“The God of Heaven” [Matt's Messages]

“The God of Heaven”

The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

January 26, 2025 :: Daniel 2:1-49  

Daniel chapter 2 is about “The God of Heaven.”

I know that’s kind of obvious, and yet it’s also quite easy to miss.

It’s easy to think that Daniel chapter 2 is about Daniel. And it is, and we need to dare to be like him. But it’s really not about Daniel.

And it’s easy to think that Daniel chapter 2 is about King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And it is, and we can learn a lot from watching him in this story. But it’s really not about King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

And it’s easy to think that Daniel chapter 2 is about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and what it means. And it is, and we need to give it our attention today. But it’s not even really about this dream. 

It’s about the God of heaven. He exists, and He is the point of this whole story.

I noticed this as I read it and re-read and re-read it over and over again this week. This name for God jumped out. It’s in verse 18, 19, 37, and 44. And it’s not a name for God that is used a whole lot of other places in the Bible. Especially up to this point in the story. Just a handful of times. And then it shows up around the exile and after the exile: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel chapter 2.

“The God of Heaven.” Or some of your Bibles might say, “The God of the Heavens” (plural). That’s a legitimate translation, too. The God who is up there and above all the heavens. Even above the stars!

That’s Whom this story is all about. And therefore He’s Whom we should focus our attention on the most as we read Daniel chapter 2.

Last week, we jumped feet first into the wild and wonderful Book of Daniel. A daunting book like no other! Six wild and wonderful chapters of dangerous contests in the courts of Babylon and six wild and wonderful chapters of apocalyptic visions of the future. In two ancient languages. Six chapters of Hebrew and six chapters of Aramaic, though not necessarily the six you might expect of each. History, prophecy, and wisdom all in one book. Nothing quite like it!

Last week, we learned how the God of Judah gave the King of Judah to the King of Babylon. Do you remember this? Some of you had to miss it last week because of the weather or because you were “under the weather.” The LORD, the God of Judah gave the King of Judah (bad king Jehoiakim) into the hands of the King of Babylon, the fascinating King Nebuchadnezzar in 605BC.

And because of that, Judah had to give up some of the gold stuff in the temple of the LORD to rest in the temple of Marduk (or Bel) the God of Nebuchadnezzar. Not because Marduk had beaten Adonai! No. But because Adonai had said, “That’s enough.” Judah had broken the covenant with the LORD, and the LORD was bringing the punishments He had promised.

And that discipline included the deportation of the cream of the crop of the nobility in Judah to travel 600 miles away and be forced to attend Babylon University.

Including four young men, probably in the early teens, and their names were, what? Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Sweet young men. Forced to learn the language and literature of the Babylonians. And to take on Babylonian names based on the gods of their enemy who had just beaten them. Basically to become Babylonians in the service of the king of Babylon.

Last week, we read about the “Miracle of the Vegetables,” right? The original Veggi-Tale? Daniel quietly asked if he and his friends while they were in the three years of training could skip all the good stuff at the king’s table all the meat and wine and just eat vegetables and drink water. Probably to keep from becoming Babylonians in their hearts.

And somehow in God’s power they got fat on that! And they graduated at the top of their class. They were wiseman-in-training. Apprentice wisemen in the service of the king of Babylon.

That’s what we learned last week. We learned a lot more than that, but that’s the basic story.

The story that Kyla just began to read to us happens either just after that or even during that period of training. I think it’s just after their graduation. It happens in the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. And I think that’s second year in the Babylonian way of reckoning which makes this about 602 BC.

Daniel and his friends are still very young. And they are very in trouble for no fault of their own.

The story begins in the royal bedroom of the most powerful man on the planet. Look again at chapter 2, verse 1.

“In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, ‘I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means’” (vv.1-3). Stop there for a second.

Now, we’ve all had bad dreams, right? But most of us don’t call in the experts to explain them after we do. Nebuchadnezzar had some dreams so bad that he wanted help in understanding them.

In the ancient world, bad dreams were seen as bad omens. And if the most powerful man in the world was having nightmares, then maybe something terrible was going to happen.

You can just feel the fear coming off of him, can’t you? Maybe he’s had the same dream several nights in row. It’s always the same. It’s always the same. And it’s scary. “What does it mean?!” Maybe he’s been waking up in a sweat. His heart pounding. “What does it mean?!”

It’s gotten so that he can’t sleep. Maybe he doesn’t want to sleep because there’s that dream again. “What does it mean?!”

Well, when you are the most powerful man on the planet, you have a team for that. You have a team for everything! You have a set of specialists who are experts in understanding explaining the world. The top guys in their field. We could call them the “Magi.” Or the team of wisemen.

Verse 2 calls them “the magicians, the enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers.” That last one is literally the “Chaldeans” who were the leading ethnic group know for their grasp of astrology.

Is Daniel in this room? No, he’s not. That’s because he’s not the top guy. He’s just a Hebrew teenager who is at the top of his game. But he’s not here. These are all Babylonians. The cream of their crop. But we’re going to soon find out that their best is not even close to good enough.

The king says, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”

And they say, “No problem! That’s why we are here.” Verse 4.

“Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic [CSB: “Aramaic begins here:”], ‘O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.’”

Note that in verse 4 we begin our second language for this book. The first chapter was in Hebrew. Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are going to be in Aramaic which was becoming the world language of the day. Like English is around the world right now. And these chapters will be about the whole world in some ways. 

Your Bible might say the language starting in verse 4 is “Syriac” because the Greeks called the land of Aram, “Syria” so their language was called Syriac by some. Some of your Bibles may call it the language of the “Chaldees” which was Aramaic. After the exile, Aramaic became the leading language of the Israelites. Many forgot their Hebrew altogether. That’s what most Israelites spoke in Jesus’ day, including Jesus!

The wisemen say, “No problem with this request, O king, live forever!” (Which is interesting. Because the king is, of course, not going to live forever. But nobody wants to say that around the most powerful man on the planet.)

They say, “No problem. Tell us the dream, and we will consult our books.”

You see it’s not necessarily that they were fakers. They probably weren’t going to just make something up. They had these extensive manuals full of dreams recorded by men and what happened after the dreams so that if someone had a dream, they had these experts in dreamology who could give an expert interpretation. So, “Lay it on us, O king. We’ll get you fixed up.”

But here’s where Nebuchadnezzar throws a wrench into the works and makes this little crisis into a matter of life and death. Look at verse 5.

“The king replied to the astrologers, ‘This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me’” (vv.5-6).

Oh. That’s a lot harder, isn’t it? He wants them to tell him what his dream was and then what it means. Or else.

Notice the brutality here. Nebuchadnezzar is scared. So he wants everyone else to feel scared. And it’s no empty threat. This guy kills people every day. Sometimes probably just for kicks.

“So here’s the deal. If you tell me what I dreamed and get it right and explain to me what it is and get that right, then you get to live and be showered with gifts and rewards and honors.

And if you don’t, then you get dismembered and have your houses demolished. That’s the deal.”

They don’t like that deal. Not one bit. Verse 7.

“Once more they replied, ‘Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.’”

You know this story is almost funny but it’s not funny. Because it’s true. "O king, we are interpreters not prophets. I hope you’re joking here.”  Nebuchadnezzar says, “No joke. And don’t joke with me.” Verse 8.

“Then the king answered, ‘I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me’” (vv.8-9).

I think he may be onto them. He’s suspicious at least. He’s not sure that they have any real wisdom! They’re just stalling for time and hoping that he’ll change his mind.

“I’m not going to change my mind. Tell me my dream, or else.”

I think it’s interesting that if they can tell him what the dream was, then he’ll believe whatever they say it means. “If you can do the hard part of telling me what’s in my head, then I’ll trust you to tell me what it all meant.”

