Will Your Kingdom Stand? Daniel 2:31-49

Scripture Introduction:

Am I going to last....? Will I leave a legacy? Will I be remembered? Will my kingdom stand?

Here is how the Bible answers that question.

Psalm 1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

So, what happens when the Israelites, those who had Psalm 1, who knew the way of righteousness, and their kings, their prophets, their priests, the whole lot of them say, “nah, we don’t really think that’s how you prosper.”

They look to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Pyramids of Egypt. They see the prosperity—the expansion of their land—the wealth, extravagance…all that stuff and think…man, I wish I had that.

I mean think about that for a second. You’ve got $4.37 in your bank account. You get paid on Friday, but your mortgage is due on Monday and when all is said and done that $4.37 is maybe going to end up growing to a staggering $11.14.

Your life. Your finances. They don’t feel stable. They feel blown in the wind. And it’s not just your pocket book—that impacts lots of things.

Now you look at your neighbor who seems to be just burning cash on all these luxurious things. Who feels more stable? What feels more rock solid?

And so the Israelites bought it. They went after the stability of Egypt. The glory of Babylon. The lustre of Assyria. But it bit them. It wasn’t actually stable. It was a mirage.

They now live in Babylon…they got the dream baby!! But they are in captivity there. It’s not a delight. It swallowed them up.

But that question of stability is still hanging over them. How will I go on? How will we survive? How will we not bear shame—how will my family have honor in the next generation?

So, maybe it’s not a Mother’s Day sermon but it kind of is. Those are questions pressing on mom’s and dad’s. Family questions. Questions of stability. Questions about kingdom building.

As we left Daniel last time we have a powerful king, most powerful guy in the universe, but he can’t sleep. He tried getting his astrologers to tell him the dream. They came up empty. They said, “bro, we can’t do what you’re asking.” We can’t provide you this comfort.

So, he does what kings back then did. “Off with their heads!!” But Daniel prayed—because he would have been one of those killed…And he said, “God have compassion on us. I need to know this dream. Only you can do that. Would you be so kind...”

And God does it. Daniel is able to tell Nebby his dream. Here it is:

Daniel 2:31–35 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.

Great! But Nebby also wants to know what that dream means. Daniel is able to tell him that too.

Daniel 2:36–45 ESV

“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.”

Let me sum that up for you quickly. Here is what Daniel said to Nebby. You just saw Psalm 1 in technicolor. He uses language from Psalm 1 in his interpretation, did you hear it?

So what does this tell us? It tells us that Psalm 1 is true in Israel and it’s true in Babylon. And it’s true for us today.

It tells us also that there is a kingdom which will stand and all others will crumble. That’s the main point here.

Much has been made of this, trying to figure out specifically who these are referring to. Which nations are these? What do we make of the 10 toes? Does this tell us anything about our future? Can we identify specific people here—can this help us understand even the news today?

We know for sure that the gold is Babylon. And historically there has been a pretty wide consensus on the others as well. Most believe that the second kingdom—made of silver is that of the Persian Empire. The third is thought to be Alexander’s Greek and Macedonian Empire. And the last one is thought to be the Roman Empire.

It’s interesting to read the comments of believers who actually lived during the Roman Empire. This is what Jerome said:

Old Testament XIII: Ezekiel, Daniel The Roman Empire

But its feet and toes are partly iron and partly of earthenware, a fact clearly revealed at the present moment. For just as there was at the first nothing stronger or hardier than the Roman realm, so also in these last days there is nothing more feeble, since we require the assistance of barbarian tribes both in our civil wars and against foreign nations

For quite a few years in church history it was pretty settled that this was referring to those kingdoms. But within the past couple hundred years or so some have put forth an idea of a ten nation confederacy b/c of those 10 toes. Many thinking that this has yet to be fulfilled and that there will be a type of rebirth of Rome. And then people argue about which specific nations will arise out of this. Who are these ten nations?

For me personally, I don’t think that’s the intention of Daniel. I don’t think that is what this text is doing or what it is meant to do. In my opinion, our eyes should go to where the text leads us…and it leads us to turn our eyes away from the statue and onto this rock cut out of a cliff—a rock that is “not made by human hands”.

The rock represents the kingdom set up by God. This is the kingdom of Christ. And the point, then, of the whole vision goes back to what we see in Psalm 1.

God destroys the nations that oppress his people and replaces it with a kingdom that is going to fill the whole earth. That kingdom is the kingdom of Christ. Who came during the Roman Empire.

So what does this tell Nebby? How is it meant to communicate to him? It’s meant to tell him that all earthly kingdoms will be destroyed. His head of gold will come down. It’s an invitation to pursue this powerful God who reveals dreams…a God “not made with human hands”. One who is wholly other and yet one who graciously comes down to protect Daniel and even to show Himself to Nebby—the pagan king.

Now how does Nebby respond to this? Well, kind of well. He promotes Daniel and his friends. He even says, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries...”

But this is where it’s unfortunate that we have these chapter breaks…because it makes us think that this is an entirely different story. It keeps us from drawing a connection here that we ought to draw.

