Daniel 2:36–38

Daniel's answer comes in three parts. First, he explains where the revelation of the secret came from and why it was given. Second comes the dream itself. Last comes its interpretation. Daniel begins, in clear communion with the mind of God, by declaring that human wisdom is powerless... Daniel goes on to declare the source of the vision. "There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets," and this was Daniel's God, and he delighted to exalt Him in the presence of this absolute and idolatrous king.

He does not wait until God gives him the answer before he says that he would show the interpretation of the dream. He offers it at once. He is confident in God, and that is faith — a conviction founded on the known character of God... We have two great things brought out in Daniel: first, his confidence that God would reveal the thing to the king; second, his confession that he could not.

In verse 36 Daniel says, "This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation." He links his companions with himself before the king, just as he had already done before God in his thanksgiving. It is very lovely, and it says much about the unselfish humility and generous heart of this "man greatly beloved."

Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was a direct gift from God. As Daniel said, "You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory." No one could say that of the three kingdoms that followed. They come on the scene by God's providence. God permits them to govern the earth, and it happens according to His ordering. But their heads did not hold power directly from God, as Nebuchadnezzar did. He was nearest God in this outward sense, and his responsibility was therefore all the greater.

In Ezekiel chapter 1 the prophet had seen the glory of the Lord by the river Chebar. In chapter 11 he sees that glory leave Jerusalem. It departs from the house and from the city. It is a remarkable fact that the glory of the Lord has left its earthly throne. But more: at the same time this earthly power was transferred from Jerusalem to the Gentiles, and government entrusted to men. So we read in Daniel 2:36-38.

Babylon ruled for less than a century, then fell to the Medes and Persians. These in turn gave way to Alexander and his Macedonians. Later still, the Macedonians fell before the power of Rome... The next kingdom God sets up will be the kingdom of His Son. The fourth empire (Rome) will revive for a short period. Then God will bring the Lord Jesus once more on the scene, and He will take all the affairs of earth into His own blessed hands.

We need not go beyond Scripture to understand prophecy. It is the right, spiritual use of what is in the word of God. Take the simplest man who studies his Bible carefully in his own language and is led by the Spirit of God. He has the elements and the power of a true interpretation. But suppose a man hunts for an interpretation here and there, with the help of history, ancient records, newspapers and the rest. He is only deceiving himself and his hearers.

It is as "the God of heaven" that God acts in giving power to the Gentiles. As "God of the earth" His throne was at Jerusalem, and will be when He again makes Himself known that way. But His throne on earth has been set aside, because those who held His authority and acted for Him had sinned. So He now acts as "God of heaven," giving authority to the Gentile king.

It was not a question of his own prowess, nor of any special wisdom he possessed. If Nebuchadnezzar had been allowed to carry away these captives, and to triumph over the power of Egypt, it was the God of heaven who had given it to him.

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that, as the representative of the Babylonian empire, he is the head of gold. Until now the earth had separate nations, each under its own king. Now, for the first time, a new form of government begins — government by imperial unity. Under it, one empire joins nations and their kings under an imperial head who is a king of kings.

The God of heaven gives Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms of the earth. The Gentile kingdom soon widens into an empire such as Israel had never seen. Nebuchadnezzar is therefore a king of kings — a small image of Him who will be the "King of kings and Lord of lords," and something of an image too in the absolute authority he had. But there the resemblance ends. How different the character of the man who has this power, and how fast it decays!

Four imperial powers were to follow one another, and God set up Nebuchadnezzar himself as their great head. In certain respects they would grow steadily worse. To me, the special excellence of the head of gold is that it received its authority straight from God Himself. In fact the absolute authority of the first power rested on the gift of the God of heaven. The others came in by God's providence, and to them God was not the direct source of authority. Babylon was the authority God established.

He was nearest God in this external sense, and his responsibility was therefore all the greater.

God had given to the king "a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory" (Dan. 2:37). Despite God's gifts, and the striking way in which He had borne witness to Himself, the king had forgotten Him. The king, at rest in his palace and at the height of his prosperity, credits all his power and glory to himself, and uses his high position to exalt himself. Never was such great prosperity linked with such pride.

In this chapter Daniel speaks more than once of "the God of heaven." This shows that the first Gentile monarch of supreme power held his authority as something given to him from heaven. We believe this fact lies behind the teaching of the Apostle in Romans 13:1. The power in his own day was the fourth one, mentioned in our chapter. But the Gentile powers that exist, whoever they may be at any given moment, hold their authority as delegates of "the God of heaven."

It was not a question of his own strength, nor of any special wisdom he had. Egypt had wanted to dispute who ruled the world. If Nebuchadnezzar was allowed to carry away these captives, and to triumph over Egypt's power, it was the God of heaven who had given it to him... Clearly the Babylonian empire is meant.

This deterioration is not in the strength of the metals, but in their value. The strength of each metal shows how much land each empire ruled. The value of each metal points instead to its sovereign power. The last three world empires would rule far more land than the first. But in none of them was the imperial power, which stands for the power of God, as clear as in the first empire — the head of gold.

Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was a direct gift from God... This could not be said of any of the three later kingdoms. They come on the scene through providence. God permits them to govern the earth, and they rise according to His ordering. But their rulers were in no sense direct holders of power, as Nebuchadnezzar was. He was nearest God in this outward sense, so his responsibility was all the greater.

Such dominion as Nebuchadnezzar had was never given to Israel. Not even Solomon's kingdom was anything like the extent of empire that Nebuchadnezzar had... No Gentile has ever realised this enormous gift. The largest empire that ever submitted to the rule of one man never took in the fullness of the gift as declared to the Gentile king. Yet, as it was, it was a weight of glory and power he was unable to bear; he was, as it were, crushed under it. There is a Man coming, the Man of God's right hand, who is able and worthy to bear it.

In Daniel 2:38 we read that the birds of the heavens were likewise given into his hand. In Genesis 1:28 we learn that the fish of the sea were also to come under man. But the fish are not named as part of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. When Psalm 8 speaks of the dominion of the Son of Man, however, it takes in all of these — and its language covers much more besides.

Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold: God had made him a king of kings, and the power and splendour of the kingdom centred in himself. Little is said of his kingdom; much is said of himself... The kingdom later comes into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar's son, and then into the hand of his grandson. Yet neither of them is the head of gold, and neither has any place in the vision.

Man now gets another trial. Supreme power is put into his hand... How then will he use it? Will it be to the glory and honour of Him from whom he had received it? The result is known. Lifted up in pride of heart, he makes himself a centre. He persecutes God's people for the sake of a religious unity built on idols, apart from God... He loses his moral reason and becomes a beast!