Daniel 2: Learning From The Wise
Notes
Transcript
Last week we started the Old Testament Book of Daniel, and I told you three things that that we would see throughout the book was
The Sovereignty of God
The Faithfulness of Daniel
The Righteousness of those who follow God.
The Sovereignty of God means that God is in control. He know everything and even when it seems that this world is out of control, he is still ruling, he is still reigning…he always has and he always will.
I thought about the Sovereignty of God this week as Mom was teaching the Monday Bible study with the P6 & JS1. They were talking about the creation of the world. She mentioned that her favorite Bible verse was Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And when I see that verse, the first four words of the Bible, that show me his sovereignty. Before there was anything…there was God. HE created.
Then my mind goes to John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He is the creator. He always has been and he always will be.
As Daniel and his three friends were taken by King Nebuchadnezzar to a foreign land and told to eat food that was first given to foreign idols, they remained faithful to their God. They were now Jewish men living in a gentile place, and they knew what God had said about staying away from foreign, “small g” gods.
TWO SLIDES
Exodus 34:12–15 (ESV)
12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,
So they were faithful to their God, and he was faithful to them.
In their faithfulness to remain true to God, they want to live a righteous life. Remember righteousness for the Christian means that as we live, wherever we go, whatever we say, whatever we do, we want to reflect the love of God that has saved us through his Son Jesus Christ.
CLICK TO NEXT SLIDE
So in Daniel Chapter 2, we are going to see Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego once again stand up in their faithfulness and righteousness. But we will also see this morning, a glimpse into the future. All through the Old Testament prophets and the Scriptures were pointing to a Messiah, and in this chapter today we see yet another promise of a Savior sent from God.
In the lives and actions of Daniel, Shadrach, Mustache and Abednego, we are going to learn from some very wise men today.
****CBC CREED****
Open your Bibles to Daniel 2 …
Now some time has passed between Daniel 1 and Daniel 2. In Daniel 1 Nebuchadnezzer has just become King and he attacked the southern Kingdom with the capital of Jerusalem. He took Daniel and these young boys off and put them into three years of training in wisdom and the ways of the Chaldeans, which were the people. The three years had ended and Daniel and his friends were elevated to high positions because of their wisdom.
READ VERSE 1
Now wait. did you see something there? I said that the three years of training had passed, but this verse says that it was during what we will read happened in the second year of his reign. What’s up with that?
In this time, when a King ruled after his first 365 days, it was not said that he had ruled one year. So it wasn’t until he had ruled another 365 days, now two years, that he had ruled one year. So, when it says Daniel 2:1
Daniel 2:1 (ESV)
1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
He had actually been on the throne for 3 years.
READ VERSE 2-12
So the King had a dream and he didn’t know what it meant. He needed an interpretation. So who does he call? He called all of his magicians, enchanters, and Chaldeans so find out the meaning. But, he was putting them to a test. He wanted to see if they could truly interpret dreams and they were just telling the king something to make him happy.
So he says, interpret the dream. And they answer back, tell us the dream, and we will tell you the meaning. The King said no. If you are so wise, with all of your magical powers, you would know even without me telling you what I dreamed.
They couldn’t do it. King Nebuchadnezzar knew they were fake and the gods they worshipped were false, so he sent a decree to kill all the wise men, the enchanters, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans.
So now because it was three years, Daniel, and Shadrach, and Meschah, Abednego were now part of the wise men in Babaloyn.
Now from verses 13-16, Daniel asked to see the King to help interpret the dream.
But before Daniel spoke to the King he did two things. Two important things that showed he knew that he served a sovereign God who was faithful. Two things that will help us stay faithful and walk in righteousness. What did he do?
Daniel 2:17–18 (ESV)
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
What does it mean to seek God and his mercy? Pray.
Daniel prayed to God.
The King did not give any details about his vision. No one knew except for what the King dreamed in his mind. It was impossible for anyone to know. So what did Daniel do? He went to the God who makes all things possible.
Do you remember what the angel Gabriel told Mary, when he visited her? Mary asked, how can this be? How can I give birth to a child, I have never been with a man. He said:
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Daniel knew that is God was Sovereign. His God would preserve the Hebrew people. Daniel was part of the tribe of Judah. What was the bloodline that Jesus came from? The tribe of Judah.
If you go to Revelation, it shows that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah:
Revelation 5:5 (ESV)
5 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.”
Daniel and his three friends prayed, and God heard.
19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
They prayed, God heard, and then he did the second thing.
Daniel praised God.
Look at Daniel 2:20-23
20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 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; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
He didn’t just pray, receive what God had given, then went on his way, he was careful to recognize what God had done, and he lifted up praise and glory and thanks to God for his faithfulness.
