Bible Study The Interpitation of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

[BFSmith764]

Daniel Tell's The Dream

Daniel 2: 31-45 - You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arm was of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floor; the wind carried them away so thatno trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became agreat *mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.

The Head of Gold Symbolized Nebuchadnezzar's Empire
(The Babylonian Empire)

Verse 37 -38 -You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beast of the field and the
birds of heaven, He has given them into your hands, and has made you ruler over them all, you are this head of gold.

The Medo-Persian Empire is The Second Kingdom

Verse 39-first part-But after you shall arise another inferior to yours,


The Vision of the Ram ( Medi-Persian Empire)



Cyrus overthrew Babylon in October 539 BC and ruled until 331 BC, mentioned in Daniel 8

Daniel 8:1-4, - In the third of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me-to me, Daniel-after the one that appeared to me the first time. I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in Shushan the citadel, which is in the province of Elam, and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no beast could withstand him, nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

The Interpitation of the Ram

Daniel 5:30 - 31 - That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Cyrus is the Ram (Medo-Persian Empire)

Daniel 8: 20 - The ram which you saw, having the two horns-they are the kings of the Media and Persia.



Cyrus is the bear (Medio-Persian Empire)

Daniel 7:5 -And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh.

Ezra 1: 1 - Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,


Cyrus Became King of all Persia in 548 BC

that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,


Verse 2- Thus says Cyrus king of Persia; All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
Verse 3 - Who is there among you of all His people? May His God be with him! Now let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.
Verse 4- And whoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.



The Third Kingdom is the Greco-Macedonian Empire
(Alexander The Great)

Verse 39-last part-a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

Alexander destroyed the Medo-Persian empire on October 1, 331 BC

Mentioned in Daniel 7: 6 - "After this I looked and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it."

The male Goat (Alexander The Great) Greco-Macedonian Empire

Daniel 8: 5 - 8 - And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
The he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.
And I saw him confronting the ram, he the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.
*Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, @and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.


*Alexander the Great had been responsible for the spreading of the overarching culture and language of this worldwide civilization. Alexander, a Macedonian, had set out over three centuries before Christ to conquer the world. His goal was to spread Greek culture, which he firmly believed was superior to all others. By 333 b.c. he had conquered the whole of Syria and Palestine; by 331 he had added Egypt. The whole vast Persian Empire was his. But in 323, after touching India itself, Alexander died. @His holdings were divided between four generals, and the unity that Alexander envisioned was shattered.




The interpretation of the Goat (Greco-Macedonian Empire )

Daniel 8:21- 22 - And the male goat is the kingdom of *Greese. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. As for the broken horn and *the four that stud up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that kingdom, but not with its power.

*It came on the scene with its first great king, Alexander the Great, and it was later divided among his (four) generals after his death.



The Fourth Kingdom is the Roman Empire

Verse 40- And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

Also mentioned in Daniel 7:7 - "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the other beast that were before it, and it had ten horns."

The Continuation of the Fourth Empire
(The New Holy Roman Empire)To be fulfilled in the last days


Also mentioned in Daniel 7:7 - 8 - "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the other beast that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horn were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words."

Revelation 13: 1- 3 - Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.


The Beast in Revelation 13 is a composition of all the other best mentioned in Daniel 7:2-8 - Daniel spoke saying, 'I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stiring up the Great Sea. 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. And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!' After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night vision, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrable, exceedingly strong. It had hugh iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beast that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before three of the first horns were plucked out by its roots. And there, in this horn, were eyse like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words..


The little horn

Daniel 8: 9- 14 - And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the west, and toward the Glorious land. And it grew up to the host of heaven and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.
He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and *by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifice, and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all and prospered.
Then I heard a holy one speaking and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?' And he said to me, for two thousand three hundred days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."

*This was first fulfilled by Antious Epiphanies from 167 - 169 BC, but this prophecy will happen again at the time of the end.


The interpretation of the little horn

Daniel 8: 23 - 24 - And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressions have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thriving, he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.


To be fulfilled in the last days

Daniel 8:25-26 -Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper
under his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the *Prince of princes; but he shall be broke with out human hand. "And the vision of the evenings and the mornings which was told is true, therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future."
And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterwards I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

*The Prince of princes is Christ

Verse 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.
Verse 42- As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
Verse 43- 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.

The Return of Christ

Mentioned also in Daniel 8: 25 last part - He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broke with out human hand.

Mattew 24:30 - 'Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribs of the earth will morn, and the will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'

Daniel 7: 13 - I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Anccient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

Verse 44- 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 kingdom, and it shall stand forever.
Verse 45-Inasmuch as you saw the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to you the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.

 

[rainbow_promise]

A lot of work went into this message. I can't believe there is someone that has gotten this correct. Do you know how many people will argue with me that the bear is Russia? How they come up with that I haven't figured out yet.

