Welcome back to our service this evening as we continue to look at the book of Daniel and especially we're going to see how the crisis, the personal crisis of King Nebuchadnezzar provides an opportunity for God to receive glorious, his greater power and wisdom this evening.
And I hope that will encourage us as we think about the crises that we face in our lives.
Let me also encourage us from God's word with our call to worship.
Jesus speaking to the crowds in Matthew chapter 11.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
May each one of us come to know true rest from Jesus as we find that our lives are connected to him, that we receive strength and love and grace from him.
Now, let's read together from Daniel chapter 2.
Now, we're going to read the first 23 verses, but we'll be thinking about the whole chapter together.
So here's Daniel chapter 2 at verse 1.
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.
His mind was troubled and he could not sleep.
So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed.
When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, I have had a dream that troubles me, and I want to know what it means.
Then the astrologers answered the king, May the king live forever.
Tell your servants the dream and we will interpret it.
The king replied to the astrologers, This is what I have firmly decided.
If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.
But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour.
So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.
Once more, they replied, Let the king tell his servants the dream and we will interpret it.
Then the king answered, I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realise that this is what I have firmly decided.
If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you.
You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change.
So then, tell me the dream and I will know that you can interpret it for me.
The astrologers answered the king, There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks.
No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.
What the king asks is too difficult.
No one can reveal it to the king except the gods.
And they do not live among humans.
This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death.
And men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
When Ariach, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon,
Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.
He asked the king's officer, Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?
Ariach then explained the matter to Daniel.
At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time so that he might interpret the dream for him.
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery,
so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said,
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors.
You have given me wisdom and power.
You have made known to me what we asked of you.
You have made known to us the dream of the king.
So Daniel chapter 2, we're going to see one king's crisis reveals the true king's glory.
And again, I really hope that this encourages us today.
Because we stand as a world in need of hope, don't we?
We're together in this global crisis.
And we really feel especially a sense of concern for those who are seeking to lead us through it.
We're praying for wisdom for our politicians and our leaders.
But I think too, we probably recognise, especially perhaps in the church,
that we need more than simply a timetable for ending lockdown to give us a hope that lasts.
We need something bigger than a plan for economic recovery.
We need more than simply a return to normal.
What we need is a hope that comes from the word of God and the God of the word.
For us as Christians, for the people of God, we have great hope.
Even in this chapter, we've been reminded that the Lord who sits on the throne of the universe,
loves his people, he loves us.
That the almighty Lord has not stayed distant from us, rather he has revealed himself to us.
And we see him in creation.
And we see him in his word.
And especially in Jesus, the word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us
so that we would see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.
And we understand that the Lord is building his church.
He is establishing a kingdom that is extensive, that is enduring, that is eternal, that is hope.
And we see it all in Daniel chapter 2.
So my prayer for you and for me, for all of us this evening,
is that we take hope as we behold our God.
But we begin with the king's personal crisis in the first 11 verses.
Dreams are funny things, aren't they?
Some are very vivid, some are just plain bizarre, some are quite unsettling.
Some, the first thing when you wake up, you want to share it with somebody else.
Others, you're trying to grab hold of the details because you know there was something exciting or interesting
you want to share and you can't quite get there.
Well, Nebuchadnezzar, he has a forgotten dream.
And effectively, he says to his advisors, tell me my dream and what it means and I'll make you rich and give you glory or I'll burn your house down.
It's very extreme for a forgotten dream.
Why?
Well, in his culture, dreams were often regarded as signs pointing towards the future.
But for Nebuchadnezzar, he can't remember this dream.
He doesn't know whether his future looks good or whether his future looks bad.
So he calls in the gurus of verse 2, the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers.
So the interesting thing about these guys is that they used dream manuals.
So, OK, tell us your dream.
Ah, OK.
So like 150 years ago, another king, he had a dream that was similar.
And if you look at his history, these events happened.
So I think the dream means this.
That's how it worked for them.
But if they get no knowledge, they get no hope.
And they're honest about that.
Verse 10.
There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks.
I love verse 11.
