[0:00] While working our way through the book of Daniel, we're concentrating on the life of Daniel,! which is the first six chapters of this book. The people of Israel find themselves captives.
[0:15] ! There were about 10,000 Jews, especially from Judah and from Jerusalem, that were taken captive around 600 BC. The reason they were taken captive is because of their rejection, their rebellion against the commands, the ordinances that God had given to them through the law, especially as it related to their worship, their worship of the one true God. So they find themselves as exiles there in Babylon. The temple has been destroyed. Their beloved city of Jerusalem has been decimated.
[0:55] The walls have been torn down. And they find themselves in this place, distant from Israel, and from all outward appearances, distant from God. But we're going to find, as we have found, consistently through the testimony of this little book, that God has been true and present with his people, even though they have been taken captive, even though they're in the midst of judgment and discipline from God. God is still present. God is still honoring his promises.
[1:30] Nebuchadnezzar had a dream at the beginning of chapter 2. The kind of dream that's described in this way, it's described as dreams, and not just a dream, a singular dream, but a succession of dreams that happen probably on a succession of nights or multiple times through an evening. He could not escape the terrible nature of this dream. It unsettled his heart. It troubled his spirit. It kept him from enjoying rest.
[1:58] And so as a result of this troubling dream, he wants to know what this message means. He recognizes the nature of this dream as being distinctly from God. And so he calls in his counselors.
[2:12] He calls in his magicians, his wise men to come and to interpret this dream. But he doesn't want an approximation. He wants to know precisely what God is telling him through the instrumentation of this revealed message through this dream. And so he asks the impossible from his wise men. He says, tell me what the dream is, and then I'll know you can give me the interpretation.
[2:41] The wise men in hearing this command are mystified. This has never happened to them before. And this kind of request is impossible for any king to demand. King Nebuchadnezzar, how could you possibly expect this of any of your counselors? There's no man on this earth who can fulfill your request.
[2:59] Because the dream exists with the gods. And the gods do not dwell with men. Which, by the way, was the perfect setup. The perfect setup of the God of heaven, who made himself present and has been present through the life and ministry of Daniel and his friends.
[3:20] And through our passage today, will demonstrate itself in a present, gracious, revealed interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar and subsequently to us. This message, the testimony of a God who is eternal, who is overall, who not only speaks the future in the subsequent empires that we will see in our passage today, revealing to Nebuchadnezzar what the course of the next 1,000 years of history will be, how it will unfold, and testifying that God is not only the one who is able to declare this revealed word, but he's also the one who can make it happen. God is over all.
[4:06] We're going to witness through the rise and fall of empires through the course of our passage. We'll see the testimony of that which dissolves.
[4:21] In 1979, John MacArthur preached a message on this passage. And in that message, I find it quite telling, because we can see the evidences, the real practical evidences of it playing out even today.
[4:37] But here's what he says, quote, Man is not ascending, man is descending. 1 Timothy 3.13, God says, Evil men shall grow worse and worse.
[4:51] Things don't get better, they get worse. We see decay, working in our society everywhere, nationally, socially, domestically, individually, organically. All things in this world are caught up in the process of deterioration that began when man fell into sin in the garden and continues to this very day.
[5:12] He continues, No matter what the intentions are, no matter what the safeguards are, the dissolution of mankind's efforts is inevitable.
[5:23] So that history, as studied, becomes a succession of defeat. An empire begins, reaches a peak, and fades, and dies, and another one builds on its place.
[5:37] We're looking at America, he says. America, in the past, reached its apex. We are on the downside, the back slope, as it were. We're watching a defeat take place.
[5:50] We see the dissolution of our country on every hand. Political humanism, ruling the government, a government once established on the principles of the word of God. Godless atheism now dominates our education.
[6:04] A lack of conviction, a lack of courage, destruction of the family, is causing a loss of all orientation among people. End quote. We are seeing today the testimony of a nation that once held to the doctrines, once held to the understanding of a God who is over all.
[6:29] And now it continues, the downward slope, as it were, the deterioration of culture is coming to bear in our present day.
[6:39] So that even just recently, within the past couple of weeks, Louisiana has passed a law so that the Ten Commandments are listed on the walls of the classrooms.
[6:51] And that is now seen, of course, as radical. What was once understood as being natural, as being necessary, is now painted in the picture of that which is wrong and harmful to culture.
[7:09] In our text this morning, we're going to see that God has revealed himself to Nebuchadnezzar. That God has revealed the unfolding events of future empires that would rise and fall.
