God Gives Nebuchadnezzar A Dream About the Future

When I was a youth, I hated history. I do not know if you hated history when you were in school, but I hated history. I found it boring. I did not like dates. I did not like to memorize dates. I did not like to memorize names. Who cared about Stalin? Who cared about Hitler? Who is he? Charles de Gaulle and Napoleon were not men who interested me at all. I just was not interested in history! Who cares about the prehistoric days?

I did not know that a man by the name of Marcus Garvey described me very well. He said,

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture, are like a tree without roots.

When I began to study the Bible, I discovered that he was correct. For as I began to study the Bible, I found that I needed to know something about ancient history. I found that I needed to know Old Testament history if I wanted to understand the New Testament. There are parts of the New Testament you cannot understand very well unless you can understand the Old Testament. Many New Testament statements are Old Testament quotes. You have to know history in order to understand origins and culture. History is essential to understanding the Bible and understanding the faith.

Ecclesiastes 1:11 illustrates the point very well. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 1 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 1:11 says,

There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still. Ecclesiastes 1:11 (NASB)

What is the message? There is no remembrance of the earlier things. Dial history back 5,000 years, 2 months, and 1 day, and tell me what happened. You probably cannot. I cannot. On our own we would not know what happened in history past. The only way we can know what occurred in the past is when someone has written about it. The Old Testament or the New Testament did exactly that.

Solomon was absolutely correct. He said,

There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur . . . Ecclesiastes 1:11 (NASB)

Solomon’s point is that we do not know what occurred in the past. We do know what will occur in the future. The point is that to know history, we need someone to have written about what happened in the past. Romans 15 tells us why Scripture was given to us. It was given to us for a good reason. Romans 15:4 says,

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 (NASB)

Do you know why the Scriptures were written? For our instruction. Then chronicles of historical facts and information were written for our instruction. First Corinthians 10:11 says almost the same thing. It says,

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11 (NASB)

So Paul writes again in 1 Corinthians that these things were written for our instruction. What was written? History and the accounts of cultures past were written so that we can understand the New Testament.

Our study is from Daniel, chapter 2, and it is also historical in nature. We are going to discover that chapter 2 is a key to understanding most of the rest of Daniel. Without Daniel 2 you cannot really understand the rest of the book, key portions of the minor prophets, some of Jesus’ parables, most of the prophecies in the New Testament, and especially the book of the Revelation. Harry Ironside put it this way,

The second chapter of Daniel is the A-B-C of prophecy.[1]

And he is absolutely right. Daniel 2 provides the A-B-C’s of prophecy. It helps us put prophecies about the end time together. Daniel 2 is going to give us a bird’s eye view of history, or an outline of history. Then we are going to discover the rest of Daniel is all connected to chapter 2. Chapter 2 is the beginning. Daniel chapter 2 starts history from the year 605 B.C. and takes us all the way to the end of time.

King Nebuchadnezzar Introduced

So let us begin our study in Daniel chapter 2, where King Nebuchanezzar had a dream. Verse 1 says,

Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. Daniel 2:1 (NASB)

The first thing I want you to notice in this verse is that we are told that this is now the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. This is an important piece of information. We have pointed out before that the Babylonians had a different way of counting a man’s reign, compared to how the Jews counted the reign of a king. The Babylonians considered the first year as the ascension year of the king. The second year was the first year of his reign and the third year was counted as the second year of his reign. The Jews, however, had a different way of counting the reign of a king. They counted the reign of a king like we do today: the year that a man becomes king is the first year of his reign; the second year would be the second year of his reign; and the third year would be the third year of his reign. So the Jews counted it differently than the Babylonians did. Daniel follows the Babylonian practice, the custom of the day. Now, when we look at 2 Kings or Jeremiah, we find the authors follow the Jewish pattern.

Jeremiah tell us that when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jerusalem he took a great number of people from Jerusalem and brought them over to Babylon. Jeremiah says that occurred in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. But if you go back to Daniel 1:1, Daniel says that occurred in the third year. There is a one year difference because the Jews counted the reign of a king differently compared to how the Babylonians did.