God's always looking for opportunities to reveal his glory.
And don't we see here, verse 11, what the king asks is too difficult.
No one can reveal it to the king except the gods and they do not live among the humans.
Their experience of the gods, the false gods of Babylon, our gods are distant.
Our gods don't speak.
Our gods are not going to be able to offer any help.
We can't help.
So there's no prospect of help.
In this crisis, a contest is going to develop.
A contest because it's so one-sided.
But we're being invited to ask the question, whose wisdom is greater?
The wise men or Daniel and the gods of Babylon or the true God
that they represent?
Whose God is the true God?
And chapter 2 of Daniel, the whole story of Daniel, really,
and indeed the whole Bible shows,
for the one true God, nothing is impossible.
The one true God is a God who reveals himself.
He speaks.
He acts.
He demonstrates his saving power and grace towards his people.
He is available for them.
And of course for us, we know that in Jesus he becomes one of us
and we see his glory in their most remarkable way.
I also find it encouraging to recognise that in God's providence,
the crisis of the king becomes a chance for Daniel to do gospel ministry,
to speak the truth to King Nebuchadnezzar,
and to show where true glory and honour lies,
to point to the power and wisdom of the one true God
rather than the false gods.
God is working.
God is always working for his glory.
He is still looking to, as it were, lift the roof off,
to remind people to look up,
to show the limits of the gods that we make
compared to the one true God.
And so maybe even here there is an encouragement for us
in our gospel ministry.
No crisis quarantines the gospel.
I find it really encouraging this week to read about the church in Iran.
So Iran, which is part of where the Babylonian Empire would be,
the people who are still around today,
and in Iran, the church is persecuted.
The church is under attack.
It faces a crisis.
But they have learned to do effective gospel ministry.
They've used technology.
So there are many stories of people going on to Facebook
and finding Christian groups
that they can sensitively connect with
and have their questions asked and answered
and people coming to faith in Jesus
through the internet and through social media.
And I think that's an encouragement for us
as we think about our ongoing ministry
of looking to show our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues
the wonder of Jesus.
That's the king's personal crisis.
And that, of course, then leads us on to Daniel's response.
So if you remember, if you were with us last week,
Daniel's crisis of conscience,
would he eat the king's diet or not?
This is a more significant crisis for Daniel
in terms of his life or death
because Daniel and his three friends
are told in verse 13
that they are also on the king's death list,
part of his royal advisors.
So they're all due to be killed.
Now, how do we see Daniel's faith in this crisis?
Well, first of all, we see that he keeps calm.
He goes to speak to Ariah,
who's responsible for bringing the message.
And then in verse 16,
he goes to face the angry king Nebuchadnezzar
to ask for more time.
And God gives him favour
and he gets the chance for more time.
And what does he do with his time?
And this is what his faith really shines.
He prays.
He calls his three friends and say,
let's pray, let's pray for God's mercy.
So verse 18,
he urged them to plead for mercy
from the God of heaven
concerning this mystery
so that he and his friends
might not be executed
with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
He's concerned not just for himself,
but for everybody else
that's part of the death list.
But what does he pray for?
He prays that the true God
would reveal the mystery to Daniel.
Daniel.
And that night,
the answer comes.
And again,
how does Daniel respond in the morning?
In verse 19,
we're told that he praised God.
When we pray and God answers,
we should be thankful.
We should pray to him
and we should give him thanks.
We should praise him.
And then Daniel gives us a reminder of that.
And as we look at Daniel's prayer,
what does he focus on?
He praises God
because God is on the throne.
Because God sits over all history,
deposing some kings,
raising others up.
Because God has wisdom and power.
But not only that,
this God who has wisdom and power,
verse 23,
I thank and praise you,
God of my ancestors,
you have given me wisdom and power.
God who makes himself available
for the needs of his people.
God who gives that wisdom and power to Daniel
when he needs it.
So again,
the crisis is showing really powerfully
the true God versus counterfeit gods.
And maybe today,
you're sitting at home
and you realise,
do you know,
I've been planning
and been pursuing goals
without really thinking about God.
