The Revealer of Mysteries
God Over All • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Denver had the stomach virus earlier this week...
We hear him screaming at 1am
Abby goes in there to get him
He had thrown up his blueberries
Did he eat something he shouldn’t have?
Is he sick?
30 minutes later… threw up again
Oh… this is our life for the next several hours
Abby and I just getting thrown up on every hour or so
Start googling
How long does the stomach virus last?
What are the first signs of the stomach virus?
How can you avoid the stomach virus?
Get a slight ache in your stomach and google it… sure enough… google will let you know you’re dying and you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible
It’s a dangerous thing to start searching for medical help online
We know that and we still do it
That’s one of the questions we’re going to wrestle with tonight...
Where do we go when we’re anxious and we need answers?
The Places we Search for Answers
The Places we Search for Answers
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him, and sleep deserted him. 2 So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream and am anxious to understand it.”
In the second year of his reign
Nebuchadnezzar is relatively new on the job
His dreams are troubling him
Babylonians view of dreams
They tell you something about the future
Troubled
His mind was disturbed
Disturbed him deeply
Sleep deserted him
Insomnia
Call in the wizards
Magicians. Mediums. Sorcerers. Chaldeans.
Don’t think David Blaine
Think Gandalf from Lord of the Rings
Or Dumbledore from Harry Potter
Not necessarily an entertainer
Wise
Leader
Diviners
Don’t receive revelation
They’re just able to read and interpret things
they love stars
Things like Zodiac signs and horoscopes began with these Babylonian diviners
Abnormal births
Shumma Izbu - passed down from Assyria
24 chapters
3000 different predictions based on abnormal births
“'If a woman gives birth and the baby has lion's ears: there will be a strong king in the land.
If a woman gives birth and the baby has no right ear: the prince's days will end.
If a woman gives birth and the baby has no left ear: the prince's days will be long.
If a woman gives birth and the baby has no ears: there will be distress in the land and the land will be diminished.'”
Imagine that...
Not just giving birth to a child
But giving birth to prophecy
Sheep Livers
They believed that the liver was the source of thinking
They would sacrifice sheep and examine their livers
They believed that it’s shape would tell them something about the future
Dreams
They believed that the gods were speaking to them through dreams
Was there a person in your dream?
Was it a boy or girl?
Looking to the left or the right?
Did he move his left hand or right hand?
Did he have a bow?
Was he a warrior?
They believed the answers to all of these questions would give them clues of the future
Anxious to understand it
Anxious - Hammer
We’ve all been there
Something on our mind
Typically it’s a concern about the future
You’re trying to go to sleep
It’s like a hammer going off in your mind
Like it just won’t stop
What if this happens
What if he says this
What if he doesn’t love me anymore
What if I don’t get the job
What if they find out about my addiction
These thoughts just keep hammering on
The epidemic of anxiety
Among US college students depression and anxiety more than doubled between 2010 and 2018
From 2010 to 2020 the number of emergency room visits for self-harm rose by 188% among teenage girls in the US and 48% among boys
The suicide rate for kids during that same time period increased by 167% among girls and 91% among boys.
Jonathan Haidt - The Anxious generation
Phones
Social media
Regardless of the cause of our anxiety, the question is not… are you anxious? The question is where do you turn when you get anxious?
Nebuchadnezzar
Bring me the Chaldeans and diviners
I need answers
I need relief
I need sleep
He doesn’t want anyone lying to him
The Chaldeans spoke to the king (AramaicJ, begins here): “May the king live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My word is final: If you don’t tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a garbage dump. But if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you’ll receive gifts, a reward, and great honor from me. So make the dream and its interpretation known to me.”
They answered a second time, “May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will make known the interpretation.”
The king replied, “I know for certain you are trying to gain some time, because you see that my word is final. If you don’t tell me the dream, there is one decree for you. You have conspired to tell me something false or fraudulent until the situation changes. So tell me the dream and I will know you can give me its interpretation.”
I need someone with some real answers here
Not trying to manipulate me
Not trying to take advantage of me
I need you to prove that you know what you’re talking about
Where do you turn?
