all gods, and that rulers of earthly kingdoms have a Ruler in the heavens. Daniel read the dream in the light of the living Oracles, showing that all, whether king or subjects, must read dreams and providence in that light and not read the Scriptures in the light of dreams.
The image places even golden Babylon within a revelation of future kingdoms of men, showing that earthly kingdoms do not last forever but pass away despite magnificence. Babylon's universal empire would eventually fall and be followed by other kingdoms, and these earthly kingdoms would in turn be superseded by God's everlasting kingdom, which will never be destroyed or pass away. The dream reaches to the close of time and shows the relation of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom to the kingdom of heaven, foretelling that God would establish an everlasting kingdom which will fill the earth.
In contrast to earthly kingdoms that rule by ascendancy of physical power, the revealed kingdom is Christ's kingdom to uplift and ennoble fallen humanity, banishing every carnal weapon and instrument of coercion. It is the kingdom the Lord was to establish and by His own power maintain against all the power and craft of Satan, made known even to proud Babylon and to Nebuchadnezzar himself as part of purposes hidden for many generations. Its light is to shine from God's faithful watchmen in these last days.
Nebuchadnezzar's Idolatrous Misuse
God had given Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom with its prosperity and greatness for God's own glory and had designated Babylon the head of gold, but the king and his counselors took that golden head as a flattering image of Babylon and of the king himself that encouraged him to exalt himself, magnify himself, and accept worship. The metals of decreasing value showed that the nations would decline in worth as they separated further from God, yet the place given first and foremost to his kingdom flattered him into self-exaltation. Daniel had interpreted the dream in the light of the Scriptures, establishing that all, whether king or subjects, must read dreams and providence in the light of the living Oracles and must not read the Scriptures in the light of dreams. Nebuchadnezzar instead read the interpretation in accordance with his own idolatrous mind, ambition, and human understanding, turning the dream toward himself rather than its true meaning as explained from Scripture.
His pride led him to imagine that his earthly kingdom would grow still more extensive and powerful, instead of considering the end of earthly kingdoms and the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom. He wanted his kingdom to become greater, as if the image were made entirely of gold. He therefore set up a great golden statue on the plain of Dura that resembled the vision's image in its general features but was deliberately changed to be made entirely of gold. By imitating the dream image while rejecting its message that his kingdom would not endure, he symbolized his claim that Babylon would be eternal, indestructible, all-powerful, and would rule over all other kingdoms. He wrongly took the head of gold as reason to build an image wholly of gold and demand its worship.
He set it up as an object of worship in place of God, to convert all nations to worship the excellence of Babylon and himself. The people were commanded to worship it as a sign of loyalty to Babylonian rule, exalting Babylon as supreme and worthy of universal allegiance even though the image's meaning had been made plain. What God had revealed to make known His purposes for the nations and important events of the future was thus misinterpreted and misused to glorify human power and to hinder the spread of truth. The king and his counselors sought to reject that truth while using its light as authority for idolatry.
The three faithful servants who would not bow were brought into the fiery furnace, where Christ walked with them. That deliverance wrought upon Nebuchadnezzar to believe in God and His superior power. Yet Babylon still fell in an hour of feasting and revelling.
Fulfilled Prophecy and Present Message
The head of gold, breast and arms of silver, and belly and thighs of brass belong to a vision in which figures and symbols represent events in the history of the world in historical order, extending to the close of time and toward the close of earth's history. They form one link in a connected chain of prophecy fulfilled in the rise and fall of kingdoms in the most literal manner, the metals standing for successive kingdoms. That fulfillment is recognized through corresponding historical events set out in the record of history.
The fulfillment has come with wonderful exactness, confirming the inspiration and reliability of Scripture. That exactness proves the Scriptures inspired and gives an anchor against rationalism and skepticism, leading to positive faith and confidence in Scripture. Study of Daniel's prophecies on this ground led to the belief that the coming of the Lord is at hand and was near.
The prophecy can be understood and can be explained even to children. Showing its literal fulfillment together with the signs of the times gives tangibility to faith in the second coming of Christ. It makes a deep impression on those who have studied prophecy without definite knowledge of when it is fulfilled, bringing before the people the solemn and important truth that the coming of the Lord is at hand. This corrects the idea that Christ will come invisibly as a thief to take the saints secretly and afterward come down through the air to old Jerusalem where the Jews have returned and all will still have opportunity to repent and be saved.