The King Dreams

Introduction

A female student and resident of Kabul Afghanistan wrote this just a few days ago:

Early on Sunday morning I was heading to university for a class when a group of women came running out from the women’s dormitory. I asked what had happened and one of them told me the police were evacuating them because the Taliban had arrived in Kabul, and they will beat women who do not have a burqa.

We all wanted to get home, but we couldn’t use public transport. The drivers would not let us in their cars because they did not want to take responsibility for transporting a woman. It was even worse for the women from the dormitory, who are from outside Kabul and were scared and confused about where they should go.

Meanwhile, the men standing around were making fun of girls and women, laughing at our terror. “Go and put on your chadari [burqa],” one called out. “It is your last days of being out on the streets,” said another. “I will marry four of you in one day,” said a third.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/an-afghan-woman-in-kabul-now-i-have-to-burn-everything-i-achieved

The experiences of Afghani citizens makes me think of the stories I read in the Bible. Rarely do we get a glimpse into the life of a Bible character like we get into this moment in time of this woman in Kabul. It’s not just a huge story of national strife; it’s an individual’s story as well.

Today we’re going to look into a similar moment in the life of a Bible character.

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We’ve been exploring Daniel’s story, and today we get our first personal introduction to king Nebuchadnezzar.

Let’s pick up the story in Daniel chapter 2 verse 1:

Daniel 2:1–13 NLT

One night during the second year of his reign,* Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. 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, he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.” Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,* “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.” 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! 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!” They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.” The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say, ‘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.” 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! The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.” The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed. And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.

The king had a dream. A disturbing dream. Something about it is different than all the falafel induced dreams he’s had before. He hadn’t taken any opium before bed, so it couldn’t have come from a hallucination. No, this dream was a vision from somewhere else, giving by someone supernatural. And that disturbed the king.

Satan didn’t know what the dream was, but he knew it had been given by God. And so he conspired to make the king hide the details so that dream wouldn’t come out. And so the king demanded that, on pain of death, the wise men tell him both what he dreamed and what the dream meant. This was obviously impossible. And so the king ordered all the wise men of the court to be killed.

Daniel and his friends were still in training but they were considered part of this group of wise men. Satan thought he had won a victory—Daniel would be dead, and the king wouldn’t have a clue what God was trying to tell him. But as the story continues, Satan’s plans are foiled by the God who works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Daniel 2:14–19 NLT

When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant. Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 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. That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.

Daniel now has both the dream and the interpretation, and so he praises God. Because he knew what the dream meant he praised God as the one who has all wisdom and power, who sets up kings and takes them down, and who reveals mysteries.

We’re about to get into a big, global future telling dream, but before we do, let’s pause in this moment. This glimpse into someone’s life. Like the woman in Kabul who I quoted earlier, Daniel is in a hostile environment. No matter where he turns there are dangers. Not many months ago he had to face the head of the Eunuchs and ask for different food so he could stay loyal to God. God helped Melzor to like Daniel and his friends and he ended up giving them what they needed. And now, Daniel has just faced the literal executioner, stood before the king and begged for time, prayed to God for help, and received the dream and its interpretation. Can you imagine the emotions that were running through Daniel’s mind? From surprise to fear to gratitude to determination to peace and now exuberant joy!

With a grateful heart and a confident demeanor, Daniel asked to see the king.

Daniel 2:24–28 NLT

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.” 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!” The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?” Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. 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.

Though he’s standing before the greatest king in the world, Daniel remains humble. When you have bowed low before the God of the universe, you can stand confidently in front of earthly monarchs.

The king asks if he can tell him the dream but Daniel directs the attention to God, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers can reveal the king’s secret, but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.”

This is the central focus of Daniel’s story; the theme he returns to again and again: God is the revealer of secrets.

Have you ever read the Bible and thought, “this is difficult to understand. What does it mean, and what’s the point for me?”

That’s what Nebuchadnezzar felt like. Maybe you need to call on a Daniel—someone with spiritual wisdom and a close connection with The Holy Spirit. Or, maybe what you need to do is go directly to the source. Jesus promised:

John 16:13 ESV

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

The Dream

If you don’t know the dream already, let me give you a summary.

Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue in his dream — a statue of a man made out of four different metals.

