OPEN YOUR BIBLES TO Daniel 2 & Acts 17
1. A Book. A Movie. A Song. An Angel. A Friend. A Donkey.
a. That’s interesting list.
b. SO: What do they have in common?
c. God can use them all to communicate to His creation.
Hebrews 1.1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
VARIOUS TIMES… God speaks to us when we expect it and when we don’t. He speaks to us when we WANT TO hear and when we don’t.
• He’s voice is continually going forth…
VARIOUS WAYS… God speaks to us in ways that are unique to getting our attention. Friends & enemies. Sermons & Signs. He’ll use a CD.
• He’ll use the internet. He’ll use just about any avenue to reach through this dark & depraved world to a culture that needs Him!
That’s the heart of God… to reach down, to reach in, to lift up those that live on this earth.
• And so he’s sent messengers with his message of love.
• He’s sent a book, a collection of love stories that He himself has written so that we might know Him and embrace Him.
• Finally, He sent His Son…
John 3.16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
AND I LOVE THIS TRUTH: NO ONE IS UNREACHABLE. NO ONE.
• Rich or poor, old or young, wanting to know more, not caring at all. It doesn’t matter, God’s love is toward everyone.
• If they are soft… share. If they are hardened… share.
• We just don’t know what’s working behind the scenes.
1 Cor. 3.5-6 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
• And I’ve seen that the harder a person seems to be against the things of God, the closer they are to surrendering their lives!
NOTE: Paul the Apostle was a messenger of God. He was entrusted with the gospel & took it from city to city, powerfully & confidently
• Some received him, but still most rejected him.
• In Acts 17, Paul has come to a group of SMART MEN.
• As he’s waiting in Athens, his spirit is provoked. God wants to use him to speak to a group of seasoned, educated, and intelligent philosophers. READ THROUGH Acts 17:22ff
So NOW we see it again, God reaches a king named Nebuchadnezzar.
• He’s the most powerful & influential man on the planet.
• Talk about someone who seems unreachable.
• But God has it all set up… It’s a DIVINE SET-UP FOR SURE!
• The captivity, the capture of Daniel, & a recurring dream!
NOTE: We find Nebuchadnezzar alone in the dark… wondering about the future, thinking about immortality.
• He’s a little confused about these dreams. What do they mean?
• Why do I keep getting them? What’s going on?
• I’m in control in so many other areas, and this one seems to be far beyond my abilities.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR thought that history was his. That he could control his own destiny, be the captain of his own ship.
• Yet, he’s about to find out that HISTORY BELONGS to GOD.
• And that history is simply, HIS-STORY, as God was writing in advance all that would happen.
• The powers that be will soon be the powers that were!
APP: That’s why is so important to take advantage of today.
• Not to get too hung up on what happened in the past.
• Not to get to worried about what might happen in the future.
• But to live in the NOW, for today, redeeming the time before us!
2 Cor. 6.2 For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
I. (2:24-45) DREAM IS MADE CLEAR
1. (24-30) Taken into His Presence
a. Fresh from the prayer meeting, Daniel talks to Arioch.
b. He’s inspired & hopeful as he PLEADS for the lives of the wise men, the pagan astrologers, the pagan unbelievers!
NOTE: That’s the GRACE of God. Most might have thought about saving their own lives and making sure they wipe out the lost.
• Especially guys like these as we learn in CH3 they have been trying to get Daniel and his friends for a long time!
• I have the interpretation, and I don’t want the gifts, just wipe those guys out King… Take care of them!
• But Daniel’s heart is God’s heart and should be ours.
• God loves the lost and so should we!
• Daniel showed the kind of man he was when he pleaded 4 them.
APP: There’s a DANGER among the church, we’re seeing it rise up in our generation, of being defined for what we’re AGAINST rather than what we are for.
• Oh we don’t approve of this. We don’t like that. Not here, no way. (Now there are limitations and guidelines, for sure).
• BUT why are we here? Salt & Light. Flavor & Direction. Preservation and Illumination.
• The best way to dispel the darkness, is not to CURSE it, but to simply turn on the light… the light of our holy lives!
• We ARE FOR the love of God, the forgiveness, of God, the salvation of the lost, the restoration of the broken.
2. (28) There is a God in heaven!
a. No one else has been able to help you king, but I am Daniel, I’m a super boy, I am used of God, I am… NO WAY!
b. King, there is a God in heaven!
c. How easy it would have been to draw attention to himself, to take the credit, to steal the glory.
Isa 42.8 I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
APP: I’ve seen many a man & woman fall flat on their faces as they attempted to take attention off of God and place it on themselves.
• And so Daniel is careful… look at v30, the revelation comes not because of me King, but because God wants to speak to you!
3. (31-35) The Dream.
a. Remember, the astrologers, the soothsayers, the false religious leaders of the day could not do this. Back to 2:4-5
BUT Daniel gives it to him blow by blow: Nebuchadnezzar saw an image, it was great, and it’s splendor was excellent.
Daniel 2.31 (NLT)"Your Majesty, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and powerful statue of a man, shining brilliantly, frightening and awesome.
HEAD of gold, CHEST & ARMS of silver, BELLY & THIGHS of bronze, legs of iron, and FEET partly of clay and iron.
• And he watched it in his dream being crushed by a stone that was cut without hands… crushed together.
• We can see how this troubled Nebuchadnezzar! What could it mean? He’s not used to being crushed, just doing the crushing.
• Could it mean more conquests? Could it mean destruction?
4. (36-43) You are this head of gold.