[7:22] And now standing where we are, this is history. And this history, of course, is certain. God revealed this timeline of future events to Nebuchadnezzar.
[7:35] And it stands for us as a testimony of a God who not only knows the future, but holds the future in his hand. This morning, for those of us who put their faith in confidence in a God who is eternal, there is dependence, there is a refuge, there is security, there is confidence for us in a God who is over all.
[7:59] The psalmist says in Psalm 102, 11 and 12, he says, And then in verse 25, he says, Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
[8:25] They will perish, but you will remain. They will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same.
[8:37] And your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure. Their offspring shall be established before you. And that is the testimony of a God who is eternal, who is infinite, who is over all.
[8:56] Our confidence is not in the rise and fall of powers, the rise and fall of nations, the rise and fall of kings. Our hope and our confidence is in the settled power and authority of God himself, who is over all, who knows the end from the beginning, and who tells in this event, tells Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the years to follow.
[9:24] And those things happen just as God has indicated. God's plans extend beyond our own. Generations will come and go, but God's plan remains intact.
[9:37] And that is the God who makes himself known to Nebuchadnezzar through his servant Daniel this morning. The God who is eternal. The God who is infinite. The God who can be trusted.
[9:49] So turn with me, if you would, to Daniel chapter 2, beginning in verse 31. Daniel chapter 2, verse 31. Let me read the first several verses here, and we'll dive into our text.
[10:04] It says, As you saw, O king, and behold a great image. This image, mighty and exceedingly, exceeding brightness, stood before you. Its appearance was frightening.
[10:17] 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.
[10:28] 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.
[10:43] And because, 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.
[10:59] We're going to see this progression of the dream first being revealed and then being explained. We're just going to follow along piece by piece in the narrative this morning and draw out the principles that we see about God as we make our way through.
[11:17] First, the dream revealed. And Daniel will begin speaking about the image as a whole. He speaks with certainty. Notice. Notice. You saw, O king, and behold, a great image.
[11:33] He speaks with confidence. There is no hesitation. There is no doubt in Daniel's mind that God is the one who revealed this dream. God is the one who spoke that same dream to Nebuchadnezzar.
[11:45] And it is God who intends to reveal the interpretation of that dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And the events that will take place are sure and firm as we find in Daniel chapter 2, 45.
[11:59] Notice that just for a moment here. A great God has made known to you the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure.
[12:12] Daniel knows the interpretation of this dream and the outworking of this dream because it is not derived from himself. It is derived from God. He is receiving this direct revelation from God and now has become this representative, this ambassador, this prophet as it were to speak directly to the king what God has said to him.
[12:34] Thus says the Lord, Daniel will say. He knows that God has revealed the contents of this dream and its interpretation. Daniel is not making this up so he can have complete confidence to speak for God.
[12:51] And as a side note, those of us who are also ambassadors of God, those of us who are also commissioned to speak for God can speak authoritatively and confidently as we speak from God's word.
[13:05] We have the same privilege as Daniel does to be a mouthpiece for God to the nations. Whether it be your workplace or your community or even your family, you have the joy as Daniel had to speak without hesitation knowing what God says directly from the scriptures and we can share with others.
[13:28] Notice how he begins. You, O king, you saw, O king, and behold a great image. The word a great image is literally one great image.
[13:41] The importance here at the beginning is to emphasize the unity of this image. It will be significant as we move our way into the parts and we begin to see the discontinuity that will now be representative through the movement of these various parts.
[13:59] But at the whole, the importance of this unified image, the world power in all its phases are considered as one entity.
[14:10] The image in totality is expressed in terms of greatness. Daniel uses a number of words to describe how impressive this image is. Notice, it's a great image, mighty in appearance, radiating with exceeding brightness, having an appearance that was terrifying or frightening.
[14:32] It conveys this appearance of strength and fear. fear. The word frightening is literally to fear. And as Nebuchadnezzar saw this dream and even as Daniel describes this dream, this image itself did present itself to be terrifying.
[14:54] It was impressive to behold. And we'll see that it represents the succession of kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom moving all the way through the kingdom of Rome.
[15:05] But while the image was one in unity, it exists in parts. And that's where we come to next. The image in parts. Verses 32 and 33.
[15:17] 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.
[15:30] Now Daniel begins to describe the image in its pieces. It has an identifiable form and that will be important to us as well as we move our way through this passage.