The head was made of gold,

the chest of silver,

the waist of brass,

and the legs of iron.

And then it had feet that were made partly of iron and partly of clay.

As he examined the image, an asteroid sped through the atmosphere, pulverized the image and then grew to fill the whole earth.

Daniel 2:37–45 NLT

Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. 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. “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. 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. 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. But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. 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. “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. 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.”

A quick glance at history and you’ll know what each of these kingdoms are. Nebuchadnezzar had formed an alliance with the Medes and was married to a Persian princess. He had unified the world… for a time.

But after Nebuchadnezzar’s death the Medes broke off their loyalty to Babylon and joined with the Persians to systematically take over the world, becoming the largest empire the world had known up until that time.

After the Persians ruled The world, Alexander the Great conquered an Even bigger swath of the world — all the way from the Indian ocean in the east to Europe In the west.

But that only last a little while before Greece was crushed by the great Roman Empire.

When the Roman empire crumbled under the weight of its own hubris there was no conquering power to take its place. In its stead a quarrelsome bunch of the European tribes rose to power. They intermarried and made legal agreements and still they never seemed to be able to make a new empire work. Even to this day we have the loose affiliation of the European Union. Some countries in Europe are powerful and wealthy, and some are struggling and poor—just like the prophecy predicted.

The exciting part of this prophecy is that “in the days of those kings” the God of heaven will set up his kingdom, that will never be overthrown or conquered. It will be an everlasting kingdom.

Daniel 2:46–49 ESV

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

There is a fun bit of chronological confusion that happens in this last bit of the story. At the introduction to this story we found Daniel just a few months into his training. He was taken captive in 605 BC — the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. And then this dream happened in 604 BC—the 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. We know Daniel had three years of training. And according to Daniel 1 there was a point at the end of their training when Nebuchadnezzar gave them a test and saw they were wiser than the other Wise men. But here at the end of Daniel 2 we find Nebuchadnezzar promoting Daniel and his friends to administrative roles in the land, apparently while they were still in the middle of their training.

There are two options here: either the first part of Daniel 2 is wrong and this happened the 2nd year after Babylon destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, or the 12th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, but not in the 2nd year while Daniel was still in training. OR Daniel 2 ends just like Daniel 1 did—with a sweep forward in time past the events of the story Daniel just told.

Notice how Daniel 1 goes from the time of their test to 70 years later?

Daniel 1:21 ESV

And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

This seems to be the same situation for Daniel 2 that wraps up the story in the 2nd year of their training, but then sweeps forward to when Daniel and his friends get promoted to high offices in the land.

Honestly, the chronology of this story isn’t the point. There are two HUGE things we should be paying attention to:

God is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, and the revealer of secrets, and His kingdom is coming soon. Not only can God solve your problems, but He’s guaranteed to win the battle and set up His kingdom soon.

God is the Lord of salvation and the pursuer of hearts. When Satan designed an evil plot to destroy Daniel and keep the king from knowing God’s plan, God turned that plan on its head. Instead of killing Daniel the plot caused Daniel to be promoted to a seat of influence, and it set Nebuchadnezzar on a path to knowing God’s salvation for himself. God, the King of kings, had a dream for Daniel and a dream for Nebuchadnezzar. So, while Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is super important for understanding God and His plan, God’s dream for you and me is every bit as important as the big-picture stuff. And god uses youth.

The King Dreams

There’s a song that articulates this idea so clearly, and I’d like you to listen to it. It’s called, The King Dreams, by the Lesser Light Collective. Pay close attention to the message God has for your heart.

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Footwashing

On the cross I can imagine the King of the Universe dreaming about you and me. By faith He saw us as the Children of God and citizens of His kingdom that He knows that we can be through His grace and power. The king has a dream for you.

Today we have the privilege of remembering the great cost of God grace and our freedom. If it weren’t for Jesus’ blood, there would be no Rock of Ages and no eternal Kingdom of God.

In the Seventh-day Adventist church we follow Jesus command in John 13:17 that if He, our Lord and Teacher, washed the disciples feet, then we do as He did and wash each other’s feet. This was a service that Jesus performed before His death, and it is just as essential for us today as it was for the disciples. If we cherish a spirit of pride, self-importance, struggle for superiority, or bitterness towards others we cannot receive the blessing of the sacrifice of Jesus.

