Daniel: Being a stand up person in a bow down world (week 4)

This week we begin to look more closely at the content and interpretation of the dream that strikes fear into King Nebuchadnezzar. As we venture into the world of prophecy it is interesting to note that many scholars date the book of Daniel as later for the pure fact that his prophecy was so accurate and because despite the evidence to the contrary their worldview cannot entertain the possibility that there is a God who wants to communicate with humanity. As Christians, we believe in such a God and in fact one of the most compelling evidences for the credibility of Christianity is indeed the fulfilment of prophecy that we find in scripture.

Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a frightening statue in the form of a human whose parts are made from different materials.  It’s head is gold,  its chest and arms silver, its middle and thighs bronze and its legs and feet made up of a composite of iron + clay.  The four distinct parts of the statue represent four successive empires which Daniel will go on to explain.  Special focus within the dream is given to the first (golden head) and the last of the empires (feet of iron and clay).  We know from Daniels interpretation that the golden head is Babylon; the  rich and glorious empire established under Nebuchadnezzar and history testifies to the succession of empires that each of the other parts represent. Babylon ruled for 70 years followed by the Medo-Persian Empire  (200 years), then the Greek empire (130 years) and finally the Roman Empire. What Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t quite truly get yet is that he would not be succeeded but rather superseded.  The glorious and powerful Babylon will inevitably be overtaken.  His power will not last. Although he may think of himself as a god the simple fact is that he is not.  And indeed the overriding theme of the entire statue itself is that man-made governments and systems of power are essentially all vulnerable, unstable and temporal.  Every system of government is flawed because every human being is flawed.

And then comes the stone.  A stone that is neither a part of the statue nor cut by human hands. It comes from elsewhere.  The stone strikes at the feet of the statue (Roman Empire) and the entire statue is broken into minute pieces and swept away as though it had never existed.  But the stone grows to become an all-consuming mountain that covers the whole earth. Daniel explains to Nebuchadnezzar that this stone represents God and His Kingdom.  As those on the other side of Christ we can see very clearly who the stone is.  Peter refers to Jesus as “living stone” in 1 Peter 2:4-8, rejected by men but chosen by God.  The stone that “causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”. In Luke 20:9-18 Jesus himself tells the parable of the owner of a vineyard whose son is killed by the tenants of the vineyard. The owner will then have those tenants killed and give the vineyard others.  After sharing this parable Jesus then says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”  (v17-18)  Jesus is illustrating a point to the teachers of the law and chief priests; that those who try to exert power and control over others by making themselves gods will inevitably meet their destruction.   It is the same point that God in his grace was trying to communicate to Nebuchadnezzar.   Flawed humanity’s only hope for the world cannot be found in man’s power but in God’s supernatural power. In Christ “the living stone”.

>N.B There is a lot more that can be written about the dream and it’s interpretation and we would urge anyone interested to have a look at John Lennox book “Against the Flow” or The Bible Speaks Today “The message of Daniel.”