That is followed by an uncanny dream that the king has, and this is Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that it actually vexes him, and he calls in his astrologers and what watches watches and those who were thought to be the wise men of Babylon and the king says I've had a dream and I need you wise men to tell me the dream and the meaning of the dream and he is so vexed by this dream until he says, if by tomorrow morning you are not able to tell me the dream and the meaning of the dream,
I'm gonna execute every wise man that is, that fails to do so. Now, this is what is interesting because the wise men say to the king, well, king, if you just tell us what the dream is, then we can give you the interpretation of the dream. That is very,
very important. Don't miss this, beloved. Again, he says, if you, King, tell us what the dream was, then we, as wise men, will assign an interpretation to that which you tell us. But the King is not to do so. The King says, if you are truly wise, then you should be able to tell me not only what the dream is, but the meaning of the dream as well. So he refuses to give them any details in terms of what the dream is. Now, that's the distinction, beloved. That's what I need you to see. That's what I need you to hear. That's what I need you to understand.
man, that when Daniel finally comes forward, what makes Daniel different than the wise men of Babylon is that Daniel, through consultation with God, because Daniel prays, Daniel is able to do what the other wise men are unable to do. And that is Daniel is able to tell the king what the dream was without the king revealing the details or the contents of the dream to Daniel. Let me say that again.
What distinguishes Daniel, brings Daniel to the attention of the king, what impresses the king with Daniel is that Daniel is able to tell the king not only what he dreamed, but the meaning of the dream, the combination of the knowledge of the dream and the interpretation of the dream. Now, the wise men from Babylon had said to the king, nobody but a God would be able to
to tell you what the dream is. And then on top of that, the meaning of the dream. And so they all failed in their ability to give the king what the king wanted. But Daniel, who by now has been renamed Belt Shazar, because I told you they were brought from Jerusalem and with the intent of retraining them in the culture
of the Babylonians. So Belt Shazar, whom we know as Daniel, because of his covenant with God, refused to eat from the king's table, was neither polluted nor contaminated with the sustenance from Babylon. When it came time benefits were Daniel, who only ate fruit, vegetables, and water, was able to do for the king what everybody else was unable to do. And I'm taking this time to connect these dots because we are told this story about
the fruits, vegetables, and water almost as an isolated event that has nothing to do with the rest of the story. But I want you to see how pertinent and how crucial and how pivotal it is. It is because of the Daniel fast that the spirituality and the wisdom and the presence of God so resounded with Daniel that when it came time for a test, Daniel was able to pass the test, impress the king, because Daniel had maintained his covenant with God. Those fruits, vegetables, and water was a maintenance of his covenant with God. And so God was able to reveal to Daniel what nobody else knew, which was the contents of the king's dream.
And in addition to that, give the king an interpretation of the dream that he, only the king, knew what the contents were. That's the connection between the Daniel Fast and the ability of Daniel to do what he does regarding, watch this, the first dream of Nebuchadnezzar. Now, let's look at what the dream was. The dream was a immense, gigantic statue. The head of this statue was made of gold, shoulders, upper torso made of silver, chest made of bronze, legs made of iron, but the feet were made of clay. And as you see pictured here on the screen, there is what looks like a meteorite
that is coming down from the heavens, coming down from the sky, that would collide with this statue that is pictured here in the dream. So, you have a head of gold, you have shoulders of silver, a midsection of bronze, you have all serving as a target for this meteorite or this rock that is on a collision course with this statue. Now, Daniel, again, going back to the Daniel's past, because of this keen sense of spirituality, Daniel is able to say to the king that that head of gold represents Babylon. That the silver portion represents the Medo-Persian Empire.
Watch this, that will come after the Babylonian Empire. Then you have the bronze, which will represent the Greek Empire. Then you have the brass, which will represent the empires that will come after the Greek Empire.
I'm doing this summer a special feature, a special workshop on Alexander the Great and the rise of Hellenism and its impact upon the church. But that's what is being made reference here. And then the aftermath of Alexander the Great's empire, you have the feet of clay, which represents the Roman Empire. Now, Daniel did not use this terminology, nor did he use this vocabulary. He didn't talk about Alexander the Great, he didn't talk about
the Roman Empire, but he talked about successive empires that you're standing at the head. You're the King of Kings. And from the East to the West, you are known throughout the land. And then he said, the kingdom that will come after you is silver.
The one that comes after you is bronze. One that comes after that is brass. The one that comes after that, iron. And the one that comes after that, clay. So there are five empires. Now, we have since then labeled those empires as first the Babylonian Empire, the Persian
Empire, the Greek Empire, the Seleucid, the Antiochid, and the Ptolemaic Empires, the Roman Empire. And I'll talk about the naming of those and how we got to the naming of those. But for where we are right now, it is Daniel and Daniel alone that is able to tell the king, here's what your dream was. Your dream was a mighty statue,
head of gold, silver, brass, bronze, iron, clay with a rock coming in its direction. And of course he goes on to explain that none of these empires are permanent because the rock is gonna collide with the statue and they will, all of the statue
will eventually be lost to the wind, will be blown away with the wind. will be blown away with the wind.
Transcribed with Cockatoo