DANIEL – Nebuchadnezzar’s dream

Narrator, Arioch, King, Daniel

( have a large card and ‘parts of a body’ – gold head, silver chest, bronze rest of body, grey/iron legs, charcoal feet – have a leader place them onto the card as the dream is told.)

Narrator: King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He wanted his advisors to tell him the dream first, and then tell him what the dream meant. Daniel prayed to God, and God showed Daniel the dream and the meaning of it. Now Daniel was off to see the king.

Daniel: OK Aricoh, lead on. I have something to tell the king.

Arioch: Well, I sure hope you can tell him what he wants to know. I like you Daniel and would be sorry to have to kill you.

Daniel: I would be too Arioch.

Arioch: Your Majesty – here is your advisor Daniel. He can tell your Majesty the meaning of your dream.

King: I have given you another day – are you able to tell me my dream and what it means? Otherwise you will die.

Daniel: Your Majesty. There is no wizard, magician or fortune-teller who can tell you that. But there is a God in Heaven who reveals mysteries. He has made it plain. Now I will tell you the dream you had. Your dream was about the future. God has told me it’s meaning, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that he could let you know what is going to happen.
In your dream you saw a giant sized statue of a man, bright and shining. Its head was made of gold. Down to the waist it was of silver, and below the waist it was made of bronze. The legs were iron and the feet were of iron mixed with clay.

King Nebuchadnezzar: Yes, yes, that’s correct. How amazing. Carry on Daniel.

Daniel: As you were gazing at the statue, a great stone broke off the cliff, without anyone touching it. It collided with the feet of the statue and broke them to pieces. Then the whole statue crumbled into dust. But the stone began to grow and grow until it was big enough to fill the whole world.

King Nebuchadnezzar: Yes, Yes, that’s so right. That was my dream. But can you explain it Daniel?

Daniel: The statue represents the great empires of the world. You your majesty are the head of gold, and your empire is the greatest and most splendid of all. Other empires will rule the world, but none as magnificent as you. None will last forever though.
The unimportant looking stone, that grew bigger and bigger and destroyed the statue, is the empire that God will one day set up. One day in the future, God is going to put His king on the earth. His kingdom will never come to an end but will grow bigger and bigger to fill the whole earth.

King Nebuchadnezzar: Your God is very great and wonderful Daniel. He deserves worship and praise. I know this because you have been able to tell me my dream and its meaning.

Narrator: Then the king made Daniel chief of all his advisors. He gave Daniels 3 friends important jobs in different parts of the empire. But Daniel stayed at the royal court.

WORLD EMPIRES:
There were Rulers that did rule the whole of the known world. What the statue was made from showed the magnificence, power and wealth of their kingdom.

Head of Gold – Babylon The head represents the single strong nation who would rule and it would not be broken up when it was defeated. That was King Nebuchadnezzar and he ruled for 70 years.
Chest and Arms of Silver - Medo-Persia The Medes and Persians next conquered Babylon, and King Cyrus allowed the Jews to go home. He made arrangements to have the temple rebuilt. But the known world was still ruled by these kings who ruled for 208 years.
Belly and Thighs (Hips) of Brass or Bronze - Greece The Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great were the third conquerors. He and others who followed Alexander ruled for 163 years over the world.
Legs of Iron - Rome (168 BC - 476 AD) After them were the Romans who ruled the world for nearly 650 years. They had Ceasars instead of kings. They were very powerful and cruel, but no where near as wealthy.
Feet of Iron and Clay – Europe Since the Roman times, most countries and continents are ruled separately. The British had an Empire, but it was only a part of the world. So did France and Spain, but they didn’t have absolute power as these others did.
But there is still a world power to come – this is represented by the feet of iron and clay. It seems it will be a world rule but with 10 rulers working together.
Lesson: Even though Daniel is in a foreign country, he is faithful at serving the king. But he never forgets God. In fact Daniel is always praying regularly and trusting in God. He asks God for help so he can serve his king well.
I think a good lesson here for us is that we should pray regularly to God, and trust him in all things, even when we don’t think things are going like we want. God looked after Daniel and He will look after you too if you put your trust in Him.