Daniel 2:38, commentary and pictures

Thou art this head of gold names Nebuchadnezzar himself and his kingdom Babylon as the golden head, the first and universal kingdom in the succession of world empires, wealthy and powerful beyond those that follow and given wide rule over people and living creatures wherever they dwell. That kingdom and power and wisdom were given to him by the God of heaven for God's glory, not held in his own right. Babylon's supremacy was temporary, to be followed by a second and a third kingdom and then a fourth strong as iron, each permitted its appointed time and then giving way as power and glory deteriorated from gold downward. The word flattered his vanity, and in pride and ambition to make Babylon endure he set up an all-gold image in the plain of Dura to be worshiped, turning just rule into oppression until God took his reason and humbled him to live as a beast for seven years. The succession has been fulfilled most literally in history, showing that God alone rules the kingdoms of men, raising up and putting down rulers and establishing His everlasting kingdom.

Dream and Its Disclosure

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream he could not bring to remembrance, and he commanded the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans to tell him both the dream and its interpretation on pain of being cut in pieces. They answered in terror that no man on earth could show the matter, and that only the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh could do it. Daniel desired time of the king, went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning the secret. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Daniel and his fellows, and the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Daniel then related the facts so that the dream came fresh to the king's mind, and he gave the interpretation showing the remarkable events to transpire in prophetic history.

The interpretation was opened only to the Hebrew exiles who felt themselves strangers with God as their only dependence, not to those charmed by Babylon's splendor. Its meaning is framed by what God did first in silencing Babylon's wise men, placing them where they had to acknowledge inability to revive the forgotten dream. That silencing showed human wisdom to be folly and scientific power to be inefficient, in order to display the superior wisdom of those who worship Him. It was to lead princes and people from broken cisterns to the living fountain by revealing the divine science of eternity. It teaches medical missionaries today that to those who refuse to be charmed by time and sense, who come out and be separate and faithfully do assigned duties, God will reveal treasures of eternity and open the glories of the eternal world.

Daniel could read and record the mysteries of the future in figures and symbols covering this world's history till the close of time because he honored God with firmness, self-denial and purity of motive and clung to God with unwavering trust. God therefore blessed him with knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and the spirit of prophetic power came upon him while he was receiving instruction in court duties. The interpretation brought Daniel honor and authority in Babylon, while the king acknowledged Daniel's God as Lord of kings and revealer of secrets. The authority represented by the golden head was earthly, while God's kingdom was recognized as greater than every earthly kingdom.

The interpretation was given through Daniel to help the king of Babylon out of his difficulty over his dream. Babylon's great men were willing to be benefited by that instruction, yet they wanted Daniel and his three companions to mix their heathen religion with the Hebrew religion. In their view such compromise would have made the four Hebrews complete as statesmen fit to be entrusted with the kingdom's affairs. Daniel and his fellows entered into no such arrangement but were true to God, and God upheld and honored them. Their course shows that true science and Bible religion are in perfect harmony, and teaches to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness with the promise that all these things shall be added.

The account belongs to the dream of the great image that Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, through which God's power and faithfulness were revealed to an idolatrous nation. God gave light to Nebuchadnezzar through the dream, bringing him into reasoning relation with Daniel concerning prophecies against Babylon and other kingdoms. God revealed purposes hidden for many generations so Daniel could reflect truth upon the proud kingdom, showing that the God of heaven is Ruler over all monarchs and kings of earth whose name goes forth as God over all gods. The idolatrous nation was thereby given knowledge of the kingdom the Lord would establish and through His power maintain against all Satan's power and craft. Through Daniel and his companions scattered among the kingdoms and through faithfulness in rescuing the three captives from the flames, the Lord was made known to the heathen amid heathenism's darkness.

Head of Gold Identified

"Thou art this head of gold" names Nebuchadnezzar himself as the head of gold, and the head stands for his kingdom Babylon. It opens the prophetic sequence as the first kingdom in the succession of earthly kingdoms, the first universal kingdom, and the first of the four world-moulding empires. The gold marks a higher purity and value than the silver and brass and iron mixed with clay that follow.

