Saved for Good, Saved for Good

Daniel: The Sovereignty of God in Exile  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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We are saved, we are saved for God's Glory and Our Good, and we are saved for Good, there is no undoing it.

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Transcript

Introduction and Recap

Introduction

Good morning,
It is a recurring joke that when Drew determines the preaching schedule he gives me some really amazing, but really difficult texts to preach. That trend has continued from our Mark series into Daniel as it has fallen to me to preach Daniel 2 which is the longest chapter in the book of Daniel. We have 49 verses ahead of us this morning, which Aaron helpfully read for us, doing some really heavy lifting for me. Thank you Aaron. In fact there is only one other chapter that comes close to chapter 2 in length and that is chapter 11 with a whopping 45 verses. Any guesses at who is up on March 21, when Lord willing we will be setting our attention on Daniel 11?
Joking aside, Daniel 2 and Daniel 11 are such amazing mines to work in and find riches of God’s goodness and sovereignty.

Recap Daniel 1

But given that we are taking Daniel at such a quick pace and the narratives are so rich it helps to recap a little bit.
So in review of Daniel 1, we should recall that we were introduced to the setting of the book and a few key characters.
In terms of setting we saw that this book will take place in Babylon. One of the Great superpowers of the ancient world. Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Judah the last strong hold of the former empire of David and Solomon.
In human terms the conquest was the result of Nebuchadnezzar’s military might and superior strategy. But in point of fact, the testimony of scripture is that God determined to give Judah into the hands of Babylon due to their unfaithfulness. Though we don’t have time to get into it, for those interested you might go look at Jeremiah 25.
But Daniel 1 carries the message of God’s sovereignty in this as well.
As for characters we are presented with Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, as well as Daniel—the books author—and Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego). Each of who receives their Babylonian names as an aspect of cultural warfare and social engineering.
But the story of Daniel 1 is a story of Daniel and his four friends subversively but humbly pressing back against such efforts in pursuit of faithfulness to God.
It should be noted that the notoriety of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah implies that the majority of the Jewish exiles caved to such assimilation strategies and became Babylonians.
But the faithfulness of these four, in the midst of their cultural exile is blessed by God resulting in the receiving of favor in their academic and socio-political pursuits. As such Daniel 1:17-19 is indispensible scenery setting for Daniel 2
Daniel 1:17–19 ESV
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king.

Summarize Daniel 2 (Amplified)

Turing our attention to Daniel 2, the narrative starts in both an ominous and yet relatable manner.
I am sure many of you have had the sort of restless nights to which the text alludes with the simple explanation that a man of great responsibility and power awoke in turmoil over a recurring but singular dream.

his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him

We can imagine the tossing and turning each night, the awaking in a cold sweat, with a start. The mind that will not be silent as it processes the content of the dream.
We might imagine, as well, that he was not particularly eager to share the content of the dream, nor how much it has bothered him. After all, men like Nebuchadnezzar do not gain their power and position without making enemies. But night after night the dream returns.
Hailing from a spiritual tradition that affirms that the gods spoke in dreams, Nebuchadnezzer was likely eager to solve its mysteries and understand its message.
Maybe it is a warning? An omen?
His kingdom and reign are only two years old, they are in their infancy and need protecting.
There is much to rule and decisions that must be made, edicts which need giving, judgements that need the kings reflections… But sleep has fled from him.
He awakens night after night without rest, maybe with intermittent rushes of adrenaline which expel him from sleep into the eerie sounds and silences of night.
In an age free from the distractions of screens and audio-content, the king who conquered nations and brought low armies cannot—yet—lay his mind to rest.
So Nebuchadnezzer finally gives in.
He calls in those who deal with such things: magi, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers. He tells them of his troubled sleep and restless spirit.
Then he lays out the terms...
You will tell me, not only the interpretation of my dream, but the dream itself.
This is a break in protocol. These wisemen need data, they cannot, to quote Sherlock Holmes, make bricks without clay.
So they cry out, such is not possible!
Daniel 2:10–11 ESV
The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
But Nebuchadnezzer is having none of it. The interpretation of this dream is of utmost importance. It is a matter of national security, it is a state secret of the highest classification. The advice he seeks needs a test of veracity. Without the ability to describe the dream itself he cannot trust their interpretive content to be true.
One commentator notes,

Nebuchadnezzar’s experience was so vivid and troubling that he is reluctant to believe the Chaldeans. He does not want their omens and false interpretations; he desires a realistic and thorough evaluation of what he has seen.

