Christian
Churches of God
No. F027ii
Commentary on Daniel
Chapter 2
(Edition 1.0 20200927-20200927)
The prophecy of Daniel 2 deals with the emergence of
the new world kingdoms commencing with the Babylonian head of gold under
Nebuchadnezzar. The background to the later empires was emerging from behind
the scenes.
Christian
Churches of God
E-mail: secretary@ccg.org
(Copyright ã 2020 Wade Cox)
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Commentary on
Daniel Chapter 2
Introduction
All power is from
God. The flow of power is shown in Daniel chapters 2 and 3. We see from the
dream of Daniel 2 that the intervention of God is at the end of the period of
the powers that flowed from the head of gold on through to the feet of iron and
clay and the empire of the ten toes. God changes times and seasons. He removes
kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to those
that know or have understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things. He
knows what is in the darkness (or what is hidden) and the light dwells with Him
(Dan. 2:21-22,28).
The interpretation
of the empire of the world systems was made known to the king through Daniel for the latter days (Dan. 2:28). The
understanding of the vision was not given to Daniel for any wisdom he possessed
or for any then living. It was given for those who would interpret the vision
to the king of that system in the future. Note the peculiar wording of Daniel
2:30.
Daniel 2:30 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 that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. (KJV)
Thus the vision
was given to understand the times until the end. This is the period we refer to
as the Time of the Gentiles or the “time of the nations”. The last period
of the fourth kingdom of iron extended over a long time until the end and the
intervention of God. The last phase of this period saw a union of ten kings
represented by the iron and clay of the feet and ten toes.
Daniel 2:40-45
This dream is
integral to the Plan of God and will not fail. The time-frame was established
through Nebuchadnezzar, and his reign was used to commence the sequence. He was
the head of gold (Dan. 2:38). He was followed by the Medes and Persians
represented by silver. The Greeks followed, and were the torso of brass and who
conquered the earth into Asia and then divided it. The Romans superseded this
Hellenic kingdom as the empire of iron. This system was altered from the
military dictatorship into a religious empire and this empire of iron and clay
continued until the Last Days. The Holy Roman Empire formed in 590 CE under
Gregory I was disbanded in 1850 after 1,260 years from its inception. This
period was neither the beginning nor end of the system. The system began with
the rise of Nebuchadnezzar at the battle of Carchemish (605 BCE) and was eighty
years in the establishment until the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses in 525 BCE.
This period and the significance are found in the paper The Fall of Egypt: The
Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No.
036).
The servants of
God are not to worship this system. This is the meaning of Daniel 2:1-7. The
nations that do this accuse the elect who will not worship the image of the Beast.
(cf. also God and the Church (No.
151))
Daniel shows that
omniscience is not relative to position or proximity. The knowledge of the last
days was known from the beginning and declared by God (Dan. 2:20-28). God
reveals it by stages through the prophets and the elect who are called
according to predestination and His wisdom. God also revealed the removal under
Nebuchadnezzar through the prophet Jeremiah. When he was not acting as God’s
instrument he was referred to as Nebuchadrezzar.
The sequence of the seven stages is listed in the Introduction above as
follows:
Chapter 2 provides the outline of the empires that cover the sequence of:
1. The Babylonians (gold)
2. The Medo-Persians (silver)
3. The Greeks and their divisions over Asia.
Greece and Egypt (bronze)
4. The Roman Empire and its two divisions
(iron)
5. The Holy Roman Empire (iron and miry clay)
6. The Empire of the Beast of the Ten Toes (iron
and miry clay)
7.
The
Messianic Restoration under Messiah as the stone uncut by human hands of
chapter 2:44-45.
Metals
of the Idol
The metals descend in quality from gold to silver, bronze and iron and
then to iron mixed with miry clay over the two empires of the final sequence.
The empire of the Babylonians was based on the unfettered power of the
Babylonians enforcing their system of the sun and mystery cults based on the
systems of Baal and Ashtoreth or Ishtar, hence Easter and the festival of the
goddess and also the festival of the birth of the sun god at the winter
solstice. These aspects were forbidden by the Scriptures (Jer. 10:1-9) as was
the baking of cakes to Tammuz or Dumuzi. The Medes and Persians were
represented by the torso of silver which was inferior to the Babylonians and
which was used by God to restore the Temple system under Cyrus down to the
order of Darius II the Persian and the provisioning decree of Artaxerxes II
with Ezra and Nehemiah as governor (this aspect is explained in the paper Sign of Jonah and the
History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013). We will explain
more in chapter 9 below.
The bronze of the Greeks represented the increased power of the European
systems. Although they were inferior in
their religious systems they became more efficient militarily.
