In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how he spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar about his dream and said, “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 for ever”, and in Daniel chapter two and verse forty-five of his book, Daniel shared how he told King Nebuchadnezzar more about, “the stone … cut out of the mountain without hands” where we read,
Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
The verse reads, “Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold;” Daniel began with the words, “forasmuch as you saw” or “inasmuch and because you, King Nebuchadnezzar, perceived, noticed, discerned, distinguished and observed” “that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands” which means “that the huge rock which was broken off, extracted and removed from the rising above the plain or large hill without the use of physical hands ”, “and that it broke in pieces the iron” or “and that it, the stone, crushed, crumbled and shattered into parts and particles the iron metal”, “the brass”which means “the bronze or copper part of the image”, “the clay” or “the muddy potsherd or clods of the image”, “the silver” which refers to “the silver metal part of the image”, “and the gold” or “and the gold metal part of the image”. Daniel shared how the “stone” extracted without the use of physical hands struck the idolatrous figure and shattered the “iron, brass, clay, silver and gold” from which the image was fashioned.
The verse continues, “the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel added the words, “the great God” which means “the imposing Supreme Deity” “has made known to the king” or “has revealed and exposed to the royal ruler, Nebuchadnezzar” “what shall come to pass hereafter” which means “that which shall happen and occur afterwards and in the future”: “and the dream is certain” or “and the mental imagery exists as reliable, sure and true”, “and the interpretation thereof sure”which means “and the rendering and meaning of the dream exists as faithful and trustworthy”. Daniel said the Supreme Deity revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar that which is to happen in the future, and not only is the revelation of the “dream” reliable, but also the rendering of it is true.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel more about the huge rock that was in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and was extracted from the “mountain” without the use of physical hands. This “stone” struck the image in Nebuchadnezzar's “dream” and shattered the entire idol into particles. “The iron, brass, clay, silver and gold” were all destroyed, and there were no remnants of them that remained. This mental imagery was a view of the future, and the “dream” and the rendering or the meaning of it were trustworthy and true. God was showing King Nebuchadnezzar about the world ruling empires, and all of these were concerning His plan for the salvation of mankind. When God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone and raised Him from the grave after three days, He provided the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and to be a part of His Kingdom when we put our faith and trust in Him. Let all who read these words believe and trust in Jesus and come to know the God who knows the future.
Next time Daniel shares how, “king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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