The Dream from God
There are all kinds of dreams. The most common is the previous evening pizza-induced dream. Then there are the bizarre dreams and weird dreams and the nightmares and visions. Sometimes you wake up wondering if you are still alive. Most of these dreams often do not mean anything to us. Often we forget a lot of these kinds of dreams. Some “dreams are said to derive from the activities in which the dreamer has been immersed during the day” See Ecclesiastic 5:3. There are however, the good dreams that are inspired by God and they do have meaning. King Nebuchadnezzar (Neb for short) had one such dream. We are familiar with the dream of Joseph (Genesis 37) where he dreamed about his brothers and parents bowing to him. It turned out to be true and God used Joseph for His purposes. Have you had a God–given dream? Who do you go to for interpretations of dreams and visions (bible refers to visions and dreams almost as being the same)?
God has given Daniel the meaning and interpretation of Neb’s dream. What was the relevance then and now?
Daniel 2:27-35 (Please read the entire chapter 2)
27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29 "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Last week, we learned that Daniel asked for and obtained God’s revelation for the king’s dream. Daniel thanked and praised God for the revelation and for acknowledging that all wisdom and power belong to God. We should not and never forget that all things come from God. We get big heads when we think that our reasoning has done the job vs.30.
2. The dream by itself is complicated and likewise it’s meaning. There is the plain meaning as Daniel told the king. But there are interpretations of what the meaning means to people of then, the past and now. The meaning seem to cut across many time periods.
3. The obvious meaning at the time of the interpretation and as of Daniel’s writing is what the golden head represents. There is not much debate about that. King Neb was told you are “the head made of pure gold”. You are a very powerful king and after you there will be less powerful kings and empires vs. 36-39. For one, king Neb understood that he is not going to be that power forever. His time will one day run out and expire. It is good to know because then he can put his house in order you would imagine.
4. Here are the summary of the other kingdoms. "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others” vs.39-40.
5. There are references in other chapters of Daniel (8:20 and 21) that help us assign and point to the other kingdoms that will come after king Neb. “The silver chest and arms represent the Medo-Persian empire established by Cyrus in 539 B.C; the bronze belly and thighs, the Greek empire established by Alexander the Great; the iron legs and feet, the Roman empire”. These identifications attributed to the dream and based on history, seem reasonable.
6. The clearest of the interpretation is the crushing that will take place to establish the fifth kingdom – an everlasting kingdom vs. 44. Its authority extends over “the whole earth” (v.35). Of course it refers to the kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ’s coming into the earth. There is no boundary for Christ’ kingdom. It is said, “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end” Isaiah 9:7. We are witnesses to this truth.
7. It seems to me that all the representations and meanings of king Neb’s dream (in chapter 2) have occurred and can be validated. It may not be the case for the other visions God gave to Daniel (chapters 7-12). Some seem to point to the end times as we will study later.
8. What do all of these mean to us? For one it sure validates the word of God as truth and that whatever God says, comes to pass. God has a track record that we can believe and rely on. It also tells us that when God gives dreams, we must ask for the interpretation and if he chooses, He can reveal the meaning to us. The revelation may not come immediately but if it is God inspired-dream He will use it for His purpose.
9. God does and still give dreams to his prophets and people. “I reveal myself to him in visions and I speak to him in dreams”. Numbers 12:6. In fact, we are in the dispensation where all God’s children can dream and have visions, see Acts 2:17. “Young men (and women) will see visions and old men (women) will dream dreams”. Let’s keep dreaming and seeing visions from God. Remember all hearing from God through dreams/visions (and interpretations) cannot contradict the written word of God in Scripture.
10. When we clearly hear and speak from God, we bring honor to God like in the case of Daniel and are promoted. The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." Vs.46-49. The World notices when we hear and speak the truth from God. Are you hearing and speaking from God? Lord help us to hear you and speak.
Dream on and have visions from God. Amen.