Concerns
Am I going to get married
Am I going to get a degree
Am I ever going to find a job
These thoughts just keep hammering
Anxiety is rising
Answers
Horoscope
Astronomy
Zodiac signs
Fortune teller
Palm readers
Tarot cards
Divination
I don’t want to downplay all of that… Because it is Satanic
But odds are that’s not where you’re turning
When we’re concerned about the future…
Education
I just have to learn all that I can and I’ll be fine
Wealth
This will secure me
Possessions
Gather some stuff
Have a big house
Have a nice car
Go online and see what other people have to say
Look for some advice in the forums
More often than not we don’t seek out an answer
We just want to be distracted
Social media
Netflix
YouTube
Another night out with the girls having a few too many drinks
Another round of golf with the boys
I’ll just drink some more
Or smoke some more
Or eat some more
Or scroll some more
It’s not about dealing with our anxiety
We just want to suppress it for as long as possible
Where Nebuchadnezzar turned to divination… we turn to distraction
I’m having these thoughts about the future
I can’t sleep
Bring me my phone
I’ll just scroll until I can’t hold my eyes open anymore
Notice how the Chaldeans respond…
10 The Chaldeans answered the king, “No one on earth can make known what the king requests. Consequently, no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, medium, or Chaldean. 11 What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
We don’t have anyone here that can fix you Nebuchadnezzar
What you’re asking for…
No one can do that…
This anxiety your feeling about the future… we don’t know what to do
We don’t have the answers to your questions or the power to fix your problem
12 Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 The decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed, and they searched for Daniel and his friends, to execute them.
14 Then Daniel responded with tact and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. 15 He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, 18 urging them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.
The God who has the answers
The God who has the answers
Daniel’s D-Group
Gets his boys
Let’s pray
If you don’t have one…
You need a circle
You need a group of guys you can call on when life gets heavy
You need a group of girls you can call on when you get bad news
Not a group that will distract you from your problems
But a group that will wrestle through your problems with you
When Daniel hears that his future is uncertain the first thing Daniel does is go find his boys and they drop to their knees and beg God for mercy
The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens
God answers their prayers
God gives Daniel a vision in the night of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
Daniel praises God
There are several encouraging things in his prayer
20 and declared:
May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him.
21 He changes the times and seasons;
he removes kings and establishes kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those
who have understanding.
22 He reveals the deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I offer thanks and praise to you,
God of my ancestors,
because you have given me
wisdom and power.
And now you have let me know
what we asked of you,
for you have let us know
the king’s mystery.
The God Daniel prays to
Wisdom
“Wisdom belongs to him…”
“He reveals deep and hidden things…”
“He knows what’s in the dark…”
He understands the way the worlds works
Science
Weather
Seasons
Physics
He understands how you work
Not just the science of your body
Psychology and sociology behind why you do what you do
He understands what frustrates you
What confuses you
What excites you
He understands what you need
He understands what you don’t need
So… He’s not just intelligent
He’s wise
He doesn’t just have information… He has understanding
He knows what’s good for people and what’s not
He knows what the consequences are going to be of your decisions
Power
He’s not just an intelligent or wise being with no ability to move things around
He has power
Strength
Might
He controls the seasons and the times
The cycle of nature
Fall Winter Spring Summer
The times
Peace
War
Rejoicing
Sorrow
He removes Kings and establishes Kings
He’s in charge of who’s in charge
This is a major theme throughout the book of Daniel
He’s the God Over All
Daniel praises a God who has wisdom… and power
He doesn’t just know what’s best for people
He has the power to move all things according to his will
He reveals wisdom
God didn’t just leave his people in the dark
He makes things known through his word
From the very beginning with Adam and Eve
“Do whatever you want… but it would not be good if you ate from that tree…”
He spoke to Noah
He spoke to Abraham
He spoke to Moses
He led the people of Israel into the promised land and told them how to defeat their enemies
He’s personal
He isn’t just the God of Daniel’s ancestors
A God of legends
You hear stories of Him moving and speaking but no one has seen that happen in decades
“He’s spoken to me…”
He’s spoken to Daniel
Daniel 2:23 “I offer thanks and praise to you, God of my ancestors, because you have given me wisdom and power. And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king’s mystery.”