The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire which took power from the
battle of Actium (2 September 31 BCE). Herod the Idumean supported Octavian and
was then granted the Kingdom of Judea that set the scene for the birth of
Christ (cf. Christ’s Age at Baptism
and the Duration of His Ministry (No. 019)).
It was from this transfer that the Roman system established the wholesale
system of the Triune God and corrupted the rise of the Church from 20-30 CE
under the Messiah. The Holy Spirit (No. 117)
was given to man at the death of Messiah at Passover as foretold by Isaiah and
the Feast of Pentecost that year.
In 192 CE at Rome under bishop Victor the Easter festival was imposed on
the Christians and Rome and forced the division of the Quarto-Deciman
Disputes (No. 277) on the Church.
The Roman Empire was destroyed from 390 CE to the isolation of the Dark
Ice Age. In 451 CE the theology of the
Triune God was established in Christianity and in 475 the Christmas festival of
the Sun God was established in Christianity (cf. Origins of
Christmas and Easter (No. 235)).
The divisions in the empire based on Rome led to divisions in the tribes
and the church. From 327 CE these divisions led to the Unitarian/Trintarian
Wars (No. 268).
Out of the ensuing chaos the Church at Rome finally established the feet
of iron and miry clay as the Holy Roman Empire under Gregory I in 590 CE. This
empire was to last until 1850 and the plebiscite at Rome in the Papal States
when it was disbanded and finally in 1872.
The iron represented the two divisions based on the power of the empire
but with the weakness of the nations and the religious diversity caused by
their Trinitarianism and the views of the Sun and Mystery Cults. From the
Twentieth Century the 2,520 years from the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE
reached fruition in 1916 and the time of Jacob’s Trouble commenced. In 1917 we
saw the prophecies of Haggai and Habakkuk of the Twelve Prophets
(No. 021) saw the restoration of Israel under those prophecies.
The two forty year periods of 80 years duplicated from the prophecies in
Ezekiel re the Fall of Egypt (No. 036)
saw the independence of Egypt in 1953-6 with the Suez crisis in 1956 (cf. also The Fall of Egypt Part II:
The Wars of the End (No. 036_2)); and then the end of the time of the
Gentiles occurred in 1996, 2,520 years from Cambyses’ occupation of Egypt in
525 BCE. The time frame of the 2300 evenings and mornings is dealt with below
which covers the time from the 2300 years from the Battle of the Granicus to
the restoration of Jerusalem as one city to the nation of Israel in the Six-day
War of 1967 (see below). Thirty years later in 1997 we saw the final period of
the rule of the Babylonian system commence and the empire of the Beast in the
NWO begin to emerge for the final phase to end of the Empire of the Beast and
the prophecies of Daniel (cf. The Last Thirty years: The
Final Struggle (No. 219)).
The Holocaust was to last 1260 Days from 1941-1945. Eighty years from that great tribulation and
trial of God’s people the church was to see the final Holocaust and tribulation
in the last days from 2021 to 2024. That will see the end of the wars of the end
and the destruction of the Beast system of Revelation Chapter 18.
The sequence of the six empires lasts until the last days and it is destroyed
at the Advent of the Messiah with the Loyal Host on the morning of the fourth
day after the death of the Witnesses as foretold in Revelation Chapter 11. From
that time all false religion will be eliminated and the laws of God will be
established under the millennial reign of Christ for the thousand years of the
Seventh Millennium as we see in Revelation Chapter 20.
Daniel was raised up to explain this dream to the king so that all
understood its significance. Those who do not understand the power and
omniscience of God and the function of prophecy denigrate the authenticity and
importance of this prophetic work. Note that this refers to the latter days and
in fact covered over 2550 years from Cambyses invasion of Egypt in 525 BCE.
Note the time frame of the vision is from the second year of
Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned conjointly with his father from the Battle of
Carchemish and then on his own in 604 BCE.
