8 Jul (Daniel 2)

Daniel 2

(v.4) In order to let your kids understand what is happening here, we need to go back a bit in history. Nebuchadnezzar inherited the throne, and the so called "wise men" worked for his predecessor. I think old Nebby wanted to see how wise they were, and to see how loyal to him they were.

The Chaldeans were considered wise, and it's reported that they had the gift to interpret dreams. But here, Nebby doesn't tell them the dream for them to interpret...they have to know what the dream was, and then interpret it!

This is where God is at work...only He could know what Nebby dreamed, and only God knows what's in our hearts and thoughts.

My kids like to list the times God spoke to people through dreams:

~ Joseph, Jacob, Daniel, Joseph (earthly father of Jesus) to list a few

(v.14) I love Daniel...he calmly goes to the guard who's job it is to kill him, and reasons with the guard. This tells us that Daniel was mature beyond his years, and also, that he commanded respect that the guard would listen to him in spite of the possibility of Nebby's wrath.

(v.28) Daniel didn't take credit for the knowledge of the dream...he gave all the glory to God!

(v.38) Daniel describes this image of a man with different parts to him, representing future empires...it's prophecy of the future! Not only is this amazingly accurate with the subsequent empires after Babylon, but we also get an understanding of the final one in the last days:

Head (Gold) ~ Babylon

Chest (Silver) ~ Persia

Thighs (Bronze) ~ Greece

Legs (Iron) ~ Rome

Feet (Iron and Clay) ~ Rome 2

This is exactly what happened in history...Babylon was defeated by the Persians, who was succeeded by the Greeks, and then Rome dominated the world. But after Rome dissolved and broke into pieces, there will be a last empire during the times described in Revelation.

We will also see in Daniel 7, that these empires had animals that represented them:

Babylon ~ Winged Lion

Persia ~ Bear

Greece ~ Leopard

Rome ~ Terrible Beast

(v.43) This is an interesting verse if you notice that empire in the last days mingles with the seed of men. We have an allusion to the Nephilim again as we saw in Genesis 6. After all, it said there that as in the days of Noah, and also after that...which tells us that once again Satan's demons will be the cause of the earth's final showdown and destruction.

This last empire that is sometimes called Rome 2, will be a confederacy of nations that conspire to eliminate Israel once and for all. Some scholars think it's the Vatican and the European Union, and others think it's the nations listed in Ezekiel 38-39.

(v.47) Nebby sees that only the Almighty God could have shown Daniel these things. After reading the rest of this book, you might join me in believing that Nebby became a believer in the God of Israel.

(v.48) Like Joseph before him, Daniel went from prison to second in command. This is also a type of Christ, since He sits at the right hand of the Father.