Paragraph # 4 Study # 1
October 23, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: The outcomes of Daniel's ability to tell the dream and give its interpretation were wrapped up in God's personal dealings with King Nebuchadnezzar to bring him to true humility.
Introduction: In terms of the content of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there is no greater demonstration of the true omniscience and wisdom of Yahweh. But, the
purpose of the prophetic information was to lay the groundwork for the development of the humility that is required for a man to be brought into a harmonious relationship with God (
Micah 6:8). This is stated in very specific terms in
4:37 and establishes the fact that "humility" is determinative if the lives of men are to be, in any sense, "blessed".
- I. The Admission Of The King.
- A. What Daniel had said before he revealed the dream and its interpretation.
- 1. No human being can "make known...the dream...and the interpretation" (2:27).
- a. The dream was given by God in approximately 601 B.C.
- b. The dream covers, in general detail, what was to transpire from 601 B.C. to 33 A.D. and beyond even A.D. 2022.
- c. No human being could either "dream the dream" of the king, or give its interpretation and be accurate (538 B.C. and its transition into the time of the Medes and the Persians; 333 B.C. and its transition into the time of Alexander the Great's empire; and 63 B.C. and its transition into the time of Roman dominion).
- 2. But there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets and makes known to the king what will shall be in the latter days.
- a. The issue is God's identity as "a God in heaven that reveals secrets": this shows up in 2:19, 22, 28, 29, and 30.
- b. The nature of the "secrets" is all about how human history will unfold in its course.
- B. What Nebuchadnezzar did and said after Daniel revealed the dream and its interpretation.
- 1. He "worshiped" Daniel with an offering that was accompanied by "sweet odors".
- a. "Worship" is the issue in chapter 3 in that the word is used ten times in that chapter on the heels of this first reference in 2:46.
- b. It was also the issue as early as Daniel's refusal to eat the king's food and drink the king's wine in chapter one.
- c. The form of this "worship" included prostration and "typical offerings to the gods".
- d. The "problem" of this "worship" is that it did not have to be "of the heart".
- 2. He "said" that Daniel's "God" ... .
- a. Is "God of gods" (merely the Top God of many).
- b. Is "Lord of kings" (the One Who governs over kings).
- c. Is "Revealer of secrets" (which do not have to come to pass).
- C. Was not an admission that was to lead the King into the exclusivism of true worship.
- 1. There is evidence of a "general human understanding" that God is insistent upon an exclusivism in true worship: 2 Kings 5:17-19.
- 2. In the underlying thesis of Daniel, the pride that rejects "exclusivism" must be laid low if man is to be able to enter into the blessedness of harmony with God.
- II. The Exaltation of Daniel.
- A. The king made Daniel "chief" in the entire province of Babylon.
- 1. He made him "a great man".
- 2. He made him a wealthy man.
- 3. He made him an authoritative man over all others in Babylon.
- B. The king gave Daniel his request that his three companions be made "over the affairs of the province of Babylon" so Daniel could function in the gate of the king.
- C. The natural extension of this exaltation is that the captives of Judah would have little, to no, persecution while under Daniel's influence.