Daniel Chapter
2
1And in the second year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was
troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2Then the king commanded to
call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans,
for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3And
the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to
know the dream. 4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O
king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the
interpretation. 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The
thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the
interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be
made a dunghill. 6But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation
thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore
shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7They answered
again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the
interpretation of it. 8The king answered and said, I know of
certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from
me. 9But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but
one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak
before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall
know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10The Chaldeans
answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can
shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked
such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11And it is
a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it
before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12For
this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all
the wise men of Babylon. 13And the decree went forth that the wise
men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 14Then
Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's
guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15He answered
and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the
king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16Then Daniel went
in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew
the king the interpretation. 17Then Daniel went to his house, and
made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18That
they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that
Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then
Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said,
Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21And
he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings:
he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22He
revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and
the light dwelleth with him. 23I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou
God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto
me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's
matter. 24Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had
ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him;
Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will
shew unto the king the interpretation. 25Then Arioch brought in
Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of
the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26The
king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to
make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27Daniel 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, shew unto the king; 28But there is a God
in heaven that revealeth secrets, 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; 29As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into
thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that
revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30But
as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more
than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation
to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.31Thou,
O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32This
image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and
his thighs of brass, 33His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and
part of clay. 34Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and
brake them to pieces. 35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of
the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth. 36This is the dream; and we will tell the
interpretation thereof before the king. 37Thou, O king, art a king
of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength,
and glory. 38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts
of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and
hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.39And
after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.40And the
fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces
and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in
pieces and bruise. 41And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part
of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there
shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were part of
iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
broken. 43And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they
shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44And 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 all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45Forasmuch
as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and
that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the
gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter:
and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 46Then
the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and
commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47The
king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God
of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest
reveal this secret. 48Then the king made Daniel a great man, and
gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.49Then
Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over
the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
(KJV)
Bullinger’s
Notes on Chapter 2
Verse
1
And.
Thus linking on this chapter of momentous prophecy with Dan 1, which is pure
history.
the second year:… Therefore Jehoiakim"s fifth year,
the year of the burning of the roll which marked the official rejection of
Jehovah. Hence Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel was in Babylon, and writes from
that standpoint. The supposed difficulty is a proof of genuineness; for the
writer would have been a fool as well as a forger to have left it unexplained.
Nebuchadnezzar. See note on Daniel 1:1.
spirit.
Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
Verse
2
to call, &c. = to send for. This tells us of the
religious system of Babylonia, of which subsequent Jewish commentators and
Greek translators would know little or nothing. There were six classes of the
Chaldean priesthood.
magicians. Hebrew. chartummim. Connected with the kharutu
(the sceptre) or rod of office of those who repelled demons and evil spirits by
incantations, &c.
astrologers. Hebrew. "ashshaphim = in Babylonian,
asipi, prophets who assumed to announce the will of heaven and predict the
future. These were a class apart from the others. The inscriptions speak of bab
- 4ssaput = the gate of the oracle; also of bit Assaput = the
house of the oracle.
Chaldeans. Hebrew. Kasdim. See note on Daniel 1:4.
Verse
4
in Syriack. Hebrew. "aramith = Aramaic. The insertion
of this word here is to call our attention to the fact that what follows is
written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, as far as the end of Dan 7. See note on
the Structure, p. 1178; and note the other Aramaic portions (Ezra 4:8, Ezra 6:18 with Ezra 7:12-26; also Jeremiah 10:11. The Syriac and
Chaldee are properly Western and Eastern Aramaic.
O king.
This is the first Aramaic word so written. Compare Daniel 3:9; Daniel 5:10; Daniel 6:6, Daniel 6:21. Nehemiah 2:3.
Verse
5
cut . . . made a dunghill. Compare Daniel 3:29. Ezra 6:11. A further mode
of punishment, from the Medo-Persians, in Daniel 6:7.
Verse
6
rewards. Chaldee. nebizbah = a present.
Verse
8
gain the time = gain time. It may have reference to
that day being an unlucky day. Compare Esther 3:7.
Verse
10
earth.
Chaldee. beshta" = dry ground.
Verse
11
not.
Is emphatic. They held that there were gods who dwelt in men. But these were
beyond mortal men altogether .
Verse
12
wise men: i.e. the members of all the classes collectively,
mentioned in Daniel 2:2 above. Chaldee.
chakam, denoting acquired wisdom.
counsel and wisdom = prudence and discretion.
Arioch.
An ancient Babylonian name, preserved and handed down from Genesis 14:1 = Iri-Aku.
Belteshazzar. See note on Daniel 1:7.
in the latter days. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 49:1. Numbers 24:14. Deuteronomy 4:30; Deuteronomy 32:29). App-92.
head.
Note the five parts: (1) the head; (2) the breast and arms; (3) the belly and
the thighs; (4) the legs; (5) the feet. These five are preserved distinct
throughout. Compare: Daniel 2:34-35, and Daniel 2:38-44, and Daniel 2:45.
gold . . . clay (Daniel 2:33). Note that the
most precious metal, and the highest specific gravity was at the top,
decreasing with its descent: (1) gold = Daniel 19:3; (2) silver = Daniel 10:51; (3) brass = Daniel 8:5; (4) iron = Daniel 7:6; (5) clay = Daniel 1:9, so that it was
top-heavy from the first.
a stone. See note on Psalms 118:22.
