A Dream for All, part 2

   The Babylonian who swallowed up his known world was king, judge and jury. And he was furious with his wise men, ordering their execution - no defense attorney required.

   Daniel was a young Jewish exile, himself on the proverbial chopping block. God had revealed to him the meaning of the king's dream. Daniel praised the Lord in some 80 words, as translated into English. Daniel 2.

   The commander took Daniel before the king to reveal the vision. He first assured the king that this wasn't his wisdom, but, there is a God in heaven. 

   Daniel described an enormous, dazzling, awesome statue of a man in the dream. It's head was pure gold, its chest and arms, silver, and its belly and thighs, bronze. (Note the descending values.)  

   Finally, there were legs of iron mixed with baked clay. 

   A supernatural rock struck the feet and the entire statue broke into pieces. It became chaff, which the wind blew away, while the rock filled the whole earth. 

   The king's jaw must have dropped as Daniel described his dream. 

   Now, the interpretation. You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory. You are that head of gold. 

   The king responded with a big sigh of relief, and felt proud. You think? 

   After you another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. (More pride.) Next, a third kingdom will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. 

   Just as you saw the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. ...this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle...and will not remain united... 

   Then Daniel revealed what we all need to know. The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed... It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock... 

Tomorrow: Bringing it home