Gideon |
Chapter 59 |
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AND THE INTERPRETATION THEREOF 04-28-13 (Dan 2:26-30) The king [Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king of Babylon, located in current Iraq] answered and said to Daniel, whose [Chaldean] name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream [a kind of tongue (Gk: language) needing an interpretation (1 Cor 12:10)] which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king [why not? because they have not the Spirit of God within them]; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets [i.e., revelations, through His Holy Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:27)], and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter [i.e., from that present time to this present time (an unfolding prophetic/historical message)]: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes [(other peoples)] that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. THE DREAM (tongue) (Dan 2:31-34) Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image [a statue of a man]. This great image, whose brightness [clarity] was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible [Chald.: (by impl.) to fear, or be formidable:--make afraid, dreadful, fear, terrible] [perhaps, rather like looking upon (up to) Goliath]. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till [until] that a stone was cut out without hands [here, truly we can say, “God did it”], which smote the image upon his feet [upon his idolatrous walk, i.e., in the latter days after the statue’s formation] that were of iron and clay [the clay represents both professing and confessing – pseudo believers and true believers (Christians in modern terminology)], and brake them to pieces. 1. Commentary: the metals represent people. Please note that for human anthropomorphic applications (derived from a statue of a man), the metals gold, silver, brass, and iron progressively decrease in value (from rich to poor, from happiness to depression), while at the same time, they progressively increase in hardness (from soft and malleable to rigid and callous); all this is accomplished through the mounting amassing pressure of human power and control. The more weight that is accumulated by human persuasion, the more compressed, the more compacted, the harder becomes the metal. a. anthropomorphic = Dict: ascribing human form or attributes to beings and things not human. b. malleable = Dict: 1. capable of being extended or shaped by hammering [like fashioning a molten sword] or by pressure with rollers. 2. adaptable or tractable. Latin: beat with a hammer. c. (Jer 23:29) Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 2. Commentary: “Thou sawest till” = identifies a passage of time until, contextually relating to the interval or gap existant between the ending of Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. “Thou sawest till a stone (Jesus Christ) was cut out (formed) without hands.” The latter “without hands” indicates supernatural godly activity, and thus becomes a comparative but opposing contrast to the previous man-made statue which itself stands as a representation and summation of all of man’s efforts. This “great image” presentation entirely communicates a grand momentous event having much in common with the tower of Babel. 3. Commentary: “feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces” = iron is rigid and callous whereas clay (representing both professing and confessing Christians) is soft (much softer and more precious than gold, e.g., love) and extremely malleable. In order to “brake them (both the iron and the clay) to pieces” the clay must first be firmed-up, hardened, and made brittle, which may best be described as clay resulting in a “baked” state (thus pointing to professing pseudo Christians). a. (Deu 4:24) For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. [Heb 12:29] b. (1 Tim 4:1,2) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing [Gk: deceiving] spirits, and doctrines [Gk: the teaching] of devils [syn: fallen angels, unclean spirits, demons]; Speaking lies in hypocrisy [Gk: acting under a feigned part, (fig.) deceit]; having their conscience [Gk: co-perception, i.e. moral consciousness] seared [Gk: to brand ("cauterize"), i.e. (by impl.) to render unsensitive /// consumed] with a hot iron; (Dan 2:35,36) Then [referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ] was the iron, the [baked] clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind [symbol of the Holy Spirit] carried them away, that no place was found for them [i.e., the judgment of the Stone]: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain [connoting power, and strength, and glory], and filled the whole earth [a “kingdom” concept]. This is the dream [tongue]; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 1. (Isa 11:9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. [Hab 2:14]
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM (tongue) (Dan 2:37-40) Thou, O king, art a king of kings [a carnal typification of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 6:15; Rev 17:14; 19:16)]: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven [on earth] hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold [605 B.C. the Babylonian empire]. And after thee shall arise another kingdom [represented by silver] inferior to thee [539 B.C. the Medo-Persian empire; having been given less “kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” from “the God of heaven”], and another third kingdom of brass [330 B.C. the Greek empire; having been given even less “kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” from “the God of heaven”], which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron [67 B.C. the Roman empire; having been given even less “kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” from “the God of heaven”]: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth [Chald.: to weaken, i.e. crush] all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 1. Commentary: historically, the “kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” of God, received from God, decreases as the kingdom, power, and strength, and glory of man, effected by human persuasion, increases - thus man replaces God with himself. Please also clearly note that as the godly “kingdom” decreases, the man-made kingdom increases, aspiring to end in a “one-world government,” and it shall. Then, after the statue is finally completed, the “stone” will suddenly appear. Hallelujah! 2. (Gen 3:15) And I will put enmity [Heb: hostility: hatred] between thee [the serpent/Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed [unsaved peoples] and her seed [saved peoples]; it shall bruise thy head [(false) doctrines, thoughts, fallen angels], and thou shalt bruise his heel [the heel of Christ]. 3. Commentary: “bruise his heel” = the heel of Christ, bruise the people of Christ. The heel is part of the feet of the statue, symbolizing a part of his (our) walk; we shall be “bruised” (syn: crippled, maimed, injured, lamed, disabled, impaired) in our walk, but never destroyed, for we are the children of God.
THE PROPHECY OF THE VERY LAST DAYS(Dan 2:41-43) And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes [the first mention of toes, the very last part of the body], part of potters' clay [potters’ clay (us) is softened clay, made malleable (forgiven and made loving), by the reception of water (the Holy Spirit) by grace], and part of iron [hard, rigid and inflexible (no grace), allowing one to remain unforgiven thus unloving], the kingdom [of heaven on earth] shall be divided [between saved and unsaved peoples]; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry [Chald.: to be sticky] clay. And as the toes of the feet [the peoples of the last days] were [judged] part of iron [impermeable, unreceptive, unyielding to water], and part of clay [permeable, receptive, yielding to water], so the kingdom shall be partly strong [in the carnal sense], and partly broken [in the spiritual sense]. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed [Chald.: mingled] with miry clay, they [the fallen angels (Gen 6:1-4) who are the actual culprits (syn: criminals, guilty partys, perpetrators, wrongdoers)] shall mingle [Chald.: mix] themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave [Chald.: to stick to][as they did in Gen 6:1-4, and were forbidden to do so thereafter (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 1:6)] one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 1. Commentary: “miry clay” = another kind of clay that is not baked hard and impenetrable, but has received the addition of water (the Holy Spirit) to make it sticky, i.e., that others might adhere to it.
(Dan 2:44,45) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume [John 12:48 “logos”] all these [man-made] kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands [Jesus Christ], and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the [baked] clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God [versus “the great image” Dan 2:31] hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
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