And they say, “We can’t do that. Nobody can do that.” verse 10.

“The astrologers answered the king, ‘There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.’”

That’s very honest! And it’s devastating. They are scared stiff.

By the way, this is a picture of all of the wisdom of the world. There’s lots of knowledge out there. Lots of information. But there’s very little wisdom of real value. And those who claim to be wise are actually running scared. Those who claim to be powerful are quaking in their boots. And nobody really knows anything.

And it’s also a challenge, isn’t it?  When the astrologers go off saying, “No one can do this,” you know that Daniel’s going to pull it off somehow. That’s a great story!

And when they say, “No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men,” our minds just run to John chapter 1, don’t they? John 1:14 about Christmas.

The Word [the Son of God] became flesh and made his dwelling among us...” But that’s getting way ahead of the story!

The wiseman say, “No can do.” And so the king says, “You all die.” V.12

“This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. [And that includes the wisemen who just graduated from college.] So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death” (vv.12-13). Verse 14.

“When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.  He asked the king's officer, ‘Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?’ Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him” (vv.14-16).

Remember, Daniel is still a very young man. But he’s an exceptionally wise and godly young man. He has resolved to not defile himself, and he’s been keeping his resolution.

And here, he does not panic. You see that? This is the only guy who speaks in this story who is not scared. Daniel is not afraid. Even though he just found out that he’s supposed to die today.

Dare to be a Daniel and not be driven by fear!

Daniel and his friends are in deep trouble, and they haven’t done anything. They are just in a class people who are getting swept up in the king’s anger and fear. But the Bible says that he spoke up with wisdom and tact.

Dare to be a Daniel and speak up with wisdom tact!

He listens the story and decides to act boldly. Verse 16 says that he went in to the king. Maybe in person. Maybe it means he sent a message asking for a stay on that ruling. He’s not stalling and hoping the problem will go away, he’s just asking for a little time to solve the problem. And he gets it.

We just saw two more little miracles here, by the way. Arioch was supposed to kill Daniel, not talk to him! And Daniel was supposed to be dead not getting an extension on their homework. I think that maybe God is at work?

By the way, if this was me, I would be so depressed. Here I had just lived for three years on vegetables and water and just went through this massive training course by my enemies that I hated so much. And at the end of all that, I’m going to be killed because their wisemen couldn’t tell the king what he dreamed last night?! Really?!

But instead of despair, Daniel got busy for the LORD.

Dare to be a Daniel and get busy for the LORD.

And call a prayer meeting.

Look at verse 17. This is what Daniel needed the extra time for. A prayer meeting. Verse 17.

“Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Vv.17-18).

Dare to be a Daniel and take it to the Lord in prayer.

I have four points this morning about The God of Heaven. One for each time He is named that in this chapter. And here’s the first one.

#1. THE GOD OF HEAVEN GRANTS MERCY.

The God of Heaven dispenses mercy, that’s why Daniel and his friends are bold to pray for it!

They need help, and they need it bad! They can’t stop what is coming for them on their own.

That’s what mercy is. Mercy is doing something for someone that they couldn’t do on their own. For a bunch of different reasons. Because they don’t have the power. Because they don’t have the worthiness. Because they don’t have the ability. Because they are broken in some way. Mercy sees a problem and has compassion and does something about it. You’re merciful if you do something for someone that they need but maybe don’t deserve. 

And Daniel knows that His God, the God of Heaven is full of mercy.  He’s holy, holy, holy! And He is no pushover. He is not to be trifled with. But you can ask, and He may show favor. He may show compassion. He just may show mercy. The Apostle Paul said that our God is “rich in mercy.” 

And we know that, most of all, because of what God did for us on the Cross, what we could not do for ourselves.

And Daniel and his friends were so right to pray for that mercy. 

Perhaps you need mercy right now. The forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life? And perhaps something else. Some heavy, scary problem that you can run to with your friends.

Notice that Daniel is not alone. We say, “Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone.” And that’s right if you have to be alone. But right then Daniel was not alone. He was praying with his friends.

Dare to be a Daniel and have a prayer meeting with your friends.

Because the God of Heavens grants mercy. That’s exactly what He did. Look at verse 19.

“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.”

#2. THE GOD OF HEAVEN REVEALS MYSTERIES.

That night, God, in His mercy, showed Daniel what Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed and what it meant!

And that’s another miracle. The God of heaven reveals mysteries.

And I love what Daniel does right after this miracle! The first thing he does is not to run off to the king and try to save his life and friends’ lives. No, the first thing Daniel does is give praise to the God of Heaven! V.19 again.

“Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king’” (vv.19b-23).

Isn’t that beautiful? It’s like a psalm.

Dare to be a Daniel and hold off saving your life to sing God’s praises first.

Notice what Daniel says about Who God is. He’s the “God of heaven” (v.19) and He has wisdom and power. He has control over times and seasons (eras). He has control over politics. He sets up kings and deposes them. More on that in just a second. 

And He reveals mysteries. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 

Which is a dig on the wisemen of Babylon, isn’t it? They don’t have it. Daniel and his friends do because of God’s mercy. Look closely at verse 22.

“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Jenni put that on the cover of our worship bulletins today. This says that God knows all the things, and He tells us some of them.

God knows all the things, and He tells us some of them.

God knows all the secrets there are. “He knows what lies in the darkness.”

He knows your secrets and mine. He knows what we dreamed last night even if we don’t remember it! He knows what we were thinking in our deepest thoughts even if we haven’t told anyone.

He knows what’s going to happen! And He tells us some of it. “Light dwells with Him.” Illumination.

What does that mean for you and me today? It means that we should seek the LORD’s revelation. And, today, the clearest revelation of the LORD is right here in our hands! The Bible is special revelation from God! He’s told us what we need to know. He’s gotten it written down in this book! And it’s been translated into our own language. I barely can read Hebrew. I can’t read Aramaic. But this is written in English! And God’s revelation.

Are you reading your Bible in 2025? Are you asking the LORD to give you wisdom and knowledge and discernment? He’s got those things. The world does not! And He’s giving them to us if we seek Him.

Do you spend more time on Netflix than you do in your Bible?

Do you spend more time on YouTube than you do in your Bible?

Do you spend more time on TikTok than you do in your Bible?

Why in the world?! Is that where wisdom is?!

I know you can get Bible on Netflix and YouTube and TikTok. That’s not what I’m saying.

I’m saying are you seeking the wisdom of the world, the wisdom of Babylon which, in the end, is full of fear, anger, and brutality? Or are you seeking the God who “reveals deep and hidden things?” I don’t know about you, but I want the light that dwells with Him.

Then Daniel took this light to the king. Look at verse 24.

“Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, ‘Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.’”

Which is really gracious, isn’t it? He could have wiped out his entire competition in one fell swoop. They will not treat him with the same graciousness in the future. But he is trying to save the day for many and not just him and his friends. Almost unbelievably, young Daniel is granted an audience with the king. Verse 25.

“Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, ‘I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.’ [Which of course, he did no such thing. As if he was searching for this and not having it handed to him. But whatever, Arioch. V.26]

The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), ‘Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?’

Daniel replied, ‘No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about...but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come” (vv.26-28).

Dare to be a Daniel and speak up with courage even before the most powerful man in the world.

Courage and humility! Notice that Daniel says that he doesn’t have what it takes on his own to explain the mystery to the king. Unlike Arioch, Daniel does not take credit for what he’s about to say!

He says, “Your wisemen were right. They can’t do this. None of us can do this! But I know Someone who can. And it’s not Marduk. It’s not Bel, whom you have named me after. They are no help here." Verse 28 again.

“...but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.”

King Nebuchadnezzar, in your dreams, God has shown you the future. 

