Revealing the Dream

Well, as we journey through the first half of the Book of Daniel, we find ourselves at the end of the second chapter and at perhaps what is the best known scene in all of the Book of Daniel. Whenever you talk about the Book of Daniel, refer to the Book of Daniel, there's probably going to be some reference to the statue here in chapter two, either the fourth part statue in chapter two, or to the chapter the statue in chapter three, that is Nebuchadnezzar's response to this four part statue in chapter two. This is a moment, really, I sort of showdown, if you will. This is a moment where Daniel is exalted for the first time. Here in the book. There has been this sort of you know, mini exaltation at the end of the tests with the food and then at the end of their training as students in the school of the Chaldeans, but nothing like what we see here at the end of chapter two. Chapter two is also sort of a foreshadowing of what the second half of the book will bring, and because of that, there are some pitfalls to be avoided here in chapter two. We'll talk about those momentarily, but remember that we have not yet arrived at the second half of the book. We have not yet arrived at the more prophetic sections. This is sort of a foretaste of what is there. But that's not the point here in chapter two. The point is the same point that has been made again and again and again, as we see this showdown between two competing kingdoms. Actually it's not even two competing kingdoms. It's one dominant kingdom and another kingdom that just doesn't yet know that it's dominated. And so if you'll join me in Daniel chapter two, beginning at verse thirty one, we'll read the end of this chapter, the king has had a dream. He has called his men to give him not only the interpretation of the dream, but to recall the dream for him as well. They can't do it, They tell him they can't do it. They tell him that no one can do it, that only the gods can do this. And so the king declares that if they don't do this thing, that according to their own admission, only the gods can do that he will kill them. All word comes to Daniel. Daniel goes to Hannayamill and Azariah and calls them to pray, pray that God might be merciful to them and that God might give them the answer. And God does just that, they praise God. Daniel praises God for the answer to his prayer and then testifies before the King before he even gives the answer. That last week we saw that sort of pivotal moment in chapter two where we saw the underlying theological realities that give hope to God's people in the midst of the chaos within which they were living. This was all before Daniel gave the interpretation. So Daniel comes in before the King, who was about to kill them, and says, King, I'm going to do the thing that I have to do in order for you not to kill us. But before I do that, I have to testify for a while. And he bears testimony to the goodness and the greatness and the majesty of God. And then he gives the interpretation of the dream, which, by the way, also bears testimony to the goodness and the greatness and the majesty of God. And so now that we've seen those theological underpinnings, we get to Daniel's response, You saw, o, King, and behold a great image. This image mighty and of excellent brightness stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 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 eye, 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. What a beautiful picture. The stone strikes the image, The stone cut with no human hand. This stone that is hewn as it were by the hand of God, crushes the image and then grows to a mountain and fills the earth. This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. By the way, that's key. This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. Our tendency and our temptation is to read more into the dream in Daniel Chapter two than Daniel gives us. Let me just put a footnote here. When we're talking about prophetic literature, allow the apocalyptic literature to give you the interpretation. Don't go trying to feel your way through and make one up. Amen, somebody. Okay. So when Daniel says, here's the interpretation of the dream, there's no need for us to try to go beyond the interpretation that he gives right here at this point in time, Okay, this was the dream. Now we will tell the king the interpretation. The we there a reference. Really, you could say that Daniel is referring to himself and God God, but I believe it's more appropriate to say that Daniel is referring to himself and his companions here. That makes more sense in light of the way the chapter ends, because at the end of the chapter, after Daniel is exalted to a high post, he petitions the king to allow Henna and Iiah, Michael and Azariah to be exalted as well. They were his partners in petitioning God, and more than likely his partners in standing to deliver this message. So it's more than likely that that is the we refer to here 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. Did those sound familiar at all? King of Kings, Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever does that sound familiar? And into whose hand he has given whatever excuse me, 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. 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 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 excuse me, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of 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. And in the days of those kings, you may want to you might want to underline that there, because that's that's very important. It's a very important phrase when it comes to interpreting these passage. In the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all those kingdoms. You might want to underlie that as well. It shall break in pieces all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this? The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. That's significant. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. Daniel doesn't say this is what might happen if you don't act right Daniel says, the dream is certain and the interpretation sure. Then King Nebucannezza fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and commanded that an offering an incense be offered up to him. Just paused for a moment. Imagine this little Hebrew boy, this Hebrew man late Tian's early twenties. He gives this interpretation that he begged God for the night before. All he's looking for is not to die. Now the king bows down to pay homage to him and brings incense to pay homage to him. This is highly inappropriate. However, the same Daniel who petitioned and said, you know what, can we please not eat that food at this moment knows that it's probably not the right moment to look at the king and say that's idolatry. Stop it. But imagine the turmoil inside David as on the one hand he says, I'm so happy we're not going to die, and on the other hand he has to be saying, please don't do that. I mean, I'm grateful to God and everything, but please don't do that. But he can't say anything right now, and he doesn't. This is an aside, but it's important. This is especially important, I believe, for those of us who have a tendency to always be on the attack, always ready to respond, always ready to speak, always ready to defend. You know it. Sometimes sometimes you need to wait. There's plenty of opportunity for Daniel to deal with what proper worship is and what proper worship is not. And he does that. He deals with that, but not here, not now. The King answered and said to Daniel, truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mystery. For you have been able to reveal this mystery. Then the King gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him a ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Again, we said it before, but we have to say it again. Daniel must at this moment. Remember, Daniel knows about Genesis. Daniel knows about the patriarchs. Daniel knows about Joseph. He just interpreted the King's dream. And now the king says, you're in charge over all of Babylon. You know, in his mind he's thinking about Joseph. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrack and abeddinggo over the affairs of the province of Babylon, but Daniel remained at the King's court. Amen, the purpose of the vision, that's what we want to know. Why the vision? What does the vision mean? And in order to do that, there's a couple of things we have to look at. One, we look at the vision itself. And as we look at the vision itself, I told you we have to guard ourselves against a tendency. And here's the tendency. The tendency is to overinterpret. Daniel says, I'm going to give you the interpretation here. What we have a tendency to do is run ahead to Daniel chapter seven Versus one to fourteen and Daniel Chapter eight versus one to fourteen, and sort of juxtapose these visions so that we can become more specific about the kingdoms that are mentioned here. That's not what this is about, though. Listen to this from Alan Harmon. This dream is different from the ones in chapter seven and also from his vision in chapter eight, especially as the interpretation of the vision is given in eight fifteen to twenty six. There is no exegetical hint that the three passages are all speaking of the same events. Here in chapter two, only the head of Gold is identified. That's the only one that's identified. It's the only kingdom identified in chapter two. So guess what. I'm not going to tell you what the other kingdoms are because Daniel, who says I'm going to give be the interpretation, knows more about the vision than I do. And he didn't say what the kingdoms were. We don't know. We can speculate, but that speculation could be dangerous. I'll explain why in a moment he doesn't identify the kingdom. The first kingdom is identified, and we know that he says in thirty seven and following 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, and into whose hand he has given wherever they dwell, the children of men, or the children of man, rather the beast of the field and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all. You are the head of gold. You are the head of gold. There's this interpretation. That's what you need to know. King, you are the head of gold. The rest of it. He doesn't really give an interpretation for until he gets to the last kingdom. You are the head of gold. The second and third kingdoms are mentioned only briefly, so Daniel's not really concerned with who the second and third kingdoms are, or concerned with the second and third kingdoms much at all. Look at what he says here in verse thirty nine. