Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I think that you may be getting aspects of two different portions of the book of Daniel confused. 

As related in Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of an enormous statue (of unspecified size) composed of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay (in stages from the statue's head to its feet) that was broken to pieces by a rock not made with human hands. The rock then subsequently enlarged and filled the whole earth.

In my opinion, God first gave this dream to Nebuchadnezzar (rather than to Daniel) because the symbolism of the dream foretold what was going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar, as well as the empires that would succeed him, and God wanted to impress upon Nebuchadnezzar (since he was the one most directly affected) that God was in control of those coming events.

However, Nebuchadnezzar could not remember the dream when he awoke, and he demanded (on threat of death) that his wise men (magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers) tell him what he had dreamed. These men told the king that no one was capable of doing that. 

When Daniel prayed to God to reveal the dream and its interpretation to him (so that the wise men might be spared), God then also revealed the dream, as well as its meaning, to Daniel, which Daniel then gave to Nebuchadnezzar. 

The image mentioned in the question that was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide was an idol of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar actually subsequently constructed in Daniel 3, and commanded his subjects to bow down to in worship. Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, as they had originally been named in Hebrew) would not bow down to the idol, the king had them bound and cast into the fiery furnace, from which God delivered them.

April 19 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Bud Zack

The reason for the vision of the statue in the dream to King N. was to reveal to Daniel its undetected meaning so that he could gain prominence in the government by being the only one who could successfully reveal to the King what it meant. Daniel earned the King's trust. Daniel later served King Darius, the step father of Cyrus. Eventually Daniel met up with Cyrus, and revealed 4 Kings to him. The fourth was Cyrus himself, who Daniel persuaded by Biblical prophecy that Cyrus was mentioned 100 years earlier (by Jeremiah) as the leader who would free the Jews, and start rebuilding of the Temple, and Jerusalem.

I can not find the 90' image part, except the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar created of himself, for all to worship, which led to the unsuccessful burning of Daniel's friends. Who wouldn't worship it. Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego

April 19 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kenneth Heck

The great image, or statue, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of pertained only to the Jews. It described the succession of gentile empires the Jews and the land of Israel would be under (the times of the Gentiles) up until the time of the Kingdom of God was manifested on earth. 

God caused Nebuchadnezzar to forget the dream because otherwise the wise men in Babylon would have been able to interpret it, none of whom had anything to do with the dream. God then revealed the dream to Daniel, a Jew, so that he and his religion would have much greater status within the Babylonian empire. This is similar to what happened with Joseph and the Pharaoh over 1,000 years previously.

Nebuchadnezzar, mistaking his own spiritual importance in his dream, later created the sixty cubit high golden statue. His absurd sense of self importance ultimately led to his tree dream, symbolically describing his downfall and restoration (Dan 4:4-37).

April 20 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report