The golden head signifies Babylon's wealth and power, risen to a height no later nation equaled, at the height of its power and glory under Nebuchadnezzar when its power and influence seemed far-reaching and invincible. Babylon was then preeminent in shaping the world, with its civilization serving as a center and starting point for traditions that spread through western Asia. It was the first and greatest of those empires in apparent magnificence and far-reaching influence that seemed beyond any foe, yet the warning was given in the same generation in which Babylon fell in 538 B.C. under the weaker rulers Nabonidus and Belshazzar.

The verse describes a wide dominion in which, wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven were given into his hand and he was made ruler over them all. That dominion over people and living creatures was granted and not held independently. The rule and the power granted over peoples and lands came from God.

Dominion Given by God

Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom and power and his authority over people and over the beasts and birds were given to him by the God of heaven, not held in his own right, and his prosperity and wisdom were bestowed for the glory of God. His dominion was universal wherever men dwell, and the glory of that kingdom came from Jehovah, who through the interpretation of the dream was shown to be mightier than earthly rulers. He himself is the head of gold, ruler over all by God's giving, and Babylon as the golden head stands for his kingdom.

The history of the kingdoms in the vision teaches that God rules over earthly kingdoms and alone is truly great, humbling human pride and bringing human glory low. He raises up rulers and brings them down, removing kings and setting up kings to fulfill His purpose, while human glory is temporary and He will establish His everlasting kingdom. The rulers of earthly kingdoms have a Ruler in the heavens, whose name goes forth as God over all gods, and Nebuchadnezzar was shown through Daniel and the Hebrew captives that the God of heaven is Ruler over all monarchs and kings of earth. Light from the throne of God revealed purposes hidden for many generations, giving the idolatrous nation knowledge of the kingdom the Lord would establish and by His power maintain against all the power and craft of Satan.

God had exalted Babylon to wealth and power at a height no later nation equaled, but Nebuchadnezzar failed to recognize that its power came from God. Because God had given him wisdom for God's glory, his rule was at first to a great extent just and merciful. The declaration that he was the head of gold flattered his vanity, and he misapplied and misused God-given reason to glorify himself rather than honoring God.

Temporary Succession of Kingdoms

Babylon's power and supremacy stood within God's prophetic message about the nations, but that message did not promise that Babylon or its dynasty would endure forever. Earthly kingdoms are temporary and must pass away, while Christ's kingdom, represented by the Living Stone, is the only eternal kingdom. The dream showed that earthly kingdoms would not endure but would give way to the kingdom of the Prince of heaven, which will fill the whole earth. Nebuchadnezzar's later all-gold image expressed his ambition to make his kingdom eternal and all-powerful, defying that message.

God foretold Babylon's fall and the succession of a second and then a third kingdom, followed by a fourth kingdom strong as iron that would subdue the nations. The prophecy traces Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, each given a period in which to fulfil God's purpose. Nations are permitted to occupy their place on earth so their response to God's purposes may be tested, and each of these empires had its period of test, failed, lost its glory and power, and gave way to another.

The image with its descending metals shows the deterioration of the kingdoms of the earth in power, glory and value from Babylon onward, with later kingdoms of lesser value represented by baser metals. The gold marks Babylon's higher purity and value compared with the silver, brass, and iron mixed with clay that follow it. That deterioration comes from making void the law of God, seen in immorality, with nations becoming morally weak in the same proportion as they forget God and moving farther from God. Keeping the fear of the Lord would have given wisdom and power to bind them together and keep them strong, while its rulers sought God only when harassed and perplexed.

Each kingdom's greatness and power have their day and then are superseded, with a limited period appointed by God. Its continuance is governed by the law of obedience, proved by whether it exalts the one Ruler, the only true God, and disobedience brings an end to its glory. Their rise and fall were predicted hundreds of years beforehand by God looking down the ages. Their passing and the arising of succeeding nations one after another at the predicted time to fill their appointed place demonstrate that God is the ruling power in the affairs of this world, who changes times and seasons and removes kings and sets up kings to fulfil His own purpose, with His voice sounding down the line from century to century. Kings may think they are carrying out their own purposes, but they fulfil the word God has spoken and take their appointed places in His plan.

The revelation and warning were given to Babylon, which fell in 538 B.C. under the weaker rulers Nabonidus and Belshazzar, in the same generation that the revelation was given. Though the head of gold was thus honored, the fall still came at an hour of feasting and revelling. Babylon passed away because in prosperity she forgot God, refused to obey His law, and ascribed her honor and glory to human achievement. The kings who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar failed to profit by his experience. The verse belongs to the prophecy of Daniel 2 connected with the mingling of iron and clay.

