The Lord is Our King - Daniel 2:31-49

Introduction

Daniel 2:31–49 (ESV)

“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

God Establishes Every Human Authority

First, let’s look at what Daniel says in his praise.

Daniel 2:21 (ESV)

He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

We see here that God is the one who removes kings and sets other kings up. God is the source of every authority on earth. This has been true from page 1 of the Bible.

Genesis 1:27–28 (ESV)

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

From the very beginning, God’s plan for humanity was to exercise authority and dominion over the face of the earth, over all created things, not for our own benefit, but to display the goodness and the glory of God.

Each person is an image of God meant to declare that this earth belongs to Him.

This is why we are called to submit to the authority that is placed over us.

Romans 13:1–3 (ESV)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,

However, we know that because of sin, instead of reflecting the glory of God, human authority now seeks to glorify itself. Human authority is corrupted by sin. So we are still called to submit because their authority is from God, but our submission does not always mean blind obedience. It means to obey where we are able to obey and to submit to the consequences of disobedience where we cannot obey. But we submit either way.

Every Human Kingdom is Temporary

A. Summary of the interpretation of the Dream

Four sections of the statue is four kingdoms that will come and go

Babylon - the head of Gold

Media-Persia - the chest and arms of silver

Greece - the middle and thighs of bronze

Rome - the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay

Each time the next kingdom is inferior to the one preceding it, which goes against our logical reasoning

B. While we can focus our time on what these kingdoms are, and there is consensus in what they are, the main point of this dream is that every human kingdom is temporary

C. As one kingdom rises, the previous one falls. This is the cycle of human kingdoms and authorities. No kingdom lasts forever and history attests to this.

God is sovereignly ruling over all nations and He raises up Kings and brings them down, just as Daniel made mention of in his praise to God:

Daniel 2:21 (ESV)

He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

No matter who is currently king or leader, God is always on His throne and nothing in history catches Him by surprise.

D. We need to be careful about placing too much hope in one kingdom.

I can say, even in my 43 years of life, history has shown the rise and fall of regimes. I remember as a kid hearing the news when the Berlin wall came down that separated East and West Germany. I have vague memories of the cold war with Russia and the fall of the communist Soviet Union. I remember when then-Prince Charles visited Hong Kong to commemorate the release of Hong Kong from England’s rule and authority.

Even within nations, we see rise and falls of differing political ideaologies. We have seen many democrat and republican presidents come through office, each promoting their own political agendas only to have their successor replace the former agendas with their own. And we have seen political parties even change over time as to what they stand for.

Listen, whether you like or dislike the current administration, just wait a few years, it’ll change sooner or later. Do not place your hope in who is currently leading because they will not be there forever.

E. We also need to be reassured that we have no need to fear a particular kingdom

Again, because every kingdom is temporary, they will not have the final say. This is not to say that kingdoms are unable to do much harm, for they very much can. But the harm they can bring is finite and limited and will one day be brought to an end, just as the good kingdoms we want to place our hope in will also come to an end.

We do not put our hope or fear in any kingdom because we know that God is sovereign and will bring every kingdom to an end in His own perfect timing.

The encouragement here is to live our lives in faithfulness to Christ and make a difference for the Gospel in our culture and society.

We want to live out the command of Jeremiah 29:7

Jeremiah 29:7 (ESV)

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

We want to seek the good of our city, our state, and our nation. We want to be a godly influence on our culture. This first means how we live and relate to those around us. The best way to be a godly influence is the testimony we are living out.

We also have elections coming up. Vote your conscience and according to God’s holy standards. Be an influence with your voice for godly change.

But do not place your hope in those whom you vote for, nor fear those with whom you may disagree. God is sovereign over all!

Daniel’s hope was not in who was the reigning king. He was born under Josiah and under the godly rule that Judah experienced under his leadership. He is now experiencing the violent and pagan leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. However, he has hope because his hope is in the King of all Kings.

Jesus is the King of All Kings

Finally, after Daniel described and interpreted the vision of the image, he told of the stone that was cut out by no human hand that would come and destroy the image. This stone is the start of a new kingdom that would bring to an end all the other kingdoms of the earth.

It is interesting that this stone appeared and struck the image on its feet of clay and iron, the kingdom that has traditionally been thought of as the Empire of Rome.

Jesus is the Stone That Was Cut By No Human Hand

Why? Because an interesting event happened one night in a small Jewish village under Roman occupation. A pregnant young woman and her husband were going back to his family’s hometown to be registered for the Roman Census. And on this night, a baby was born that would be sung about by the angels to a field of shepherds watching their sheep.

This child would grow up and begin to preach a new message about a coming kingdom.

Mark 1:14–15 (ESV)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

While many began following this itinerant preacher and His message of the kingdom of God, not everyone believed. Some actively opposed Him because of His message of the Kingdom.

In Luke 20:9-18 Jesus told the parable of the wicked vineyard tenants who ended up killing the vineyard owner’s son. Because of their murder of the vineyard owner’s son, Jesus says that he will come and destroy them. And he quotes Psalm 118 by saying Luke 20:17-18

Luke 20:17–18 (ESV)

But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus Claimed His Throne By Dying

But how did Jesus put an end to the other kingdoms? By all human appearances, it does not look like Jesus crushed anyone, but was actually Himself crushed by the Roman Empire and the Jews who rejected him.

Even His disciples fell into despair at his death thinking they have been following the wrong man.

Jesus made it clear that His kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this earth. Each kingdom gains its power when it conquers and overcomes the previous empire.

However, Jesus conquered the other kingdoms by His death. Jesus took upon Himself a crown, not a golden crown, but a crown of thorns. Jesus wore a royal robe, one that clung to the stripes and wounds upon His back. He inherited a scepter that pierced His side. And He was nailed upon a throne of wood. Jesus conquered the kingdoms of this earth by laying down His life.

Philippians 2:8–11 (ESV)

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This stone has overcome the kingdoms of the earth by Our King’s death and resurrection! And because Christ has overcome through His death and resurrection, His Kingdom is one that will never end. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom and there will be no kingdom after His.

Jesus Invites All Into His Kingdom

While the stone does destroy the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, there is within this vision an invitation to become a part of this kingdom. This kingdom, while it starts small, will grow into a huge mountain that covers the earth.

This stone does not just destroy the other kingdoms, it invites those other kingdoms to become a part of His. Through this vision, God is inviting even Nebuchadnezzar to let go of his own power and to joyfully submit himself to the kingdom that will never end.

Christ is inviting you to let go of the kingdom you might be building for yourself and to join His kingdom. He tells us in Matthew 16:24-26

Matthew 16:24–26 (ESV)

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

We become a part of this kingdom and live in this kingdom the same way Christ instituted His kingdom, living by dying.

Daniel and His friends remained faithful to God because they held their lives loosely and were willing to die to themselves for the glory of God. Their hope was not in this temporary life and kingdom, but in the eternal kingdom which will never pass away.

Conclusion