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Page 6 of 16 pages |
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Daniel Chapter 2 |
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heard the story of Nebuchadnez-zar's forgotten dream so many times as a
child that I could dream this dream myself even while day-dreaming in my
classroom seat, it never occurred to me WHY this dream was so important to
this king. Everyone has dreams. Everyone forgets them! So
what's the big deal here, anyway? It was later, as a young adult, that I was looking through an old Bible Dictionary and saw the image on the far right above. The label said "Nebu", the messenger of the Gods, also known as Mercury -- swift of foot, often pictured with wings on his sandals by the Greeks and Romans, this god was sent by the others to bear important, world-shaking messages to earth. WOW! No wonder the king couldn't let this one slip by him! ALSO -- the dictionary entry made it clear that Nebu or Nebo was the patron god of Nebuchadnezzar, the god he was named for! This was his GREAT OPPORTUNITY, the moment in his lifetime he was born to experience and explain to others -- and by sleepiness, lethargy, and lack of attention he had let this moment pass. Unless, unless, one of those lazy, well-fed magicians or astrologers he was paying to do just this, could indeed do what they claimed they could do. Know what the FUTURE really held for Nebuchadnezzar and the rest of us. |
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While he was still dreaming the dream, before he woke up and forgot it, there was another detail that was worrisome to him, even before the part where a rock struck the image and totally demolished it. He had no problem at all in seeing himself and his kingdom as the head of gold, his pride and ambition would do that easily and automatically, BUT, those FEET of CLAY! How could he explain those FEET of CLAY? So human! So vulnerable! Just waiting for anything, even an ordinary thunderstorm, to bring to an end his mighty kingdom! But before he had time to really contemplate this dilemma properly, never mind solve it, he was AWAKE and the vision was GONE! |
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Daniel chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of an image like the image on the left shown below. It impressed and terrified him but he forgot it. He called his wise men in and demanded they both tell him the dream he had forgotten, then interpret what he meant. Daniel was absent for this meeting. When no one could do as the king asked, he threatened to execute all the wise men. Daniel, however, after praying to God for help, was able to both recall and interpret the dream.
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Daniel 2:27 "Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret, The secret that the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; 28 But 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; 29 "As 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." 31 "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 "This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and arm of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay, -- 33 "Thou 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." 35 "Then were the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; 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." 36 "This is the dream; and we will (God and I, Daniel) will tell the interpretation thereof before the king." (Thereupon Daniel, from verse 37 onward gave Nebuchadnezzar AN INTERPRET-ATION, but it turns out that it was not the only interpretation possible, and indeed we will discover MANKIND does not, as yet, know how to deal with the COSMOLOGICAL problem presented here to the WISE MEN and SCIENTISTS of mankind).
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The COSMOLOGY PROBLEM in the Dream. (From our earlier critique on C. M. Houck's BLOG) "Daniel has still another level. The material from which both the Daniel and Joseph stories were “borrowed,” the Syrian poem, although also a myth-fashioned tale, was in regard to cosmological actions. The priest-authors in Jerusalem were not particularly knowledgeable of cosmology or particularly psychologically wise, but they knew a good storyline when they could steal one. Thus in the dream which King Nebuchadnezzar allegedly saw “a great image, whose brightness was excellent…” the original Syrian story was in reference to primal energies in the process of involving toward matter forms. This is why the “image” is described as having a head of fine gold, with breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and feet part iron and clay (Daniel 2:32-35). It doesn’t take a divine interpreter to see that this describes the progression from pure energy into materiality, and this accounts for the tradition of speaking of the gold, silver, bronze and iron ages of man’s evolution." Whether you agree or not with Mr. Houck's description here of a logical and possibly scientific progression, a lot of others with his background would indeed see such a progression, and not make the same Hebrew then later Christian interpretation that follows after verse 36. To continue with Daniel's interpretation of the dream, Click Here!
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To continue with Daniel's
interpretation of the dream,
Click Here! To continue browsing more subjects from the Bible Book of Daniel return the the Daniel Index. |
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Main Index ..ENJOY! This page updated 11-4-2010, May 4-2011 redone Nov. 22, 2011 Latest update 12-29-2014 C. M. Houck's remarks not added until 2014 |