Isn’t that wild that God did that?! He didn’t have to. There’s no rule that the most powerful person in the world gets a dream that explains the future from now to the end of history. But He did for Nebuchadnezzar! While the LORD was disciplining His people in exile, He made sure that the ruler of the world got this message and that a Hebrew got to interpret it and get it written down for the ages.

The God of Heaven reveals mysteries including what is going to happen in the future.

And now we know the future!

Daniel tells the king his own dream. Verse 28.

“Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these: 

‘As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.

As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

‘You looked, O king, and 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 huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king” (vv.28-36).

Just pause there for a second and that let the picture of that dream soak in.

Wow, right?! Just, wow!

This is the first vision in the book and the only one really in the first half of the book (and the only on in Aramaic). And it’s similar to visions in the rest of the book, especially the one in chapter 7 where our memory verse comes from. And Daniel says it’s about the future.

I’m not going to put my picture of this statue up on the screen, but you might want to draw your own. 

There’s this colossal statue in the dream.

“Enormous, dazzling, awesome in appearance.” It’s probably bright and beautiful and imposing. Scary! Towering!

And it’s made different kinds of substances, mostly metal. There’s like 4 different parts to the statue.  

The head is gold.

The chest and arms are silver.

The belly and thighs are bronze. This is kind of going downhill isn’t it? Maybe each metal is stronger than the last but less valuable.

And the legs are iron and the feet with the legs are iron with some clay mixed in.

Clay?

Clay and iron mixed together? That’s not gonna work.

This is, by the way, where we get the phrase, “He has feet of clay.”

Crumbly. 

Because the king saw this rock.

It’s cut out of like a mountainside? But it’s not cut with human hands. This is out of this world. It’s not cut by us. It’s cut by God! And it’s gone flying. This rock is hurtling at the statue and hits the feet and smashes them. So much for the iron and the clay!

And the whole statue falls down and breaks into pieces! And then blows away.

So there’s no trace. Not a trace of any of the statue left. Not even gold dust.

Just the rock.

And the rock grows.

And the rock grows.

And the rock grows.

And the rock grows.

And it becomes a huge mountain that fills the whole earth!

No wonder Nebuchadnezzar was freaked out. "What does it mean?!"

And Daniel says, ‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king...” Verse 37.

“You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold” (vv.37-38).

#3: THE GOD OF HEAVEN RAISES UP AND TAKES DOWN KINGS AND KINGDOMS.

Let me ask you a trick question. I was going to ask it at the beginning of this message, but then I decided to wait until the answer was a little bit more obvious.

Trick question: According to Daniel chapter 2 who is the king of kings?

It’s a trick question. There are two right answers. One more important than the other. But verse 37 says that Nebuchadnezzar was “the king of kings.” He truly was the most powerful man in the world at that time. All of the kingdoms nearby were under him. Even over the beasts of the field and birds of the air. He was the ruler. He was the top dog.

He was the head of gold!

Why? Because the God of Heaven had given him that dominion, power, might and glory. Not Marduk. Not Bel. Not Nabu.

The God of Heaven. Verse 22 told us that He sets up kings!

Ultimately, the only reason why Nebuchadnezzar sat on that throne in Babylon was that God had put him there. And that should make him humble and worried about accountability. With massive power comes massive responsibility. 

It doesn’t make him humble. Power is a heady drug. We’re going to see that again and again in this book. These kings are full of overweening pride. But their power comes from the God of Heaven. And so will their downfall. Verse 39.

“‘After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron–for iron breaks and smashes everything–and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.

Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay” (vv.39-43).

Aha. So each of these parts of the statue are kingdoms. Not just a king (like Nebuchadnezzar) but a kingdom.

Each one less valuable but maybe more strong and lasting than the previous one. Gold, silver, bronze, iron (iron mixed with clay). That last one is incredibly destructive while still being incredible unstable.

Which kingdoms are these kingdoms?

That’s a good question! And it has kept Bible scholars busy for the last 2,600 years. 

Notice that Daniel does not say. The only identification that Daniel makes here in chapter 2 is the head of gold. That’s King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The others are not identified.

You may have been taught that it is obvious. And I do think there are some good arguments for the leading options. I’m sure we’ll get into them in the days to come.

But what I want to emphasize today is that they keep going down.

King Nebuchadnezzar does not live forever! 

He’s not the King of Kings forever.

There’s a kingdom after him (v.39).

And a kingdom after that.

And a kingdom after that.

Next, next, next.

Kings and kingdoms rise and fall. And the God of Heaven is behind it all. These earthly kingdoms, as powerful as they are, are going to pass away. And that goes for the Kingdom of America, too.

And that should give us all humility and perspective about what’s important. Don’t be impressed with worldly power! (Or worried about it for that matter.)

The God of heaven raises up kings and kingdoms for a time and then He lays them down. And He lays them down flat!

And one day, He will smash them all to pieces. 

In the dream, the whole statue, even though it’s different kingdoms, is one statue. They are all tied together. The kingdoms of this world.

And what happens to the statue? Verse 44.

“‘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 forever.

This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands–a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy’” (vv.44-45).

Last point and then we’ll get to eating and rejoicing over what the God of Heaven has done among us last year. Number four.

#4. THE GOD OF HEAVEN LAUNCHES HIS OWN KINGDOM OF KINGDOMS.

Verse 44 says that God will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. 

Unlike Babylon and all the other earthly kingdoms, there is no kingdom after this kingdom. Nobody else gets it. There are no successors. This kingdom is final. This kingdom lasts. This kingdom persists. This kingdom endures forever.

This kingdom is unstoppable. It’s unbeatable. It crushes all those other kingdoms and brings them to an end! 

How does this happen? When does this happen?

Those are good questions, and Christians disagree on the finer points. A lot of the timing depends on the answer to the question, “Which are ‘those kings’ in verse 44? Is there a difference between the legs and the toes?” And I’m sure we’ll get into that more as we go along.

What I want to emphasize today is that it will happen. Not when or how but that.

Daniel says in verse 45, “The great God has shown the king what WILL take place in the future.” This dream will come true.

This indestructible kingdom of kingdoms will come. Definitely. Guaranteed by the God of Heaven Himself!

Because it’s His kingdom!

That’s what it means that the rock is cut out but not by human hands. This kingdom is the kingdom of the God of Heaven!

And He’s the point of this story!

The God of Heaven launches His own kingdom at the other kingdoms so that they are crushed to pieces, and in the end, His kingdom is all that remains. That’s going to happen! The God of heaven has revealed it.

Probably in some ways He’s already started it. Because we know that the Ultimate King of Kingdoms has come and has received all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:19). And we pray that His kingdom comes and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

And one day soon, the mountain of the kingdom will come in all of its world-filling fullness!

“The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”

And what happened next? Remember, how this story started. What Kyla read to us? The story started with Daniel and his friends about to be killed. And here he is before his judge, jury, and executioner. The king has the all the power. And Daniel has poured out these words. Will the king now kill him? Verse 46.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. [He goes too far overboard the other way.] The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’

Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court” (vv.46-49).

I don’t think that Nebuchadnezzar really listened very hard. After he heard Daniel recite his dream correctly and found out that he was the head of gold, I think he tuned out. I don’t think really came to love and trust in the LORD at this point.

But he gladly admits and acknowledges that the God of heaven is the King of Kingdoms.

And so must we!

***

Messages in This Series:

01. The King's Service - Daniel 1:1-21

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LEFC Pastor's Report: 2024 in Review

Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God

by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ

through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

Celebration Sunday - October 2024

The Annual Pastoral Report

Pastor Matt Mitchell

Year in Review: 2024

Dear Church Family,

I am incredibly grateful to be your pastor. It’s difficult to believe that this is my 27th annual report for you. We have been on a wonderful adventure serving King Jesus together for over 26 years now. Thank you for entrusting me with the responsibility of shepherding this flock. It is a great joy and a privilege which I do not take lightly.

