The Life of Daniel | Pt. 2

Introduction

Summary: Daniel has been taken into captivity by King Neb and the Babylonians. Even though Daniel was young physically and probably young in his faith, he knew what living a Christian life was all about.

So Daniel 2, a few years have passed since Daniel and his buddies have been in Babylon.

King Neb has a dream. Some theologians think that he couldn’t remember the dream so he asks his wise men to explain the dream to King Neb.

He told the wise men that if they explained it wrong that he would cut them into pieces and burned down their houses.

Houses or horses…

King Neb’s men respond by saying that what he was asking was too much of them. It was bad enough that they had to interpret a dream, but with those consequences it upped the ante.

Ultimately, King Neb’s wise men were going to die because Neb sentenced them to death.

Daniel goes to the captain of King Neb’s guard and asks for his shot at explaining the king’s dream.

I thought this was funny, because Daniel goes and asks the captain but then turns around asks Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah for prayers.

Body

We will pick up the story in verse 36.

Daniel has prayed asking God to reveal to him the meaning of King Neb’s dream and God does just that.

Daniel 2:36–45 NIV

“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Your Majesty, you 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 all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. “After you, another kingdom will arise, 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. “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 its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Before Daniel gave the meaning of the dream he told King Neb the content of the dream. What actually happened in the dream.

This gave Daniel credibility in the eyes of the Neb and the Babylonians, so when he explained the meaning it would be easier for Neb to accept it as truth.

King Neb’s dream was a picture of the different kingdoms that would reign over the lands.The Babylonian empire was the head of the body laced in gold because they were the strongest, most powerful empire of the day.

The dream tells us about future empires that would rule:

Babylonian Empire - 66 yrs.

Persian Empire - 208 yrs.

Greece Empire - 185 yrs.

Roman Empire - 500+ yrs.

Since the Roman Empire, there has not been an empire equal to them. Theologians believe that the next coming of something similar to the Roman Empire will be that of the antichrist.

The “stone cut without hands” is a representation of Jesus. We know that one day, He is returning for His church and He will conquer the final empire of the antichrist.

So what does all of this mean for us?

I think that Daniel is trying to tell us two things:

1. Seasons will change, but our God remains the same.

a. Leaders will rise and fall, our lives might look different, our friend groups may change, but He remains the same.

2. God can use you through your trial or difficult season.

a. As tough as things get, know that it’s not in vain. God will reveal the why behind the what.

After Daniel finishes explaining the dream to King Neb, Neb falls to his knees because Daniel had accurately explained the dream.

Since Daniel is between the ages of 13-17 years old, this is probably the hardest trial he has ever faced but he never wavered.

Because of his faithfulness, King Neb promoted Daniel AND his friends to a high office of power.

Conclusion

Our God is constant. He always remains the same.

Tonight if you find yourself struggling or in a hard season, make this place an alter and do business with God. He is here.

Adults to pray with, pray in your chair, don’t leave the same way you came in.

Prayer