Since Daniel is in Babylon, he is following the Babylonian custom. So in Daniel 1:1 we are told that Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon. The year is 605 B.C. Historical records tell us that Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar had died. Therefore, King Nebuchadnezzar made a hasty return to the city of Babylon to secure his position as king, and then he would return. He came back to Jerusalem. In verse 5 we are told that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishal, and Azariah—or as we know them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—were educated in Babylon for three years. From Daniel 1:1, we must count from 605 B.C., and arrive at 603.C. or 602 B.C., depending upon what part of the year 605 we are in.

In verse 18 we are told,

Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them . . . Daniel 1:18 (NASB)

Now I will be a little technical for a minute. They came before the king in verse 18. Then verses 19 and 20 basically tell us that Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego are judged to be great men, and they are admitted into the king’s personal service. So when we come to verse 1 of chapter 2, three years have gone by. The year is 602 or 603 B.C.

Now watch what Daniel 2:1 says.

Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar . . . Daniel 2:1a (NASB)

How can it be the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar if three years have gone by since he became king? The only way that can happen is that Daniel is using a different way of counting years than you and I normally do. The way he is counting is that the first year is the ascension year, and then the next year is the first year of his reign. Then the third year is actually called the second year of the king’s reign.

The reason I had you walk through all of these calculations here is that the critics for years have ridiculed Daniel as being inaccurate on this point. They continued to criticize Daniel until a gentleman by the name of Edwin Thiele wrote a book called The Mystery Numbers of the Hebrew Kings.[2] In his book he presents very convincing proof that the Hebrews had a different way of counting a king’s reign than the Babylonians did. His book proved to be very important. So do you know what the critics said? The critics responded, “Oh, alright, we were mistaken,” and they found another point to criticize. That is their normal pattern. Once they are shown they are wrong, they just move on to a new criticism. So the second year recorded as the reign of Nebuchadnezzar is actually the third year of his reign.

Nebuchadnezzar Had A Dream

I did a survey of the Old Testament and found that Nebuchadnezzar’s name occurs ninety-one times in the Old Testament. That is a great number of times! Ninety-one times in the Old Testament. I discovered as I was looking through the different verses that in Jeremiah 27:6, God calls Nebuchadnezzar “My servant.” Is that not fabulous? God calls this unbelieving king, “My servant.”

Now, I want to be God’s servant. I want to be pleasing to my Lord. I really do want to please my Lord. What does God call Nebuchadnezzar? “My servant.” That is a label I suspect a lot of us would like to have. God called Nebuchadnezzar “My servant” because God was going to use him. God used him to accomplish His will. This king worshiped other gods. In fact, we are told in the pages of Scripture that Babylon was the land of idols. Everywhere a person turned there were idols. Marduk was the chief god of the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar worshiped and followed Marduk, and yet God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant!

We are going to learn that God gave this king a dream. That is the message of Daniel 2:45. When we get to the interpretation of the dream, we are going to find out that it is an incredible dream. It was not given to a Christian. It was not given to a godly saint of the Old Testament. It was given to a heathen king. We are going to discover that the dream is about Jewish history. Have you noticed how many times the word “history” has occurred? Or “culture” or “custom”? You cannot study Daniel chapter 2 and not appreciate history. You are going to discover that you must know something about history to understand Daniel. If you are clueless about history, Daniel will not mean very much to you.

Now, today, I have a great appreciation for history. I like history because it unlocks the Bible. It helps me understand the Bible, especially the book of Daniel.

The next thing I want you to notice is that we are told “his sleep left him.” The Hebrew word actually means his sleep was destroyed. It gives us the picture that this man was probably trying to sleep at night. He kept being awakened. Have you ever been asleep at night, wake up, only to start thinking about something? You remembered something, and cannot go back to sleep because you are too preoccupied? That was King Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar had been having dreams. The Hebrew is very clear. He did not just have one dream. The word “dreams” is plural. The idea is that he repeatedly had dreams. We have no idea how many nights he was having these dreams. But the verse suggests the dreams have been occurring for a while. When we are told that he is troubled, the Hebrew has the idea that he was very anxious.

