The MAJOR & MINOR Prophets - The 16 Writing Prophets Of The Hebrew Canon

tell him what the dream was, so naturally they could not have a shot at interpreting it. We can understand their dilemma, for the king was furious, threatening executions if no interpretation!

The king had undoubtedly discovered this motley group did a lot of guessing, depending much on their magical books, manuals and divination symbols to determine anything significant about important occurrences; even if they knew the dream, their answers could only be guesses. To forestall such foolishness, God side-stepped their UHVSRQVHV E\ GHDOLQJ GLUHFWO\ ZLWK WKH NLQJ·V sleeping mind: He implanted a dream of such magnitude and significance that even when forgotten, the power of it troubled the dreamer.

+HDULQJ RI WKH QHHG WR LQWHUSUHW WKH NLQJ·V GUHDP 'DQLHO realized this was a rare opportunity to glorify God. $ULRFK FDSWDLQ RI WKH NLQJ·V JXDUG DUUDQJHG an audience for Daniel with the king. Probably about seventeen years of age, 16 good-looking and

clear of speech, Daniel had as his greatest attributes a fearless demeanor, moral purity and absolute confidence in +LV *RG·V DELOLW\ . He asked the king for a short amount of time to bring the answer, time which he then spent with his WKUHH +HEUHZ IULHQGV LQ VHULRXV SUD\HU ´7KHQ WKH VHFUHW ZDV UHYHDOHG WR 'DQLHO LQ D QLJKW YLVLRQµ Before the king again, Daniel first gave God unreserved recognition, then proceeded to give the interpretation.

In the dream, Neb XFKDGQH]]DU KDG VHHQ ´DQ HQRUPRXV GD]]OLQJ VWDWXHµ 1$6 whose various sections were made of different metals. The head was made of gold and represented the king, undoubtedly pleasing Nebuchadnezzar immensely. The chest and arms were made of silver (representing Medo-Persia), the belly and thighs of bronze (representing Greece), the legs of iron (representing Rome), and the feet and toes of iron and clay (represented other Gentile world powers that would arise later, apparently in a confederation). Finally, a stone 17 representing the eternal kingdom of God, smashed the feet of iron and clay, demolishing all those earthy nations, becoming a great mountain that filled the whole earth (2:35).

16 7KLV LV /HRQ :RRG¶V HVWLPDWH S ³,W ZDV WKH VHFRQG \HDU RI 1HEXFKDGQH]]DU VR 'DQLHO ZDV VHYHQWHHQ LI KH KDG EHHQ ILIWHHQ ZKHQ WDNHQ FDSWLYH ´ 17 7KH VWRQH VRPH YHUVLRQV VD\ ³URFN ´ ZDV ³FXW RXW ZLWKRXW KDQGV´ 1.- 7KH 06* ³D VWRQH FXW RXW RI D PRXQWDLQ by an LQYLVLEOH KDQG´ +&6% ³D VWRQH EURNH RII ZLWKRXW D KDQG WRXFKLQJ LW´ 1$6 ³EXW QRW E\ KXPDQ KDQGV ´ It was a God thing!

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