The ladies will be in the fellowship hall downstairs, the men will be in the two sabbath school classrooms on the right side at the bottom of the stairs, and couples and families can go to the Junior room Beside the fellowship hall.

If there are any children or adults who do not wish to participate, we will have a story here in the sanctuary For you.

Story: The Vanishing Black Smudge

Many years ago a boy named Davy lived on a farm. It was a big farm, and there was lots to do to care for the animals and grow food for his family. Davy had a big sister Angie, a big brother Joe, and a sister Mary who was just a bit older than he was.

One day Davy’s parents announced that they had to go away for a few days, but they were sure the children were old enough to manage the farm work by themselves while they were gone. They put Angie in charge because she was getting quite grown-up. Davy didn’t think she was really grown up. He just thought she was bossy, and he really didn’t like to be bossed around by his own sister.

But after Mom and Dad drove off, Angie wasn’t so bossy after all. Wow! They were free to do anything they wanted! Go to bed when they wanted, get up when they wanted. Eat anything they liked, whenever they liked. Play when they liked, work when they liked. This was great!

The children had a great week. They made ice-cream every day, and rich chocolate fudge. They made popcorn and pancakes dripping with maple syrup. Of course they did their usual chores-milking the cows, feeding the animals, collecting eggs, and chopping wood. But mostly they just had lots of fun.

Then one morning Angie suddenly realized that Mom and Dad would be coming home the very next day. The children looked around at the house. There were dirty dishes on the table. There were toys on the floor. The beds were unmade. There were towels and dirty clothes on the floor. There were blocks and a wagon in the yard outside, and they still hadn’t cleaned up the garden tools in the barn for Dad.

Angie looked worried. She wanted everything to look perfect for Mom and Dad when they got home. They had left her in charge and she wanted them to be proud of her.

Suddenly Angie got bossy again. She ordered Joe to clean up the garden tools in the barn. She sent Mary to clean up the dishes and scrub the kitchen floor. Davy was to hurry up and dust the house from top to bottom, except for the parlor. Everyone knew the things Mom had in the parlor were too fragile for Davy to dust! When he was done with that, he could help Angie change the beds and do the laundry. Davy hated dusting. He hated changing beds and doing the laundry. He wanted to be outside helping Joe do grown up jobs. But Angie was in charge, so he followed her instructions feeling grumpy and angry inside.

Angie was so busy she had no time to cook lunch, so they all ate cold leftovers. Davy was hot and tired. He wanted to make ice-cream and have fun again, but Angie wasn’t through bossing.

“You have to help again this afternoon, Davy,” she said. “First I want you to polish all the shoes and boots with this black polish and brush. Then you can shake all the rugs. Mary has to go pick the beans in the garden, and Joe has to straighten the yard.” Davy was feeling more and more angry inside. The worst job in the world was polishing shoes and boots. It was so messy, and so easy to get big black smudges all over you and everything else.

While Davy was polishing shoes, Angie decided to dust and sweep the parlor so the whole house would be just perfect. The parlor was a beautiful room full of their mother’s best things. They weren’t allowed to play in there. They only went in there when there were visitors. While Angie was in the parlor she noticed Davy was not working very hard. She told him to hurry up because she had more work for him to do. By this time Davy was so mad that everything bubbled up inside him. Before he knew what he’d done, he had thrown a brush full of shoe polish at Angie. The brush sailed right past Angie’s head and landed smack in the middle of the parlor wall. He stared in horror at the big black mark on the expensive white and gold wallpaper. Then he ran out of the house and hid in the barn.

Davy stayed in the barn a very long time. He thought about how proud his mother was of their beautiful parlor, and how dreadful she would feel when she saw the mess he’d made of it. He thought about what his punishment might be. He was so mad at Angie. “It’s all her fault,” he thought. “I would never have done such a terrible thing if she hadn’t been so bossy and made me so mad!”

It was dark by the time Joe found him. Joe knew what had happened. But he didn’t say anything. He just took Davy into the house for a bite of supper before bed-time. Davy didn’t sleep very well. He knew Mom and Dad would be back in the morning. He wanted to run away, but there was nowhere he could go. He cried big tears into his pillow.