I find that writing my report each year helps me to gain a much-needed perspective. It’s easy to focus only on what’s right in front of me and miss what the Lord has done in the past and might be doing in the future. This last year we celebrated our 132nd anniversary as a church. We have been very blessed in so many ways, and it’s important to stop, give thanks, and reflect.

New Territory

In many ways, 2024 was a year much like previous years for LEFC. We didn’t experience extreme disruption. We didn’t change how we do everything. Our leaders led. Our ministries ministered. Our bills got paid. We met on Sundays. We focused on worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service. We kept the main thing the main thing. There was a lot of steadiness in ministry for which I am very grateful.

And yet, this past year, we also entered into a lot of new territory as a congregation.

Jordyn Skacel - Director of Family Ministry

Perhaps the most obvious new territory is that we called our first Director of Family Ministry. After a long and twisty search process, we were led by the Lord to an ideal candidate! Jordyn Skacel was installed in August in this brand new part-time role, and I am eager to see what the Lord is going to do through her leadership over our ministries to children, youth, and parents in the days to come. Jordyn and her Family Ministries Team have already led us into new territory with an Egg Hunt outreach in the spring and a discipleship retreat for families in the fall! 

Jordyn is a terrific addition to our existing church staff, and we are all enjoying collaborating together. Jenni English completed her first year as our administrative assistant and brought both a trustworthy dependableness and an innovative approach to how we get things done in the office. Cindy Green continued to cheerfully clean up our messes and help manage our facility. Leading a busy staff this size is new territory for me, and I would appreciate your prayers as I grow in my abilities as a manager. 

Malawi Team

Keith, Stephanie, and Mary Beth definitely entered new territory when they flew across the Atlantic Ocean to share God’s love and our love with the people of Malawi. Our Malawi Team served alongside our missionaries, Fred and Cindy Cressman, and their friends at Community Impact Malawi. Thank you for prayerfully supporting them on this new venture. It was a stretching experience for them and for us which I expect to have long-lasting impact both in the “warm heart of Africa” and in the warm heart of Lanse Free Church.

Lanse Free Fridge

We also certainly entered into some new territory when we decided to offer a community fridge and pantry at the Ark Park to give our neighbors a good place to share God’s good gifts with each other. I love how the Lanse Free Fridge communicates our love for our neighbors and facilitates healthy community relationships. I was delighted to see how it took off right from day one! As with all new territory, there will probably be some unexpected problems along the journey, but our church family and our community have already clearly embraced this fresh concept. I am thankful for Holly and Cody’s determined vision for combating food waste and hunger, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of our neighbors. I look forward to seeing where the Lord leads us all next!

Participation Growth

In 2024, we entered into new territory for the number of people who participate regularly in worship together as Lanse Free Church. Our average attendance at worship grew another 15.4% to 164 people per Sunday. That’s the most people we’ve ever had worshiping with us in my time here as your pastor (the previous “record” was 149 people per Sunday in 2013). In the last three months of 2024, we were averaging 171 people per Sunday. The lowest attended Sunday was October 13th (103 people) and the highest attended was Resurrection Sunday (March 31st) with 250 people counted (50 more people than the previous year). We certainly are growing.

Even though those numbers are very encouraging, they don’t really tell the whole story of just how big our worshiping community has become. We have many more than 164 people who call our church “home.” It seems like it’s almost a different 164 people each Sunday! Our attendance team tracked 411 distinct people who came onto our campus on Sunday mornings in 2024. (The previous year was 293, a 40% increase!) Some of those were one-timers or out-of-town guests, but we had 257 different people who attended on average at least once per month.

With this new territory of growth also comes new challenges. Things become more complex. It’s hard to keep track of everyone. It’s harder to foster community. A bigger group means bigger problems. Last year, in my annual report, I highlighted King Jesus’ new command to us that we must love one another as He has loved us. I’m grateful to report that I saw our church family love one each other in big and small ways throughout the year! From simply greeting one another and praying for one another’s needs, to funding the teens’ trip to Challenge, through the building of the Lanse Free Fridge and the sending of the Malawi Team (along with a love-gift to feed Malawians that was four times our goal!), to being patient with one another and bearing with one another, our church family followed our Lord’s example of sacrificial love (John 13:34-35).

It’s familiar territory for me, but I am so proud to be your pastor.

Blessings Upon Blessings

2024 was a year of joyful weddings. We celebrated the blessing of marriage with seven brand new couples: Reece & Hannah, Jim & Janell, Peter & Macy, Jeremiah & Jordan, and Casey & Emigh. That has got to be some kind of a record for LEFC, and several more twosomes got engaged!

The Lord is blessing our church family with more babies. Darren and Judy were given Ada, and Abe and Jordyn were blessed with River. And there are at least three more on the way in 2025!

The Lord blessed us with ten baptisms this year! We celebrated the sign of salvation with Landen, Treiton, Keagan, Katie, Maria, John & Kara, Alexis, Cayli, and Janell.

We were blessed to be led by faithful church leaders in 2024. I had the privilege of serving alongside a bang-up team of Elders: Keith Folmar (chairman), Cody Crumrine (vice-chairman), Abraham Skacel, and Keith Hurley. I enjoy attending Elders’ Meetings, praying with each other, and working together to provide vision and leadership for the congregation. On top of that, we, along with our wives, take turns meeting with the young people for Snack and Yack on Sundays to help them get the most out the sermon. 

All of our various ministry teams had faithful leaders who carried the responsibilities on their shoulders, including some who have done it for many years. Read the rest of this annual report to get a snapshot of what the Lord was doing through them in 2024.

One of the more unusual blessings of 2024 was the “Great Clean Out” and “Challenge Thrift Store.” All of our ministries worked together to get rid of the things we’ve accumulated over the years to free up space for ministry and to share the leftover useful items with those who wanted them in exchange for a gift to send our teens to the Challenge Conference. Everybody benefitted!

I’m pleased that our teens got to return to the 2024 Challenge Conference after missing the last few. And I’m very encouraged that they came back from the mountain top with a serious desire for serious growth in seriously following King Jesus together. May that be true for us all.

Pastoral Ministry

I love what I get to do as your pastor. I especially enjoy the variety of activities I get to engage in, most of which fall under three main headings: preaching, equipping, and shepherding.

Preach the Word

I love to study and teach God’s Word. Thank you for setting me to this task, for listening closely on Sundays, and for applying the preaching to your own lives.

In 2024, we completed our sermon series on The Gospel According to John. From John chapters 6 through 21, we learned more about how there is true, abundant, and eternal Life in Jesus’ Name! I also got to share John’s message that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life at the 2024 West Branch High School Baccalaureate. The timing of the Gospel of John sermon series was interesting because we ended up centering on the Cross and the Empty Tomb during the holidays when we often focus on giving thanks, the coming of Christ, and the Incarnation. The juxtaposition was striking and brought out new significance to the whole story! At the end of the year, we had a brief though illuminating study of the Bright Star of Bethlehem–predicted in the Torah, fulfilled in the Gospels, and fully realized in the Apocalypse. Jesus is stellar in every way.

We were blessed with nourishing preaching from other solid Bible teachers in 2024. Our own Joel Michaels, Abraham Skacel, and Keith Hurley, our missionaries Donnie Rosie and Fred Cressman, district pastor Joel Zaborowski, and our district superintendent Kerry Doyal all taught us something vital, encouraging, and challenging this year.

Equip the Saints

It’s a good thing I like meetings because I spend a lot of time at them. I also spend a lot of time reading and sending messages to church leaders to support our ministry teams in doing their important work. I love supporting ventures like the Wild Game Dinner, Men’s Breakfast, Family Bible Week, Good News Cruise, Malawi Team, Lanse Free Fridge, and so many more. 

