How Much Does God Know? Series

Text: Daniel 2

Title: How much does God know?

Introduction

The theme of the entire book of Daniel is the sovereignty of God

When we say God is sovereign we mean

1.That God is all powerful

Last week in Daniel chapter 1 we saw proof of that…

•God delivered the Israelites into the hands of the Babylonians

•God enabled Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to qualify for the king’s service.

When we say God is sovereign we also mean

2 That God is all-knowing

We find one of the greatest proofs that God is all- knowing in Daniel Chapter 2…

Title for today’s message is “How much does God know?”

Let’s read Daniel 2:1-23

How much does God know?

God knows everything!

Why you and I should never panic…

Instead we should pray.

God knows what you are praying for

God also knows how to answer what you are praying for

God also knows when to answer what you are praying for.

God loves to turn our prayer requests into praise reports!

Now let’s read Daniel 2:29-36

Here we are told what it was that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed.

How much does God know? God knows everything!

God even knows the future!

We have already said that because God knows everything you and I should pray

Because God knows the future it should affect

What you and I should pray for.

So what is the future?

The interpretation of the dreams

Read verses 36-39

Each of the different kinds of metals found in the statue represents a kingdom.

(V38) “You are that head of gold.”

Kingdom #1 represented by the head of gold is the kingdom of Babylon

(v39) “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours.”

Kingdom #2 represented by the chest and arms of silver stands for the kingdom of the Medes and Persians

(Daniel 5:30) “That very night Balshazzar king of the Babylonians was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom…”

The year now is 539 BC

(v39) “Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze will rule over the whole earth.”

Kingdom #3 represented by the belly and thighs of bronze stands for the kingdom of Greece

The year now is 337 BC

There is more said about the 4th and final kingdom than what is said of the other three combined.

Let’s read v40-45

“Finally there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron- for iron breaks and smashes everything- and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

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- a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.”.

Kingdom #4 represented by the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay stands for the kingdom of Rome

The year now is 146BC

Notice there are two kingdoms of Rome represented in this passage of scripture.

One kingdom of Rome that existed in 146BC and was present at the first coming of Christ and a future kingdom of Rome that will be present at the second coming of Christ. (A revised Roman empire)

Footnote: There is more info in later chapters of Daniel/Book of Revelation

This future kingdom of Rome will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ and the kingdom of God will be established forever.

What do we know about the future?

The bad news: The world is not going to get better!

The image recorded for us in Daniel 2

– Gold

Silver

Bronze

Iron

Clay

The information recorded for us in Daniel 2

The future will be one marked by division

Countries will grow apart rather than come together

The good news: The church’s best years are ahead of her

“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- a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.” (V44-45)