I'm not sure that he would really be
the centre of my identity.
Perhaps you're thinking,
I need more than this.
I need more than those foundations
that I had built my life on
before this crisis.
I see that they are weak
and God is strong.
Well,
here is an invitation
to turn
or return to God
through faith in Jesus.
To recognise that he is
the one who is powerful for you,
who will be your strength and weakness.
To recognise that he is all wisdom
and he can be your wisdom
in times of confusion.
So turn to him,
return to him
with all your heart
and keep pursuing Jesus
who is the wisdom of God,
who is the power of God.
Read your Bible,
pray to enjoy fellowship with him,
make him your treasure
and delight.
Because we have the one true God
revealed to us in the Bible
and revealed to us in Jesus,
the Son.
And we need to trust him
to have a hope that lasts.
After praising God,
Daniel then
goes to the king's court.
So he gives the king his dream
and its meaning in verse 25
to 45.
And what we see here again
is more parallels
to the story of Joseph.
Another king,
the Pharaoh,
had a dream.
Nobody could interpret it
except for Joseph.
Joseph is brought in,
it reveals the dream
and he has raised
a place of honour.
Same story for Daniel.
And again also,
when the king speaks to Daniel
at first and he says,
are you able to tell me
what I saw in my dream
and interpret?
Daniel obviously,
like Joseph,
had the chance to claim
some personal glory
and honour for himself,
but doesn't take it.
Rather,
he honours God.
No wise man,
enchanter,
magician or diviner
can explain to the king
the mystery,
but there is a God
in heaven
who reveals mystery.
You want revelation?
You want wisdom?
Don't look to me,
Daniel says.
Look to my God.
There is no contest
in this wisdom contest.
The true God
is the only one
who reveals mysteries.
And perhaps Nebuchadnezzar
was so anxious
because he really wanted
to hold on to power.
Perhaps he was afraid
and wondering
whether his latest conquest
would succeed.
And what he needs
to understand
is that the answer
to his anxiety
and the answer
to all our anxieties
is to recognise
there is a greater king.
There is one
far greater than him.
Maybe one of the struggles
that you have
with lockdown
is that sense
of loss of control
where we want
to know the plan
and we want
to know the timetable
and we want
to know it will
be successful
because we want
to make our own plans
and we want
to know what our timetable
is going to look like
and it can be desperately
hard to live
day by day
when every day
feels the same
and it seems
there's no end
in sight.
Well,
one answer to
that anxiety
is certainly
to behold
our God.
to recognise
here is the God
who's in control.
Here is the God
who is working
all things for good
for those who love him.
Here is the God
whose love
for his people
remains constant
and in a crisis
he has wisdom
and power
that is for you.
Now we get to the dream.
Let me read this.
We didn't read it earlier.
Let me read
the dream.
Your majesty
looked
and there before
you stood
a large statue
an enormous
dazzling statue
awesome in appearance.
The head of the statue
was made of pure gold
its chest
and arms of silver
its belly
and thighs of bronze
its legs of iron
its feet partly of iron
and partly of baked clay.
While you were watching
a rock was cut out
but not by human hands.
It struck the statue
on its feet
of iron and clay
and smashed them
and then we're told
the rock
that struck the statue
became a huge mountain
and filled
the whole earth.
So there's this statue
with four levels
and it's top heavy
because the top level
is made in gold
but it doesn't topple
in and of itself
rather it is smashed
by a rock
a rock
not cut by human hands
and that rock
then becomes
a universal
mountain.