I’m very encouraged to see so many of our newer members stepping into ministry and even leadership roles! As we grow, we have a beautiful blend of younger and more seasoned leaders working together which is incredibly important for the future of our church. 

Also as we grow, my role as an equipper is changing. Now that we have Jordyn directing our Family Ministries, I do less direct work in that area and more empowering her to do it. At the same time, I get to stay involved in things like Snack and Yack and writing many of the “dessert” recommendations for discipleship-minded parents in The Family Table newsletter.

 

My equipping ministry extends beyond our immediate church family, to our associational family of churches, the EFCA. I continued to serve as the Chairman of the Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board in 2024. I got to participate in a double credentialing council for two pastors in one weekend back in March and assist a handful of churches who want to associate with us by reviewing their governing documents. I also got to help lead the Stay Sharp Theology Conference, and Heather and I were privileged to be the speakers for the 2024 Pastors and Wives Retreat in October. 

On the national level, I continued to serve as the Book Review Coordinator for the EFCA Blog and as a member of the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee (SHC). In October, the SHC met on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, our EFCA seminary in Illinois (and my alma mater!). It was good to see the progress our school is making especially at raising up well-educated leaders for the global church. As a member of the SHC, I also got to provide editorial input for Evangelical Heritage: From Immigrants to a Church of All People—The Story of the Evangelical Free Church of America by Dr. David M. Gustafson which is set to be published early in 2025. Evangelical Heritage is the second book in the essential EFCA trilogy to help readers understand the theological, history, and unique ethos of our beloved association of churches. 

In September, I got to visit Valley Church in Des Moines Iowa to speak to their large ministry staff about cultivating a gossip resistant church. Valley Church will be the site of EFCA One next summer. Thank you for gifting some of my time to our wider family of churches.

Shepherd the Flock

As your pastor, I love to be involved in your lives. Thank you for inviting me to watch your kids’ games, concerts, and shows. (I’m glad I have a season pass at West Branch!) It’s a privilege to visit you in the hospital, to share a meal with you, or provide you some counsel.

Because it was such a year of weddings, Heather and I did a lot of pre-marital counseling. At one point, we were making appointments with three different couples! That’s a record for us and a great joy.

The Lord gives, and He also takes away, including deeply beloved church members. In 2024, I led funerals and memorial services for LeRoy Nearhhood, Conlee Isaacson, Robert Lockman, Jr., Jonalie Evans, Randy Killion, and Roper Houston, Sr and spent meaningful time with John Walter in his last days. I also walked alongside couples who had experienced the pain of miscarriages and infant death.

Shepherding can be hard but is holy work. Thank you for allowing me into your lives to represent the Great Shepherd (John 10:14-18).

A Personal Note

This year was significant for Heather and me as we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We traveled out west to visit our son Andrew who is a wildland firefighter in Washington, to visit Heather’s Canadian family, and to vacation where we got married on June 18, 1994. 

Even more significantly in 2024, we gained a delightful daughter-in-law as our son Peter got married to Macy on August 10th! We have been praying for Macy for twenty-one years, long before we knew her name. I had the privilege of officiating the ceremony for the new Mitchells, and their wedding reception culminated in a giant spray of fireworks–a perfect symbol of their rocketing joy and ours. We couldn’t be happier.

Our daughter Robin spent 2024 preparing for a career in animal care and veterinary medicine. She took an excellent internship at a animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Washington and then also moved to Indianapolis to pursue a degree as a vet tech.  

Our son Isaac flew across the ocean for a short-term Bible, theology, and ministry course at Capernwray Hall in England. We’re excited to see where the Lord leads him next.

My parents, Chuck and Anita, sold their house in Ohio and set up a home in our area. We’re looking forward to having them around a lot more in the warm-weather months.

Thank you for praying for our whole family this last year. We feel loved and fully supported. Thank you, also, for continuing to strongly support the Allegheny District which supplies me with my pastor. Kerry listens to me closely (and frequently!), and he speaks wisdom into my life. Pastors need pastors, too, and I have one with a servant’s heart.

And thank you, once more, for providing my three-month sabbatical back in 2023. The positive effects of that deep rest still carry on strongly today. It was the re-set that I truly needed. I am blessed to be your pastor, not just because I love taking good care of you, but because you take good care of me.

Vision for 2025 - Serving the King

The first word that came to my mind when I thought about the year we are now facing was “serving.” 

In 2025, we have a number of things planned that call us to serve others:

- We are planning to serve the people of Hazard Kentucky who were severely affected by flooding a few years ago by sending two ministry teams on two different weeks this coming summer.

- We are planning to serve our neighbors with the first full year of the Lanse Free Fridge. It’s so popular right now that we need to raise a small army of “fridge checkers” to keep it tidy and update its social media.

- We are expecting to serve many families through new initiatives that Jordyn and her team are cooking up.

- We are hoping to erect a pavilion at the Ark Park to serve our congregation and our community with an improved place to gather and enjoy each other’s company outdoors yet in the shade.

In fact, all of the hopes and dreams you read from each of the ministries in this report will require people to serve for them to become a reality.

Thankfully, serving is one of the things our church does best! We have a church that overflows with humble servants who put others ahead of themselves and Jesus first. Serving is not new territory for Lanse Free Church.

Yet, as our church family is growing so much more, this may become difficult in some perplexing ways. We may experience growing pains which require serving others in ways we wouldn’t do naturally. 

Amazingly, our own King showed us how to do it. Jesus said that He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). So my encouragement for all who participate in our church is to follow our own King’s example by finding where our service is needed and stepping up and kneeling down to fill those needs.

And to do it for the glory of the King of Kingdoms! I’m glad we’re starting 2025 focused on the vision of the matchless eternal kingdom that has been given to our Lord (Daniel 7:13-14). May His kingdom come and His will be done in Lanse Free Church as it is in heaven and will be on earth (Matthew 6:10).

A Vision for 2045?

Earlier, I said that writing my report helps me with perspective. So does reading my old reports! I recently re-read my pastoral report from twenty years ago that reviewed our ministry together in 2005. It was intriguing to see how much has changed from then and how much has not. In 2005, we were growing in attendance and focused on making disciples, we took in several new members, we got a new administrative assistant, I preached through an Old Testament book (Exodus) and spoke at the West Branch Baccalaureate Service (for the first time), Keith & Heather got married, and we paved the parking lot! It was a big year for LEFC. Perhaps the most interesting point of comparison with today was that we were seriously contemplating a search for a second staff person in the realm of...family ministry!

Fascinatingly (at least for me ☺), at the end of my report about 2005, I shared a vision for ministry in 2025. That sure seemed like a long way off! That year, Heather and I had set a goal of serving here for another twenty years for a total of 27 if the Lord should lead and tarry so long. That is now a goal we will reach, Lord-willing, this coming June.

[By the way, our current goal (not a promise, but a goal) is to serve here at least until I retire–if the Lord allows and you all continue to think it is best.]

Back then I wrote, “I desire for the church to grow in quality, quantity, effectiveness, and influence because of that kind of pastoral longevity.” And, praise God, I believe we have! I also offered a twelve-point list of hopes and dreams that I had for LEFC by 2025 and published them on my recently launched “weblog.” I am deeply encouraged that I can see how more than half of them have come to fruition in meaningful ways.

Looking back like that makes me think about looking forward another twenty years to 2045. If the Lord tarries and gives us that time together, I will have had a 47-year ministry here and be 72 years old. 

I’m sure that in 2045 our ministry together will look very different in many ways. Will we have a new lead pastor (or pastors!)? I hope so! I’ll probably be retired, or at least part-time. Will the children of our current leaders be the leaders then? Will I have preached through all of the books of the Bible (probably not, as I have so many left!)?