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. That's it. That's all we get about kingdoms number two and number three. That's it. One line. Your kingdom number one, Kingdom number two is gonna come, and then Kingdom number three is gonna come. That's it. That's all we have. We can speculate as to which kingdoms these are, but again that's not the point. The fourth kingdom is distinguished from these, but again not identified. Look at verse forty, and the should be there should 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. And as you saw the feet and tolls 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 soft clay, and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. So the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. Here's what's interesting. One of the things that we do when you juxtapose this with chapter seven and chapter eight is you know, you go there in chapter seven, you look at those ten horns, for example, and then here you go ten toes, ten toes, ten horns. Small problem. Ten He didn't say ten, he says the toes. He'd say ten. Yeah, well, we know feet have five toes each. Maybe, but he doesn't say. He doesn't say, because that's not the point. So the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle, as you saw the iron mix 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. So there are the four kingdoms. The first one refers to Nebek Nezar and his kingdom, the second one another inferior kingdom, The third one a kingdom that is identified as one that's going to rule all over all the earth, so it's going to have a wide reach. And the fourth one, which is identified by this mixture of strength and weakness, a mixture of peoples and inner marriage of peoples that really doesn't work and does it hold together. Well, that's the picture that we have. And here's where it gets interesting. Our automatic assumption is that we're talking about four successive kingdoms that overtake and replace one another, that destroy one another, if you will. But when you get to the fifth kingdom, you realize that that is not the case at all. Look at what happens when we get to the fifth kingdom and we read beginning of verse forty four, and in the days of those kings stop in the days of those kings, all of them together, in the days of all of those kings together, in the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces the last kingdom standing that has defeated the other kingdoms. No, it shall break in 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, and the gold. This fifth kingdom destroys all the other kingdoms. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and the interpretation is sure. So while we have this temptation to interpret this a certain way, there are constraints put on us because of what Daniel himself said, because a number of things. One, there's constraints put on us because Daniel says, I'm going to give you the interpretation. Daniel says, here's what you need to know about the dream. What does Nebacon has er asked for? He says, tell me what the dream is, and tell me what the dream means. What is the significance of the dream. Daniel says, here's the dream. Now let me give you the significance of the dream. So that's the first restraint or constraint upon us as it comes to interpreting this. The second constraint upon us is that though we are tempted to look at this this and sort of juxtapose it with the images in chapter seven and chapter eight, we're not able to do that for a number of reasons. It's not least of which when we get to chapter seven and chapter eight, Daniel actually relies on the Angel for interpretation. It's not what happens here. It's not what happens here. The other thing that is constraining us is that there's a picture here of four kingdoms that are destroyed simultaneously by the fifth. So while it's awful tempting to go, well, that that first kingdom that's the Babylonians, and that second kingdom that's the Medo person Empire, and that third kingdom, you know, that's the Greeks, and that fourth kingdom that's the Romans, and forget all. It's very tempting, and we may see some of that maybe, but not here, because that's not the point. What is the point the fifth Kingdom. That's the point. The fifth Kingdom, the fact that the Kingdom of God rules and reigns over all the kingdoms of the earth, that's the point. The point is the sovereignty of God. The point is nations rise up, nations fall down, But regardless of the nation, there is a kingdom that stands above all other kingdoms. It is not the kingdom of men. It is the Kingdom of God. Four things about this kingdom are important. Number One, it will never be destroyed. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. This Kingdom will never be destroyed. The Kingdom of God will never be destroyed. Can I just say that to you right now, especially in the midst of all of this election talk, since the most important election of our lifetimes. If we don't get this one, we're the earth is going to stop spinning on its axis and is going to We're gonna lose everything. The Kingdom of God will not be destroyed, period, end of discussion. It won't be It cannot be destroyed. Secondly, it will not be left to another people. Not only will I be destroyed, it won't be taken over. The Kingdom of God will not be taken over, won't be destroyed, won't be taken over, won't be destroyed, won't be taken over. So again, all this stuff about you know what the church has become, and you know that the church used to be this now the church is that. No, Actually, it's not that's not true. That's not true. I have to guard myself against that. You know, Oh, the church is so weak, the church is so corrupt, the church is so worldly, the church is so No, actually it's not. That would assume that the kingdom could be taken over, and it hasn't been, and it will not be. The Church is strong, The Church is holy, The Church is righteous, the Church is godly. The Church is pristine, always has been, it always will be. Yeah. Well, when I go around the corner and I look at you got a problem with your definition of the church. Let me see if I can illustrate this for you. Let's say you name any society, and we go in this society, this fictional society, and in this fictional society, we come in on day one, and on day one, there are one hundred churches, and they have fifty people each in them in day one, and they are godly strong churches, hundred of them, fifty people each in these hundred churches. Now, through time travel, we move forward in time