The astrologers and magicians were greatly disturbed when
King Nebuchadnezzar required them to do something that seemed impossible. What were they
asked to do?
The book of Daniel tells us
how King Nebuchadnezzar put his astrologers and magicians to the test: «For you have agreed to speak and
words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the , and I shall
know that you can give me its .»
The prophet Daniel described the statue King Nebuchadnezzar
had seen in his dream: «This image's head was of fine gold, its
chest and arms of , its belly and thighs of ,
its legs of iron, its feet partly of and partly of .»
Then, the prophet Daniel told the interpretation of the
king's dream, explaining that each part of the statue corresponds to an earthly kingdom.
Which kingdom does the first part of the statue - the head of gold - represent?
Which kingdom does the second part of the statue - the
chest and arms of silver - represent?
The prophet Daniel went on with a third kingdom,
represented by the belly and thighs of bronze: «Then another, a
third kingdom of , which shall over all the
earth.» Indeed, the Greek Empire, established by the powerful king Alexander the
Great, covered far more vast territories than the two previous kingdoms.
Which kingdom does the fourth part of the statue - the legs
of iron - represent?
The last part of the great statue - the feet - announces a
divided kingdom, as described by the prophet Daniel: «As you saw
iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of ; but they will
not to one another, just as iron does not with clay.» Many
political and military leaders have indeed tried to place Europe under the authority of
only one ruler, but they all failed.
Finally, Daniel foretold how this succession of earthly
kingdoms will come to an end: «And in the days of these kings the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand .»
The prophet Daniel concluded the interpretation of the
king's dream with these words (check off all the right answers):«The dream is
certain.» «The dream is sheer
imagination.» «Its interpretation
is sure.» «Its interpretation
must be confirmed by an expert.»
The
Statue of Daniel