2006-09-17 - Daniel

Installement 18

Chapter 2, verses 37-38: This is kind of a "good news, bad news" situation. Daniel is going to get to tell Nebuchadnezzar that the head of gold is his kingdom. But he is also going to have to say: the kingdom will fall. This may explain why he was astute enough to avoid telling the king all of this in public.

The other risky point Daniel makes is that the king receives both his kingdom and his power from the God of Heaven. This would be in contrast to the Babylonian gods, who were off the Earth. Fortunately for Daniel, since the king wanted answers, these non-politic truths wouldn't get him killed.

Alright, there is no question about the identity of the gold head. It's Babylon. This initially must have been pleasing for the King. Unfortunately, as we've noted, there was both good news and bad news. Babylon wasn't going to last.

It was going to fall. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Nebuchadnezzar of the fall of Babylon.

"It lasted from 636 B.C. to 539 B.C. Jeremiah called Babylon "a gold cup in the Lord's hand" (Jer. 51:7)." ⁴

⁴ Wiersbe, Warren W., The Bible Exposition Commentary, Old Testament, The Prophets, Victor Books, Colorado Springs, CO, 1986, p. 260.

To be continued.

Comments or Questions?
Geoff

GKragen@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org