Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 40: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
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"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."
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Soon after Daniel and his companions entered the service of
the king of Babylon, events occurred that revealed to an idolatrous nation the
power and faithfulness of the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had a remarkable
dream, by which "his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from
him." But although the king's mind was deeply impressed, he found it
impossible, when he awoke, to recall the particulars. {PK 491.1}
In his perplexity, Nebuchadnezzar assembled his wise men—"the
magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers"—and besought
their help. "I have dreamed a dream," he said, "and my spirit
was troubled to know the dream." With this statement of his perplexity he
requested them to reveal to him that which would bring relief to his mind. {PK 491.2}
To this the wise men responded, "O king, live forever:
tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation." [492]
{PK 491.3}
Dissatisfied with their evasive answer, and suspicious
because, despite their pretentious claims to reveal the secrets of men, they
nevertheless seemed unwilling to grant him help, the king commanded his wise
men, with promises of wealth and honor on the one hand, and threats of death on
the other, to tell him not only the interpretation of the dream, but the dream
itself. "The thing is gone from me," he said; "if ye will not
make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut
in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye show the dream,
and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and
great honor." {PK
492.1}
Still the wise men returned the answer, "Let the king
tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it." {PK 492.2}
Nebuchadnezzar, now thoroughly aroused and angered by the
apparent perfidy of those in whom he had trusted, declared: "I know of
certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from
me. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree
for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till
the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can
show me the interpretation thereof." {PK 492.3}
Filled with fear for the consequences of their failure, the
magicians endeavored to show the king that his request was unreasonable and his
test beyond that which had ever been required of any man. "There is not a
man upon the earth," they remonstrated, "that can show the king's
matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things [493]
at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the
king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king,
except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." {PK 492.4}
Then "the king was angry and very furious, and
commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon." {PK 493.1}
Among those sought for by the officers who were preparing to
fulfill the provisions of the royal decree, were Daniel and his friends. When
told that according to the decree they also must die, "with counsel and
wisdom" Daniel inquired of Arioch, the captain of the king's guard,
"Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" Arioch told him the story
of the king's perplexity over his remarkable dream, and of his failure to
secure help from those in whom he had hitherto placed fullest confidence. Upon
hearing this, Daniel, taking his life in his hands, ventured into the king's
presence and begged that time be granted, that he might petition his God to reveal
to him the dream and its interpretation. {PK 493.2}
To this request the monarch acceded. "Then Daniel went
to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his
companions." Together they sought for wisdom from the Source of light and
knowledge. Their faith was strong in the consciousness that God had placed them
where they were, that they were doing His work and meeting the demands of duty.
In times of perplexity and danger they had always turned to Him for guidance
and protection, and He had proved an ever-present help. Now with contrition of
heart they submitted themselves anew to the Judge of the earth, pleading that
He would [494] grant them deliverance in this their time of
special need. And they did not plead in vain. The God whom they had honored,
now honored them. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon them, and to Daniel,
"in a night vision," was revealed the king's dream and its meaning. {PK 493.3}
Daniel's first act was to thank God for the revelation given
him. "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever," he exclaimed;
"for wisdom and might are His: and He changeth the times and the seasons:
He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret
things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him. I
thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom
and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of Thee: for Thou hast
now made known unto us the king's matter." {PK 494.1}
Going immediately to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to
destroy the wise men, Daniel said, "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon:
bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation."
Quickly the officer ushered Daniel in before the king, with the words, "I
have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king
the interpretation." {PK
494.2}
Behold the Jewish captive, calm and self-possessed, in the
presence of the monarch of the world's most powerful empire. In his first words
he disclaimed honor for himself and exalted God as the source of all wisdom. To
the anxious inquiry of the king, "Art thou able to make known unto me the
dream which I have seen, and the interpretation [497]
thereof?" he replied: "The secret which the king hath demanded cannot
the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the
king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to
the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. {PK 494.3}
"Thy dream," Daniel declared, "and the
visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 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. But as for
me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any
living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the
king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. {PK 497.1}
"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. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his
arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet
part of iron and part of clay. {PK 497.2}
"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. Then was 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. {PK
497.3}
"This is the dream," confidently declared Daniel;
and the king, listening with closest attention to every particular, [498]
knew it was the very dream over which he had been so troubled. Thus his mind
was prepared to receive with favor the interpretation. The King of kings was
about to communicate great truth to the Babylonian monarch. God would reveal
that He has power over the kingdoms of the world, power to enthrone and to
dethrone kings. Nebuchadnezzar's mind was to be awakened, if possible, to a
sense of his responsibility to Heaven. The events of the future, reaching down
to the end of time, were to be opened before him. {PK 497.4}
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings," Daniel
continued, "for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and
strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of
the field and fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. {PK 498.1}
"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to
thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the
earth. {PK 498.2}
"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:
forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. {PK 498.3}
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of
potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall
be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed
with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of
clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas
thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall [499] mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even
as iron is not mixed with clay." {PK 498.4}
"In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left
to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass,
the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king
what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the
interpretation thereof sure." {PK 499.1}
The king was convinced of the truth of the interpretation,
and in humility and awe he "fell upon his face, and worshiped,"
saying, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of
kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."