Pride and Counterfeit Image

The words thou art this head of gold made the deepest impression on Nebuchadnezzar's mind and flattered his vanity. After the first fear of God wore away, his uncleansed pride and worldly ambition and desire for self-exaltation led him to think only of his own greatness and how to turn the dream to his own honor. With inordinate ambition and jealousy against the kingdoms prophesied to follow, he and his counselors took the honor of the gold as flattery, and he was led to exalt himself and seek worship.

Because his reason was not under God's control, he determined to change the prophecy and make an image that would excel the original by not deteriorating from head to feet but being composed throughout of the most precious metal as solid gold. The whole image would thus represent the greatness and endurance of Babylon and of himself, and by its splendor would efface from his own mind and from others' minds the prophecy of the kingdoms that were to follow. Turning from the warning about the end of earthly kingdoms and God's everlasting kingdom, he imagined that his own realm would become still greater and felt independent of God.

He read the interpretation in accordance with his own idolatrous mind and ambitions, taking it to mean the excellence of Babylon and more particularly himself as king. After light was made clear to his mind he perverted his course, misapplied and misused God-given reason to glorify himself and to exalt himself above the God who gave life and power, hardened his heart, cherished jealousy of other kingdoms, and sought worship. His rule, which at first had been to a great extent just and merciful because given wisdom for God's glory, became oppressive, showing that God-given authority and ability are not grounds for self-exaltation.

He set that all-gold image up in the plain of Dura as an imposing object of worship in place of God, to take the place of God and be worshiped as God. He commanded all to fall down and worship it at an appointed time in order to gain glory for himself, with the hope of converting all nations to its worship. That course led to the fiery trial of those who would not bow. A king has power, and when that power is allied to goodness it is exerted in harmony with the divine will, but when allied to evil it leads to sins that God will punish.

Though warned, he went on in his own strength until God took wisdom and the talent of wisdom from him to bring him to see and acknowledge the living God as able to create and to destroy. He followed the instincts of beasts until reason was dethroned, and for seven years he was an astonishment to his subjects as an example of being humbled by God for not honoring God but making himself as God. Babylon passed away because in prosperity she forgot God, refused to obey His law, and ascribed her honor and glory to human achievement, and the same humiliation and testing comes today when men forget God and refuse to obey His law: God tests them, and if they do not humble their hearts and confess their sins they receive the penalty of transgression.

The symbolic prophecy by which God revealed His purpose for the nations and important future events was meant to spread knowledge of God, but it could be misinterpreted and misused to glorify human power. Truth used to exalt self and advance human schemes becomes a force for evil. Nebuchadnezzar's act of making an image all of gold to take the place of God and be worshiped as God resembles the modern movement demanding by human law that all observe an idol Sunday sabbath as sacred and holy in the place where God's holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment should be.

Certainty and Study of Prophecy

The succession and rise and fall of kingdoms foretold here has been fulfilled in the most literal manner with wonderful exactness, as confirmed by the record of secular history. That exact fulfillment testifies to the inspiration of Scripture and can anchor faith. Shown together with the signs of the times, that literal fulfillment gives tangibility to faith in the second coming of Christ and makes a deep impression on those who have studied prophecy but had no definite idea when it was fulfilled.

The God-given dream and its interpretation concerned historical events and also teaches lessons for people living today. It presents historical events in figurative form and in sequence, leading toward the close of earth's history. Its prophetic waymarks must be carefully guarded and the prophecy correctly applied, since misinterpretation can create confusion rather than genuine light. Understanding requires insight from God, and worldly learning alone cannot reveal its meaning. Dreams must be read in the light of the living oracles and Scriptures, not Scriptures and providences read in the light of dreams and fancies.

God Himself employed such pictures and symbols to give lessons to His prophets for the people, appealing to the understanding through sight so truth could be better understood. These symbolic visions were to be represented plainly so that he who read might understand. Such divinely appointed pictorial prophecy does not violate the second commandment, which prohibits image worship. The prophecy is not an unintelligible mystery but can be presented in familiar form so that even children can listen, be pleased, be interested, understand it and explain it, and through them parents and grown people can be led to see it is worth studying.