I agree with every thing you have here except for one thing. The horn. This horn comes up out of the Roman Empire. It has many distinguishing facts...I will do this using as little time as necessary as people often get tired of reading to much. The info I am going to use comes mostly from Dan. 7

1. verse 8....This little horn power arises up out of Western Europe somewhere..The Papacy arose in Western Europe from the old Roman empire. This is easy for me to see because I learned it when I was in 7th grade, almost 50 years ago. It was compulsory that all 7th graders take this history in my school. At first the many Catholic students were offended , but our history teacher was Catholic so he eased their pain considerably with his jokes and indepth studies. He also let them understand this was not against Christians of the Catholic faith....It was just a historical fact.
2. The 10 horns (also verse 8) represent the 10 kingdoms into which Rome wa divided by the barbarian tribes which carved up the empire. these were as follows: Ango Saxons (England) Alamanni (Germans) Burgundians (Switzerland) Visigoths(Spain) Franks(France) Lombards(Italy) Suevi(Portugal) ... *Vandals(destroyed 493 *Ostrogoths(destroyed 534)* Heruli(538). These 10 kingdoms were not established till 476. So the little horn could not come up before they did, it would have had to appear afterwards.........It became a civil/religious body in 538 AD which is after the breakup of the Roman Empire in 476AD.
3. This little horn uproots or destroys completely three kingdoms. These were the Heruli, Bandals, and Ostrogoths.
4. It would have a man at its head who speaks for it. It would not be a king like the other kingdoms. (verse 8, 24)
5. This Horn speaks great words or blasphemy(vs.25) compare with Rev. 13.5). ....
John 10:31__A man makes himself God
Mark 2:5__A man claims to forgive sin....These are to Bible descriptions of blasphemy.
6. Wear out or persecute God's people (vs. 25) After the Roman empire was divided what power came from there and persecuted God's people, killing and torturing millions who followed God? This is also part of the ancient History that I had to learn in school. It is not something that is just made up. It is a fact. During the Dark Ages at least 50 mil. died for their faith. The Papacy felt it was controlling heresy for the Lord, but the fact remains that it did persecute and destroy. Many modern Catholics strongly disapprove of these persecutions as well as a few Priests that I know via my family members.
7. Try to change God's law (vs.25) ---Joseph Devarbe's catechism says, on page 279, "the priest does really and truly forgive sins in virtue of the power given to him by Christ."....."The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh." Catholic National, July 1895. .......These are not made up these also are fact. If you can get hold of these you will see it is true.
8. This power would rule for a time, times and the dividing of time (1/2 a time). This timing is so important that it is mentioned about 7 times in the Bible. Dan. 7:25, 12:7...Rev. 12:6, 14......Rev. 11:2,3. It is referred to as 42 mo. and 1260 days and 3 1/2 times. In prophecy a day is equal to one literal year and the Hebrew calendar is used where ea. mo. is = to 30 days.(see Eze.4:6 and Numbers 14:34)
9. Try to change God's law (vs. 25)....It omitted the second commandment and changed the 4th commandment in the catechism to the third. and for the 9 and 10 commndment they broke the tenth into two parts. This I have in my Catechism book...found on page 37 and 38. It is the one by Rev. Peter Geiermann c.ss.r. (a gift from a well meaning family member).
10. Another interesting piece is the time of its ruling. It ruled supreme from 538-1798. This power became supreme in Christendom in 538 AD due to the letter of Roman Emperor Justinian, which acknowledged the bishop of Rome as the head of all churches. This letter became a part of Justinians's code, the fundamental low of the empire. The Papal power was broken in 1798 when Napoleon's general, Berthier, took the Pope captive and he died in exile(the deadly wound of Rev. 13). This time peroid was exactly 1260 years.
No matter how anyone tries to match the info of Dan. related to the little horn, it don't fit all characteristics. The Holy Roman Empire (papacy)is the only one that does. There is much more I could add, but because if everyone is like me reading huge essays can be a little taxing so am going to leave off here.

 

[BFSmith764]

A lot of work went into this message. I can't believe there is someone that has gotten this correct. Do you know how many people will argue with me that the bear is Russia? How they come up with that I haven't figured out yet.

I agree with every thing you have here except for one thing. The horn. This horn comes up out of the Roman Empire. It has many distinguishing facts...I will do this using as little time as necessary as people often get tired of reading to much. The info I am going to use comes mostly from Dan. 7