[15:40] We'll see the contrast between that which is of human origin and that which represents human power in contrast to that which is of divine origin and that which expresses divine power.
[15:56] It's clear that while this image is impressive, it is still fashioned by human hand. And what we realize is that the image descends from head.
[16:10] Daniel describes it from head to toe, from ascending order to descending order. Notice a head first of gold, a chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet which is a mixture of iron and clay.
[16:27] These will be important as they begin to characterize those future coming kingdoms. And much can be said about that and we'll try to reference that briefly as we move our way through.
[16:44] But notice, only the head is singular. Only this head is made of gold. It represents that of highest quality. And then the discontinuity of the other parts begin to take shape so that not even the subsequent kingdoms represent any form of unity.
[17:07] It breaks at the arms and then the midsection in thigh and the legs which all hint at the separation and discontinuity of these empires.
[17:19] It's not by accident that it is Nebuchadnezzar who receives this great revelation. And it's not by accident that Nebuchadnezzar is this head of gold. After all, we saw from the first chapter in verse 2, Babylon is seen, is the scene of this revelation happens in the land of Shinar.
[17:43] And the land of Shinar, if you remember the last time that this reference was made, it goes all the way back to the time of Genesis chapter 11, where the people assembled as one.
[17:57] They gathered there in the land of Shinar. They sought to make for themselves a way to get to God. They're building this great structure, this monument, so they can present for themselves their authority, their power, and their ability to get to God.
[18:15] But this gate to God, Babel, is now confused. The people's languages are mixed. The people are scattered, and God demonstrates there that he is over all.
[18:30] And now, Nebuchadnezzar, who represents, again, a unified power, but it is still, God is over this power, and we see that God is the one who is still in control.
[18:43] He is the one who is still over all, even in this. In verses 34 and 35, we see now a shattering stone. Notice, as you look, the stone was cut out by no human hand.
[18:58] 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, the gold, and all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.
[19:12] 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.
[19:25] The scene now shifts to this image, now backing away from this image, perhaps zooming out a bit or in the distance, there's hand that's cutting this stone out of a rock.
[19:39] A stone that was cut out by no human hand. The hand of the God is evident in this dream. The divine authority, divine power is contrasted by this human power.
[19:54] We see that it's a stone whose origin is supernatural. We see that this stone is a stone that has extraordinary power to demolish the authorities that are represented in this image.
[20:07] we see that this stone is represented as growing and filling the earth and taking the place of these human kingdoms. The stone that is hurled at the image and struck its feet, every section of the image is now demolished so that it's turned to dust and there's no trace of those kingdoms to be seen.
[20:31] Everything that inspired, provoked fear and shattered is now turned to nothing. All that remains is the stone that begins to grow and fill the earth.
[20:47] That stone that demolishes in order to rebuild, to reestablish and to renew. it's a stone that is unlike any other stone in that it has some sort of living property and that should be reflective and representative of what we know about the living stone that was rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious that stone of course the chief cornerstone elect and precious Christ is this stone.
[21:20] He is the stone who will renew and reestablish and rebuild. Unlike what the enemy will do as Jesus says in John chapter 10 verse 10 he says the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy but I have come that they may have life and they may have it more abundantly.
[21:42] That which is representative of the enemy the adversary is that he destroys he steals he kills he demolishes he deconstructs but from the beginning God has been a builder a creator a constructor and so God will destroy that which is foreign that which is corrupt so that he can rebuild that which is pure that which represented human power human greatness is no match for the power of God.
[22:17] This dream has now been revealed and so Daniel now establishes himself as one who can not only reveal the contents of this dream but can now explain what the dream means and this is what Nebuchadnezzar has been after from the beginning.