There are all kinds of dreams. The most common is the previous evening pizza-induced dream. Then there are the bizarre dreams and weird dreams and the nightmares and visions. Sometimes you wake up wondering if you are still alive. Most of these dreams often do not mean anything to us. Often we forget a lot of these kinds of dreams. Some “dreams are said to derive from the activities in which the dreamer has been immersed during the day” See Ecclesiastic 5:3. There are however, the good dreams that are inspired by God and they do have meaning. King Nebuchadnezzar (Neb for short) had one such dream. We are familiar with the dream of Joseph (Genesis 37) where he dreamed about his brothers and parents bowing to him. It turned out to be true and God used Joseph for His purposes. Have you had a God–given dream? Who do you go to for interpretations of dreams and visions (bible refers to visions and dreams almost as being the same)?
God has given Daniel the meaning and interpretation of Neb’s dream. What was the relevance then and now?
Daniel 2:27-35 (Please read the entire chapter 2)
27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29 "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Last week, we learned that Daniel asked for and obtained God’s revelation for the king’s dream. Daniel thanked and praised God for the revelation and for acknowledging that all wisdom and power belong to God. We should not and never forget that all things come from God. We get big heads when we think that our reasoning has done the job vs.30.
2. The dream by itself is complicated and likewise it’s meaning. There is the plain meaning as Daniel told the king. But there are interpretations of what the meaning means to people of then, the past and now. The meaning seem to cut across many time periods.
3. The obvious meaning at the time of the interpretation and as of Daniel’s writing is what the golden head represents. There is not much debate about that. King Neb was told you are “the head made of pure gold”. You are a very powerful king and after you there will be less powerful kings and empires vs. 36-39. For one, king Neb understood that he is not going to be that power forever. His time will one day run out and expire. It is good to know because then he can put his house in order you would imagine.
4. Here are the summary of the other kingdoms. "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others” vs.39-40.
5. There are references in other chapters of Daniel (8:20 and 21) that help us assign and point to the other kingdoms that will come after king Neb. “The silver chest and arms represent the Medo-Persian empire established by Cyrus in 539 B.C; the bronze belly and thighs, the Greek empire established by Alexander the Great; the iron legs and feet, the Roman empire”. These identifications attributed to the dream and based on history, seem reasonable.
6. The clearest of the interpretation is the crushing that will take place to establish the fifth kingdom – an everlasting kingdom vs. 44. Its authority extends over “the whole earth” (v.35). Of course it refers to the kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ’s coming into the earth. There is no boundary for Christ’ kingdom. It is said, “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end” Isaiah 9:7. We are witnesses to this truth.
7. It seems to me that all the representations and meanings of king Neb’s dream (in chapter 2) have occurred and can be validated. It may not be the case for the other visions God gave to Daniel (chapters 7-12). Some seem to point to the end times as we will study later.
8. What do all of these mean to us? For one it sure validates the word of God as truth and that whatever God says, comes to pass. God has a track record that we can believe and rely on. It also tells us that when God gives dreams, we must ask for the interpretation and if he chooses, He can reveal the meaning to us. The revelation may not come immediately but if it is God inspired-dream He will use it for His purpose.
9. God does and still give dreams to his prophets and people. “I reveal myself to him in visions and I speak to him in dreams”. Numbers 12:6. In fact, we are in the dispensation where all God’s children can dream and have visions, see Acts 2:17. “Young men (and women) will see visions and old men (women) will dream dreams”. Let’s keep dreaming and seeing visions from God. Remember all hearing from God through dreams/visions (and interpretations) cannot contradict the written word of God in Scripture.
10. When we clearly hear and speak from God, we bring honor to God like in the case of Daniel and are promoted. The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." Vs.46-49. The World notices when we hear and speak the truth from God. Are you hearing and speaking from God? Lord help us to hear you and speak.
Dream on and have visions from God. Amen.
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