Slide Introduction
Welcome, welcome, welcome-I’m so glad you could join us from where ever you find yourself.
I would love to start our morning off by asking you this question-What is the strangest, weirdest, maybe even the scariest dream you’ve ever had?
Think about that for a moment-What is the strangest, weirdest, or even the scariest dream you’ve ever had?
I’ll tell you one of mine, I don’t really dream that often, hardly at all, and if I do, I really don’t remember them. But I had one a few weeks ago that left me a little shaken…
And so, here’s my dream (and don’t judge me) but a few weeks ago I had a dream about these two people right here.
Slide-Show a picture of Moana and Maui
I had this dream about Moana and Maui. And for whatever reason we were stranded in the middle of the ocean and neither of these two could get us home. I mean they are supposed to be way finders and yet we’re stuck in the middle of the ocean.
And the only thing we had to eat were Fruit Loops, like no one wanted to fish, we just had this box of Fruit Loops and Maui was just getting angry with me because I kept eating the Fruit Loops.
And he’s a rather big guy and he just kept threatening me. And I’ll be honest I was frightened and Moana is just sitting there not helping the situation. And I don’t know if we ever made it home but I just remember waking up and trying to calm down the old heart rate.
It was just a weird dream. And I don’t know why I was dreaming about it. My daughters absolutely love Moana and they love Fruit Loops-so maybe I just had to much of that on the brain.
But what are some of things you’ve dream about?
I did a little researching this week and I found some common things people dream about, the list might not surprise you but here are a few: people dream about falling, teeth falling out, showing up to work or school naked (anyone ever have that dream? I’ve never had that dream), being chased or dying, meeting someone famous, or dream cheating.
I always love the dream cheating one because usually your spouse will wake up and they’re just angry and short with you. I mean as soon as they open up their eye’s they’re giving you attitude and you’re like, ‘What did I do?’ ‘You dream cheated!’ Baby, it was just a dream.’ ‘So!’ ‘Ok, it’s going to be that type of a day?’
Anyone else had that experience?
But all of this to say we are in week two of series on the book of Daniel.
And what we are doing in this series is looking at some of the important point’s in the life of Daniel. We’re looking at some of the moment’s when Daniel stood out in the right way, at the right moment, and in the right season.
And this is what we are wanting to do. As Christ followers we want to make sure we are standing out, we want to make sure we’re not conforming to the world, no instead we want to be transforming the world around us.
We want to be standing out for the right reason, in the right way, so that just like Daniel we can bring honor and glory to the Father.
And you might recall from last week in Daniel 1, that God had told the Jewish people, ‘Hey, you need to get your act together, you need to turn back to me and stop doing all these evil things. I’m warning you, if you don’t stop there’s going to be some trouble.’
And yet, the people of God would not repent and turn back and so God allowed the Babylonians to come in under the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar and overtake them.
And we saw in Daniel 1 how the Babylonians took the best of the best when it came to the young men, they took these young Jewish boys back to Babylon and over the course of three years they retrained these young Jewish boys to act and think like Babylonians.
And this is where we meet Daniel and company. And we see in Daniel 1 how Daniel and company stood out. We saw the character and integrity of these young Jewish boy. We saw the wisdom and courage of these young men as they were determined not to defile themselves and eat the king’s food and wine.
We saw how Daniel and company stood out in the right way and in the right moment.
Today we’re going to continue with that theme as we look at Daniel standing out in the right way and in the right moment as King Neby has this dream.
And to give a little bit more of the context here during this period of time dreams were considered to be messages from the gods (gods with a little ‘g’), and the astrologers were expected to interpret them.
And usually the astrologers were able to give some sort of interpretation as long as they knew what the dream was about. But we’re going to see that King Neby was going to ask these astrologers to do the impossible.
So, let’s jump into it, Daniel 2:1…
Slide One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed.