one hundred years later, and now you look at that same society and there's not one hundred churches, but there's a thousand churches. Now two hundred of that thousand are maybe seventy five to one hundred people, and they're strong, and they're godly, they're following heart after the Lord. They're doing what it is that the Church has called to do. And to be eight hundred of those churches worldly, corrupt, carnal, man centered, so on and so forth. Here's the problem. You look at that and immediately you go look at what's happened to the church. No, eight hundred of that thousand that you're looking at, they don't meet the definition of a church. But here's what you just missed. One hundred years ago, there were only one hundred churches, and it's about fifty people in each of them, and they were doing what church are supposed to do. Today there's two hundred of them, and there's seventy five to one hundred in each of them, and they're doing what God caused the church to do. See, because your eyes can only see buildings and people on TV and so on and so forth, it is easy for you and for me to assume that the church has somehow gone astray, that God's Kingdom is somehow being weakened, that it's somehow being taken over. That's not true. There's wheat and chaff growing up together. But the wat is the wheat, and the chaff is the chaff. God will separated say of the church. What God says of the Church, not left to another people breaks the others and brings them to an end. God's kingdom breaks the other kingdoms and brings them to an end. It exists forever, He never taken over, and it breaks all other kingdoms and brings those kingdoms to an end. Does it look like that, No, it doesn't look like that. By the way, Daniel, Daniel's not going to get to see this, but he gets to see the vision. He gets to see God's promise, and he believes the God who has promised, and he says, regardless of what I see with my eyes, here's what I know. God's Kingdom stands forever, and it is going to break all these other kingdoms. There is injustice in the world. God is going to make that right. There is evil in the world. God is going to make that right. There is sin in the world. God is going to make that right. He's going to deal with it. He's going to crush it, he's going to destroy it. By the way, Saints, this is why you don't give up on the doctrine of Hell. The doctrine of Hell is essential to our understanding of the justice, majesty, righteousness of God. The doctrine of Hell says God meets out justice. The doctrine of Hell says, I don't have to get you back because justice is coming and it's more severe than anything I could do to you. I'm not worried about that. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord I will repay. Here's the other thing that it says. I'm not worried about getting you back because what I deserve and what was placed on Christ, on my behalf, is much worse than what it is you deserve for what you did to me. Because you send against finite old me, I send against God Almighty, and ultimately that's who you sinned against as well. You don't need me to pay you back. That's what the doctrine of Hell says. God is righteous, God is just. God will be vindicated. He will break and crush all those other kingdoms. Here's the other thing that this says. There are no righteous kingdoms in this world apart from the Kingdom of God. Amen. God bless America. But she gets the stone too, Amen, somebody, God Bless America. But she gets the stone too. She gets crushed and broken by the stone. There will be that the New Jerusalem is not in New York, La, Houston, Chicago. No, no, no, no no. This is not the Promised Land. This is not the New Jerusalem. This place is gonna get the stone, just like everybody else. Love your country, Serve your country, Be grateful to God for your country. Do not worship it. This kingdom will never be destroyed, not left to or taken over by another people, breaks and brings to an end all other kingdoms. And it stands forever. It stands forever. It stands forever. Here's the good news. You don't have to worry about heaven. What do you mean by that? Wait? I get this question sometimes from people, and they'll say something like, well, you know, I mean I if angels fell, then who's to say that when we get to heaven we won't rebel and we won't fall. Well, God, Amen, that's the beauty of the doctrine of glorification. We will be glorified, we will be changed. There will be no corruptibility. There, nothing corruptible, nothing corrupted, nothing, nothing. It's a kingdom that stands forever. Here's the good news, the even better news. You're a part of it already. Amen, you're a part of it already. Why news flash. The stone that is hewn, but it's not hewn out by human hands. It's Christ himself. And if you are his, you are in him again. The main point of this is not for us to go and try to figure out which kingdoms he's talking about here. That's not the main point of this dream and its interpretation. Daniel gives you the main point of this dream and its interpretation, and here it is. Here's the main point. Never Canzar. You're the man right now, and there will be many other demands, and you and all the rest of them will bow the knee to the man because your kingdom will be destroyed. Your kingdom will be left to others. Your kingdom will be broken, and your kingdom will not stand forever. What's the purpose of this interpretation? Because the purpose of this interpretation was not for nebukand Nezzer, you know, to go and sit down with this and try to figure out which kingdoms are coming and who they are and when they'll be and what year they're coming away. That was not the purpose. What was the purpose several one to humble Nebcod Nezzar. That's purpose