You didn’t just speak in the past
You’ve spoken to me today
I believe God is still speaking today and wants to speak with you
He wants to lead you
He wants to guide you
He wants to give you wisdom
He does that through his word
And through the Holy Spirit
There is a God we can turn to when we’re anxious...
Wise
Understands your situation
Understands you
He knows what makes you anxious
He knows why your anxious
Bring in the New Testament
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”
Sympathize
Understanding of someone’s pain and you hurt along with them
Our savior gets it…
Whatever makes you anxious about the future…
He understands
He understands what’s good for you
He understands that what looks good isn’t always good
What looks bad isn’t always bad
He can see things that we cannot
Powerful
He can move time and space on our behalf
He can move things to accomplish his will
He’s not just a wise being with no power to make change
He’s on the throne
He can sign as many executive orders as he wants
There’s no political position that can veto his decisions
Personal
He’s not distant
He’s not just the God of the Israelites
He’s not just the God of your parents
He’s your God
He’s your father
He would love to spend time and communicate with you…
He would love to hear what’s making you anxious
The Meeting with the King
The Meeting with the King
24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He came and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”
25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the Judean exiles who can let the king know the interpretation.”
26 The king said in reply to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?”
27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay in bed were these: 29 Your Majesty, while you were in your bed, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future.D, The revealer of mysteries has let you know what will happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
Quick word on Daniel’s humility
I don’t have the answers either
How many times in our anxiety do we just try to figure things out ourselves
Concerned about the future?
Grit our teeth and try to control things
Manipulate the future
Take it in our own hands
Daniel’s response
I’m just a servant of a really wise and powerful God
When I’m anxious I go to Him…
He gives me answers
The Dream
The Dream
31 “Your Majesty, as you were watching, suddenly a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the sky—he has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 “After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. 41 You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, 42 and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. 43 You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.
44 “In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. 45 You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation reliable.”
The Lord revealed to Daniel the dream
And He revealed the interpretation
Daniel has a vision in chapter 7 of Daniel that goes into more detail about these events but we’ll hit them briefly now
You are the head of Gold
Babylon under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar
The chest and arms of silver
Another Kingdom inferior to yours
Medo-Persian Empire
Inferior
They actually had more power
Controlled more land
Most commentators have come to the conclusion that it’s Inferior in Morality
People don’t get better
They actually become more rebellious
The Stomach and thighs of bronze
Greece
Rules the known world
This is the Kingdom of Alexander the Great
swiftly makes his way through the area taking over every city
He actually grew bored because there was no more land to conquer
He once visited Jerusalem
The priests there showed him the book of Daniel
“This is talking about you…”
This… combined with a dream that he had convinced him not to mess with Jerusalem as he’s conquering all the cities
He even bowed to the Jewish priests in respect of their God
The feet of iron and clay
Rome
Strong as iron
Smashes everything
This is how Rome took over
Through their brute force
The toes are debated…
Are these 10 emperors within the Roman Empire?
Are these 10 leaders?
What’s going on here?
There’s not a whole lot of consensus here…
Maybe in chapter 7 we’ll get a little more clarity
What’s not debated is the stone
Not touched by a human hand
Crushes the feet of the statue
The whole statue crumples to the ground
The rock becomes a mountain that covers the whole earth
Daniel tells us this is the Kingdom of God
Begins as a Rock
The least desirable of all the materials
What do the scriptures tell us about Jesus?
He came in humility
He wasn’t born with a crown on his head
He was born in humility
Did not have the appearance of a King
He was a humble servant
Stone of stumbling for the Jews
We thought he was just a stone
He’s really causing problems here
But he has more power than we expected
There’s more going on here than we thought there was
Not touched by a human hand
He begins to set up a Kingdom
But it’s a Kingdom that no man can take credit for
It’s not built by human hands
It’s not built by the strength of man
It’s not built by the intelligence of man
It will destroy all other Kingdoms
But this Kingdom will never end
All other Kingdoms will come to an end
Babylonian empire will give way to the Medo-Persians
The Medo-Persians will give way to the Greeks
The Greeks will give way to the Romans
Regardless of the strength of all of these empires… all of these will come to an end
There is one Kingdom that will last for eternity
That’s the Kingdom of God
It will never be overpowered
It will never be destroyed
When will this Kingdom be setup
Was it setup during the days of Christ?
