By David R. Larson
A Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for October 2–8, 2004, "Nebuchadnezzar’s Image"
Because it helpfully addresses constant change, a challenge we all face, the second chapter of Daniel is one of the most encouraging portions of Scripture. We follow its narrative thread easily enough. King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon suffers from insomnia. When he finally falls asleep, nightmares that he cannot remember in the morning interrupt his rest. He implores the relevant professionals to tell him what he has been dreaming and what his dreams mean.
Perplexed by Nebuchadnezzar’s requests, and apparently too frightened to risk making up answers that might satisfy him, the king’s counselors beg him to tell them his dreams so that they can interpret them. He orders their executions, furiously suspecting that they have been frauds all along.
This death sentence applies even to Daniel, who apparently missed the ill-fated meeting. When Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, comes for Daniel, he requests to see Nebuchadnezzar and Arioch agrees. Daniel successfully asks the king for time to find the needed answers. He then asks his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to pray. Their prayers are effectual and Daniel receives a vision in the night that explains things. He tells the king what he dreamed and what his dreams mean. Nebuchadnezzar spares the lives of Daniel and many others.
Without labeling them, this account includes at least three themes that can help us all. One of these is that everything always changes. This does not mean that all things completely change. Partial change is more frequent and less threatening. In addition, when we say that everything changes, we are talking about concrete things: rocks, dogs, cats, human beings, institutions, societies, and so forth. Formulae that are completely abstract do not change. The fact that two plus two equals four never changes, for instance. All tangible things constantly change, however. The sooner and more completely we accept this, the better off we will be.
Even God always changes, not in priority, character, or purpose, but in how God’s everlasting love and justice relate to constantly changing circumstances throughout the universe. This is why we are soldiers in a hopeless battle whenever we try to keep all things the way they are. Comprehensive and absolute conservatism is impossible. Even if we do nothing but sit in our chairs, we change and so does everything else.
This is not what King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to hear. He liked it when his advisors greeted him with, "O king, live for ever!" He did not want his current position of strength to end. Nevertheless, Daniel’s message was clear: another force will overtake Babylon, a third one will defeat it, and a fourth will defeat the third. Finally, the territory will be divided into many smaller units. These will then be replaced by something else that will last forever.
The king’s dreams symbolized these changes by a large statue with a head and of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet and toes that were partly iron and partly clay. In the end, a stone not cut by human hands, something both ordinary and extraordinary, ground the statue to dust and became a mountain that filled the whole earth.
A second important theme in Daniel 2 is that change is often for the better in some ways and for the worse in others. Daniel informed Nebuchadnezzar that "after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the world."
True, in many ways, silver is inferior to gold, bronze to silver, and iron to bronze. Nevertheless, if subsequent political powers are inferior in every respect, they are unable to dislodge existing ones. For this reason, Daniel’s point must have been that the empires that would succeed Babylon would be inferior in some ways but superior in others and that the ways in which they would be superior would enable them to be more successful in the changed circumstances.
This is a fascinating process, one that I have often observed on a small scale on university campuses. New professors rarely possess exactly the same talents and skills of their predecessors; nevertheless, because they possess other resources, they are often very successful in different ways, particularly when changing times place a premium on what they bring to campus.
Does the university experience a loss in some ways when such changes occur? Yes! Does it experience a gain in other ways? Absolutely! Therefore, whenever we feel that we are "merely" silver, we should remind ourselves that there are times and places where silver is more effective and valuable than gold. If this were not so, Babylon would still be ruling the world!
The third theme is also important. It is that God participates in the process of constant change as a positive influence in every moment of every life and that this influence will eventually triumph. The stone cut without human hands becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth; unlike its predecessors, it lasts forever.
"In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will of prowess of man," declared Ellen White and her editors in the book Education (173). Nevertheless, this passage goes on to say that in Scripture we can discern "behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will."
Some hold that in this paragraph and others like it Ellen White taught that God’s overwhelming power wholly determines everything that happens. Although some of the things she said and wrote support that interpretation, her overall position seems to have been more subtle and persuasive. It is that things do not happen randomly, but also that God’s sovereignty does not determine that all things occur precisely as they do. Rather, the all-merciful One works silently and patiently as an influence for good in everything that happens. What actually occurs depends in large measure upon how we respond to God’s positive influence.
No matter how many foolish mistakes we make, and no matter how badly others hurt us, God continues to work for good in our lives and in the lives of all other living beings everywhere. It also means that God’s positive influence will triumph, not by force but by outlasting and outsmarting the opposition. This is good news!
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