Sermon - Daniel 2:31-49 - God at Work - February 23, 2019
Two weeks ago, we saw that king Nebuchadnezzar did not have
the knowledge or wisdom to understand his dream. As one of the greatest kings
of his day, with the power, money, and people at his disposal he could not
determine the meaning of it and it troubled him. He reached out to his advisers
for help but knowing that something was different with this dream he expected them
to tell him the dream. They realized they could not talk their way out of it,
they could not pretend that some fake god was talking to them, and they could
not get the king to change his mind about telling them the details of the dream.
In anger the king ordered the execution of all the wise men.
Daniel and his friends were not at the meeting turned
execution and as the Bible states, Daniel used ‘tact and discretion.’ Put
another way, God gave him the words he needed when he talked to the captain of
the guard and the king. They granted Daniel some time so that he could give the
king the interpretation.
Seeing God at work in Daniel in this dark and trying time,
is a reminder that God is at work in us and around us at all times. We may not
see it at the time, but as we seek Jesus with all of our hearts, we can be
assured that He is with us always.
Daniel was given a chance to seek God’s blessing to provide
the dream and the interpretation. He went home, spoke to his friends, and asked
them to pray for God’s mercy so that they would not be destroyed with the rest
of Babylon’s wise men. The guys understood this problem was bigger than they were,
they went to God in prayer, and the mystery was revealed.
Daniel prayed to his God and then he praised his God for
working in his life. We need to remember that as hard as things get, we are not
alone in this world. We need to turn to the creator of the universe. We need to
pray to our God. We need to praise Him for all that He does. Our focus needs to
be on Him as He works in us. We need to put our trust in the King of Kings.
We ended last week with Daniel standing before the king
telling Nebuchadnezzar that he did not have the knowledge or wisdom to do what
the king was asking, but Daniel’s God could. Daniel was saying that he was a
nobody, but the God in Heaven had the answers and has made them known. God was
using him to speak to the king.
We will pick up with Daniel telling the king his dream.
Daniel 2:31-33
“31 “Your Majesty, as you were watching,
suddenly a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was
standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The
head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach
and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its
feet were partly iron and partly fired clay.”
I can almost imagine the king moving forward in his seat as
he is listening to Daniel retell exactly what he had seen in the dream. The
king would of remembered how he looked up at this huge statue with its head of
gold and how the materials changed to silver, bronze, iron, and a mix of iron
and clay as he looked at it from head to toe.
Daniel 2:34-35
“34 As you were watching, a stone
broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and
fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the
fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like
chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a
trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a
great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
By this point in time the king would be glued to every word
that came out of Daniel’s mouth. Daniel had been able to describe the dream
exactly as the king remembered it. It was obvious that Daniel had that ‘divine
intervention’ that the other guys did not have. God was at work!
Daniel 2:36
“36 “This was the dream; now we will
tell the king its interpretation.”
At this point everybody would be listening. It would be one
of those times you could hear a pin drop. Everyone wanted to hear what Daniel
was going to say.
Daniel 2:37-38
“37 Your Majesty, you are king of
kings. The God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and
glory. 38 Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds
of the sky—he has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You
are the head of gold.”
Daniel points out that Nebuchadnezzar is the greatest
monarch is his day. He is recognized as the king of kings, lower case ‘k’s. The
head of gold represents that his kingdom is the greatest kingdom of its time. Nebuchadnezzar
ruled for forty-three years before Babylon’s decline under the kings who
followed him.
Daniel also points out that the ‘sovereignty, power,
strength, and glory’ that the king has received has come from the One True God.
While the king is the greatest of his time, he owes it all to God. He was
appointed for this time. He was put in place as king to play a part in the
seventy-year exile.
All of this continues a theme we have been seeing so far in
the book of Daniel, God is at Work. He is at work in those that follow Him, and
He is at work in the world around us. We may not always see Him, we may not
understand it, but God is at work. Knowing what we know about Nebuchadnezzar
and the things he does in chapters 3 and 4, who would have thought that the
Creator of all things would be at work in him. The king simply does not get it,
but Our God used the king to carry out His plans.
Daniel 2:39
“39 “After you, there will arise
another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of
bronze, which will rule the whole earth.”
The head of gold is the Babylonian empire under king Nebuchadnezzar.
The silver torso and arms represent the rise of the Medes and the Persians. Two
separate kingdoms that together defeated Babylon but even when combined God was
saying they were inferior to the Babylonian empire.