[22:31] What does this dream mean? The dream explained in verses 36 to 45 but before we get to verses 36 and 35 we need to back up just for a moment to verse 28 it provides kind of the context for this dream and in this statement that we see in verse 28 we come to understand the purpose of why this dream was even given to Nebuchadnezzar notice Daniel says there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days King Nebuchadnezzar God is not only the revealer of dreams God is also the one who is overall God is eternal God is the ultimate and supreme power this dream was meant to be given to you so that you would know who this God truly is as the psalmist says you will perish but he will remain this phrase the latter days that we find here in verse 28 is not just a phrase we find in Daniel chapter 2 it's a phrase we find all throughout the Old Testament and especially in the first five books of the law when it says latter days this is an eschatological statement which means a statement that refers to the end times and all throughout the scripture whether you're in Deuteronomy chapter 4 or Genesis chapter 49 or Deuteronomy 31
[24:07] Numbers 24 Jeremiah 23 and 30 and 48 and 49 Ezekiel chapter 38 Daniel chapter 10 Hosea chapter 3 and Micah chapter 4 these phrases exist the latter days to draw attention to the entire portion of history all the way up and to the time of the messianic return it encapsulates all of history as it were until the coming of Christ the coming and establishment of his throne on the earth and God has revealed this working out of history to Nebuchadnezzar of all people why would God reveal this plan to a pagan king why would God reveal this revelation this message this prophecy in a pagan land of all places I think the answer is twofold first to allow the nations to understand
[25:09] God's master plan for the nations so that every tongue and tribe and nation and people will be ushered in and allowed to be part of this gospel good news message this coming kingdom is meant for all peoples not just for the Jews and so God reveals this to Nebuchadnezzar of all people to help this representative of this first kingdom this first empire to recognize that while his empire is small while it will be limited as he takes part in the kingdom of God he can enjoy the benefits of what God has promised through Abraham I will bless those who bless you I will curse those who curse you in you all the nations will be blessed in Nebuchadnezzar as one of those nations and the first as it were of the succession of nations and empires that are to come and the second reason is because to help to reassure
[26:15] God's people who are in captivity who are facing discipline who have been removed from their land who have experienced the destruction of their sacred city and have experienced the decimation of their temple even for these people God has not removed his promises God would not remove his promise from them and disqualify them from the things he had spoken to their forefathers this actually strengthens God's promise it provides dimension it provides perspective it provides clarity to help them know how God is going to bring this promise to fruition and God has given clear uncompromising testimony of his ability not only to make promises but his ability to keep promises promises we can know that God is faithful as we look at the testimony of the rise and fall of these empires that were testified 600 years before the final empire ever existed only God is able in his eternality in his foreknowledge in his ability to know the end from the beginning only God can know what will happen and cause it to happen then we come to the rise and fall of empires the description of that for us in verses 36 to 38 notice this was the dream this explanation now we will tell the king its interpretation you oh king the king of kings to whom the
[27:59] God of heaven has given this kingdom the power and the might and the glory and into whose land he has given wherever yeah wherever they dwell the children of men the beast of the field the birds of heaven making you rule over them all you are the head of gold this stunning introduction you oh king the king of kings what does this mean well Ezekiel will repeat this similar phrase in Ezekiel 26 verse 7 he will refer to Nebuchadnezzar also as a king of kings and simply it means that Nebuchadnezzar stands at the beginning he stands at the forefront of the succession of these empires that will come he is the first of these kings and in the explanation of this dream he is the only king that is named every kingdom that will come the second and third and fourth and fifth kingdoms that will come there are no kings that are mentioned only kingdoms
[29:05] Nebuchadnezzar stands as a prominent figure in the representative really of the kingdom of Babylon that lasted for about 70 years Nebuchadnezzar himself ruled over Babylon for 43 of those 70 years he died in 562 BC he would turn the kingdom over to his son who would be subsequently assassinated that son's son would rule for four years and then die then the next son would be promptly assassinated and finally Nabonidus would take the throne and assume great power and share that power with his co-regent Belshazzar that we find in Daniel chapter 6 as it relates to gold and the description and the feature or the characteristic of this empire being represented by gold the Babylonian empire was known as an empire of gold one historian who came 90 years after the empire of Babylon came and described the prominence of gold in the city of Babylon he describes chapels and vessels in the accoutrements of the embellishments made of solid gold this all 90 years after the fall of Babylon no mistake that God would assign gold to this kingdom but notice the kingdom for all of its power for all of its reach for all of its dominion that we notice here the dominion over birds and beasts and people you almost get the picture that it's almost like a second garden of
