Daniel and the NATO Connection

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

INTRODUCTION.......................................1CHAPTER ONE: Daniel 2..............................3CHAPTER TWO: Daniel 8..............................21CHAPTER THREE: Daniel 7............................33CHAPTER FOUR: Daniel 11............................51CHAPTER FIVE: Revelation 17........................65CHAPTER SIX: Babylon the Great.....................89CHAPTER SEVEN: Things to Come......................101GENERAL INDEX......................................113INDEX OF NAMES.....................................115INDEX OF PLACES....................................119SCRIPTURE INDEX....................................123

Chapter One

In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king dreamed a dream. It was the start of an incredible series of events for both the king and the young man Daniel. Daniel and other young men of the children of Israel were brought as captives from Judea to Babylon. They were to be taught the knowledge and tongue of the Chaldeans.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream woke him up, and it bothered him. He called for the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to interpret the dream for him. He had forgotten the dream, however, because he said, "The thing is gone from me." So he not only required an interpretation but also the dream itself. This request would not be a problem if the Chaldeans could contact the source of the dream.

A dream can come from several different sources—the dreamer's own heart, mind, or spirit; or an external source, such as a spirit or an angel. The king had called for the men in his kingdom whom he felt could contact the source of the dream and ascertain an answer to his questions. It needs to be noted that magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans all used divinations to enter into and converse with the spirit realm. The use of divinations is a practice strictly forbidden by the God of the Bible (Deut. 18:9–12), and he would never respond to their requests. If the source of the dream had come from a spiritual source that they could contact, and they had the ransom that would be required by that source for the information (a price must be paid; nothing is free, not even in the spiritual realm), they would be able to help the king. If the Chaldeans could get the king to tell them the dream, they could conjure (make up) an interpretation. But the king would not or could not tell them the dream. In the end, the Chaldeans, astrologers, magicians, and sorcerers had no help for the king, and the king, in his anger, condemned all of them to death. They obviously had no contact with the source of the dream. The king included Daniel and the other children of Israel with the Chaldeans, so unless Daniel and his friends could get an answer for the king, they also would be executed.

It's important for us to know that this dream and its interpretation were indeed from the God of heaven and not some inferior source. Daniel sought God through prayer and received the dream and interpretation, and this is what he had to say:

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. (2:23)

When Daniel came before the king he was confident that he knew all, and indeed he did. The king acknowledged the dream and exalted Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, into high positions within his government.

As it turns out, this dream reaches far beyond Nebuchadnezzar and the times of his kingdom, even reaching a time when God himself will set up a kingdom that shall never end.

The following is the text of the dream:

2:31 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 his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, (33) his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. (34) 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 was the iron, and the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and become like 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 tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

The dream appears to be a very straightforward vision of a large figure, like a man, standing in front of Nebuchadnezzar. Scripture says that it was terrible and uses the Aramaic word "deh-khal, which means something to be feared, with the connotation of terror. This would explain why the king was so troubled by the vision. Another aspect that would have troubled the king was the violence of the destruction of the image. It was smote by a stone. Again, the Scripture uses an Aramaic word, mekh-aw, which means to strike, smite, and kill. The image comes crashing down and is blown away by a mighty wind. This wind would have been completely supernatural and the chaff of the image completely blown away until "no place was found for them."

The image may have looked like man in terms of its parts—head, arms, legs, etc.—but that is where the similarity ends. No man has a head made of gold, or a breast and arms of silver, or a belly and thighs of brass. This image was not meant to be a man but to represent something more. The feet and toes of clay and iron were the weak points of the image and the location of its demise. It is obvious that the stone that was cut out without hands is a very special and powerful part of the vision. After the image is destroyed completely, the stone becomes a "great mountain" and fills the whole earth.

I would like to make note here of the personal character of the man Daniel. He makes sure that the king understands that Daniel represents the children of Israel and that he is not acting as an individual. Daniel obviously wants to save not only himself from execution but also his fellow children of Israel. He does this by referring to "we" in verse 36: "and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."

The description of the dream, as seen in verses 3136, represents only the first part of the king's requirement. Daniel continues with an interpretation:

(37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. (38) And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. (39) And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. (40) 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.(41) 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 iron, forasmuch as thou sawest...