The bronze belly and thighs represent the Greek Empire under
Alexander the great who conquered both the Medes and Persians and grew his
empire to one that covered more of the earth than any of the kingdoms before
him. Yet, it was still inferior.
Daniel 2:40
“40 A fourth kingdom will be as
strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that
smashes, it will crush and smash all the others.”
The Iron kingdom is the Roman Empire and it crushed all the
empires that came before it. The Roman Empire grew in size, conquering all of
the lands covered by the three kingdoms before it and then some.
Daniel 2:41-43
“41 You saw the feet and toes, partly
of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom,
though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with
clay, 42 and that the toes of the feet were partly iron
and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be
brittle. 43 You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples
will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix
with fired clay.”
While the Roman Empire was stronger than those that came
before it, it was divided and weak. It had the military might to conquer
nations, but iron being mixed with clay illustrates the underlying weakness. Some
will say the weakness is due to the leaders doing a poor job of uniting the people.
Others will point to the complete lack of morals that weakened the nation. Either
way you look at it they were not united in purpose or in values.
In Mark 3 Jesus said something about how a kingdom or house
divided will fall. The Roman Empire was divided, and it fell.
Daniel 2:44-45
“44 “In the days of those kings, the
God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this
kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms
and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. 45 You
saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it
crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told
the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its
interpretation reliable.””
A stone or a ‘Rock’ breaks off and smashes the kingdoms. At
first glance it is easy to think that God will destroy the earthly kingdoms represented
by the gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Another interpretation is that the ‘Rock
smashes the toes mentioned in verse 41, which represents the 10 horns of the fourth
beast found in Daniel chapter 7, which represents 10 kings who ultimately give
their power to the beast in Revelation 17.
Arguments have been made for both interpretations, but we
know that Jesus, the ‘Rock’ will come and wipe away the antichrist and all that
follow him. We know that Jesus will come and establish His kingdom for all
eternity. He will setup a kingdom that will never be destroyed, a kingdom that will
endure forever. Knowing how the story ends, I would lean toward the rock
smashing the feet and toes as pointing towards Jesus coming and wiping away the
antichrist and all that follow him. Then we see the Rock grows into a kingdom
that endures forever. Jesus will rule for all eternity.
Daniel ends with saying ‘The dream is certain, and its
interpretation reliable.’ Kind of like ending a statement with an exclamation
point! God revealed the dream and gave the interpretation. No person or pagan
god could do what God just did through Daniel, there should be no doubt at all
about what has been shared.
God speaks through His Word to us, and we need to believe
it. There should be zero doubt about the accuracy of God’s Word. It is a living
Word that speaks to us, guides us, and lights the path before us. We need to
trust in His Word above all else.
Up to this point we have heard nothing from the king, let’s
look at how he responds.
Daniel 2:46-47
“46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell
facedown, worshiped Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense
to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed
God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to
reveal this mystery.”
The king starts by worshipping Daniel, but gives praise and
recognition to who God is. He states that He is the God of gods, Lord of kings,
and Revealer of mysteries. The king has recognized that the God that Daniel has
been pointing to is greater than any Babylonian god in existence. He is the God
that has put the king in a place of power today and can take it away tomorrow.
He is the God who knows all things. Through Daniel’s faithfulness a pagan
non-believing king has seen the truth of who God is.
When we faithfully point to our God, by honoring God in our
words and in our actions, people see it. When we stand out from the worldly
crowd, when we truly show that we make God the focal point of our lives, when
we love our neighbors, people may not understand what they are seeing but
eventually they will see that God is at work in us and through us.
Daniel 2:48-49
“48 Then the king promoted Daniel and
gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of
Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 At
Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage
the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.”
Another sign of God at work. Here were four guys who had
recently been taken into captivity and probably figured they would end up working
in a mine somewhere. Now they are the leaders in Babylon. God was at work to
bring them into a place that they can carry out His mission for their lives. Them
being in these positions probably paves the way for many other bits and pieces
of history found in the Bible and even some things we can only speculate about.
We do not know how much of history was influenced by these guys faithfully
serving God, but I am sure it is significant.
We need to remember that what we read in the Bible applies
to each one of us. God is at work in our lives just like He was at work in
Daniel’s life. God will use us to carry out the mission He has for us, just as
He used Daniel.
We need to step out in faith and let God work.
God Bless,
Robert
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