Nebuchadnezzar's Nightmare is Our Dream Come True

Daniel came into great favor with Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Babylonian empire, by interpreting a dream. With the growing anti-Christian environment we are currently experiencing, there is much we can learn from Daniel who was God's man operating in a hostile and dangerous world. There is a vital lesson hidden away within this dream that is meaningful for us today.

In King Neb's dream, recorded in Daniel 2:31-45, he sees an enormous statue, like a giant idol. The statue has a golden head, silver chest and arms with a bronze stomach and thighs. Below the knees the legs are constructed of iron with feet made of both iron and clay, like pottery. It is important to know what they represent.

1. The Golden Head

The head represents the Babylonian empire and Nebuchadnezzar himself. He was meant to realize that all Kings are expected to rule according to God's laws and ways. But like many other earthly rulers, he had become arrogant and corrupt. 

2. The Silver Chest and Arms

These represent the Medo-Persian empire which would follow Babylon. The arrogance of the Babylonian kings to persist in their pagan ways and refuse to honor only the one true God would ultimately lead to their downfall. (It would be Cyrus, King of this New empire, who would allow the Jews to return home from their exile in Babylon)

3. The Bronze Stomach and Thighs

The Greek Empire which followed after the Medo-Persian empire is represented by the bronze portion of the statue. 

4. The Iron Legs with Feet of Iron and Clay

This is the Roman Empire which overtook the Greek Empire. The Iron represents the power, strength and might of Rome. The clay represents God's people who lived inside of the empire, but were distinct and separate from it.

What Does This Mean For Us?

Because of the clay, this giant idol will not be able to stand for ever. The clay is the greatest weakness of the idol. One day it WILL fall. While the clay represented the Jews, dispersed throughout the Roman empire, this is a prophetic picture of what God's people look like now, spread throughout the world. We don't mix in. We are in the world and we are from the world, but John 17:14 teaches that we are no longer of this world. 

I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 

We are different. Today, more than at any time in my life, Christians are separated from all that the world values, or at least we should be. All of the kingdoms of this world are idols. The giant idol in this dream is a representation of the dominion of darkness. Every earthly kingdom ultimately becomes corrupted, but there is an inherent weakness in that dominion, insuring that it cannot stand forever.

In the dream, there is a rock which falls without anyone pushing it, crushing the giant idol into pieces. The stone grew into a great mountain filling the whole earth. That rock is Jesus. The mountain is the Holy Mountain of God, representing HIS Kingdom. Isaiah 9:7 tells us that His kingdom will never stop growing and will never end. The rock that grows into a mountain is a picture of the Kingdom of God which is built on our rock, our chief cornerstone, Jesus.

Right now, we are like clay. In order to extract us from the world, we will have to be broken away from it's iron grip. He is the potter and we are the clay, we must be willing to be broken so that we can be remade into a great and beautiful Kingdom which will never fall.

Fortified cities were often built on mountains for protection and positions of strength that are easy to defend. Psalm 18:2 says this about our God:

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

The mountain of God is a stronghold, a place of safety, shelter and strength. We can always come to God for those things.

Ultimately, all evil will be destroyed and God's Kingdom will cover the earth. Daniel completes his interpretation for King Neb by telling him that this dream is a prophecy and that it is certain, guaranteed. These events will come to pass. And that is good news. Friends, Jesus is our rock. He is building us into his Holy city on a mountain, Jerusalem. Like Daniel, we may face trials and difficult times, but when Jesus comes back, those difficult times will end and His Mountain, His Kingdom, will fill the whole earth, just as Isaiah 11:9 promises us:

They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

Jesus Confronts Religious Leaders Who Take Advantage

The story of the widow's 2 mites is one of the saddest stories in Scripture. But the problem started centuries before. For all the great things he did, Nehemiah made one big mistake that grew and worsened over time. He forgot the widows. While he served as governor over Judah, he re-established the tithe to provide food for the priests during their times of service and for the upkeep of the temple. Tithing was good, but it was never for the upkeep of the temple, which was meant to be provided through freewill offerings. True, the tithe was to provide food for priests during their annual weeks of service in Jerusalem, but it was mainly to provide food for widows, fatherless children and foreigners living among them. In an effort to correct what he had perceived as a sin, Ezra the priest caused many men to commit an even worse sin by divorcing their foreign wives and orphaning their children. Both men turned their backs on groups of foreigners who had chosen to live among them and worship the one true God. They made no mention of providing for widows, orphans or sojourners and even ruined the lives of some of these people. They missed the whole point of tithing.

Over the centuries, the priesthood became corrupted, especially those living in Jerusalem. Many religious leaders of Jesus' day lived lavish lifestyles, clothed with expensive garments, eating scrumptious feasts and being treated like high society celebrities. Herod had monetized religion and created a system of earning great profit from the temple. In addition to collecting tithes and inflating the price of sacrifices, people were required to pay temple taxes. Most of us are familiar with Jesus driving all those conducting commerce out of the temple and turning the tables on the whole system. On another occasion he openly called out the religious leaders for their corruption, showing who they were hurting:

While all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, who love respectful greetings in the market places, the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widow's houses and say long prayers just for show.  These will receive harsher judgement. He looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins (mites). Truly I tell you, he said: This poor widow has put in more than all of them. For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on. As some were talking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said: These things that you see--the day will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down. (Luke 20:45-21:6)

The Title was created FOR widows, not FROM widows. It was established for the purpose of providing food for widows, but this woman's money was being used to make the temple more extravagant and to fund lifestyles of the rich and famous religious leaders. Her actions were honorable and full of faith. But these men were taking money from the very people they were supposed to be using their resources to minister to and provide for. James 1:27 tells us:

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The words look after, or visit in some translations, means to look out for. It means to seek out people in need of help, to keep a watchful eye to notice people in need. We shouldn't just sit back and wait for them to come to us asking for help. We should go to them. We should always be on the lookout for anyone who is struggling so that we can offer assistance. This verse calls for an eagerness to help and serve. 

Jesus' disciples learned from the lesson He taught in the temple that day. In Acts 6, we learn that the very first ministers ever appointed included Stephen and six others, faithful men whose purpose and function was to make sure that the widows were served fairly and faithfully in the daily distributions of food. These men were called Diakonos, the word we get our word deacon or minister from, which describes the service of waiting tables. In our day of super-wealthy celebrity Christian figures, we need to be cautious and Biblical in who we choose to follow. 1 Corinthians 9:14 tells us that The Lord has prescribed that those who preach the Gospel should get their living by the Gospel. It is proper to support our Pastors and take very good care of them. But Jesus said that those who take advantage will be harshly judged. Real leaders serve others, not themselves.

So, How Can We Help?

I am grateful for faithful churches that serve their communities through food banks, counseling, pregnancy programs, clothing closets and support. We can all help through our giving and support of these programs. But free babysitting and fixing problems around the house for a widow or single mother can be just as important. I know many wonderful Christian people who have adopted--that is true and undefiled religion right there. Jesus led into this teaching by talking about loving our neighbor as ourselves. One way we show our love of God is by showing how we love others with our time, talents, money and through meaningful, supportive, caring relationships.