At the same time, I hope nothing essential will have changed in 2045. I hope that LEFC will still be keeping the main thing the main thing. I hope we will have the same mission and message. I hope that we will be making disciples with a life-changing relationship with King Jesus. I hope that our families will be thriving because of some of the investments we are making right now. I hope the Bible is being believed and taught in our pulpit, classrooms, and living rooms. I hope we are reaching the world. I hope that we are serving our community. I hope we have hundreds of visitors to our Lanse campus each year, playing on our Ark Park, eating at the pavilion, and maybe sharing free food at the Free Fridge.

And I hope we’re also doing these things in ways and levels I can’t even imagine right now.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

As I wrote back then, “Who knows the future? Only God does. Thankfully, we belong to Him through Jesus Christ. So we can expect good things from His gracious hand.”

In His Grip,

-Pastor Matt

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“The King’s Service” [Matt's Messages]

“The King’s Service”

The King of Kingdoms - The Book of Daniel

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

January 19, 2025 :: Daniel 1:1-21  

Daniel is a daunting book to preach. 

I’ve put it off now for almost 27 years. I’ve preached the Gospel of John twice and Philippians three times from this pulpit, but I haven’t yet tackled the Book of Daniel.

It’s not because it’s bad book. It’s an awesome book!

And it’s a favorite of many. I mean kids love it, right? It has a fiery furnace that men get tossed into!

It has a disembodied hand that writes on a wall! It has man getting thrown into a den full of hungry hungry lions! The drawings and conversations at Snack and Yack are going to be so fun!

It has a vision of a Man who rides on the clouds! It has a dream of a giant statue being smashed by a flying rock and a visit of an angel with a metallic body, face like lightening, and a voice like thousands of people talking at once (Dan 10:6). It has visions of strange, mysterious, fantastic beasts. Daniel is where to find them!

Daniel is a unique book. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s classified among the Prophets in our English Bibles, but it’s in the “Writings” like the Wisdom literature in Hebrew Bibles. It’s got history and prophecy in it. It spans the genres. There’s nothing quite like it. 

In the Book of Daniel, there are twelve chapters written in not one but two different ancient languages!

Six chapters with six stories of dramatic conflict and contest in the highest courts! And then six chapters with four major apocalyptic visions that explain the big plan of God for the world from the time of Daniel to the end of history!

It’s an awesome book. That’s what makes it daunting. Who can do justice to this?! Who can wrap your mind around it and show everything that’s there?!

It’s daunting because it is so beloved. Because it is full of apocalyptic prophecy and obscure symbolism, it can be very difficult to interpret. It’s tricky. And complex and surprising. It’s like the Book of Revelation for the Old Testament. (At least one of them.)

We just have to get ready right now to say from time to time, “I don’t know, and that’s okay.”

And Daniel can also be controversial. Not just with the people out there who have trouble believing in prophecy, that Daniel could be so accurate so far far in advance, but also controversial among Christians who believe in Daniel’s predictive power but disagree over what some particular symbols mean.

In the course of this series, I may say some things that are new or different than what you’ve heard before (if you’ve studied it), and you may disagree at times with my interpretation, and that’s okay, too. (At least on my end.) There is some tricky stuff in here.

I promise to stick close to the main thing as we go along and to show you what I see. We’ll talk about the side stuff, but we’ll camp on the central stuff. I promise to keep the main thing the main thing as we study the Book of Daniel.

And we are going to study it! Starting today. I’m not putting it off any longer.

And here’s why we’re going to dive in. Several reasons. 

First, because it’s next.

Some of you are young or new to Lanse Free Church, and you might not know that since 2003, we’ve been on a long journey of studying the Big Story of the Bible. We break it up by toggling to the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament, but we’ve also been trekking our way through the Big Story of the Old Testament.

We’ve done Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, and a couple of years ago we studied the Prophecy of Jeremiah together. Remember that? Jeremiah covers the same ground from a prophet’s perspective as 2 Kings does. And they both tell the story of the end of the Kingdom of Judah and the exile of the people of Judah into Babylon.

Guess where Daniel picks up? Right there. He overlaps those stories, too.

So, it’s next. And we want to study the whole sweep of God’s Word together as a church. Not just the easy bits but the hard and tricky bits, too.

But not just because it’s next but because we need it. We need the Book of Daniel today.

For one, we need the example of Daniel. We’re going to see that clearly today as we look at chapter 1. Daniel consistently shows us how to live as faithful believer during difficult times. And our times are difficult.

There’s a fun song that I’m sure the Kids Bible Class will be singing the next few months, “Dare to be a Daniel,” and that’s exactly right.

But more and deeper than that, we need the God of the Book of Daniel! We need the God Whom Daniel serves and Daniel reveals.

The title of our series is “The King of Kingdoms.”

And thank you, Jeff, for creating the graphic design for this series. It’s based on the Ishtar Gate in Ancient Babylon, parts of which still exist today in museums. It was built by King Nebuchadnezzar during the lifetime of Daniel. So Daniel would have seen and probably passed through the Gate of Ishtar! Maybe every workday?

Jeff has modified the design for our purposes. There’s a lot of detail worked in there about things we’re going study as we go through this series. 

“The King of Kingdoms.” That has layers of meaning which we’ll get into as the series progresses. The big idea is that Daniel reveals to us the King of Kings. The king over all kingdoms, and that is God. And His kingdom will never end.

Our first memory verse in this series is from the very middle of the book. Chapter 7, verse 14. The last chapter written in Aramaic and the first chapter of the second half which is devoted to visions.

In the vision of chapter 7, Daniel sees a mysterious figure, he says, “[O]ne like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence” (Daniel 7:13).

So this mysterious Person comes into the presence of the Ancient of Days the King of Kingdoms. And He is given a kingdom! The Kingdom! Let’s say verse 14 together:

“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14).

We’re going to drill that verse and that truth into our hearts in the next few months. Because we need it. We need Him. We need the King of Kingdoms.

Because it often seems like there is no King of Kingdoms. It often seems like the world is out of control. Does it seem to you like the world has gone crazy? There is so much chaos. There is so much strife. So much change. So much out of our control and so many things going wrong. Sometimes it seems like we’ve reached the end of the world.

That’s how it must have felt to Daniel when he was a young man. Let’s look and see what happened to him. Something pretty terrible. Let’s get down into Daniel chapter 1. Verse 1.

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god” (Daniel 1:1-2).

To Daniel, living in Judah at the time, this must have felt like the end of the world. Everything was crashing down.

For over a hundred years, the main world power had been the Kingdom of Assyria. Assyria had actually defeated and exiled the people of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BC. But the southern kingdom of Judah has held on. They have successfully repelled Assyria whenever they came knocking.

But now in the year 605 BC, there is a new world power on the ascendency. It’s the kingdom of Babylon, and their king is named “Nabopolassar.” And Nabopolassar has a son who is the general in charge of Babylon’s armies named “Nebuchadnezzar.” A fascinating character!

And in 605 BC at the battle of Carchemish [which you have may learned about in your history class], Nebuchadnezzar wins! He beats the armies of Egypt allied with the remnants of the armies of Assyria, and Babylon effectively becomes the most powerful kingdom on the planet at that time.

And right about then Nabopolassar dies, and Nebuchadnezzar becomes the most powerful king on the planet at that time.

And he comes after Jerusalem. And he beats them. He beats them into submission. Judah is still a nation with a king, but they become basically a vassal state of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar is the undisputed champion, and you know how we know? Because Nebuchadnezzar takes the Stanley Cup home. 

It’s actually much worse than that. He takes some “articles from the temple of God.” Remember all of the golden stuff inside the temple that Solomon built? Gold plates. Gold utensils. Gold tools for tending the sacrifices.

