Soon after the ancient Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar the Great came to power in 605 BC, he had a terrifying dream that left him disturbed and sleepless. But this was no ordinary nightmare; Nebuchadnezzar knew that the dream was of great significance, and wanted its meaning explained to him. He summoned his wise men, ordering that they tell him both what he had dreamed and what it meant. The wise men of Babylon were at a loss, but God revealed the dream and its meaning to the Israelite prophet Daniel in a night vision. Daniel had the captain of the king’s guard arrange an audience with Nebuchadnezzar.
The king’s dream, Daniel explained, had pictured a human image, awesome in form and splendid in appearance. “Its head was of fine 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 clay” (Daniel 2:32–33). Then something dramatic happened. A stone, “cut out without hands… struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces” (v. 34). The awesome image collapsed, turning into dust which was carried away by the wind. After this, the stone that struck the image “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (v. 35).
God used this awe-inspiring vision to lay out for Nebuchadnezzar a broad scheme of civilizational history. Daniel explained to the king that the head of gold was none other than Nebuchadnezzar himself—God had made Nebuchadnezzar a king of kings, with a kingdom, power, strength and glory. The next part of the image was the silver chest and arms. This represented a successor kingdom, inferior to Nebuchadnezzar’s, which we now know was the Medo-Persian empire. Further down, the belly and thighs of brass represented the Greek empire. The lower part of the image, the legs of iron, represented the Roman empire.
These lower parts were struck by the stone, which destroyed the entire image. God was revealing that the ancient world, represented by these successive empires, would end, being destroyed by a new kingdom established by God. This new kingdom, which grew to fill the whole earth, represents Christian civilization, whose advent marked the beginning of modernity.
An important feature of history is revealed in the image of the statue. These successive empires all formed part of a larger whole. Although the four empires were distinct from each other, they derived successively from each other in important ways, including their intellectual and scientific development. Learning was conveyed from one empire to another via manuscripts and libraries. The knowledge conveyed concerned calendars, mathematics and theories of physics and the cosmos.
For readers wondering what relevance ancient Babylonia has in our post-modern era, consider the base-60 (or sexagesimal) numbering system of Babylonian mathematics. This system had several important advantages over other numbering systems (including our own base-10, or decimal system). For example, one half, one third, one quarter, one fifth, and one sixth can all be calculated with ease using the sexagesimal system, whereas the decimal system can only easily represent one half, one fifth and one tenth.[1] The Babylonian system was so useful that successive civilizations continued using it. If you have ever wondered why there are 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute, or 360 degrees in a circle, look no further than the ancient Babylonians and their über-useful sexagesimal numbering system.[2]
To demonstrate how Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation played out at a civilizational level, consider London’s famous landmark, Big Ben. The fact that the clock-faces are marked out at 60 minutes to the hour is derived, as we have just seen, from the Babylonians. Looking elsewhere on the clock, we see the Roman numerals around the clockfaces. Thus, the influence of the Babylonian head of gold, and the Roman legs of iron, are on display for all the world to see, even though these empires have long since crumbled into the dust of history. At the same time, Christians can be found in virtually all countries on earth. Big Ben is a monument to the truth of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision—the ancient empires have disappeared, even though their influence continues to this day.
We will consider the scientific rise and (relatively recent) fall of two scientific developments of the ancients: physics and evolution. We will compare these two cases and draw important lessons.
[1] In relation to each decimal digit.
[2] Lombardi, 2007.