[30:55] Eden as it were but all of that power comes from God himself God stands as the direct power who allowed Nebuchadnezzar to enjoy this kind of authority notice verse 37 to whom belong excuse me to whom the God of heaven has given this kingdom notice verse 38 and into his hand God has given you man and beast and bird God made you rule over them all make no mistake Nebuchadnezzar this is from the hand of God God who is eternal God who raises up kings and puts kings down that same God is the one who institutes his servants the rulers the authorities in this day as well as we find in Romans chapter 13 verses 1 to 7 let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God therefore whoever resists authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment for he is God's servant for your good for he is a servant of God for because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing and while they are ministers of God we know they're broken and while they are ministers of God we know that especially in our day and age they resist
[32:36] God themselves but God is still the one who raises up and puts down the various leaders that are put in place God is over that and God has a purpose for those leaders and he has a purpose for us in how we respond to those leaders Nebuchadnezzar was the head but Daniel will continue to describe the remaining parts that we find in verses 39 to 43 it says another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you and yet a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth 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 of these 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 the iron shall be in it yet just as you saw iron mixed with the clay and as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle as you saw the iron mixed with soft clay so they will mix with one another in marriage but they will not hold together just as iron does not mix with clay
[33:56] Daniel is now describing the subsequent kingdoms that will rise and fall the kingdom of Mediapersia the kingdom of Greece the kingdom of Rome and some future kingdom that will have Rome like qualities that we have not yet seen but each element of this picture is intact this silver which represents Mediapersia is given to us because it was Mediapersia this silver is the same word as money the characteristic of the Mediapersian empire would be money or silver and history bears this out the Mediapersian empire developed a vast system of taxation they required that their taxes be paid in silver and they literally filled their coffers with tons and tons of silver the Mediapersian empire would last for about 200 years and then the next kingdom that's represented by bronze would take its place the kingdom of Greece
[34:58] Greece would come led by Alexander the Great he would come in 332 B.C. and the Greek empire would last again for another 200 years or so to 146 B.C.
[35:12] this representation of bronze was seen in their soldiers in their weaponry in their battles Greek soldiers would have on their head a helmet of bronze a breastplate of brass a shield of brass a sword of brass and their primary instrument a spear which was tipped with bronze all of these characteristics again representing the kingdoms that will come the fourth kingdom this kingdom of iron Daniel goes on to describe this Roman empire that would take power in about 146 B.C.
[35:55] it would last until the 400s about 500 years this kingdom of Rome would last and the languishing or languishing effects of this kingdom would reach even until 1453 when Constantinople was finally knocked off in the east but no empire would even take its place Rome is described as one that crushes historians would describe this as one who breaks and smashes and breaks into pieces it crushes Rome ruled the nations with an iron hand and like a huge iron club it is said that they shattered all who resisted its will again God illustrating the coming of this Roman empire here Daniel is interpreting this dream 600 years before Christ and the Roman empire wouldn't even begin to be thought of really and have its way until about 31 years before Jesus comes to earth this iron mixed with clay this final kingdom that Daniel describes in verses 41 to 43 this feet and toes partly of potter's clay partly of iron it should be divided kingdom and some of the firmness of iron shall be in it just as you saw iron mixed with clay we see this continuing deterioration of disunity from one kingdom to the next and now results in ten toes mixed with iron in clay demonstrating the disunity the discontinuity of this kingdom we come to find in Daniel chapter 7 verses 23 to 24 that these ten toes actually represent ten kingdoms
[37:53] Daniel will have another vision thus he said as for the fourth beast there shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth which shall be different from all the other kingdoms it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces as for the ten horns out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise and another shall arise after them he shall be different from the former ones and shall put down three kings God is still speaking in the kinds of metaphors we don't quite understand yet but we understand that ten kings will arise and as we find from Revelation chapter 17 verse 12 the continuing illustration the continuing description of these ten kingdoms ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received their power but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beasts this kingdom is still on its way it's going to be kind of a resurgence as it were of the kingdom of Rome and we don't know all of the the evidences we don't know all of the descriptions of this kingdom but this kingdom will find its way to power before this stone will come and destroy that's where we end our study this morning in verses 44 to 45 we see this eternal stone and the description of that stone is recounted for us in the next several verses beginning in verse 44 in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall the kingdoms be left to another people it shall break in all pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever 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 the gold a great God is made known to you the king what shall be after this the dream is certain and its interpretation is sure notice this phrase in the days of those kings it's quite an interesting surprising statement as it were in the days of those kings now as the God of eternity stands outside of time and kind of binds all of those empires together all of those kings that represented those empires he puts them all in one category he unifies them again and says he is over all