without hands. An expression always emphasizing the
absence of all human instrumentality and the act of God alone. See Daniel 2:45; Daniel 8:25. Job 34:20. Lamentations 4:6. Compare Acts 7:48; Acts 17:24, Acts 17:25; Acts 19:26. 2 Corinthians 5:1. Ephesians 2:11. Colossians 2:11. Hebrews 9:11, Hebrews 9:21.
feet:
i.e. the fifth kingdom. Not the fourth, which was represented by the "legs of iron".
brake them to pieces: or, they were beaten small.
brake
= beat small. Chaldee. dekak. Compare
verses: Daniel
2:34, Daniel
2:35, Daniel
2:40, Daniel 7:7, Daniel
2:44, Daniel
2:45.
iron, the clay, &c. Note the order differently given to
distinguish the five (not the four), answering to the five parts of the image
in Daniel 2:32, and the five
kingdoms, verses:
Daniel 2:32, Daniel 2:33. Daniel 2:35. Daniel 2:45.
gold,
iron, iron,
silver, clay, brass,
brass, brass, clay,
iron, silver, silver,
iron and clay, gold, gold.
together. As united at the time of the end (forming the sixth
power), the kingdom of the "Beast"
(Rev 13).
wind.
Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
filled the whole earth. Thus marking the seventh
kingdom, that of Messiah.
a kingdom. The O.T. is not designed to be a compendium of "ancient history". It is the history
of Jehovah"s People, Israel; and other nations are referred to only as,
and in so far as, they come into connection with Israel. Babylon was the most
ancient of kingdoms (Genesis 10:10). Compare Deuteronomy 32:8. Nebuchadnezzar
was not the first king; but he was the "head" or beginning of Gentile
dominion in the earth when Israel had been "removed" (according to Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 29:18). These
successive kingdoms are reckoned only as they obtained possession of Jerusalem.
They existed before that; and each, in turn, was absorbed in the one that
succeeded.
Thou.
Nebuchadnezzar.
head:
i.e. the first of these five kingdoms, not the first king of Babylon. See note
on Daniel 2:37.
of.
Genitive of Material. App-17.
another. The kingdom of Medo-Persia, which succeeded
Babylon by occupying Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22).
inferior. As silver is inferior to gold, in value and in
specific gravity (see note on Daniel 2:32) so the second
kingdom was inferior to the first. The successive kingdoms are marked by
evolution (or rather, devolution). In the first (Babylon) the king possessed
absolute power ("whom he would he
slew", &c, Daniel 5:19); the second
[Medo-Persian] was a government by law which was superior to the king (Daniel 6:1, Daniel 6:14, &c).
third kingdom. This again was "inferior", as being less despotic.
the fourth: i.e. Rome (Luke 2 and Luke 3). Observe that it does
not say there were "four, and no more",
as alleged; but "the fourth". An ordinal number, not cardinal.
The Chaldee is rebi aya" (text), or rebi a"ah (margin)
= fourth, as in Daniel 3:25; Daniel 7:7, Daniel 7:19, Daniel 7:23. Not "arba",
which = four. The fifth is revealed in verses: Daniel 2:41-43. The power
which was to succeed Rome in the possession of Jerusalem was to be the
Mohammedan power, which was still future when our Lord referred to it in Luke 21:24; but the Lord
does not name it, because the condition of Acts 3:18-26 could not be
anticipated, assumed, or forestalled.
strong = hard. This
was the character of Rome, both royal, imperial, and republican.
And whereas, &c. The fifth power is now to be described
(the "feet and toes"). It
came into possession of Jerusalem in A.D. 636 (Rome having held the city for
666 years: namely, from the battle of Actium 31 B.C. - A.D. 636). Its character
as described in Daniel 2:41 is exact; and,
as represented by the "feet", Jerusalem has indeed been "trodden
down" (Luke 21:24) as was never
done by any of the other four powers.
miry
= muddy. Chaldee. tin. Same as Hebrew. tit. Occurances in 2 Samuel 22:43. Job 41:30 (Hebrew, verse
22). Psalms 18:42 (Hebrew, verse
43); Psalm 40:2 (Hebrew, verse
3); Psalm 69:14 (Hebrew, verse
15). Isaiah 41:25; Isaiah 57:20. Jeremiah 38:6. Micah 7:10. Nahum 3:14. Zechariah 9:3; Zechariah 10:5. Not the same
as that rendered "broken"
(= brittle), Daniel 2:42, as stated by
some commentators.
partly broken = part [of it shall be] broken.
broken
= fragile, easily broken. Chaldee. tebar. Occurs only here.
these kings. Represented by the ten toes: i.e. in their days,
at the end of the time of the fifth power. Compare Revelation 17:12-18. That is the
moment of the great stone, and of the coming of Messiah.
is
= He [is].
q