We’ll look here next week but for now look at 3:1. What does Nebby do? He makes an entire statue out of gold. It’s as if he’s saying—I don’t like how that dream turned out. I’m going to make the whole thing out of gold—that’s the problem. I need to infuse Babylon all the way. And I need to make people worship me.

So, he hasn’t exactly gotten it yet. This isn’t a conversion story for Nebby. It’s meant to turn his eyes away from the statue and onto that rock from the cliff. But instead he just tries to fix up the statue to keep the rock from destroying it. That’s what humanity does, right?

But lets look now at what this story does for Daniel and his friends. What does it say to the exiles?

Wait, let me ask this a different way first. Why does he only identify Babylon? Why not say and there is this other one that’s going to be called Rome, this other one Persia, and wait until you meet Alexander, and oh these 10 toes…let me tell you about helicopters and missiles and atomic bombs…why doesn’t he do this?

Because it’s not what they need. What would that do? God gives us what we need to know. He’s not speaking in code here. He’s speaking very clearly---I think we just want him to be saying something different than He is.

He’s saying to the Babylonian exiles—and ultimately even to us—stick with Psalm 1. You want to think the ten toes is pointing to some restoration of a Roman kingdom—go for it. It could be right. But can we just say that this isn’t the MAIN point of the text? It’s not how the early church would have read this. It’s not how Christians would have read this for centuries.

It’s ultimately about Christ. It’s saying that the kingdom made with God’s hand will stand. It’s the only kingdom that will stand. And let me show you why this is so valuable...

I’ve shared this illustration before but Revelation 5 is an incredibly powerful place in Scripture.

Revelation 5:1–4 ESV

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

What is this scroll?

It’s the unfolding of history. It’s God’s plan of redemption. It’s everything that God is going to do for our good. To not open the scroll means that history has no point, no destination, no climax. All that our heart is longing for is dashed. The statue crumbles.

And you can place this in any point in human history. Who will lead us to redemption? Who will bring us justice? Who will rescue us? Who will bring us back to God? Who will give us peace? Who will provide what our heart is longing for?

Can Nebuchadnezzar?

Can Alexander the Great?

Can Caesar?

Can William the Conqueror?

Can Napoleon?

Can America?

No. Not a single human. Not a single kingdom made with human hands can open that scroll. We can’t provide what we need for our rescue. And this is why John is weeping. He’s seeing all of human history—every strong man, every powerful woman, coming to that seal and trying to open it and one after one after one it doesn’t budge.

Like one of those strong man things at the museum…I think it was in Branson…powerful dudes, me, one guy totally jacked. Puts all his strength into it…gets red in the face, doesn’t move it. And some of y’all dudes are either thinking (I’ve got it) or I’m going to go to Branson and do this...

That’s the picture here. But this one EVERY SINGLE ONE doesn’t move it. All the strength humans can muster and it doesn’t budge an inch.

So John weeps. There is none to save us. Is there none to provide redemption?

Revelation 5:5 ESV

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Only Jesus. He’s the rock cut out of the mountain. It is only His kingdom that will stand. Do you see how you can apply this no matter what generation you live in? No matter what you believe about 10 kingdoms or 10 toes or if it’s Rome, or Greece, or Uzbekeistan, or Australia, or America, or some world leader here or some world leader there.

It doesn’t matter who you plug in there. The equation is the same. And that’s the point of Daniel. Every kingdom but the kingdom of Jesus will not stand. If you’re building into those, then that’s bad news. It crumbles. It will always crumble.

This goes if you’re trying to build a vast empire that stretches the globe. And it’s true if you’re trying to build a family, a ministry, a circle of friends, discipleship groups, fill in the blanks. No empire cut with human hands will ultimately stand.

But this is really great news if you’re the Babylonian exiles--if you can swallow it. It’s great news if you’re a follower of Jesus in a hostile Roman Empire. It’s wonderful news even for Jesus followers today---the kingdom of Jesus will stand. His kingdom wins.

Oh, but I fear we might hear this the wrong way. We will hear it through the lens of power. We will hear it just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day—who were looking for a political Messiah---a rock that would crush the nations, bring them to their knees, and then rule from a worldly throne.

As if Jesus opens the scroll by being the toughest tough guy there is…now don’t get me wrong. The Bible presents Him as powerful…as a powerful lion of the tribe of Judah. The lion opens the scroll…but notice something in Revelation 5....

Revelation 5:6–8 ESV

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

The imagery shifts. The lion is the lamb. He opens the scroll not by a strong man competition. But by self-sacrifice. By dying on behalf of others. By perfectly live Psalm 1…perfectly obeying God’s love. Loving God, loving people with absolute perfection and then laying down his life and saying— “here my record can be your record”

And that is what moves history. That is what crumbles every kingdom made with human hands. Self-giving love. That is the only kingdom that will stand.

Are you in Christ? Are you connected to Jesus or are you still trying to build your own kingdom?

Are you surrendered to Jesus, is He your King? Or are you just using Jesus to build your own kingdom still?