number one of the dream and its interpretation, to humble nebcod Nezzer. How does it humble him? Well, first of all the frailty of his own mind. He can't remember or interpret his dream. God humbles him. By the way, it is the grace of God that humbles powerful men, because just as children, left to their own devices and given everything they want, become tyrants who believe that their voice is more important than any other voice, and their will is more important than any other will, so too with powerful men who are not humbled by God, God humbles him. And it's the grace of God for those individuals and for those under their authority that they are humbled. And here nebukan Nezzar is humbled. The breaks are put on. And that's important because at the beginning of it, where do we start. Look at chapter one, verse one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebicandessser king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the House of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his gods, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God. Ultimately, what nebukad Nezar said is I just defeated the God of the Hebrews. Bring their stuff with me. Bring it to the house of our gods, so that everybody can know that our God is greater than their God, and that I'm greater than every king. God puts the bricks on it. God says to nebka Nezzar, you're the golden head. You're not the be all to end all. He humbles him. He can't remember the dream or the interpretation. You're all at right. You defeated the God of the Hebrews. Man, you don't even know your own mind. You can't even interpret your own dreams. Who do you think you are? You're a man. You gotta go to sleep every night. How are you going to be as powerful as God? And you gotta sleep, You gotta eat, You get old, you get frail, you get weak. What are you talking about? God humbles him. God humbles all of us also through the inferiority of his seers. It is great God. He goes and he captures these people. He says, you know, bring the good ones, bring the smart ones, and we'll send them to our school and see if maybe they can become Chaldeans. Maybe they can learn something from us if we get the good ones. God humbles him. He doesn't know his own mind, doesn't know his own dreams, doesn't know the interpretation. He goes and gets these people who are supposed to educate, these little Hebrews, whose God is so weak? What ends up happening? They say, we can't do it. Only God could do this. What ends up happening? One of these Hebrew slaves stands before the king and says, thus saith the Lord. And the King is on his face in front of this Hebrew slave burning incense, humbled the inferiority of his gods again, the dream and his interpretation is God's can't do and the end of his kingdom. God says to him, you know what your kingdom is going to end, and his mind. His reign may end, but not his kingdom and his mind. We run the whole world. Do you know who we are? The world is ours, Our kingdom is only going to grow, and my sons and my son's sons. Sons are going to increase the power and reach of my kingdom, and forever this kingdom is going to reign through my ancestors. That's his thinking. God says, not only is that not true, but an inferior kingdom is going to take over after you. They're not even more powerful than you. They're not smarter, they don't have more horses, they don't have greater technology. Not because no, you're out of here. That's humbling. Your kingdom is not going to expand, it's going to be consumed, subsumed, taken over. So the purpose of this vision and its interpretation is to humble Nebucha Nezzar. It's also to save and preserve Daniel and his friends. Daniel's a slave in chapter one, verses three and four. He's then a student in chapter one verses three through nineteen. He is elevated as a seer in chapter one versus one seventeen, verses two forty nine, and then becomes a supervisor in chapter two, verse forty eight. He's running stuff God did that, God did that God preserved as people. This is also to encourage Israel, the Covenant people of God. What does God say here? God says to his covenant people, your failure is not final. Anybody need to know today that that's your God. Your failure is not final. They have seen people wiped out. In fact, they know their own history. They know that God has used them to wipe out other peoples who no longer exist anymore. Now here they are in captivity. What are they thinking that this is the way their world works? They know how their world works. The way their world works is you get defeated and either all of you are killed by the sword your women are taking in a way so that you know they are taken by the men of this other kingdom, or your people come in and become slaves and you end your time as a people as slaves to a greater people until you no longer exist. That's the way their world works. What does God say to his people Israel through this dream and its interpretation? He says, your failure is not final. He also says, your oppressor is not sovereign. Your oppressor is not sovereign. He says to them, your God has not forsaken you, though he is chastening you. And he says to them, you're a hope is not lost. That's what God says to his people through this vision, through this dream. That's what God says to the Covenant community. That's who God is to his people, which means that's who God is to you and to me. By the way, the doctrine that's highlighted here for us as Christians would be the doctrine of eternal security. I heard a statement. We were at the Shepherd's Conference a few weeks back, and John MacArthur preached the last message you always preached the last message at the Shepherd's Conference, and he said something that has been