Slide As they stood before the king, he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.” Daniel 2:1-3 (NLT)
To me this is a little crazy and a little bold on the part of King Neby. Obviously, the dream must have been troubling to the king if he’s making such a bold request, ‘tell me what I dreamed?’
Because the typical way of interpreting a dream is that the person would consult with the astrologer, and then the astrologer would grab his big thick book of interpretation and then would rely to the person on what the dream could possibly mean.
But King Neby was searching for truth, he wanted concrete answers because there was this fear that his throne could be in some real trouble. So, he wanted some solid answers.
Slide Verse 4: Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”
Slide But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble!”
Slide “But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”
Slide They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.” Daniel 2:4-7 (NLT)
Now this is very interesting to me because I just love what King Neby is doing here, he’s testing them, right? He’s wanting to know if these astrologers, if these magicians, if these enchanters are the real deal.
If these wise men could tell the king the dream, then there was no doubt he could trust the interpretation. He’s putting these guys to the test, look at his response…
Slide Verse 8: The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say, ‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.”
Slide “So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.” Daniel 2:8-9 (NLT)
Now I want you to watch their response because it’s very revealing and it’s just an incredible setup for Daniel
Slide The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer!”
Slide “The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.” Daniel 2:10-11 (NLT)
Now this statement has been eating at me this week because basically these guys just exposed the limitations of their false gods. They basically just showed you and I, and King Neby how useless they really are.
Because if these false gods are so great and powerful why in the world could they not enlighten these astrologers, if they could interpret the dream why in the world could they not rely the dream?
Here’s the reason, it was all a fraud. It was all about power. These guys could invent interpretations to gain power and trust. They’re kind of like the weatherman, sometimes they're right and sometimes they're wrong.
And we’ve seen example after example in scripture where these enchanters, these sorcerers, and these astrologers have fallen short and been exposed.
Now did these guys believe in these false gods, absolutely. But their belief was a belief of limitation, ‘no one except the gods can tell you, and they’re not here with you.’
And yet, how many Christians today approach the one true God with the same attitude.
We put limitation on who He is and what He can do. We use words like, ‘hopefully,’ ‘maybe,’ or ‘where is He,’ ‘How could He?’
We restrict the one true God, when we see example after example of how all things are possible with God. We see it both in the Bible we read and the world around us.
We know that he’s not a distant God when scripture tells us that he doesn’t live in a temple made by human hands instead he lives inside of the believer, making a home in each of us.
And yet, sometimes we can be like the astrologies looking at something and saying, ‘It’s completely impossible.’
Slide The king response: The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed. And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.
Slide When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?”
Slide So Arioch told him all that had happened. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.
Slide Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
I think crisis mode is a little bit of an understatement here because imagine being Daniel for a moment and just imagine going before this king, who’s a loose cannon. I mean this guy just ordered your death, the death of your friends, and whole lot of people.
And yet, we see the courage of Daniel.
We see how Daniel didn’t hesitate in this moment to go and talk to the king. We also see the faith of Daniel; Daniel believed that God could provide the answers that the king was looking for.
And I want you to notice something really important, did you notice that when King Neby gave Daniel more time, the first thing Daniel did was he went and found his friends, and they had a prayer meeting.
Did you notice that?
And this is such a powerful moment right here and what a lesson for so many of us. Because when you find yourself in a tight spot or what seems like a hopeless situation, one of the first things we should do is find some God loving, God fearing, all possible believing brothers and sister in the faith and have them pray with us.
Realize this is why it’s so important that we do life together so that we can lift one another up. This is so important in the life of a believer.
And Daniel has this bold faith to believe that God would not only listen but that he would honor their prayers. So, I want you to see what happens…
Slide That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. Daniel 2:12-19 (NLT)
What powerful moment right here, this dream that had been a secret was now revealed to Daniel. And not only was it revealed but God had also revealed the meaning of the dream to Daniel.