So King Nebuchadnezzar woke up in the night. His sleep was destroyed. In fact, that happened to me a couple of weeks ago. It was about 3:30 in the morning. I remember being awakened. Something was on my mind, and I could not stop thinking about the subject. So, finally I said, “This is crazy. I will just get up.” My sleep was destroyed. That is what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

The Dream & Interpretation Demanded

Verse 2 says,

Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. Daniel 2:2a (NASB)

When we are told that the king gave orders, the Hebrew tense of this verb is in the imperfect. That implies a repeated occurrence. Here is the picture that is being painted for us in the Hebrew text. The king got up in the middle of the night, or whenever it was that he got up, and could not go back to sleep. He gave orders for these men to come to him. The imperfect implies that he kept repeating the orders. This king was extremely impatient. He was demanding. I suspect he gave orders and when they did not come, he repeated the order. He thought, “Come on, get these guys in here!” They did not come, and so he gave another order. The implication is he kept doing it. I suspect they were awakened in the night. They probably had to get dressed. Who knows where they were living in the city? This is a picture of an impatient, demanding king. He wanted to know the meaning of his dream!

He called four groups of people to come to him: magicians, conjurers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans. The literal Aramaic for magicians is “scratchers.” The Babylonians wrote in cuneiform using a stylus to make impressions in clay. They were the chief teaching priests. Conjurers communicated with the spirits and cast spells. The sorcerers were into witchcraft. There are two different definitions of Chaldeans. The first one is that Chaldeans were a tribe within the nation of Babylon. The word Chaldeans was also used in a technical sense to refer to men who were involved in astrology.

History tells us that they kept very accurate records. John C. Whitcomb in his commentary on Daniel states that the astrologers of Babylon were very accurate in their calculation of the length of the year. They were so accurate that they were in 5/1000th of a percent of the real number. In other words, they had an error rate of five thousandths of a percent. For those who want an actual number, they were accurate to within 26 minutes and 55 seconds—they were that close. That tells you something about these astrologers or Chaldeans.[3]

So the king summoned these men and said that he wanted them to tell him his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. The word for “before,” means “face.” That is, these four groups of men came and stood before the face of the king. Now, get the picture. This impatient king is awakened in the middle of the night. We do not know if this meeting occurred in the middle of the night, but the men finally arrive. I suspect that he was rather impatient. The king was sitting on a throne and they are before his face. What an incredible picture.

Verse 3 says,

The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” Daniel 2:3 (NASB)

Notice what it says. It says “dream,” singular—not “dreams.” Apparently, the king was having one dream repeated over and over. That makes sense, based upon what happens at the end of the chapter. When it tells us he was “anxious,” the Hebrew is very interesting. The actual word has the idea of a thrust, like taking something and pushing down hard. So the implication is that this king was really struggling.

In verse 4, the Chaldeans responded. The astrologers spoke to the king in Aramaic. The book of Daniel is written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic. The Aramaic section starts in verse 4 of this chapter and continues to the end of Daniel 7. There is a reason for this. The dream in Daniel 2 gives us a picture of Jewish history all the way to the end of time. What we are going to learn in Daniel 7 is that Daniel 7 also spans Jewish history. I think it is intentionally written this way to help us connect Daniel 2 with Daniel 7. They are a unit.

So verse 4 begins the Aramaic section, and the Chaldeans speak to the king.

O king, live forever! . . . Daniel 2:4a (NASB)

Have you ever watched a TV show where a group of people come to a king and said, “O king, live forever”? This seems to have been standard way of greeting a king. “O king, live forever!”

Then in order to interpret the dream, these men asked the king to share his dream.

Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation. Daniel 2:4b (NASB)

It is a simple request, give us the dream, and we will give you the interpretation. But the king is not very eager to tell them the dream, because he does not trust them. Verse 5 adds,

The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation . . .” Daniel 2:5a (NASB)

The king wants these men to tell him the dream, and then the interpretation. Now, if someone asked me to describe their dream, I would not be able to do that. On occasion at NeverThirsty.org, someone has written in, described a dream, and asked me to interpret it. They thought I was like Daniel. I have told the persons that I could not do that.

The Chaldeans asked, “You give us the dream and we will tell you what it means.” D. J. Weissman, in his book called Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, gives examples of how the Babylonians interpreted dreams.[4] Archaeology has found manuals that the Babylonians used for interpreting dreams. I thought that was kind of interesting—kind of like deciphering a code. So if the king had given them his dream, then they would identify certain symbols or concepts in the dream. They would go to their manual and look up the predetermined meaning. The process was rote. So the king replied,

. . . you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. Daniel 2:5b (NASB)

The king said, “You have to tell me the dream, and if you do not, I am going to tear you limb from limb….” One idea suggested is that the king could take four trees, bend them over, tie one arm to one tree, another arm to another tree, one leg to the third tree, and one leg to the fourth tree. Then they would cut one rope and the trees would tear the man apart. But I doubt that the king had thought about how this would be done. Then he said, “And we will take your house and make it a rubbish heap.” The actual Hebrew means a manure pile. The king was very threatening. The basic idea is, “I am going to destroy you and everything you own.”