How many times, does God answer prayer but yet we fail to thank him. God is always working, and the bible tells us that in the good times and the bad, he deserves our praise.
Prayer and praise. That was the life of Daniel. He knew that he could call upon the name of the Lord and he would hear him. He knew that his God was THE God and no one else could stand beside him.
Prayer and praise. I remember when I was young, and friend of mine, his mother had cancer. The cancer had moved into her brain and the Dr’s said she would not have much time to live. Our church and many, many people began to pray for her, everyday. There were so many people that prayed to God for his healing in her body. SHe began treatment and some time passed, and people still prayed. She went back to her Dr after some time and they scanned her body and her brain, and the Dr came to them and said…The cancer is gone. There is no more cancer. He said I can’t tell you why, but the cancer is gone. The impossible. God made it possible.
Then it was about a year later, and the cancer came back, and she began treatment again. I remember by friend saying that he beleived that one of the reasons the cancer came back was because they didn’t give thanks and praise to God for healing her the second time. I don’t know it thats true, I don’t think God works like that. But my friend and I and everyone else learned a lesson: give thanks, give praise, thank him for how he is working. Give the credit where the credit is due. Thats what Daniel did.
In verses 24-30, Daniel is able to come before the King and he says in verse 28 that there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. And when we see Daniel discribe the dream, it is a mystery. Look at verse 31.
READ DANIEL 2:31-35
There are so many levels in this dream, but I don’t want your mind to miss the most important thing. So let me quickly explain the different parts of this great image that appeared to King Nebuchadnezzar .
Daniel explains that there was a great image with different levels of this man, this great image.
The head was made of gold.
The chest and arms were made of silver
The middle and thighs we made of bronze
The legs were made of iron
Feet were half iron and half clay.
Now what Daniel is seeing and interpreting are things that are coming in the future. This is a prophecy. A true prophecy. The word from God to Daniel and his interpretation is truly a word from God. Now I said, I don’t want to spend much time on these different levels of the great image and what they mean, but quickly here it is.
First, you and I, now 2,500 years later are able to see in history what each level of this image means. And this is what it means… A kingdom will rise, and a kingdom will fall. One will be in power, ten another will come and overthrow it. We know this in history. There has never been a kingdom or a nation that has always been great. At some point, kingdoms fall, and others rise.
So the head of gold, that is Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. He is on top of the world at the time of this prophecy, he is the most powerful nation. But as I said, earthly kingdoms don’t last. After 40 years pf ruling, the Babylon kingdom fell to the Medo-Persian empire. They are the silver on the great image. Then 200 years of Medo-Persian rule ended when Greeks became the great power. The Greeks are the bronze. The Roman empire took over the Greeks in about 63 years before Jesus was born in Nazareth. They are iron. Then in a manger in Bethlehem, a new Kingdom came into this world, the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is represented by half iron, and half clay. Each Kingdom conquering the one before starting almost 600 years before Jesus came into this world leading to his birth.
But wait. There was one more conqueror, one more Kingdom that would rise. Look at Daniel 2:35-36
35 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. 36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.
From here, Daniel begins to tell King Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation and look what he says about this stone (verse 44-45)
44 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, 45 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.”
Daniel is interpreting events that will happen over the next 600 years, but God gives him a glimpse into the future, and its in teh future for us as well. It is a Kingdom that will never end and can never be destroyed. That is the Kingdom that I want to be part of, and that is the Kingdom I am apart of.
Listen, don’t be fooled by things that take your heart and mind off of the Kingdom that God has prepared for you. Don’t get so caught up in this current Kingdom that will be crushed and smashed to pieces and will blow away with the wind.
Christian, direct your focus, your heart, and your attention in preparing to meet you Savior because the everlasting Kingdom could happen at any time.
The Bible says that when that day happens,
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Are you ready for Jesus to come down? Are you ready to hear the voice of the archangel and the trumpet. Are you ready to meet him and always be with him forever? Then now, before that day, God is calling you to follow his Son Jesus. Not just by word, but by word and deed. By faith and by committment, leaving everything to follow him.
So what to lf
Earthly kingdoms come and go, but there is a Kingdom that is forever. It is an eternal Kingdom that will never go away or be destroyed. Our King is an eternal King, and because of that he is available to us. How?
Prayer. He is the God of the possible, and when we go to him and request things that according to his will, he is faithful to answer that prayer.
And whether he answers or not, we should give him praise, thanks, and the glory that is due his name.
Why? Because his is a Kingdom that will never end. And he wants you to be part of his Kingdom so much to he made a way for you to be with him. And it was through his Son, Jesus Christ, dying on a cross and be raised from the grave three days later.
Lets pray.