So when he begins sensing that his supposed-wisemen are trying to buy time he grows angry.
“Put them to death,” he orders.
So they begin rounding up the wise men for some kind of mass execution.
When the chief executioner arrives at the dorm room of Daniel, he finds is none of the crazed terror of Nebuchadnezzer, nor the fear of impending doom which the wisemen displayed.
Instead the text reports:

Daniel replied with prudence and discretion

Why is the decree of the king so urgent?”

Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

Daniel is granted his audience for the next day. His request brings a stay-of-execution for the wisemen throughout the empire. During the night the mystery is revealed to him.
The result, Daniel knowing that God alone has granted him salvation from the madman’s rage of the king, is worship. In poetry or song Daniel praises God for his wisdom, his power, and his provision.
So Daniel is brought before the king and explains two things:
First, the King’s wisemen were right, no one on earth could reveal to Nebuchadnezzar the content or meaning of his dream. That was something for God—or in the case of these pagan magicians the gods—to do.
Second, there is a God in heaven who desires to make himself, his will, and the end game of all of creation known. And that God showed it to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, and he has since shown it also to Daniel so that Daniel could make it know.
So Daniel explains the dream and its interpretation:
Daniel 2:31–33 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.
Daniel explains that each of these substances represents a kingdom—a forth coming world power.
Commentators point out:

These four kingdoms have traditionally been identified as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece (Alexander the Great), and Rome.

In fact, the descriptions, though brief, are such accurate approximations that scholars skeptical of supernatural elements within the Bible date during the rise of the Roman empire, closer to the days of Jesus than the days of Nebuchadnezzar. The obvious presumption is that if prophecy isn’t a reality then the author of Daniel must have had historical understanding of these empires.
As Drew said last week, isn’t the Bible amazing. Which is really just a way a saying isn’t our gracious God amazing. For these words come from him and reflect his everlasting character.
But more important than any of these empires is the second half of the dream:
Daniel 2:34–35 ESV
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.
In verse 44 we find Daniel’s interpretation of this event:
Daniel 2:44 ESV
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,
In response to Daniel’s accurate reporting—which according to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s own wisemen, was only possible with divine, supernatural abilities—Nebuchadnezzar falls on his face and proclaims praise to Yahweh. Daniel and his friends we are told receive promotions.

Outline

Now maybe I just haven’t gotten out of the swing of Mark yet and into the feel for an Old Testament book, but when I read this passage I see Jesus all over it. So I want to draw our attention to three things that help us understand the story and help us place it in the grander narrative of scripture particularly as it prepares us to see and receive Jesus.
So let’s consider,
The Meaning of the Wise-mens’ Plea,
The Meaning of Daniel’s Faithfulness,
The Meaning of the Ever Expanding Stone.

The Meaning of the Wise-mens’ Plea

Look again at verses 10-11:
Daniel 2:10–11 ESV
The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
There isn’t much positive you can say for the wisemen in this text. But we can at least applaud their honesty on this account.
Both the Babylonian wisemen and Daniel have the same answer to the King’s request.
No man has the ability within himself to do that.
Why?
Because the only one with the capability of looking into the heart or mind of a person and drawing out what lays hidden there, what is unspoken, is God.
This is why Daniel is so effusive with praise to God, this why Daniel directs all the glory to God. Its not a false humility, or a facade of holiness, it is the result of a real understanding that it is only by the power of God which Daniel will stand in this moment.
Left to his own abilities, Daniel is in the same predicament as the wise men, but Daniel knows something that they do not.
As Drew said last week, when Daniel was a young boy the Temple would have been reopened, the Law and Histories rediscovered, revival and awakening begun.
As such Daniel would have know that in truth the dwelling place of the true God was once with humanity. Once, long ago, God dwelt in a Garden with his people, then he met his people in a burning bush, in a pillar of fire and a cloud of smoke, he met them on a mountain, and in a tent, and eventually in the temple with a presence so intense that the priests were expelled from the Temple .
2 Chronicles 5:13–14 ESV
and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
So Daniel knew what the King was requesting was possible if God revealed it. He needed to rely on the Word of God and the Power of God. So he prayed to God.
In God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer, God’s response to Daniel’s faithfulness, there is salvation and provision.
I appreciated the exhortation of one commentator who noted:

I think the reason that we do not pray more faithfully and fervently is because we don’t feel the urgency; we tend to be self-sufficient, and we do not see our God as big enough. So there are times when God brings things like this into our lives and into the lives of our friends to bring us to our knees.

