Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction: Russia Invaded Ukraine

This last week we watched the horrors of nations determining to go to war as Russia invaded Ukraine.

We have prayed together as a Church over these horrible events.

I know for me, I was brought to tears in my ofice on Thursday as I watched video footage of a father saying goodbye to his five year old daughter as she was bussed away from the front lines.

We are watching the first invasion of a European nation since World War II.

Personal

As Christians, what core doctrines of our theology can assist us in processing this moment.

Not from a perspective of ‘what is the correct political move to make.’

That is another question for another sermon.

Rather, what is it about our God, and our theology that are foundational truths that we can lean on as we endure moments like these.

Does God have a say in the rise and fall of nations?

Is God absent from the movement of empires?

As individuals with very little influence over such historic events like these, what comfort does our God provide us?

Contextual

Today we continue our study through the book of Daniel.

Recall the big picture that Daniel is an exile from Jerusalem living in Babylon.

Daniel is a faithful follower of God despite being forced to live in Babylon, and in chapter one Daniel and his three friends have risen up the ranks to become important advisors to Nebuchadnezzar himself.

Then last week, a vital moment occurred.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that was so powerful in his mind that he felt he must have the true interpretation of the dream.

None of his astrologers or magicians, those whom he would normally lean on to provide such an interpretation, were up to the task.

In a rage, he was prepared to kill every one of his wise counsel members, of whom Daniel was a part.

And just when it appeared as if all hope was lost, Daniel’s God provided Daniel with both the contents and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Caveat: Engaging with Prophecy in Daniel

Today, we study one of the most famous prophetic passages in the Bible.

As Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream we discover that God, through the dream, was accurately foretelling what was to be the next six hundred years of the rise and fall of empires in world history.

The contents of this chapter can be lined up directly with the vision of Daniel 7, which provides nearly the exact same vision but with far greater detail.

Daniel was so accurate then some atheist scholars have attempted to demonstrate that these chapters were not written in 550BC, but were in fact written hundreds of years later.

These claims are nearly impossible to defend, the fact of the matter is that Daniel accurately predicted world history.

In all the details we engage with today, I want you to walk away with one simple memorable idea, God controls history, and uses sinful empires and pagan kings, in order to accomplish His ultimate purposes.

Move 1 Daniel

The Content of the Dream

Recall Daniel is now standing before Nebuchadnezzar is is going to reveal both the contents of what Nebuchadnezzar dreamed as well as the interpretation and the significance of the dream.

First, we begin with the content of the dream.

Daniel 2:31-36 “31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image.

This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.

32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

34 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.

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.”

Let’s at this point just review.

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about a great statue with five different components.

The statue had a head of gold, shoulders and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet that were partly and partly clay.

Those ten toes were struck by stone, that no human had made.

The stone destroyed the statue and grew to be the a great mountain that filled the earth.

The Interpretation of the Dream

Next, let’s look at the interpretation of the dream.

Daniel 2:37-45 “37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.

39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things.

And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.

41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.

43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so t…”

The Four Parts of the Statue are Four Empires

Let’s look together at the miracle of Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Daniel states that each of the four major segments of the statue represent four separate empires that would rise and fall over the centuries.

What is startling about this dream, is that it was interpeted by Daniel around 550 BC (that’s 550 years before the birth of Christ), and yet it nearly pinpoint accurately portrays the rise and fall of empires exactly as they happened throughout history.

Secondly, it is worth noting at this point that later in Daniel 7 a very similar dream will speak of the rise and fall of these same four empires only with incredibly more detail.

So, the dream in Daniel 2 and the vision in Daniel 7 are speaking of the same things with different details highlighted in each chapter.

The Head of Gold

Daniel is very clear that the head of gold on the statue represents Nebuchadnezzar and his Kingdom.

The Chest and Arms of Silver

The chest and arms of silver represent an inferior kingdom that would arise after Nebuchadnezzar.

Now there is some debate about which empire Daniel was prophesying of.

But the general concesus is that the chest and arms of silver represent the Medo-Persian empire that came immediately after Babylon.

This empire greatest leader was Cyrus of whom we read about in the books Ezra and Nehemiah, when Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple.

The Middle and Thighs of Bronze

The middle and thighs of the statue are said by Daniel to be of bronze.

After the persians, the next great empire was the Greeks with their greatest leader Alexandar the Great.

Legs of Iron

Next are the legs of iron.

If you know world history, the empire that arose after the Greeks was the Roman empire.

The Roman empire ruled the world with an iron fist.

Feet Partly Iron and Partly Clay

As we get to the feet of this vision there are some different interpretive ideas.

Personally, I think it is absolutely who and what Daniel is prophesying about.

But in humility, I want to say that not all commentators agree.

In fact, not all Pastors at Park agree on this.

We’re told the feet had 10 toes and was partly iron and partly clay, representing that there was some weakness throughout the feet.

In Daniel 7, these 10 toes are represented as a beast with 10 horns.

What I first want to do is walk you throguh what is a very popular opinion on interpreting the feet of iron and clay and the stone that becomes the mountain.

I don’t believe this is correct, but I want you to see it so you can understand it.

A Different Interpretation

Some say that the ten toes represent an entire separate empire, more like a confederation, or something like the United Nations (a coming together of separate nations).

Some go so far as to say that the United Nations is the agency that will become the 10 toes.

And that the stone cut from no human hand is not the Kingdom that Christ established and that we are living in right now.

But rather, the stone represents Christ’s second coming in our future, when Christ will come back and establish a final Kingdom where he will rule in physical body here on this Earth.

One of the stronger casees for this position is verse 35 which says:

Daniel 2:35 “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....”

They say that the Roman empire didn’t “become like chaff” and immediately blow away.

It took a few hundred years for the Roman empire to fall.

Even now there are other empires, the United States of America is a global empire.

They say if this eternal Kingdom of God has truly been established as Daniel foresaw than empires like the United States of America should no longer be in existence.

It’s a good claim, and one worth considering.

But my response is that a simple reading of the text clearly shows, the stone progresses over time from a stone to the greatest mountain.

It’s not a smash and its done.

It’s a smash and then it grows.