ringing in my ears ever since. By God's grace, I pray I'll never forget it, talking about eternal security. And Tom MacArthur said, listen, if you could lose your salvation, does it get better than that? If you could lose your salvation, you would How on earth can a person believe that a Christian could lose their salvation but that they won't do it? Folks, if you could lose your salvation, you would you know yourself, You know yourself. If it was up to you to keep you, you wouldn't be kept. If God's people could be cast off forever they would, you know Jeremiah thirty two offering up children to bail if they could be cast off forever they would, they would, But they can't be. Why Because God is the God of the covenant. He is the covenant keeper. God will keep those who are his. He will chasten those who are his. But God will keep those who are His. God will keep you. God will keep you. The fourth purpose of this vision is to exalt God. So he humbles nebucon Nezer. He saves and preserves Daniel. He encourages Israel, and it exalts God. First of all. Nebuchad Nezzer echoes Daniel's praise. What does Daniel do when the dream is interpreted? Go back with me to chapter two and look at verse twenty. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God, forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and season. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him. To you, O, God of my Father's I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you. For you have made known to us the king's matter. Then, when he stands before the King, he echoes the same sentiment. And now when he tells the interpretation of the dream, what does the king say? Verse forty seven. 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. By the way, that's a summation of the praise that Daniel offers to God and the test stimony that he bore before the king. The King echoes that testimony. God is exalted, but be careful. Nebekan Nezzar is awed and humbled, but not saved. Nebkan Nezzar is owed and humbled, but not saved. He's not converted. Nemic Nezar is, He's awed, he is he is I mean literally, you know we use that word awesome. This moment is awesome. Nebekan Nezzard knows that he can't figure out this dream. These men who he counts on for all of his spiritual advice. They can't figure out this dream, Daniel says, give us time so that God can tell me the dream. Daniel comes before him, and God does just that. This man is awe struck by the power of God as displayed through this mighty work, but he is not saved. You know as well as I do that there are many who had given the right hand of fellowship based solely on that testimony from his mouth. Can you not see it? At the revival service? The hand of God moves powerfully at the revival service. And at the end of the revival service, after the hand of God has moved powerfully, a man stands up with tears streaming down his face. He runs down the aisle and comes to the altar. He looks up to the preacher and he says, truly, your God is the God of Gods, and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries. How many of you know at the revival meeting he'd be given the right hand of fellowship. Not only that, but the next night they'd have him up on stage telling his testimony. Small problem. In chapter three, he builds a statue of all gold, basically saying I'm not going away. Is this not what Jesus teaches us in the Parable of the Soils. There are people who hear the word of God and appear to spring up, But we do not judge based on how people respond in a powerful moment. We judge based on the fruit of repentance that we see or don't see in their lives. He makes a profession here, but he is not saved. And there are perhaps some of you, under the sound of my voice who are in the exact same boat. There was a moment in your life where you were grief stricken, where you were terrified, you didn't know what to do, and all of a sudden and God brought somebody into your life who spoke truth and spoke life in the midst of your situation. And in that emotional moment, you cried out to God because of what you experienced in that emotional moment, and you may have walked forward at a church service with tears streaming down your face and said something like, truly, this God is God. Truly he's the Lord of Lords. And somebody said, you need to write this date in your Bible, because on this date, when you said those words, you entered into the kingdom. Your name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and then you left and went and start building statues to yourself, and you've been in turmoil ever since. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? It's anybody been there. I've been there. I'm ashamed to say I've been that evangelist. It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to think of the number of lost people who heard my voice say to them, you're saved because they walked down an aisle and said some words. Oh that I could get to every one of them, but I can't, But I can get to you, and I can say to you, if that's you, repent, Turn from your idols, the statues and monuments that you've built to yourself. Turned to the rock hewn without human hands, that crushes every kingdom, including your own. Bow the knee to him before he breaks you. Place your faith in Jesus Christ. He is your only hope. Be redeemed by him or be destroyed by him. Those are your only choices. He's a kind and merciful Savior and a righteous, unwavering judge. Bow the need to the Savior, or be crushed under the weight of your own sin. Before the judge. Finally we see the reward. Daniel receives praise. Verse forty six. King Nebuchanezah, on his face paid homage to Daniel and commanded that an offering an incense be offered up to him. Not only