NOTE: How fitting for a polytheistic king to be communicated to by God in a language he could understand.
• He saw an image of a MAN, a large & awe inspiring image.
• It was an image of a man because each section of the image represents a coming kingdom of man.
• And as we work our way through Daniel, it’s impressive to look back and see how this was perfectly fulfilled, 100%!!
Now in the metals, notice that as we go down the image, the metals used begin to deteriorate.
• We start with gold, but both the value and the strength of the metal decreases as you move down the image.
• So, Nebuchadnezzar, you are this head of gold!
• You are the biggest monarch of your generation, the most powerful king on earth… you’re the king of kings on earth.
• Everything is under your dominion, your power. You’re it!
AND every year, Babylon would celebrate their power.
• Every New Year’s day, as the king would sit on his throne and celebrated creation, the people would worship him saying he was the incarnation of Marduke, their false god of creation.
SO Nebuchadnezzar was the head of Gold and historically Babylon was known as the city of Gold.
• Herodotus, the Greek historian, visited Babylon ninety years after King Nebuchadnezzar and says he was shocked and astonished at the amount of gold in Babylon!
• They had gold everywhere – A golden throne, golden buildings, golden walkways, golden pavements, golden walls.
• So the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar.
V39 - ANOTHER KINGDOM inferior to yours… 2 ARMS OF SILVER.
• We know these were the Medo-Persians, a combination of 2 arms of power, the Medes and Perisa.
• We will read of Darius the Mede, ruling under Persian control.
• It’s interesting because Daniel says this new kingdom is inferior.
• It’s true, as the king was no longer a supreme ruler, instead he was subject to the nobles… and we’ll see in their legal system later on, that once a law was set, it could not be changed!
V39 – A THIRD KINGDOM, BELLY & THIGHS OF BRONZE – Greeks.
• Alexander the Great at the age of 33 conquered the whole world, a detail Daniel includes at the end of v39. Fascinating!
• We’re told that at the base of the Euphrates River, young Alexander wept convulsively because there was nothing else to conquer!
• After his death, his kingdom was divided among 4 generals, but only two of them (2 thighs) became strong & prominent.
AND all the while, there was another kingdom rising in the West.
• It was the IRON CRUSHING power of the Roman Empire.
• You couldn’t get a better description of Rome than iron.
• Like a firm steady steam roller, they took over the world!
This leads us to v41, the feet of Iron & Clay.
• Seems the feet & toes describe another time period altogether.
• You see Rome wasn’t conquered, it simply fell apart internally.
• It fragmented and then just disappeared.
NOTE: The 10 toes represents 10 nations. How do we know?
• Look at v44… it refers to kings.
• Now we don’t have time to look at Daniel 7 (homework)
• But there Daniel sees 10 horns, representing 10 kings.
• In Revelation 13 the beast with 10 horns are 10 kings.
• That’s why for over 1900 years, scholars have been looking for a revived Roman Empire… and wouldn’t you know it?
• Today the European Common Market Exists as a confederacy of European nations with a common currency, a draft constitution, a common passport, and desire to rule the economic world!
BUT WAIT A MINUTE… it seems that if this is true, you have a huge gap between the legs of iron & the 10 toes…
• Where does the coming of Jesus come in? And the church?
• Well remember, this vision was not complete and it wasn’t the purpose of God to outline all of history here.
• God is simply revealing men ruling, Gentile nations, in contrast to the Rule of God on earth. That shouldn’t surprise you.
• In Isaiah 61, the first & second coming of Jesus are lumped together too without the gap. Let’s turn there v1-3 with v10-11
5. (45) It’s a sure thing!
a. Just in case there was any doubt left in the mind of the king, Daniel makes sure he understands, this will happen!
NOTE: You see because man thinks just the opposite here
• If man was going to construct an image of world history, he would begin with slime, and some primordial ooze.
• It would get stronger & stronger… moving up to clay, to iron, to bronze, then silver, and now look at the golden days right now!
• Look at how far we’ve evolved and improved and grown!
• But from God’s perspective, the nations have gotten worse throughout history, not better.
6. (45) The stone cut without hands.
a. It strikes the image and breaks it to pieces, instantly.
b. What a vision, the world leaders crushed by this stone.
c. Well, the question then becomes, who is this stone?
d. We will let the Bible interpret itself here.
Psalm 118.22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
Isa 28.16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
THIS STONE is none other than Jesus Christ.
• When Jesus comes again, all of the gov’t and people will come against Him. But they will be destroyed, ground into powder.
• When Jesus came the first time, He came humbly as a Savior.
• The 2nd time He will come as King, fully in Charge, as the boss!
• His Kingdom will be set up by God Himself and be indestructible.
NOW just imagine a young teenage boy giving this interpretation in 6th Century BC, before any of it is even close to taking place.
• And he speaks with such authority and confidence and surety!
• Even as we can every time we open the Word of God!
THE DREAM IS MADE CLEAR…
II. (2:46-49) KING IS MADE CALM
1. (46-49) Death is coming.
a. He fell on his face, this mighty & powerful king!
b. Here he is on his face before Daniel, asking that incense be offered to this little slave boy.
c. And I believe that is exactly what God desired in sending this dream to Nebuchadnezzar time and time again.
d. A humble recognition of God and His forever Kingdom!
Too bad Nebuchadnezzar forgot. Too bad this experience didn’t last. Too bad we find that God has to humble us over and over.
THIS MORNING, where are you in life? What is happening? Are you prideful or humble? Are you dependent or independent?
• Are you saved or are you still holding out for another time?
