Questions And Answers


                                                     





Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream



 

What statement did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, make to his wise men whom he had assembled?

 

      “And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.”

Daniel 2:3

 

After the wise men had confessed their inability to do what the king required, who offered to interpret the dream?

 

      “Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.”

Daniel 2:16

 

What did Daniel say the king had seen in his dream?

 

      “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 

     As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 

      But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 

       Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.”

Daniel 2:28-31 

 

Of what were the different parts of the image composed?

 

      “This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 

     His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”

Daniel 2:32,33

 

By what means was the image broken to pieces?

 

      “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 to pieces.”

Daniel 2:34

 

What became of the various parts of the image?

 

      “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

Daniel 2:35

 

With what words did Daniel begin the interpretation of the dream?

 

      Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 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 ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.”

Daniel 2:37,38

 

Comment- Babylon was the golden kingdom of the golden age.

The Metropolis Babylon, reached a height of unrivaled magnificence.

 

What was to be the nature of the next kingdom?

 

      “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Daniel 2:39

 

Who was the last Babylonian king?

 

     “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 

       And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”

Daniel 5:30,31

 

To whom was Belshazzar’s kingdom given?

 

              “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Daniels 5:28

 

By what is this kingdom of the Medes and Persians—the Persian Empire—represented in the great image?

 

His breast and his arms of silver.  (Daniel 2:32)

 

By what is the Greek, or Macedonian, Empire, which succeeded the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, represented in the image?

 

     “His belly and his thighs of brass.  And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Daniel 2: 32,39

 

Comment- That the empire which replaced the Persian was the Greek is clearly stated in Daniel 8:5-8, 20,21.  The Greco-Macedonian Empire existed in two stages, first united under Alexander the Great and then divided under his successors.

 

What is said of the fourth kingdom?

 

     “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

Daniel 2:40

 

Comment- It is well known that the great world power that absorbed the fragments of the Empire of Alexander the Great was Rome.

 

What was indicated by the mixture of clay and iron and the feet and toes of the image?

 

      “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.”

Daniel 2:41

 

Comment- The barbarian tribes that overran the Roman Empire formed the kingdoms which developed into nations of modern Europe.

 

In what prophetic language was the varying strength of the ten kingdoms of the divided empire indicated?

 

      “And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.”

Daniel 2:42

 

Were any efforts to be made to reunite the divided empire of Rome?

 

      “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” 

Daniel 2:43

 

Comment- Charlemagne, Charles the V, Louis XIV, Napoleaon, Kaiser Wilhelm, and Hitler all tried to reunite the broken fragments of the Roman Empire and failed.  By marriage and intermarriage of royalty ties have been formed with a view to strengthening and cementing together the shattered kingdom, but none have succeeded.  The element of disunion remains.  Many political revolutions and territorial changes have occurred in Europe since the end of the Western Roman Empire in A.D.476; but its divided state still remains.

     This remarkable dream as interpreted by Daniel, represents in the briefest form, and yet with unmistakable clearness, a series of world empires from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the close of earthly history and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God.  History confirms the prophecy.

 

What is to take place in the days of these kingdoms?

 

     “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

Daniel 2:44

 

Comment- This verse foretells the establishment of another universal kingdom, the kingdom of God.  This kingdom is to overthrow and supplant all existing earthly kingdoms, and is to stand forever.  The time for the setting up of this kingdom was “to be in the days of these kings.”  This cannot refer to the four preceding empires or kingdoms, for they were not contemporaneous, but successive; neither can it refer to an establishment of the kingdom at Christ’s first advent, for the ten kingdoms which arose out of the ruins of the Roman Empire were not yet in existence.  It therefore, refers to the divided kingdoms or nations, that succeeded Rome, represented by the present nations of Europe.  This final kingdom, then is yet future.

 

In what announcement in the New Testament is the establishment of the kingdom of God made known?

 

     “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15