You see we read a story like Daniels and we think yeah, my prayer life would go through the roof if I lived in exile like Daniel. If I was in a situation in which I NEEDED GOD TO SHOW UP or I would die.
Surely I would spend more time in scripture if I found myself in that sort of situation in which so many relied on me to give the wisdom and revelation of God.
Maybe I would attempt fasting if the stakes were that high.
Really though? Because the truth is we are. We are in need of God showing up in order to save us and our neighbors.
Think about it. If God’s standard for eternity in the peace and comfort of Heaven verses the fire and torment of Hell is his law kept fully and completely—every “i” dotted, every “t” crossed. Then we are in desperate need of God.
When I get the opportunity to evangelize my favorite thing to do is to read the Sermon on the Mount with the person I am sharing the gospel with.
I do this because those who have spent significant time in the church read it poorly because we run to fast to the grace of the cross of Jesus rather than sitting with statements like:
Matthew 5:17–20 ESV
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Unless your righteousness what!?!
Exceeds the scribes and pharisees, those whose vocation is to memorize and teach the law of God, some how your righteousness must exceed theirs.
How do you do that?
Such a passage brings light to the famous words of Paul in Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

No one passes this test. The only person who can is God himself. An acknowledgment of which brings us right in line with the Chaldeans here:

“There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.

But wait.
Because as there was a hint for Daniel in the words of verse 11, maybe we get a hint there as well:
Daniel 2:11 ESV
The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
What if… there was a way. Hear me out on this. What if there was a way for God to dwell in flesh. For God to take on humanity, for God to live as one of us. For God to sympathize with us. For God to keep his own law. For God—in spite of his righteousness by his own legal standards—to swap our disobedience, our failure, for his obedience and legal success.
But wait how would we know. If God could do this. If God could make such a miracle possible...
Billions of people in the world through out history, how could we be sure which one was God dwelling among us?
Like they said, “there is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demands.” Who can see into the king’s mind, in other words, and tell of the content of his thoughts?
Mark 2:8 ESV
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?
Matthew 12:25 ESV
Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
Luke 6:8 ESV
But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there.
Oh the amazing providence of God that such a clue to the incarnation would be found in the mouths of pagan magi. They meant to give a simple plea for mercy, but they spoke more then they knew.
Their plea was for mercy from the King’s impossible standard.
But their plea is also a signal that we need saving because our first ancestors rebelled against God and in allowed sin and death to creep into the soul of humanity, passing it down generation after generation such that we might cry about God’s just yet impossible standard of righteousness and holiness, but the good news—the Gospel—is that that standard has been met in Christ. It is actually only in Christ’s meeting of the standard that any of us can be found faithful when we place our faith in Christ.
Which is why, as we return to the theme of Daniel’s faithfulness, we ought not hear this as a burden placed upon ourselves as to weigh us down, but we ought to see Daniel’s faithfulness as an example of the joyful response we can have to the God who has saved us.