And so, the one thing I want us to focus on here is how Daniel took the time to praise God. I mean this is some big news, this is some important stuff and so I’m sure there was some urgency on his part to want to run and tell the king.
But before all that happened Daniel took the time to praise the Father.
And what a great reminder for you and I, there are going to be times when we beg, plead, and ask the Father to do something, to help with something, to provide for something, or to show us something.
And there are going to be times that we see those answers to prayer, and there are also going to be times that we are in the waiting but the one thing we must remember no matter what we get we should always take the time to praise.
And listen, praising the Father for what He has done isn’t about stroking His ego and building Him up, no praising the Father is more about us and what it does for us.
Praising God for what He has done has a way of humbling us and reminding us where it all comes from. Praising the Father has a way of keeping our pride and ego in check and reminding us who is in control.
So, we always take the time to praise the Father. And that’s what Daniel is going to do in the next few verses. He’s going to take the time to praise the Father.
(Read this week Daniel 2:20-23 to see how Daniel praises the Father)
And so, the dream is revealed and Daniel knows the meaning of it and so he heads off to tell the king.
Slide The king said to Daniel, “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”
Slide Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But [notice where the credit goes] there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future.”
Slide “Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed. While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen.”
Slide “And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, [again Daniel could have easily taken the credit for this but he’s pushing it back on God] but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.”
Any chance we get, we should always point the glory back to God.
For example, why are so different, why are you so kind, why don’t you speak like other people, why are you so giving, you’re always so thoughtful, you’re always so generous, how can you be so patient.
We always point it back to God-We’ll it’s not me it’s God, God has given me so much I can’t help but share, God has done this and so I am like this, we always point it back to the Father.
Slide Verse 31 “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.”
Now in verse 32, Daniel is going to break this statue down into different parts, and these different parts represent King Neby kingdom and future Kingdom to come.
“The head of the statue was made of fine gold. [that’s King Neby’s kingdom; the Babylon empire]
Its chest and arms were silver, [That’s Medo-Persian empire that will overtake the Babylon empire]
its belly and thighs were bronze, [this is the Greek empire that will overtake the Persian empire and this is led by Alexander the Great]
its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.” [this is the Roman empire that will conquer the Greek empire]
This is really amazing stuff right here because Daniel is basically telling King Neby that in a span of almost 500 years kingdoms are going to come and go. Kingdoms will raise and kingdoms will fall…
But God is going to establish an everlasting Kingdom and this kingdom will be completely different from any other kingdom. And it will be an unstoppable kingdom that will last forever.
Slide "As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold.”
Slide “Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means.” Daniel 2:26-36 (NLT)
And Daniel is going to spell it all out in the next few verses. He’s going to tell King Neby about his kingdom and the other kingdoms to come. And then he’s going to tell him about the everlasting kingdom that God is going to establish through King Jesus.
And Daniel basically tells the king this is going to happen. And I want you to notice how the king response.
Slide Verse 46: Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, [crazy this is a pagan king kneeling before a foreigner] and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him.
Slide The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.”
Slide Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men. At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court. Daniel 2:46-49 (NLT)
Here’s what I am wanting you to take away from all of this. We saw how Daniel stood out. We saw the faith; we saw the courage and the boldness and this made Daniel stand out.
But here’s the deal, whenever Daniel could He always pointed it back to God. Daniel was such a selfless servant that he never took the credit for anything.
Please hear me on this, I’m not saying we shouldn’t enjoy the praise of others, I’m not saying that. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be proud of our accomplishment’s or things we have done.
We should! But we should also give the credit to God. We should reflect that praise back to the Father. And that’s what Daniel did and we saw how King Neby not only honored Daniel but he also honored God.
Slide Our mission, our calling in this world is to show an unbelieving world what God is like. And one of the simplest ways we can do this is by serving others so selflessly like Daniel. Serving out of love and compassion all the while pointing people back to the Father.
That’s how we can stand out. That’s how we can make a difference like Daniel.