So what's
going on
in that dream?
well Nebuchadnezzar
is told
in verse 37
that he was
the head
of gold
you are the king
of kings
the God of heaven
has given you
a dominion
and power
and glory
God has given it
to Nebuchadnezzar
but as the dream
makes clear
that will not last
his empire
will not last
neither will
the other empires
there is one
that will last
and that's God's
verse 44
in the time
of those kings
the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom
that will never
be destroyed
nor will it be left
to another people
it will crush
all those kingdoms
and bring them
to an end
but it will
itself endure
forever
this is the meaning
of the vision
of the rock
cut out of a mountain
but not
by human hands
God will set up
his kingdom
and that kingdom
will never end
that kingdom
will never be
overtaken
that kingdom
will not be small
but will be universal
in scope
and that kingdom
will be built
on God's rock
and the New Testament
picks that up
and says
the rock
is Christ
for the exiles
in Daniel's generation
and for those
in later generations
who suffer persecution
and opposition
there is hope
this will not last
God's king
and God's kingdom
will
the Messiah
of the line of David
would come
as promised
and his kingdom
would endure
so hold on
and take heart
for the persecuted
church in the world
today
for the persecuted
church in the region
of Babylon
here is hope
that to trust
in Jesus
as God's king
is to place
our hope
and identity
and security
in a kingdom
that is eternal
and enduring
for you and me
today
here is living hope
because the rock
is Christ
Jesus came
and he preached
the kingdom
of God
is near
because he
is the king
who is drawn near
those miracles
that we spent
so much time
focusing on
are signs of
signpost to
the kingdom
of glory
a kingdom
without illness
and suffering
and death
and disease
and virus
and despair
a kingdom
marked by love
and joy
and peace
and fellowship
with God
forever
and then there's
the promise
of Jesus
that he would
build his church
on the gates
of hell
no opposition
no foreign empire
would ever be able
to destroy
that church
and that church
would be built
on his words
the gospel message
the message
that comes from
Jesus
and that's about
Jesus
that centres on
his death
and resurrection
is where
the foundation
of the church
the kingdom
of God
the eternal
extensive
enduring kingdom
is built
for you and I
when we don't know
what institutions
in our country
will survive
what savings
will be left
in our bank
accounts
what shape
our nation
will be in
here is
encouragement
to invest
our energy
and find
our joy
in a kingdom
that lasts
to live as a
citizen of heaven
even as we seek
the welfare
of Babylon
as we seek
the welfare
of Edinburgh
and Scotland
and beyond
our hope
lies in
an eternal
enduring
extensive
kingdom
when our
hope
is in
Jesus
the eternal
son of God
our king
and our saviour
the chapter
ends with
the king's
gratitude
it's no surprise
really that he's
so pleased
he discovers
that he's the
head of gold
and he's going
to have a
secure and
glorious empire
for his
lifetime
and what he
does
verse 46
to 49
is he
praises
Daniel
and he
raises him
to a place
of honour
again
just like
Pharaoh
did with
Joseph
and what
we need
to understand
is that
God is
behind all
of this
God is
working
so that
his glory
will be
seen
even in
the suffering
of exile
God is
working so
he will
have glory
among the
nations of
the world
even in
this king's
personal
crisis
God is
working
so that
he will
have
glory
God's
desire
is that
he would
be glorified
we are
made
to give
God glory
to live
for his
glory
so we
find our
great joy
when we
see
and delight
in the
glory of
God
and books
like Daniel
can really
help us
to see
that
so that
we might
praise God
just as
Daniel
did
and it's
interesting
we said
this in
our overview
and we'll
see it
time and
again
here is
king
nebuchadnezzar
a pagan
king
praising
Daniel's
God
verse 47
the king
said to
Daniel
surely
your God
is the
God of
gods
and the
Lord of
kings
and a
revealer
of
mysteries
a pagan
king is
used to
speak the
truth
probably
speaking
more truth
than he
realised
but here
is that
reminder
in the
context
of the
gods
only one
God
has true
and absolute
power
only one
God
has wisdom
and graciously
reveals
who is
available
to us
who is
strong
and mighty
to save
so this
king's
crisis
in the
end of
the day
led him
to praise
give glory
to the
true king
may
may that
be true
for us
whoever we
are and
whatever our
circumstances
however we're
finding
lockdown
may it
be true
for us
that this
crisis would
lead us
to praise
to trust
to show
loyalty and
dependence on
our God
and king
on Jesus
our king
that we
would look
to him
the wisdom
of God
the power
of God
that in
our weakness
with our
burdens
we would
come to
him
and find
rest
so that we
might
just like
Daniel
give God
praise
and glory
a
day
he