The Meaning of Daniel’s Faithfulness

So let’s think about the meaning of Daniel’s faithfulness.
There is no one verse to point to when considering Daniel’s faithfulness, rather it is simply exemplified throughout the book. What strikes me as interesting is that Daniel’s faithfulness to God is such a blessing to the pagan nation in which he lived.
In the previous chapter it lead to God giving Daniel and his friends wisdom in service of the pagan nation.
In this chapter Daniel’s faithfulness gives this pagan king more peace of mind.
Throughout the rest of the book the results will be similar.
But it should not be all that surprising if we knew our Old Testaments better. After all, it will become clear later in Daniel that he is aware of the writings of Jeremiah, who sends a letter to the exiles in which he instructs them:
Jeremiah 29:4–7 ESV
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
This is a recurring theme in scripture.
Joseph in Egypt at the end of Genesis saves many from famine.
The kindness of a jewish slave girl directs her master Naaman to Elisha who is able to heal his leperosy in 2Kings 5.
It is good to keep in mind that this is no mere kindness to a disinterested third party. In each case a victim of oppression blesses his or her oppressors.
Daniel, then, is embodying not only Jeremiah’s instructions, but Jesus’ teaching:
Matthew 5:43–48 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Let me make a few comments about this:
We live in a world of hate. Given the events of a last week I am not sure I even need to make an argument about that.
We look across the political aisle and we don’t see friends and neighbors whose political ideology and experience tells them that a different tax policy would create a better America, instead we see an enemy.
We mock—not in friendly jest—in meanness and with startling candor the libs or the deplorables.
I might be among the worst of offenders. I see myself all too frequently in the crosshairs of James 3:10.
James 3:10 ESV
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
How much more effective might I be if I lifted those who differ—whether enemies or acquaintances—from me up in prayer. How many people may have come to know Jesus through me if I loved instead of buying cheap laughs with cruel words.
We live in exile, let’s have no qualms about it. But let’s look to the meaning of Daniel’s faithfulness is that we have been saved for God’s glory and to seek the good of the city.
Where we live, who are neighbors are is no accident. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. It is by design of the good God who,
1 Timothy 2:4 ESV
who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Living in light of that, by the way, would fulfill the exhortation that Dustin gave us a few weeks ago to see Jesus as not only our savior, but our example.
Romans 5:10 ESV
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
God did not wait until we had become more friendly, no Jesus entered the world surrounded by enemy combatants. He gave his life for them when they had nothing in themselves to deserve it. Such a message is antithetical to the sort of us vs. them mentality that has run rife through our culture.

The Meaning of the Ever Expanding Stone

How do we do that though?
It is so hard to live kindly and joyfully amongst the City of Man to reuse Drew’s reference from last week.
I honestly think the only way to do so is to live in light of the singular reality that we are not citizens of any earthly city or kingdom, but that our true home is the City of, or Kingdom of, God.
But that is easier said than done. Simply consider this dream. Nebuchadnezzar sees these various metals—some of great value some of great strength—but each fits into the next piece of the puzzle that is the rise and fall of world empires.
Until, a stone seemingly small is cut from a mountain and dropped onto the toe of the statue resulting in the complete disintegration of it.
This vision appears to have provided relief to Nebuchadnezzar, which is no wonder, the interpretation revealed no immediate threat to him, rather the destruction foretold was so far away that three more kingdoms would rise before its culmination.
But the ultimate meaning of the stone remained a mystery for a long time. There are various scriptural connections in Genesis, the Psalms, and other prophets, but it was not until Jesus that it became clear.
The back story is that Jesus was teach at the Temple, preaching the Gospel, as the text declares, and he gets confronted by a group containing the chief priests and other religious authorities.
Luke 20:9–19 ESV
And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
Here, in Luke 20:9-19, Jesus teaches a parable that in retrospect refers clearly to his crucifixion. The religious authorities clearly understand Jesus’ parable at least in part as verse 16 records their disbelief of its communicated message and verse 19 records their understanding of it as an indictment against them.
Jesus directly attaches the parable’s meaning to Psalm 118:22
Psalm 118:22 ESV
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
And then speaking in the language of Daniel 2 he says that stone—the one that the builders rejected will itself be crushed (reference to the crucifixion), but it will crush anyone it falls upon.
So what is the meaning of the ever expanding stone?
Pastor David Helm is helpful here:
Saying this at the end of a parable predicting his execution, Jesus is tying his own death to the stone that comes from heaven. He is the one “cut out by no human hand” (Daniel 2: 34 ), which brings down all human kingdoms and ushers in the eternal Kingdom of God. With the cross and resurrection comes the everlasting Kingdom. Luke go on in the Book of Acts to show how this Kingdom expands. It isn't through geopolitical rule, but spiritual rule—ruled that pulls people out from their heart allegiances to self and sin, and into identification with Christ in the church. It was a Kingdom that had, by the end of Acts, subjects in Rome, the heart of the greatest empire the world had yet seen. It was a Kingdom that, a few centuries later, had taken over the empire, so that its own emperor worshiped the “stone,” the Lord Jesus. It was a Kingdom that outlasted the Roman Empire, and still continues today. What this means for you and me is this: that God has already set up, in Christ death, the eternal Kingdom over the whole world. (Helm, Daniel for You, 40)
The only way through the anxieties of the chaotic world in which we live, the only way to faithfulness that shines the light of God before the city of man, is to see yourself as secure in Christ.
Colossians 3:1–4 ESV
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Jesus sits on his throne and no matter the turmoil of our present day—he reigns with grace and truth.
Let’s pray.
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