{PK 499.2}
Nebuchadnezzar revoked the decree for the destruction of the
wise men. Their lives were spared because of Daniel's connection with the
Revealer of secrets. And "the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him
many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and
chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested
of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of
the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king." {PK 499.3}
In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the
rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of
man; the shaping of events seems, to [500] a
great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the
word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and
through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions,
the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the
counsels of His own will. {PK
499.4}
In words of matchless beauty and tenderness, the apostle
Paul set before the sages of Athens the divine purpose in the creation and
distribution of races and nations. "God that made the world and all things
therein," declared the apostle, "hath made of one blood all nations
of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him." Acts 17:24-27. {PK 500.1}
God has made plain that whosoever will, may come "into
the bond of the covenant." Ezekiel 20:37. In the creation it was His
purpose that the earth should be inhabited by beings whose existence would be a
blessing to themselves and to one another, and an honor to their Creator. All
who will may identify themselves with this purpose. Of them it is spoken,
"This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My
praise." Isaiah 43:21. {PK
500.2}
In His law God has made known the principles that underlie
all true prosperity, both of nations and of individuals. To the Israelites
Moses declared of this law: "This is your wisdom and your
understanding." "It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your
life." Deuteronomy 4:6; 32:47. The blessings thus assured to Israel are,
on the same [501] conditions and in the same
degree, assured to every nation and to every individual under the broad
heavens. {PK 500.3}
Hundreds of years before certain nations came upon the stage
of action, the Omniscient One looked down the ages and predicted the rise and
fall of the universal kingdoms. God declared to Nebuchadnezzar that the kingdom
of Babylon should fall, and a second kingdom would arise, which also would have
its period of trial. Failing to exalt the true God, its glory would fade, and a
third kingdom would occupy its place. This also would pass away; and a fourth,
strong as iron, would subdue the nations of the world. {PK 501.1}
Had the rulers of Babylon—that richest of all
earthly kingdoms—kept always before them the fear of Jehovah, they
would have been given wisdom and power which would have bound them to Him and
kept them strong. But they made God their refuge only when harassed and
perplexed. At such times, failing to find help in their great men, they sought
it from men like Daniel—men who they knew honored the living God and
were honored by Him. To these men they appealed to unravel the mysteries of
Providence; for though the rulers of proud Babylon were men of the highest
intellect, they had separated themselves so far from God by transgression that
they could not understand the revelations and the warnings given them
concerning the future. {PK
501.2}
In the history of nations the student of God's word may
behold the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy. Babylon, shattered and
broken at last, passed away because in prosperity its rulers had regarded
themselves as independent of [502] God, and had ascribed the glory
of their kingdom to human achievement. The Medo-Persian realm was visited by
the wrath of Heaven because in it God's law had been trampled underfoot. The
fear of the Lord had found no place in the hearts of the vast majority of the
people. Wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed. The kingdoms that
followed were even more base and corrupt; and these sank lower and still lower
in the scale of moral worth. {PK
501.3}
The power exercised by every ruler on the earth is
Heaven-imparted; and upon his use of the power thus bestowed, his success
depends. To each the word of the divine Watcher is, "I girded thee, though
thou hast not known Me." Isaiah 45:5. And to each the words spoken to
Nebuchadnezzar of old are the lesson of life: "Break off thy sins by
righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor: if it may be
a lengthening of thy tranquillity." Daniel 4:27. {PK 502.1}
To understand these things,—to understand that
"righteousness exalteth a nation;" that "the throne is
established by righteousness," and "upholden by mercy;" to
recognize the outworking of these principles in the manifestation of His power
who "removeth kings, and setteth up kings,"— this is to
understand the philosophy of history. Proverbs 14:34; 16:12; Proverbs 20:28;
Daniel 2:21. {PK 502.2}
In the word of God only is this clearly set forth. Here it
is shown that the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the
opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not
found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity with which
they fulfill God's purpose. {PK
502.3}
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"The Fiery Furnace"
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