'Appreciating God's Love'
Fulfillment of Dream of Image
From history, we see that the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled in great accuracies concerning the great empires ruling the middle East and also as conquerors or occupiers of the land of Israel.
With these accurate fulfillments of prophecies, Christians should be grateful to God and appreciate His love, care and concern in strengthening our faith to overcome deceptions and heresies.
At this moment, Israel is once again a nation since its annihilation by the Babylonians, but what is its immediate future as prophesied?
Gold - Babylonian Empire
Dan 2:36-37 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;"
Silver - Mede-Persian Empire
Dan 2:39a "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours;"
Bronze - Grecian Empire
Dan 2:39b "then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth."
Steel - Roman Empire
Dan 2:40 "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."
Steel and Clay - Mohammedian
Dan 2:41 "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. 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. 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."
Stone- Millennium Rule of Jesus
Dan 2:44-45 "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."
God told us that all these kingdoms would fail, and then He will finally establish the Millennium Kingdom of Jesus on earth.
B) First Beast - Babylonian Empire
Dan 7:1,3-4 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts... And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. *The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off*; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
God built up the powerful Babylonian Empire for King Nebuchadnezzar (lion) so that when Israel and Jerusalem were annihilated, the Israelites were able to find solace as captives there.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were the distinguished Jews who held high ministerial positions in Babylon. Jews were favoured over other captives for their dedication and loyalty to the king. There was no record of any persecution of Jews.
King Nebuchadnezzar's pride caused his own downfall. God chastised him by making him to be like an animal, eating grass with hairs turning into eagle's feathers. At his repentance, God healed him and restored his kingdom back to him.
Dan 4:33,36 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws... At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
Note - the first Beast like a lion in Dan 7:4, is the Babylonian Empire (head of gold)
C) The Arrogant King Belshazzar
Dan 5:18,20-21 "O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor... But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him."
When King Nebuchadnezzar stole God's glory by boasting of his own ability to create a powerful Babylonian Empire, God humbled him to crawl on four and to eat grass.
But King Belshazzar was worse for he not only was arrogant but exalted himself and his courtiers to be equal to God by using all those gold and silver vessels meant for service in the temple of God.
Dan 5:22-23 "But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified."
Belshazzar defiled holy vessels
Dan 5:26-28 "This is the interpretation of each word.
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
Because Belshazzar had defiled His holy vessels, he was killed and God then gave his kingdom to the Mede Persians
Note - don't ever defile whatever is holy including your physical body.
I Cor 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