Remember how Hezekiah when he was sick showed the beautiful golden stuff to the emissaries of the king of Babylon when he was allying with them in 2 Kings? Babylon has not forgotten!

Nebuchadnezzar takes those things from the temple of the LORD and puts them into the temple of his god! That was Marduk or his other name was Bel. B-E-L. The son of the god Marduk was hamed Nabu. And Nebuchadnezzar was named after him.

Which god had won this contest?

Careful how you answer that.

It looks like Marduk has won. He’s got the gold! But that’s not what verse 2 says, is it? What did verse 2 say? Look at it again.

“And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.”

The word for “delivered” in Hebrew is “nawthan.” We get our name Nathan from it. Gift of God.

The God of Judah gave the king of Judah to the king of Babylon. And the God of Judah gave the the golden stuff to Nebuchadnezzar, too. For safe keeping at Marduk’s house.

I’ve got three points for us to apply this chapter of Daniel to our lives today, and here’s the first one:

#1. REMEMBER WHO IS THE KING OF KINGDOMS.

Get this straight. The God of Judah (who we know as Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God we worship here today) did. not. lose. this. battle.

It seemed like it to Nebuchadnezzar. “Take that Jehoikim!”

It seemed like it to Babylon. “We’ve got your god’s stuff!”

It probably seemed like it to the whole wide world.

It was reported in all of the media that Marduk had beaten Adonai, and that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of kings.

But that’s not how it was.

This was God’s doing. This was God’s plan. This was God’s punishment on His people.

Daniel doesn’t dwell on it here, but this was because of everything we read about back in Jeremiah, isn’t it?

Jeremiah was a broken record about a what? A broken covenant.  For forty years Jeremiah called Judah to repent, and they just stuck their fingers in their ears. Jeremiah prophesied during the reign of five different kings in Judah. The first was godly Josiah, and then the next one was named...Jehoiakim.

Thumbs up or thumbs down? Two thumbs down. Bad king. Bad shepherd. Jehoiakim was the one that burned the Bible. Remember that story from Jeremiah 36? He had someone read to him from the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies, and then he would cut it off and put it into his fire to warm himself.

And eventually the LORD said, “That’s enough.” And he gave Jehoiakim to Nebuchadnezzar.

It’s interesting to think that Daniel was living through all of that. He had maybe heard Jeremiah preach. He was very young, and Jeremiah was getting old, but they lived at the same time and followed the same God. And that God is the King of Kingdoms. No matter how it seems.

And that’s good news! Because it really seems like there are all of these kings out there and all of this chaos, and it’s good to know that there is a king over all the kings that is working out His wise and holy plan.

The chief purpose of apocalyptic prophecy is not to give us all of the details. It’s to give us the big picture so to give us a right perspective. And that gives us hope and comfort and courage.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Just because we know and remember that the LORD is behind this defeat, doesn’t make it all better. Doesn’t mean it isn’t scary. And doesn’t mean that things won’t get worse. 

They sure got worse for Daniel. Because it wasn’t just the gold stuff of the Temple that got carted off to Babylon in 605BC. It was also the cream of the crop of the nobility of Judah. Look at verse 3.

“Then the king [that’s Nebuchadnezzar] ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility–young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.”

That’s where I asked Keagan to read to, and where we get the title of this message, “The King’s Service.”

These young men from Judah were selected to serve the king. Literally, to stand before him. Meaning to be a part of his court. His diplomatic corp. His royal administration.

It made a lot of sense. If you grab the cream of the crop from the nation that is under you and train them in your ways, then you have a big supply of help that can speak both languages and know both cultures and help you keep the under nation in check. Smart!

And verse 6 tells us that among those selected for this service were some pretty important names for us to know. Look at verse 6.

“Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.”

These four guys were selected to be trained to be in the king’s service.

Now, on one level, this doesn’t seem so bad, does it? I mean who doesn’t like to be selected? And these guys are obviously the elite. They are good looking and smart! They are the obvious choices for the team captains. And they get to be educated! They get degrees. And they get to eat food from the king’s own table!

There are worse things. Some of their friends died in the battles with Babylon. Some are going to die in the next set of battles with Babylon. And some the next. 

In 597 BC, there will be more deportations. A guy named “Ezekiel” is going to be exiled. And in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar is going to attack Jerusalem and just about burn it all to the ground. And he destroyed the temple. This time, he didn’t just raid it. He tore it down. And why we have the book of Lamentations. It was about the worst thing that ever happened in the Old Testament. That’s how they felt.

So Daniel’s fate wasn’t so bad.

But think about it from his perspective. Daniel was taken far away from his homeland. Do you remember what our sermon series on Jeremiah was called? “Uprooted.” Daniel was uprooted. He was taken away from everything he knew. He was probably 13 or 14 or 15? Somewhere in there.

If you are a young man of those ages, would you stand? Thank you. They were taken from their home, and Daniel never returned. He lived to be a very old man, but he will die in Babylon. He is marched 600 or more miles away and told that he has to go to school  to serve the king who just beat down his kingdom. 

And he has to study things he doesn’t want to study. He has to study the language and literature of the Babylonians. Literally, the Chaldeans which was ancient name for the main ruling ethnic group of Babylon and their wise-men.

He doesn’t get to study Hebrew. If he studies his Bible, it’s on his own time, and there may not be much of that. He has to study Akkadian. He has to speak Aramaic because that’s their main language for court affairs, but Akkadian was their scholarly language. It has like 100 different stick figures you have to memorize and be able to write. Cuneiform.

And he has to study astrology. Not astronomy though that would be helpful but astrology–how the stars rule our lives. Hint: They don’t! But he’s got to study it anyway.

And he’s probably got to study divination. My daughter is learning how to keep cats and dogs alive as a Vet Tech. Daniel and his friends probably had to kill animals like sheep and then predict the future by what their entrails looked like.  

And he had study history (not Israel’s history but Babylon’s history) and law (not Israel’s law but Babylon’s law) and read Babylon’s books. Not Genesis but the “Enuma Elish” and “Atra-Hasis.” 

He’s got to learn all of that to be effective in the king’s service.

He’s a hostage forced to attend to Babylon University. He doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to learn these things. And he doesn’t want to serve this king!

And on top of all of that, they slap a new name on him. And his friends. They had wonderful Hebrew names that reminded them of the LORD. Daniel means something like, “God is my judge.” And Hananiah means “The LORD shows grace.” And Mishael means “Who is what God is?” and Azariah means “The LORD helps.”

But look at verse 7.

“The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.”

And those names are tied to other gods!

Belteshazzar? That’s like, “The God Lady Preserves the King.” Or “Bel’s Prince.”

Shadrach is “Command” or “Illumined by Aku.”

Meshach is “Who or what Aku is.”

Abednego is “Servant of Nego (or Nebo).”

How would you like to be given a new name based on your enemy’s god? A new identity and not the one you would have chosen. 

And it should also be said that these boys may have been castrated. The word translated “court officials” is often translated “eunuch,” and many though not all top officials in governments in that time period would have had that done to them [see Isaiah 39:6-7].

It might have seemed like Daniel’s world had ended. But somehow, in all of that, he remembered that the LORD was the King of Kingdoms. He never lost sight of Who God really is! He never lost sight of Who really is the King. He’s got to serve this king, but all the time, he never stops serving the King of Kings!

It’s truly amazing. I wonder who taught him this. Maybe some Jeremiah? Probably a godly Mom and Dad. And who knows who else. It wasn’t Johoiakim. 

The key is that Daniel never forgets that the LORD is the King of Kings.

And he sets his heart on following that king no matter what. That’s point number two:

#3. RESOLVE TO SERVE THE KING OF KINGDOMS.

Look at what Daniel does in verse 8.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.”