[40:41] God who stands as the one who is eternal God who stands while empires rise and fall it is God who is over these kingdoms and these kings it is God who will establish his kingdom once and for all this rock that breaks and shatters will now grow and fill the earth and the dominion that he will have will be over the entire earth history of nearly a thousand years has merged back into one because standing above history is an eternal God and when Daniel refers to again is the God of heaven his kingdom that will never be destroyed God's kingdom will break all the others into pieces by one single blow ultimately we understand that God himself is the king of kings in the Lord of lords it is God who will establish his kingdom on the earth and as we find from revelation this kingdom will have the quality not only of being a spiritual kingdom that Jesus began to introduce during his ministry in his first return this good news of the kingdom of God that was so so prevalent in the message that Jesus spoke and his disciples reiterated it does have a spiritual dimension to it but just as the kingdoms of the ages have had a literal and a physical observable authority
[42:17] God's kingdom also will have a visible observable and physical reality to it revelation tells us that this kingdom will last for a thousand years where Jesus will sit on the throne of David where Jesus will rule from Jerusalem Jesus will have his his day and it will be in fulfillment of the promises that he's given to his people going all the way back to Abraham but reinforced to Isaac and Jacob and to David history has testified of the rising and fall of these kingdoms as God prescribed it stands as a witness to the power of God not only to reveal his word but his power to bring it to pass so as we've seen the four kingdoms at least that have come and gone four empires we can come to put our confidence in the fact that God will fulfill the remaining parts of this prophecy in a similar way the disciples asked Jesus when will these things be what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age and Jesus responds in Matthew chapter 24 verses 36 and 44 by saying concerning that day and the hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son but the father only therefore you also must be ready for the son of man is coming in an hour you do not expect are we ready are you ready for the coming of the king because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the father he is coming to establish his kingdom and he is made a way through his son
[44:12] Jesus who was the stone who came and established once and for all how relationship with God is possible not only through the stone but through the same stone who is also the lamb the sacrifice the lamb of God who is who is killed for us so the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot becomes the payment for sin have you asked forgiveness for your sin do you know Jesus as your savior have you made him the lord the king of kings over your life are you awaiting and looking forward to his coming kingdom we finish our time this morning in the dreams required response what is the essential necessary response to the dream this revelation that God has given to us about the subsequent generations the subsequent kingdoms but culminating in the kingdom of God we find this response in
[45:19] Daniel chapter 2 verses 46 to 49 it says then king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and just pause there for a moment I want you to recognize that Nebuchadnezzar is paying homage to Daniel not because he's worshipping Daniel but because he recognizes that God is speaking through this representative Daniel and he doesn't know how else to express his worship he has no other way he has no other insight on how to do it so God's representative is there and so he worships Daniel he commands that an offering of incense be offered again worship is taking place 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 and 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
[46:23] 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 Daniel's commitment to the God who is over all as we've learned he's the God who reveals secrets he's the God who is accessible he is the God who is available he's the God who is over all the God of heaven who is supreme and Daniel has committed his heart to following after God and to trust that God will reveal this significant dream to him and now he has been a mouthpiece of God's future plan and God's desire for Nebuchadnezzar himself to bow before the king of kings and the lord of lords God himself and while Nebuchadnezzar doesn't understand perfectly yet we're going to find that God will continue to reveal himself to Nebuchadnezzar we're going to see it in Daniel chapter 3 we're going to see it even more in Daniel chapter 4 where God will not give up on Nebuchadnezzar and he seeks to draw him into more knowledge of himself that happens through his representatives and we like Daniel have been given the unique responsibility and the unique privilege of being the mouthpiece and representative for God in a very dark and fallen world we can do that because we rest our confidence in a
[47:58] God who's eternal we can do that because we can rest our confidence in a God who is over all circumstances whether they seem to be out of control and not working in our favor we can trust that God is over all over all of these things and he has a purpose for them as we place our confidence in him as we rest in who he is and as we share his words with others we will be used like Daniel was to be a mouthpiece of God's message and gospel to the world around us and be able to enjoy the benefits of the living powerful word of God as it has its way in the hearts of those around us may God help us this week as we seek to make much of God in our life both personally and wherever we are as we put our confidence in the God who is eternal and overall may God help us to do that faithfully oh Lord we thank you for the testimony of Daniel we thank you for his courage we thank you for his faith we thank you for his willingness to cut it straight this message that he gives to
[49:18] Nebuchadnezzar is not an easy one it's not a message that Nebuchadnezzar wants to hear that his kingdom is going to dissolve into nothingness and yet it was a it was a message that the king needed to hear in order to grab his attention and cause him to fall in worship before the God of heaven God I pray that you'd help to give us courage as well as your representatives not only to speak your words but to show your life to the world around us help us to be faithful and may your Holy Spirit have his way in our lives we pray in Jesus name amen God bless you have a great week