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!
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Messages in This Series:
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