Introduction: God provides for us here in our passage of Scripture, an outline of what He would do from the 6^th Century B.C., when Daniel lived and wrote, until the coming of the Messiah's kingdom in the Millennium (CET). If we grasp the basic truth of this prophecy in Daniel 2, we have the key to God's entire prophetic program. Someone has said that this is the ABC of prophecy and the book of Revelation is the XYZ of prophecy. This is why it is important that believers start with the ABC's before they study the XYZ's (ED).

God provided Daniel and the nation of Israel with an outline of their history during the Babylonian captivity in order to give them hope that God would work out His plan for them in the future (CET). And the same is true for Christians today. God's prophetic word gives us hope because as we see it coming to pass, it builds our faith and hope in the Lord's return for us. Prophecy does something else, God reveals himself to the lost also - just as He did with Nebuchadnezzar in our passage. Last week, we saw that all the wisdom and methods of man fell short when it came to revealing and interpreting the dream of the king. Tonight we will see that when the gods of this world reveal what they can't do, then the true and living God of heaven often reveals what He can do.

Transition: The first thing that God revealed to Nebuchadnezzar was. . .

I. He's A Revealing God (vv.24-30).
1. Daniel intercedes (vv.24-25).

- 24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation."  25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation."

A. Daniel's prayer was answered, and now it was time for him to intercede for those who were being put to death.

B. Note that Arioch tried to take the credit, but Daniel sought to give it to the Lord and take none for himself.

2. Daniel gives credit to the God who can reveal dreams (vv.26-30).

A. The dream is given and revealed by God, and not by the means of mere men (vv.26-28a).

- 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?"  27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.  28a "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. . .

B. The dream is prophetic in content (v.28b).

- 28b . . .and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:

C. The dream is not based upon man's wisdom (vv.29-30)

- 29 "As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.  30 "But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

Transition: The next thing that God revealed to Nebuchadnezzar was. . .

II. He's A God Sovereign God (vv.31-45).
1. The dream described (vv.31-35).

A. The image described (vv.31-33).

- 31 "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.  32 "This image's head was of fine 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 clay.

B. The destruction of the image described (v.34-35).

- 34 "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.  35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

2. The interpretation given (vv.36-45).

A. The kingdoms of earth (vv.36-43).

1) The head of gold: Babylonian Empire (vv.36-38).

- 36 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.  37 "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;  38 "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all -- you are this head of gold.

(A) Nebuchadnezzar, head of the Babylonian Empire, was represented by the head of gold (BKC).

- His father had come to power in Babylon by military conquest, but Nebuchadnezzar received his dominion and power and might and glory from God.

(B) Nebuchadnezzar's rule was viewed as a worldwide empire, in which he ruled over all mankind as well as over beasts and birds (BKC).

2) The arms and chest of silver: Medo-Persian Empire (v.39a; 5:28; 6:8; 8:20).

- 39a "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours;

(A) This represented the rise of the Medes and Persians, who conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C. (BKC)

(B) The arms of silver evidently represent the two nations of Media and Persia that together defeated Babylon (BKC).

- Though that kingdom lasted over 200 years (539-330 B.C.),longer than the Neo-Babylonian Empire of 87 years (626-539), the Medo-Persian Empire was inferior to it, as silver compared with gold.

3) The belly and thighs of bronze: Greek Empire (v.39b; 8:21).

- 39b  then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

(A) Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persians between 334 and 330 B.C. And assumed authority over its peoples and territory (BKC).

(B) By Alexander's conquests he extended the Greek Empire as far east as the northwestern portion of India--an extensive empire that seemingly was over the whole earth (BKC).

4) The legs of iron: Roman Empire (v.40).

- 40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

(A) This fourth kingdom conquered the Greek Empire in 63 B.C. (BKC)

(B) This empire was characterized by its strength, as iron is stronger than bronze, silver, and gold (BKC).

(1) The Roman Empire was stronger than any of the previous empires.

(2) It crushed all the empires that had preceded it.

(3) Rome in its cruel conquest swallowed up the lands and peoples that had been parts of the three previous empires and assimilated those lands and peoples into itself.

5) The feet of part iron and part clay: Divided & Revived Roman Empire (vv.41-43).

- 41 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.  42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.  43 "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

(A) The empire that began as iron regressed to a state of clay mixed with iron (BKC).

(1) This mixture speaks of progressive weakness and deterioration.

(2) The Roman Empire was characterized by division (it was a divided kingdom) and deterioration (it was partly strong and partly brittle).

- Though Rome succeeded in conquering the territories that came under its influence, it never could unite the peoples to form a united empire.

- In that sense the people were a mixture and were not united.

(3) So the final stage of the first Roman Empire would be characterized by division (MHG).

(B) The feet of iron and baked clay also depicts the Revived Roman Empire, the toes representing ten kingdoms (BBC).

