Old Testament Scriptural Summary and Selections

Daniel Chapter 2; D&C 65:2

Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday School Lesson #46

"A Kingdom Which Will Never Be Destroyed" - Daniel 2:44

Reference: Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual, (2001), 2016-19

Old Testament Student Manual Kings-Malachi, (1982), 298-99

The Old Testament Made Easier, Part Three, David J. Ridges

             Elder LeGrand Richards said: "Search this world over and you cannot find a church that claims a restitution of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

            "[Just] think of the coming of the Father and the Son to teach the real personality of the Godhead; the coming of Moroni with the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated; the coming of John the Baptist…with the Aaronic priesthood, the power to baptize by immersion for the remission of sins; the coming of Peter, James, and John who held the keys of the holy apostleship, with power to organize the church and kingdom of God in the earth for the last time, in fulfillment of the promise made by Daniel in his interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (emphasis added).

            "The king had forgotten his dream, and he called all the soothsayers and the wise men and astrologers, and none of them could tell him his dream. He heard of the man Daniel and sent for him, and Daniel said: “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28). Then Daniel told him about the rise and fall of the kingdoms of this world until the latter days, when the God of heaven would set up a kingdom that should never be destroyed or given to another people. But like a little stone cut out of the mountains without hands, it would roll forth until it should become as a great mountain and fill the whole earth (see Dan. 2:44–45)" (CR, The Scriptures Speak, April 1980, lds.org).

           

            The purpose of this lesson is: "To strengthen class members’ testimonies of the restored Church of Jesus Christ and encourage them to help build the kingdom of God on earth" (from the Teacher's Manual).          

Daniel Chapter 2 - Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is revealed to Daniel

            In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and it troubled his spirit so he couldn't sleep.  And the king commanded that the magicians, the astrologers, and the sorcerers be called before him to interpret his dream. And they said to the king, "tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew [show] the interpretation." The king decided to test their power and told them falsely "The thing is gone from me" (see footnote 5a).  And he told them if they couldn't "make known" to him the dream and the interpretation of it he would destroy them and make their houses "a dunghill."  Then he promised, "if ye shew the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts, and rewards and great honour" (vv. 1-6).

            Once again the magicians, astrologers and sorcerers asked the king to tell them the dream but the king knew with the passing of time, they would prepare "lying and corrupt words to speak" before him, "til the time be changed." The soothsayers answered, "There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter" except the gods, "whose dwelling is not with flesh" and  no king, lord or ruler should ask that of them or anyone else. This angered the king and he commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.  "And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain" (vv. 8-13).

            When Daniel spoke "with counsel and wisdom" to the captain of the kings guard, Arioch, who was to slay the wise men of Babylon, he asked, "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?"  And Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.  So Daniel appeared before the king and told him if he would give him time, he would "shew the king the interpretation."  Then Daniel went to his house and told his companions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to pray for "mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret" that they and the rest of the wise men of Babylon would not perish (vv. 14-18).

            In a night vision, "the God of heaven" blesses Daniel with the king's secret.  And Daniel answered, “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him" (vv. 19-22).

            And Daniel gave thanks and praise to the God of his fathers, who gave him wisdom and might, and made known unto him what was desired in the king's matter.  Daniel asks Arioch to take him before the king and he will interpret the king's dream. In haste Arioch tells the king that he has found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known the interpretaion.  The king asks Daniel, "Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?" Daniel answers the king telling him the secret demanded of the mystics can only be revealed by the God in heaven making known to Nebuchadnezzar "what shall be in the [future] latter days." Daniel humbly tells the king the secret that has been reavealed to him is not because of any wisdom that he [Daniel] has more than anyone else [it can only come from God] (vv. 23-28, 30).

            Then, he tells the king what he saw in his dream. "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image…whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible [overwhelming]. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of sliver, his belly and his thighs of brass.  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay" (vv. 31-33).

               From President Spencer W. Kimball:

1.    The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon.

2.    The breast and arms of silver represented Cyrus and his kingdom of Media and Persia.

3.    The belly and thighs of brass represented Philip and Alexander and the Greek or Macedonian kingdom.

4.    The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire.

5.    The feet of iron and clay represented a group of European nations. (In Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 10; or Ensign, May 1976, 8) (see vv. 38-43).

Daniel continues, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands [the work of God, the true Church; Ridges, p. 435], which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces" (v. 34).

Ridges comments: "[The] stone representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, goes forth into the whole earth, destroying all earthly kingdoms until it fills the earth (see D&C 65:2; D&C 87:6)."

 "One other consideration about the stone or rock,…is that Jesus Christ is often referred to in scripture as the 'Rock of our salvation,' the sure Foundation.  He and His gospel will ultimately overcome all obstacles and enemies and fill the earth with truth and light" (Ridges, p. 435).

"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the 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" (v. 35). Now Daniel tells the king, "And in the days of these kings (see vv. 38-43) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left [given] to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these [other] kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever" (v. 44).

D&C 65:2 - "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth."

President Kimball taught: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830. … This is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 10; or Ensign, May 1976, 8–9, quoted in the Teacher's Manual).

            And Daniel tells the king, "Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure" (v. 45). Then the king fell on his face and he knew Daniel had spoken the truth of the dream and it's interpretation. The king said to Daniel, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret." And the king "made him [Daniel] ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon" (vv. 46-48).

President Gordon B. Hinckley testified: “This Church is true. It will weather every storm that beats against it. It will outlast every critic who rises to mock it. It was established by God our Eternal Father for the blessing of His sons and daughters of all generations. It carries the name of Him who stands as its head, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. It is governed and moves by the power of the priesthood. It sends forth to the world another witness of the divinity of the Lord. Be faithful, my friends. Be true. Be loyal to the great things of God which have been revealed in this dispensation” (“Keep the Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 1985, 6, quoted in the Teacher's Manual, lds.org).