Verse 6 is not another warning of the king.

But if you declare the dream and its interpretation . . . Daniel 2:6a (NASB)

Notice the dream and the interpretation are tied together. Verse 5 was the threat, and verse 6 is the reward. He said,

. . . you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation. Daniel 2:6b (NASB)

Now, imagine being a Chaldean and standing in front of the king. The king was sitting on a throne, and he has told you to “declare to me the dream and its interpretation, and if you do not, you are toast, and your house as well.” Now, just imagine. What are you going to do? This king is demanding. He is impatient, and you are standing there. How would you respond?

Verse 7 give us the answer,

They answered a second time . . . Daniel 2:7 (NASB)

They did not give up. They recognized now they were in trouble. So they asked,

. . . and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time . . . Daniel 2:7b-8a (NASB)

They wanted to live a little longer.

. . . inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation. Daniel 2:8b-9 (NASB)

The king knew that if they could give him the dream, they could then interpret the dream. The king was not stupid. I could not help but wonder if while he was a child—his dad was King Nabopolassar—did some of these men ever give his father a phony interpretation of a dream? I am sure he had probably heard things before as a child. I could not help but wonder if he thought, “These men do not know what they are doing.” Or maybe he even saw them pick up one of the dream manuals and look through it. Maybe he just said, “This is a joke!” So he said, “You tell me the dream, and then I can trust you for the interpretation.” That is what he was really saying.

Verse 10:

The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. Daniel 2:10 (NASB)

Just imagine standing before this king, recognizing that the king is going to make you toast, and your house toast, and he is not flinching, he is demanding that you tell him the dream, he is keeping it a secret, and these Chaldeans responded, “Well, how can you do this?! This is impossible! Nobody has ever asked this of us before. This is nuts!”

In verse 11 the men complain.

Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king, except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh. Daniel 2:11 (NASB)

That was their response. What did the king do? Was the king reasonable? Did you notice what they said? Verse 10:

Inasmuch as no great king or ruler . . .

They were being politically savvy when they said that. Then they added,

No great king or ruler has ever done this.

They were trying to appeal to him.

Kings Responds to the Men

Verse 12 explains how the king responded.

Because of this the king became indignant . . . Daniel 2:12a (NASB)

He was not just furious. He was very furious.

. . . and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel 2:12b (NASB)

Now, notice the word “all.” That is an important little word. It may very well be that all the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans were not there. In fact, I believe that all the wise men were not there. Some say, “Daniel was not there because he was not part of the group yet.” Frankly, I disagree with that view, because verse 13 says,

So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. Daniel 2:13 (NASB)

Now we learn that Daniel and his friends were classified as part of the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. I suspect that verse 12 is probably telling us that not all of the wise men were present at the meeting.

But the major question is, “Why was Daniel not present? Why were Daniel and his friends not there?” It may be that Daniel was sick—who knows? It may be that Daniel was preoccupied with some important task for which he was responsible. What is clear from verse 13 is that he is part of the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. And so they come looking for him to kill him.

Daniel Offered to Interpret the Dream

Then the king gave orders according to verse 14,

Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Daniel 2:14-15a (NASB)

This reveals that Daniel was not part of the meeting. Notice that Daniel asked Arioch what happened. So, he answered Daniel,

Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. And so Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time in order that he might declare the interpretation of the dream to the king. Daniel 2:15b-16 (NASB)

Now I want you to notice something important about Daniel. What did Daniel not do? Daniel did not go into a rage and say, “Oh, this is unjust! This is unfair! How can you do this to us?!” He did not go around stomping and complaining, and running around. Daniel did not behave so some could say, “He had an emotional attack.” Instead, Daniel was calm. He determined what needed to be done and asked the king for time. Now we are going to discover in the next couple of verses that he asked for something that he had no guarantee God would do. He had a plan. He said, “King, give me some time. I am going to interpret the dream for you.” And so we are told the king gave him time.