Daniel set his heart. That’s what it means to resolve. It means that he decided in advance in his heart what he was going to do. Daniel set his heart to not defile himself because he served a higher king.

Now, it’s not obvious why the royal food and wine would have defiled Daniel. Scholars have a lot of opinions, and there’s some good theories out there. One is that a lot of this food would have gone against the Law of Leviticus and wasn’t kosher. It was “unclean.” But that probably wouldn’t have been true of the wine unless Daniel had taken a Nazirite vow.

Maybe it’s because this food was dedicated to idols like Marduk before being served out to the king’s table. That’s probably true. It probably was. But it was probably true of the vegetables, too.

Some have said it’s because it’s royal food for the king, and if Daniel ate that, then he was making a covenant of unswerving loyalty to the king. Like a covenant meal. True fellowship. I think there’s something to that.

Some have pointed out that if Daniel eats this then he’s becoming completely dependent on the king and just giving up everything to rely on him. And I think there’s something to that as well. Though all this food came from that same king.

It’s not really clear to us, but it was really clear to Daniel! Daniel knew in his conscience that this would defile him. I think that’s really important to see.

I’m amazed that Daniel could discern what he could and couldn’t do so clearly. He was willing to be called by a terrible name. He was willing to learn all the stuff that they wanted to jam down his throat.

He was even willing to serve before the king. And does with distinction for decades!

But this was too far for him at this point in time.

And we all have to figure out what’s too far for us.

You know what really jumped out at me was that Daniel decided that what he wasn’t going to do was eat all the good stuff. He wasn’t going to take the best of Babylon into himself. 

He was willing to do the hard part, but he wasn’t going to do the easy part.

That takes discernment, and it takes courage. Because there was all kinds of pressure to conform. This whole program of re-education was to get Daniel and his friends to conform.

And that’s true for us today, isn’t it? Do you feel in this time of chaos all of the cultural pressures to conform to the world? We talked about this last summer during Family Bible Week in Romans 12:2, right?

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2, CSB). And therefore “walk in the truth.”

There are all kind of pressures to conform. But the most dangerous ones are the ones we want to conform to. The easy ones! The ones that all of our friends are doing. Not the ones that the culture is jamming down our throats, but the ones that look so tantalizingly good.

Like gossip? The ladies’ fellowship group has just begun a study of this book called Resisting Gossip. I’ve heard of it. (It’s okay.)

What does Solomon say gossip is like? “A choice morsel.” That’s the thing you want to eat. From the king’s table.

Or abortion advocacy. That’s popular! It’s super-popular to be pro-choice. Who would be against “choice” and “reproductive rights” and the unfettered access to elective abortion?

Maybe that one doesn’t tempt you.

How about nationalism? The idolatrous version of patriotism that says “My nation over other nations even if my nation is in the wrong. America first. America only. America, right or wrong. USA! USA! USA!” That’s very popular and very tempting to some.

Or dressing immodestly? For both men and women. “That looks so cute on you,” the world says. And we just want to believe it and do what we feel like whether or not it’s modest.

Or what we watch on our screens? “That show looks good! What is it rated? Oh well. Everybody else is watching it. It’s so well done. Amazing production values. The best stars!”

For me personally, it’s often gluttony itself. I want to eat like a king!

And maybe the line is at different places for different people. It probably is for some of these, and we shouldn’t stand in judgment over our brothers and sisters.

But we should be careful to not defile ourselves. We should know where our lines are and decide before we are tempted to not cross them. And we should know which of those things are tempting to us.

Some of the things I’ve just mentioned are not tempting to you in the slightest!

What is? What is Nebuchadnezzar’s royal food and wine for you? Resolve right now to resist it. Resolve right now to not give into the voices of the many kings out there that are offering you “the best of Babylon.”  And resolve to serve the King of Kingdoms first and above all.

Dare to be a Daniel.

Now, notice that Daniel resolves in his heart to not be defiled, but he doesn’t get all huffy about it on social media. He doesn’t whine and complain or despair! In fact, he’s very respectful and courteous about it. He asks Ashpenaz for permission to refrain. And here’s the first miracle. Look at verse 9.

“Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel...”

You know what the Hebrew word for “caused” there? It’s “nawthan” (like in v.2). Gift of God. Here’s something else God gave. He gave favor (hesed) and sympathy (compassion) to the official to show to Daniel.

You see God doesn’t just live in Israel. And He’s not confined to the temple of Marduk. He’s actually working in the lives of his people and even in the hearts of His enemies!

You and I can pray like this today. We can pray for favor with our neighbors and co-workers and bosses and even enemies. And sometimes the King grants it.

Of course, the answer is “no.” At least officially. Verse 10.

“...but the official told Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.’”

There’s the stakes. “I like you, but the answer has to be no. If you don’t eat like a king, then you’ll get all skinny and scrawny. And I’ll get in trouble. Be a Babylonian and eat like a king!”

But I see some wiggle-room there. And so did Daniel. He didn’t actually say, “No.” Just that there can’t be a problem here. So Daniel asks the next guy down. He’s the “guard” or Hebrew is “Melzer,” which older versions take to be a name. And that’s possible. He could be a guard named “Guard.” Verse 11.

“Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days’” (Daniel 1:11-14).

By the way, this is the original VeggieTale.

Daniel proposes a test. He’s taking a lot of tests these days in school. Here’s another one. 

“Let us just eat vegetables [which might include other things that are based on seeds like grains] and water to drink. For ten days. And then let’s see what we see."

Now, this is not some secret “biblical diet” that we’re supposed to follow. Just like we aren’t supposed to make sure we get our recommended daily dose of locusts like John the Baptist taught us.

No, this is asking for a miracle. The healthy wise man in Babylon was rotund. I read one scholar who said that the wisemen of Babylon were “bald, big-eyed, and chubby” (Tremper Longman). That was the ideal that Ashpenaz was going for. You don’t get that way on vegetables and water!

But the guard says, “Ok. We can do ten days. After that you have to eat the good stuff if you’re wasting away.”

And here’s the point where we have point out that this experiment might not have worked. Daniel and his friends needed to be prepared for the worst. That’s part of daring to be a Daniel. Not knowing how it’s going to work out in the short run. They might have lost their lives if they continued to play chicken with the king’s chicken cacciatore!

But that’s not what happened. No, instead, there was a quiet miracle! Verse 15.

“At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.”

Here’s our last point for today.

#3. BE REWARDED FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE TO THE KING OF KINGDOMS.

Expect to be rewarded for faithful service to the King of Kingdoms.

God was at work here. God is in control here. God is working in unexpected ways. And He is rewarding Daniel and his friends for serving Him faithfully above all others. And He continued to reward them. Look at verse 17.

“To these four young men God gave [nawthan again!] knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. [That’s going to come in handy!]  At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king [himself!] talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus” (17-21).

Now, we need to be careful to draw the right lessons from this. Not only are we not supposed to just eat vegetables, but we also are not supposed to expect to always be the class valedictorians. Top of the class. The reward for faithful service does not always come in the same way or in the same timing. Jesus was perfectly faithful, and He had to die before He got His full reward. Don’t turn this into a prosperity gospel of health and wealth if you just do all the right things and keep your nose clean.

But at the same time, we know that the true King loves to reward He faithful servants. We live for the day when He says, “Well done, you.”

Notice that faithful service to the King of Kingdoms often looks like faithful service to many earthly kings. God gave Daniel these gifts, and Daniel was accountable for what he did with them. He didn’t give the other three all the same gifts. Just Daniel. And Daniel used them in the service of King Nebuchadnezzar which says something, I think, about how we should view our earthly callings, our daily jobs.

Daniel entered into the service of Nebuchadnezzar and then several other kings for almost 70 years–even a king that wasn’t a Babylonian!

But Daniel never lost sight of Whom he was really serving.

And may we dare to do the same.

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