(1) There is a time gap between verse 41 and 42, with verse 42 describing events to take place during the end times when the Roman Empire will be revived (DBG).

- The Roman Empire never consisted of a ten nation confederation in past history, so one is forced to conclude that this final stage of Rome's existence must take place in the future (MHG).

(2) The conditions within the revived Roman Empire will be similar to the closing days of the original empire (DBG).

- This empire will be partly strong, partly weak.

- Although there will be attempts to unify the empire, as iron and clay cannot be mixed, so these efforts will fail.

- The Antichrist's kingdom will have internal weaknesses.

(3) The Roman Empire is the last, and it will be in existence in the latter days (McGee).

- Actually, it exists today.

- All of these other empires were destroyed by an enemy from the outside, but no enemy destroyed Rome, it fell apart from within--no enemy destroyed it.

- Rome is living in the great nations of Europe today: Italy, France, Great Britain, Germany, and Spain are all part of the old Roman Empire.

- The laws of Rome live on, and her language also (no one speaks Latin today, but it is basic to understanding French, Spanish, and other languages).

- Her warlike spirit lives on also: Europe has been at war ever since the empire broke up into these kingdoms.

- There is even talk today in Europe, of an United States of Europe.

Transition: Daniel also tells the king about. . .
 

B. The kingdom from heaven (vv.44-45).

- 44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.  45 "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold -- the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."

1) The revived Roman Empire will be destroyed by the stone cut out of the mountain with hands - the Lord Jesus Christ, at his 2^nd Coming.

A) The Stone is one of many figures of speech in Scripture which speak of Christ in His office as both Savior and Judge (McGee).

(1) He is the Rock of salvation (Deut. 32:15).

(2) He is the Rock of judgment (Deut. 32:4).

B) These verses in Daniel speak of the time when He is coming to the earth as Judge to put down earth's rebellion against God (McGee).

(1) The reference here is to the second coming of Christ to the earth, which is depicted for us in detail in Revelation 19:11-21.

(2) His coming is mentioned again and again in Scripture (Zech. 14:1-3; Joel 3:2, 9-16; Isa. 34:1-8; Ps. 2).

2) When Jesus Christ returns to earth, He will establish His kingdom on earth.

But when Christ returns the second time it will be for judgment and to rule and reign with a rod of iron; Revelation 1:7, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."  Revelation 2:27, "He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' -- as I also have received from My Father."

Transition: The last thing that God revealed to Nebuchadnezzar here, was. . .

III. He's A Worshipful God (vv.46-49).
1. Nebuchadnezzar's prostration and praise (vv.46-47).

- 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. 47 The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret."

A. Nebuchadnezzar bowed down in respect to the Jewish captive's God (DBG).

- This response shows that the king fully accepted the interpretation and appreciation of Daniel, who gave it.

B. In keeping with Nebuchadnezzar's pagan background, the king was giving respect and reverence to Daniel, acknowledging that Daniel was the messenger of the eternal God, the revealer of secrets (ED).

1) One should not conclude from Nebuchadnezzar's confession that he had been converted (NIBC).

2) Since the Lord had enabled Daniel to interpret the king's dream, Nebuchadnezzar was willing to admit that Daniel's God was supreme, at least in matters of divine knowledge (NIBC).

2. Nebuchadnezzar's blessings on God's servants (vv.48-49).

- 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

A. Nebuchadnezzar kept his promise (v.2), and rewards Daniel.

1) He gave him great gifts.

2) He gave him great power.

A) He made Daniel ruler of the province of Babylon (the empire was divided into provinces).

B) He made Daniel his chief adviser.

- Daniel had become the most influential man in the king's administration.

B. Daniel didn't forget his friends.
- The three other Jewish youths were made deputies or assistants (BBC).

Invitation:
1. We can find comfort in the fact that we serve a God who is Sovereign over kings, kingdoms, and even time itself.

- God has a master plan and we can rest assure that He will see it through until the end.

A. He intervened to save the lives of others, and by doing so put his own life on the line.

B. He looked after his fellow believers.

C. He did everything to give God the glory, and not to draw attention to himself.

A. Now is the time that we should be witnessing to people - they are running out of time.

B. We have a responsibility to share the gospel, because we do have an understanding of what awaits this world.

BBC - Believer's Bible Commentary, William MacDonald
BKC - John Walvoord & Roy Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Old Testament ed).
CET - Charting The End Times, Tim LaHaye & Thomas Ice, Harvest House Publishers.
DBG - Daniel A Man Beloved Of God, Arthur B. Walton, Regular Baptist Press
ED - Exploring The Book Of Daniel, John Phillips & Jerry Vines, Loizeaux Brothers.
MHG - The Most High God, by Dr. Renald Showers, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
McGee - Daniel, J. Vernon McGee.