When Mom and Dad got home, they were very pleased with how well the children had managed the chores and how neat and clean everything was. They thought Davy was a bit quiet, and they did noticed that he didn’t eat much lunch. Mom even gave him a huge spoonful of nasty tasting medicine, just in case he was getting sick. Davy knew she hadn’t looked in the parlor, but he wasn’t brave enough to tell her what had happened. He was just miserable.

Then the worst thing possible happened. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson from across the town came to visit. Davy heard his mother welcome them, and invite them into the parlor. Oh, no! She would take them in there and see the mess, and she would be so embarrassed! He expected to hear his mother scream, but instead he heard Mrs. Johnson exclaim, “My, what a lovely parlor this is!”

Davy couldn’t believe his ears! What had happened? The black smudge was on the wall opposite the door. There was no way anyone could go in there without seeing that awful mark, spoiling everything else. Davy crept close to the door, and peeped in. He was so shocked by what he saw, he just stood there with his mouth open and stared. The wall looked exactly as it had before he threw the shoe polish brush. The wall paper where the black smudge had been was perfectly white and trimmed in gold like the pattern on the rest of the wall. His mom saw him in the doorway and invited him in. He sat on a slippery chair and stared at the wall most of the afternoon, his mind racing with what might have happened. After tea and cakes, the Johnsons finally went home. Davy lingered in the parlor so he would be the last to leave. When everyone had gone, he went up to the wall and stared at it closely. Someone had cut a piece of wallpaper to fit perfectly over the nasty mess. The paper had been cut ever so carefully to follow the edges of the pattern all around the little scrolls of gold. Then the edges of the paper had been sanded very thin so that there would not be a bump where the new paper was added.

Davy ate twice as much food at supper time to make up for all he had missed. He started to laugh and joke again, and Mom was pleased to see that her medicine had made him better! After supper Davy found Angie. He gave her a great big enormous hug. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry I threw the brush at you, and made that awful mess. You fixed it, didn’t you.”

“Yes, I found some of the paper in the attic, and I cut it all out, smoothed the edges, and stuck it on with flour paste. I’m sorry too, it was mostly my fault. I shouldn’t have been so bossy. No wonder you felt like throwing something at me!”

If they noticed, Mom and Dad never said anything about the mark on the parlor wall. And Davy never forgot how special it was to discover that someone loves you enough to cover your mistake and save you from the consequences you deserve.

Does that sound like another Person you know? Yes! Jesus loves us enough to cover our mistakes with His perfect life. He saved us from the death we deserve because of our sin and gave us another chance to have the best life possible, now and forever. Isn’t that Good News!

Adapted by Karen Holford

Story: Faith and a Box of Cereal

For this object lesson you will need:

A large cereal box with cereal (choose one that is familiar to the children). A large empty cereal box with crayons in it (one small box of crayons will work). 2 cereal bowls. A grocery bag.

Note: Before the lesson, place the three items in the grocery bag.

Slowly, pull out the cereal box containing the crayons from the grocery bag and show it to the children. You can even shake the box a little.

Say to the children: Raise your hand if you can guess what’s in this box. Allow the children to answer. Pull out a cereal bowl out of the grocery bag, then deliberately and carefully pour the crayons into the bowl.

Act surprised: What? It’s not cereal?

Say: What happened? Ask one of the children who can read to say what is on the label on the box.

Ask: What does it say? Allow the child to answer.

Say: It says it’s cereal, it sounds like cereal. Our eyes and our ears told us it was cereal but it was not cereal. Now pull out the other cereal box.

Say: I have another box. It looks like it is cereal, it sounds like cereal (shake the box) but let’s find out for sure if it really is cereal. Pull out the other cereal bowl and ask an older child to assist a younger child in pouring out the cereal into the next bowl.

Act relieved and say: Oh, good, this box really has cereal.

Say: Sometimes things aren’t really as they appear to be and we can’t be sure that our eyes and ears are truly seeing and hearing things the way they are. There is one thing we can always be sure of and that is God’s love for each one of you and me. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1that faith is to be sure of the things that we have not seen. God is as sure as the box of breakfast cereal that always has breakfast cereal in it. When you have faith in God, you can trust him and believe that He will always take care of you.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, we want to have faith in You. Teach us to believe in you and trust you even if we can’t see you. Thank you for always loving us.

Communion