Daniel, Chaper2
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Who wrote Daniel
Chapters 1-6 are about
Chapters 7-12 are about
Main Character in Daniel
Review
captured Jews from Jerusalem exiled to Babylon
we find 4 friends who made up their minds to be faithful to God
In life
others go with the flow, never truly believe
others blame God instead of themselves for the calamity
others give up on God
1 One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep.
2 He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king,
3 he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”
5 But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble!
6 But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”
King had a dream that was troubling and he knew it meant something important, he couldn’t sleep.
so he calls all of the “spiritual” people (commercial: for us spiritual is a modern term for unsaved) magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers to interpret the dream
they said tell us the dream and we will interpret it
King replies, you must tell me MY dream AND interpret it. you will receive death or rewards
7 They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”
8 The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say,
9 ‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”
10 The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer!
spiritual people complain that what the king is asking is impossible.
King says I am not changing my mind
11 The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.”
spiritual people admit that there is a limit to their power.
some people who are in the occult are fake
others are real, but they can only so much
if God be for us, who can be against us.
Lesson: Anything that is not of God is limited
usually when things get real, that’s when the people in the occult fall short
As Christians, through the Holy Spirit, we have a God who dwells in mortal flesh.
12 The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed.
13 And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.
They couldn’t fulfill the kings request, so the king ordered that they all be killed. Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were considered part of this group (exactly how the world sees us today), and they are being rounded up too
This seems very unfair but there is some logic to the kings order
if he shares the dream, they can tell him anything, He know that as king he can’t trust anybody. When you are rich and powerful, you are surrounded by people trying to take advantage of you
they’re looking for promotions
they’re working for other important officials at court
but this is too important to get fake news
but if they can know the dream without him telling them, then he can trust their interpretation
You ought to have some sort of plan to discern anyone who claims to have spiritual insight.
church home - strong foundation, gifts are meant to work together, there is accountability in a church home, it’s how God designed the church to work. Even Paul reported back to Jerusalem
is what they said specific to you or everyone
is what they say verifiable? You will know if it comes to pass or not
do they give you the who, how, or when . . . or is it just open?
ultimately you are responsible for what info you accept
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion.
15 He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened.
16 Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.
For some reason Daniel was unaware of what was going on.
Worked for the king but not in the palace all the time.
But he found out what was happening and asked the king for some time.
17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened.
18 He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
they had a prayer meeting!
Daniel has a gift, so it’s natural that he is the one to seek the answer
but gifts come connected to God and to God’s people
get the saints to pray with you. We are stronger together. That’s how you respond to tough situations
Esther
don’t just rely on your gift/talent, rely on God!
19 That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.
20 He said, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power.
21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.
22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.
23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.”
God gave the answer in a vision
Daniel gives a praise
God is in full control
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding
God can reveal hidden things
thank you for answering our prayer (and saving our lives - implied)
24 Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”
25 Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, “I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream!”
Daniel let the executioner know that God had given him the dream and interpretation
26 The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”
27 Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret.
28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.
Daniel says you have asked the impossible, but nothing is impossible with God. So Daniel gives credit to God
29 “While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen.
30 And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.
31 “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.
32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.
34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
your dream was about the future
great and splendid statue with head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet of part iron and part clay
a stone was cut without hands (divine) and that stone crushed the statue, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the earth
36 “That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.
37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
39 “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world.
40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron.
42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay.
43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.
44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.
45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”
show picture
What most Bible scholars agree on
Statue as a whole represent world systems
Gold head - Daniel tells us that Babylon is the gold head.
Silver arms and chest - the next kingdom that came along was Persia
Bronze belly and thighs - Greece, Alexander the great
Iron legs - Rome, very strong
feet of iron and clay - period after Rome, or yet to come
Rock is Jesus - who will bring it all down when he comes back, striking at feet gives the time . . . he will be more than just a statue but a mountain!
Metals (gold to iron) get less valuable but stronger
value = power of the one ruler to power shared
ex. England has a king but he doesn’t rule England
strength = power of the empire
Babylon - one absolute ruler
Persia - king, but had nobles who were almost equal in power
Greece - after Alexander’s short rule, rule by many more
Rome - had Caesars but also had the Senate, and very shaky power
Time in power is growing and conquered land is growing (stronger metals)
The Babylonian Empire stood for 66 years; the Medo-Persian Empire for 208 years; the Grecian Empire for 300 years, and the Roman Empire stood for more than 500 years.
Feet mixed with iron and clay is believed the division of the Roman empire up to now (longest lasting period), and that it is a prophecy of what is to come.
12 The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.
13 They will all agree to give him their power and authority.
14 Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”
Big lesson is that God is in control of human history.
God is in control in your situation too
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him.
47 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.”
48 Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
note: pretty bold to tell a king that his kingdom will not last
God got the praise
Daniel got a promotion
Daniel’s prayer partners got promotions - from the chopping block to new offices, wow! Won’t He do it!
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Sermon reminder - if stay connected to God, your power source, then it won’t matter if you are down to less than 1%
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