Understanding Bible Prophecy Series (4 of 7)

Putting a King in His Place

The sands of the Iraqi desert contained a history lesson for Saddam Hussein, says Mark Wilson, and, in fact, all humankind.

Captured and humiliated former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein idolised the neo-Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, of the sixth century BC. As a boy, an uncle raised him on the stories of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. Not surprisingly, Saddam decided to emulate the former Babylonian King and become his modern-day successor. And like his famous countryman, he too fell victim to prophecy.

In the late 1980s, early in his reign, Saddam promoted an Iraqi arts festival called “From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein.” He ordered images of himself and Nebuchadnezzar beamed side-by-side into the night sky over Baghdad as part of a laser light show.

He has also spent millions of dollars in an attempt to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon,* Nebuchadnezzar’s capital, on the same site. And, like Nebuchadnezzar, whose royal mark was imprinted on every brick of the ancient city, Saddam ordered his own signature stamped on bricks used in his reconstruction: “Saddam Hussein, the protector of Iraq, rebuilt civilisation and rebuilt Babylon,” it reads in Arabic.

In a proud and haughty gesture, Saddam had one of his many luxurious palaces built on high ground adjacent to the ruins of Babylon—a move demonstrating his desire to be even greater than Nebuchadnezzar.

It isn’t hard to see why Saddam Hussein idolised Nebuchadnezzar. After all, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem three times, took the Jews as captives, and became the greatest ruler of the Middle East.

But Saddam could have saved himself and his people a lot of trouble. If he’d taken note of a prophetic dream his idol had, and events that followed, he might have chosen differently.

the dream
One night in the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar went to bed, where he experienced an impressive dream. When he awoke, he knew it was important but, like us, couldn’t remember it.

So he summoned his astrologers, diviners and wise men, including Daniel the young Jewish captive prophet, and ordered them to tell him his dream. He wanted to know what it meant. But they couldn’t tell him, much less explain. However, after praying about it, God gave Daniel the same dream—and also its interpretation.

The next morning Daniel was brought before the king, and praising the God of heaven in front of his pagan captor, began, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery . . . but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come” (Daniel 2:27, 28).

Then, in eight short verses, he drew aside the curtain of the world’s future, foretelling the next 2500 years of history. Painted with brilliant clarity, and beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, his predictions were 100 per cent accurate.

“As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come. . . . There before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.

“The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

“While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.

“Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing-floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (2:29-35).

As Daniel spoke, you can imagine the king sitting on the edge of his throne, getting excited, and thinking, Yes, yes. This is the dream!
Then Daniel goes on: “Now we will interpret it. . . .”

the interpretation
The King waited breathlessly for the interpretation. What could his dream mean?
“You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory. . . . You are that head of gold” (verses 37 and 38).

With that revelation, you can imagine the chest of Nebuchadnezzar beginning to swell. The golden city of Babylon had been built by the king to last forever. But then disquiet creeps in as Daniel continues, “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours” (verse 39).

So the metals of the image were symbolic of kingdoms and, as prophecy evolved into history, successive kingdoms emerged.

the statue

Gold Babylon (605-539 BC)
Silver Medo-Persia (539-331 BC)
Bronze Greece (331-168 BC)
Iron Rome (168 BC-476 AD)

But what about the feet of iron and clay? Would there be a fifth world empire?
“As you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. . . . So the people will be a mixture and will not remain united” (41-43).

How marvellous is this—history following the script of prophecy? In the latter period of the Roman Empire, barbarian hoards from its north and south attacked. Attila the Hun, Alaric and the Goths, Genseric and the Vandals, as well as other rampaging invaders carved up the disintegrating Roman Empire into divisions whose kingdoms became the races or nations of Europe. England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal are European nations representative of the iron-and-clay feet of the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The prophet said the iron kingdom of Rome, would divide into kingdoms that would not “remain united.”

And, despite short-lived attempts to unite the nations, this is the history of Europe. Hanging on the wall of history is a whole gallery of individuals who have attempted and failed, among them Charlemagne (742-814), Charles V (1500-58), Louis XIV (1638-1715), Napoleon (1769-1821), Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), and Hitler (1889-1945).

Communism and more recently the European Union (despite promising appearances) can also be added to this list. All are witnesses to the power of the prophetic promise that this kingdom “will be a divided kingdom.”

Then Daniel concludes his interpretation for Nebuchadnezzar, telling him about the stone that crushes the image and becomes a great mountain.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever” (verse 44).

This is prophecy about our time and sovereignty. At some point during the period of the divided nations that follow the defunct Roman Empire, God will set up His kingdom—the stone kingdom—which will endure till eternity.

And when Daniel had finished telling the king the dream and its interpretation, he said, “The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy” (verse 45).

history’s lesson
Every word of it has come to pass.
If only Saddam Hussein’s uncle had told him the Bible’s story of Nebuchadnezzar and his dream and the events that followed in his life. Then Saddam might have demonstrated a little more humility and acknowledged God’s dominion over history, powers and individuals, as did his hero, who, falling prostrate before Daniel, said: “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries” (verse 47).

This wasn’t Nebuchadnezzar’s only dream to be interpreted by Daniel (chapter 4). He also had a lot to learn about true humility and spent time wandering the desert as a lunatic before he truly humbled himself, saying: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (4:37).

Such knowledge, such a transformation, could have saved Saddam from his spider hole, from where he was dragged, dishevelled and humiliated.

* Although Saddam Hussein rebuilt certain palaces and walls in ancient Babylon, to the dismay of archaeologists, the site today remains a museum of ruins to what was once the proud capital of Nebuchadnezzar’s ancient empire.