Daniel Sought God’s Help

Verse 17 shifts our focus to Daniel. The verse says he then “went to his house.”

Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter . . . Daniel 2:17b (NASB)

Now we are told that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did not know what Daniel had promised.

. . . so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Daniel 2:18 (NASB)

Did you notice what Daniel did? He asked Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to join him in prayer and they asked God for compassion. Do you know what Daniel did? He had not already asked God for the dream. He did not know the dream. He did not know the interpretation yet. He had no guarantee that God was going to give him the dream or the interpretation. When Daniel went to the king and asked for time, he was trusting God to give him the dream and the interpretation. He had faith. Do you remember the verse that says “The effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much”? We already saw in our previous studies that Daniel was a righteous man. He asked for help, and God granted it to him.

Verse 19 tells us that God granted his request.

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Daniel 2:19 (NASB)

I just love that! God answered his prayer. God gave him the dream and the interpretation. Then Daniel praised God in response!

Daniel said,
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.” Daniel 2:20 (NASB)

I am interested in that phrase, “the name of God.” That phrase occurs only five times in Scripture. The phrase “the name of the Lord” occurs 104 times in the Old Testament. I was thinking about the Israelites at that time who lived in Jerusalem and Judah. 2 Kings 23:24 tells us that idols filled the land of Israel. Jeremiah 51:47 reveals that Babylon was filled with idols. Isaiah 19:1 says that idols were all over the land of Egypt. Hosea 2:17 talks about the names of the Baals. Zachariah 13:2 says the day is coming when God will cut off the names of the idols. Do you realize what the Scripture is telling us? Wherever the Jews went, they encountered the names of other gods. They were everywhere. Now here in the United States for the last 10-20 years, we have many more names of other gods occurring everywhere. It used to be that we only heard the name of God, Jehovah God, the God of the Old Testament and New Testament. But today we hear the names of other gods. I really enjoy it when we can talk with other Christians about the name of God.

Can you imagine what it would have been like to be a Jew in Babylon with idols everywhere—Marduk and all the different kinds of gods? In sharp contrast to the Babylonian culture, Daniel revered the name of God. He said, “Let the name of God….” Do you know what the name of God stands for? It is a phrase that refers to who He is. Psalm 7:17 says,

And I will give thanks to the Lord, sing praises to the name of the Lord Most High. Psalm 7:17 (NASB)

It just honors the name of God. Who wants to hear about Marduk?! Who wants to hear about a demon god? Who wants to hear about a demon? Then Daniel goes on,

It is He who changes the times and the epochs. Daniel 2:21a (NASB)

Or you could say “seasons.”

He removes kings and establishes kings. Daniel 2:21b (NASB)

That is what God did with Nebuchadnezzar. He brought him up. We will see later that God takes him down.

He gives wisdom to wise men . . . Daniel 2:21c (NASB)

That happened to Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego.

… and knowledge to men of understanding. Daniel 2:21d (NASB)

The same four men.

It is He who reveals the [secret] and hidden things. Daniel 2:22a (NASB)

Think about dreams, and the interpretation of dreams.

He knows what is in the darkness. Daniel 2:22b (NASB)

That is an incredible statement. Do you know what is in the darkness? The answer is you cannot see it. Cannot see in the darkness when it is really dark. But God can see.

And the light dwells with Him. Daniel 2:22c (NASB)

Now notice what Daniel says in verse 23. Daniel has been describing all of the attributes of God. Did you notice how incredible God was described in verses 20, 21, and 22? When we come to verse 23, Daniel now thanks Him. It took him three verses to get to the thanks.

To You, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.
Daniel 2:23 (NASB)

Conclusion

I could not help but be reminded of the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”

Oh Lord, my God, when I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds your hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Your power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

What a great way to end this study: with praise of the Lord, and thanks to God!

In our next study we are going to learn about the dream and its interpretation. We will be given an outline of God’s plan for the future—all the way to the end of our time.

References:

1. H. A. Ironside. Daniel. Ironside Commentaries. Loizeaux. 1996. p. 31.
2. Edwin R. Thiele. The Mysterious Numbers of The Hebrew Kings. Kregel. 1983. p. 43-45, 183-185.
3. John C. Witcomb. Daniel. Everyday Bible Commentary. Moody Publishers. 2018. p. 39-40.
4. D. J. Weissman. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. Oxford University Press. 1995. p. 92-93.