Are we still waiting on it?
I’d argue the answer is yes…
Matthew 4:17 “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.””
It’s time
What Daniel prophesied is about to happen
The rock is about to crush all other Kingdoms
And become an everlasting Kingdom
Revelation 11:15 “The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”
It’s happening
The rock is taking over
Destroying all other Kingdoms
So...
It’s a legit Kingdom that we’re a part of
The Bible calls us citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven
God’s in charge
He’s on the throne
7th trumpet
The end of all things
The Kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ
We’ll one day see the fulfillment
There will be a throne here
Jesus Christ will be sitting on it
It will be an eternal Kingdom
That will never be overthrown or overpowered
When will the rock take over?
He is right now…
You’re a part of it
We’ll see that in it’s fullness at the end of time when Christ returns
What does this have to do with anxiety?
What does this have to do with anxiety?
There’s a message in this dream…
Nebuchadnezzar
Anxious about the future
Why?
He wants to try to control his future
He wants power
He wants authority
He wants glory
He’s concerned he’s not going to get what he wants
The message to Nebuchadnezzar…
God is on the throne… Not Nebuchadnezzar
You’re not in charge here
You’re anxious because you’re think you’re in charge
You’re trying to hold on to too much
Let go…
You’re not on the throne
Quit trying to be
The application for Nebuchadnezzar
Humility
You?
Maybe you’re trying to build your own Kingdom
You want power
You want authority
You want glory
May not be on a national scale like Nebuchadnezzar
But the feelings are the same
You want power at your job
You want authority in your neighborhood
You want applause from your classmates
Maybe your anxiety about the future comes from trying to control things that you have no control over
There is a God on the throne and it’s not you
Life isn’t all about you
You may not always get what you want
The message to Nebuchadnezzar
God is on the throne… Not Nebuchadnezzar
The message to Daniel
God is on the throne… Not Nebuchadnezzar
Imagine their thoughts as captives in a foreign land
Has God forgotten about us?
Are we going to die here?
What’s Nebuchadnezzar going to do to us?
God tells Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar isn’t in charge
God’s on the throne
The story doesn’t end in exile
It may look like God has been defeated by the Babylonians
But one day the Kingdom of Babylon will fall
And will ultimately be replaced by the Kingdom of Heaven that will last forever
Maybe… your anxiety about the future comes from your lack of control
You have questions
Will I get married?
Will I survive?
Will I ever find a job?
Am I going to be able to keep my job?
Is America going to war?
Am I going to able to afford my house?
Am I going to be able to afford my groceries?
What if my grandma passes away?
You have all of these questions…
The fact that you can’t control a single one concerns you
To that God says… I’m on the throne… and your story doesn’t end in exile
Now does that mean Daniel and his buddies are about to be freed from captivity immediately?
No… They’ll die as captives in a foreign land
But God will be with them the entire time
Ben Stuart, in his sermon on this chapter said, “God may not save us from hard times, but He will sustain us through them.”
Where do we go when we’re anxious?
To your savior
This world does not have the answers to your problems or the power to fix them
But we have a God…
Look at what Nebuchadnezzar has to say at the end of the chapter
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown, worshiped Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.
This isn’t a salvation moment for Nebuchadnezzar…
He’s just adding the God of Daniel to his list of gods
But he accidentally says something theologically accurate
Your God is the God of gods
He’s the Lord of Kings
He’s the revealer of mysteries
We have someone we can go to that understands what we’re going through, he knows what we need, he has the power to move things according to his will, and he’s willing to talk us through the whole process.
In moments of anxiety may we, like Daniel, sprint as fast as we can into the presence of our loving Heavenly Father.