does he receive praise, he receives possessions. Forty eight A. Then the king gave Daniel honors and great gifts. He gave him honors and gifts. He gave him stuff, not just stuff. But this is the King gave him stuff. I mean, yeah, I'm sure every one of us has received stuff from people before. This is not stuff from people. This is stuff from the king. And trust me, when the King gave this stuff to Daniel, the King didn't look around and say, let me see what what do I not need anymore? What do I not like anymore? No, in the midst of this turmoil, he was in such turmoil he was about to kill all of the Chaldeans. After this is over, he doesn't look around for things that he doesn't like anymore to give to Daniel. He gives him stuff. The king likes stuff. The King cherishes. He gives good stuff. Daniel has praise, he has possessions. He has power. He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon. That's power. By the way, does this sound familiar again? Her minds run back to Genesis forty one. Praise from the king possessions power. He also gives him position chief prefect over all the wise men. How ironic is that? Find me some Hebrew boys that we can bring in. You know, maybe they can apprentice under our wise man. Maybe we can get some use out of them. You know, their god is inferior to our god. Of course, their educational system is inferior to our educational system. But bring him in. That may be some good ones. Make sure you get the cream of the crop, though, you know, because I'm sure those are the only ones who could even do anything with every day can be junior madgib In fact, when he calls in the Chaldeans for his dream, he didn't even call Daniel and his friends. Daniel and his friends don't even know what's going on until the death sentence comes out, and it's only then that Daniel finds out about the death sentence, which means that when the king was in crisis, he didn't even think about him. Now, he's ruler over the whole province of Babylon. That's just good. He's got praise, possessions, he's got power, position, and yet he's still a slave, which means none of it really mattered. Do you know what Daniel has been given. Daniel has been given the symbols of the head of gold that's going to be crushed by the rock. Woe to Daniel if he begins to identify himself with the praise, position and power of Babylon, when the whole purpose of the dream was to say, all of this will be crushed. It is utterly meaningless, and you belong to a superior kingdom. Don't you ever forget it? Saints, don't you dare make it your goal in life to have the praise and possessions and power and position of Babylon. If they give it to you, don't give it back. Amen. You thank God for it, and you move on, and you remind yourself every time you look at it, you go, that's beautiful, it's gonna burn. I'm gonna enjoy it while God gave it to me, But it's gonna burn. It's hard to do that, though, isn't it? Unless God humbles you. In chapter five, Belle Shazer throws a party. He invites tons of people. There's handwriting on the wall. This is the next ruler. Bel Shazar wants someone to interpret the handwriting on the wall, and he sends for the eunuchs and the Chaldeans and all the folks to interpret the handwriting on the wall. Listen to this in chapter five, verses ten through twelve. But none of the guys could do it. Surprise, surprise, the queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banqueting hall, and the Queen declared, O King live forever. Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy Gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchonezer, your father, your father of the King, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers because an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the King named beltashezer. Now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation. So what's the point. Here's the point. At the end of chapter two, Daniels big biscuits. By chapter five he's forgotten again. The Queen has to come in and say, hey, hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, I remember this guy. He's not even on Belshazzar's radar. So please don't run off at the end of chapter two. As though the point of chapter two is if you hang in there, you'll get all the stuff, that's not the point of chapter two. The point of chapter two is God is God. He's sovereign over the affairs of men. He rises up kingdoms, he puts it down kingdoms, and ultimately He will crush and destroy them all. And there is a rock that will remain forever. Christ himself is the king of kings and Lord of lords. Everything else will be crushed by the rock. Enjoy what you have, but remember you are still a pilgrim who is wandering your way through this city looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. That's who we are. That's who we are, And if you forget it, God will be gracious to you as his child and He'll humble you, and remember when it happens that it is the grace of God. This is not our home, this is not as good as it gets. Our hope is that stone hewn out of the rock, not by human hands. Hope is that kingdom that will never end, that will not be taken over, that will break and crush all of the other kingdoms. That's our hope. So let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ, Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. But instead, what did he do. He humbled himself and took on the form of a servant, and being in the likeness of a servant, he became humble, even to the point of death, death on the cross. That's all right, because as a result of that humiliation God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is our king, and he reigns forever. Bow to him and to him alone, because there is hope in none other. Let's pray