1. verse 8....This little horn power arises up out of Western Europe somewhere..The Papacy arose in Western Europe from the old Roman empire. This is easy for me to see because I learned it when I was in 7th grade, almost 50 years ago. It was compulsory that all 7th graders take this history in my school. At first the many Catholic students were offended , but our history teacher was Catholic so he eased their pain considerably with his jokes and indepth studies. He also let them understand this was not against Christians of the Catholic faith....It was just a historical fact.
2. The 10 horns (also verse 8) represent the 10 kingdoms into which Rome wa divided by the barbarian tribes which carved up the empire. these were as follows: Ango Saxons (England) Alamanni (Germans) Burgundians (Switzerland) Visigoths(Spain) Franks(France) Lombards(Italy) Suevi(Portugal) ... *Vandals(destroyed 493 *Ostrogoths(destroyed 534)* Heruli(538). These 10 kingdoms were not established till 476. So the little horn could not come up before they did, it would have had to appear afterwards.........It became a civil/religious body in 538 AD which is after the breakup of the Roman Empire in 476AD.
3. This little horn uproots or destroys completely three kingdoms. These were the Heruli, Bandals, and Ostrogoths.
4. It would have a man at its head who speaks for it. It would not be a king like the other kingdoms. (verse 8, 24)
5. This Horn speaks great words or blasphemy(vs.25) compare with Rev. 13.5). ....
John 10:31__A man makes himself God
Mark 2:5__A man claims to forgive sin....These are to Bible descriptions of blasphemy.
6. Wear out or persecute God's people (vs. 25) After the Roman empire was divided what power came from there and persecuted God's people, killing and torturing millions who followed God? This is also part of the ancient History that I had to learn in school. It is not something that is just made up. It is a fact. During the Dark Ages at least 50 mil. died for their faith. The Papacy felt it was controlling heresy for the Lord, but the fact remains that it did persecute and destroy. Many modern Catholics strongly disapprove of these persecutions as well as a few Priests that I know via my family members.
7. Try to change God's law (vs.25) ---Joseph Devarbe's catechism says, on page 279, "the priest does really and truly forgive sins in virtue of the power given to him by Christ."....."The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh." Catholic National, July 1895. .......These are not made up these also are fact. If you can get hold of these you will see it is true.
8. This power would rule for a time, times and the dividing of time (1/2 a time). This timing is so important that it is mentioned about 7 times in the Bible. Dan. 7:25, 12:7...Rev. 12:6, 14......Rev. 11:2,3. It is referred to as 42 mo. and 1260 days and 3 1/2 times. In prophecy a day is equal to one literal year and the Hebrew calendar is used where ea. mo. is = to 30 days.(see Eze.4:6 and Numbers 14:34)
9. Try to change God's law (vs. 25)....It omitted the second commandment and changed the 4th commandment in the catechism to the third. and for the 9 and 10 commndment they broke the tenth into two parts. This I have in my Catechism book...found on page 37 and 38. It is the one by Rev. Peter Geiermann c.ss.r. (a gift from a well meaning family member).
10. Another interesting piece is the time of its ruling. It ruled supreme from 538-1798. This power became supreme in Christendom in 538 AD due to the letter of Roman Emperor Justinian, which acknowledged the bishop of Rome as the head of all churches. This letter became a part of Justinians's code, the fundamental low of the empire. The Papal power was broken in 1798 when Napoleon's general, Berthier, took the Pope captive and he died in exile(the deadly wound of Rev. 13). This time peroid was exactly 1260 years.
No matter how anyone tries to match the info of Dan. related to the little horn, it don't fit all characteristics. The Holy Roman Empire (papacy)is the only one that does. There is much more I could add, but because if everyone is like me reading huge essays can be a little taxing so am going to leave off here.

Can't argue with you, because you are correct and also Bible prophecies are often dualistic or more...as the saying goes history often repeats itself. So it has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future, but on a much more intense level.

 

[rainbow_promise]

Can't argue with you, because you are correct and also Bible prophecies are often dualistic or more...as the saying goes history often repeats itself. So it has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future, but on a much more intense level.

Like you BF I can't argue with statement either....It is true

 

[tim-from-pa]

I also agree with the interpretation presented here and the empires represented. As a matter of fact, I have a web site with extensive messages on the book of Daniel and says basically the same thing. One thing though, unless I missed it. The "little horn" at the very end of Daniel can be shown to come from the Seleucid portion of the Grecian Empire. That's the same place that the prototype Antiochus IV came from and desecrated the temple before the Maccabean revolt. Geographically, that area is what is now generally Syria, Iraq or part of Iran (Revelations talks about demons bound in the Euphrates and will be released in the end times which may explain why there is so many evil vibes in that region).

The book of Daniel is also very interesting involving angelogy-demonolgy and the tremendous supernatural forces behind the world powers. Very interesting indeed.

One other thing. The word "dualistic"---- sounds like me talking. I use that word to denote multiple fulfillments all the time. :-D

 

[BFSmith764]

The book of Daniel is also very interesting involving angelogy-demonolgy and the tremendous supernatural forces behind the world powers. Very interesting indeed.

Yes when you study the Book of Revelation about the Beast power that is to rule the earth just before the return of Jesus, you can see that these are not simply bad people doing bad thing, but people/leaders that are posse by demonic forces doing abominable things

One other thing. The word "dualistic"---- sounds like me talking. I use that word to denote multiple fulfillments all the time. :-D

When we allow the Bible to teach us it's very easy to use similar words since we cannot help but put in our own words what the Bible tells us. :D