This is a part of a sermon series in the book of Daniel. You can watch more here.
Introduction
If you have been following news stories of world events, you probably share my sense of shock and awe. First there was the war in Ukraine, it’s been a long time since we have seen a major world power invade a neighboring nation. And then what happened in the Middle East, the upending of the uneasy balance in that volatile region. Battles between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah and nearly Iran, and the fall of the Syrian government. And then during this precarious global period, we see the teetering of once-dependable ruling parties in the Western Democracies one after another – in Italy and Great Britain and France and Germany and Canada and the U.S., resulting in less predictability and higher likelihood of further upheaval. We can’t be blamed for thinking, “What is going on?!” and “Where is this all going?!” and maybe even, “Does God has a handle on all this?”
There is a quote that is supposedly attributed to Vladimir Lenin, the founder of Soviet Union. “There are decades where nothing happens and weeks where decades happen.” Well, it sure seems like we are going through a period in history of weeks where decades happen. And who knows, we might be in just the beginning of the reshuffling of world affairs. My family is from Taiwan, and the people there are definitely uneasy about when and where the next shoe might drop. When so much of what we take for granted in the international order shifts, it’s natural for us to feel anxious and unsettled about our own lives. We know that global events are out of our control, but we might even wonder how much they are actually in God’s control? And furthermore, if God’s attention is so occupied in all the world’s problems cropping up one after another, how low in God’s priority list must my personal problems be? After all, I am one in 8 billion in a world that’s getting rocked left and right. How can God be giving undivided attention to the problems in my life when there is so many larger problems going on in the world?
Today, we are going to be looking at Daniel chapter 2, which refers to the shifting of ruling powers in the ancient world. I think seeing how God dealt with people in those earlier times can help understand how he is working today.
God’s Control and Concern
Read Daniel 2:1–6 (NASB95) 1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 “But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”
Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon, which at this point is not just a nation, but an empire. Babylon has conquered most of the known world. All the kings of the other nations are subjected to Nebuchadnezzar. He was the all-powerful ruler of all nations.
He has a dream. Now, dreams are taken seriously in the ancient world. They are believed to be communication from the gods. And to not understand the meaning of a dream is ominous, because it means that the gods are not revealing to you what is necessary for you to know. It bothered Nebuchadnezzar that the meaning of this dream is a mystery to him, troubling his spirit and causing sleepless nights.
This was during the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, when he was firmly in power and his major enemies had been defeated. We might think with that supreme power, this mighty emperor should be feeling pretty secure at this point. But if we study world history, we see that is rarely the case with emperors. Earthly power does not provide any sense of security. And supreme earthly power comes with supreme sense of insecurity. Throughout world history we see emperors living in constant fear of invasions by undiscovered enemies, unexpected internal uprisings, betrayals and assassinations by rivals within his court. The constant fear of losing power plagued Nebuchadnezzar like all other emperors. And the contents of the dream, which include the smashing of a mighty statue, further fed his paranoia.
Nebuchadnezzar calls together the magicians and wise men of Babylon. These wise men were confident that once told of the dream, they would be able to interpret it. Because knowing the meaning of dreams is a serious matter, dream interpretation is a major field of study in the ancient world. Archeologists have found ancient writings on dream interpretation, linking particular elements in dreams to specific interpretations. Armed with all that learning, the wise men were confident that they could come up with an interpretation, once told of the dream.
But Nebuchadnezzar did not have the same confidence in the interpretive powers of the wise men. Thus, he says to them, in verse 2:9, “tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” And he threatens with terrible death if they are unable to do this.
Read Daniel 2:10–12 (NASB95) 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.” 12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
The wise men of Babylon point out the unreasonableness of this requests, saying that no king has ever asked such a thing. Because no mortal man is able to do this. It is only the gods who can declare the dream to the king, and they do not live among men. This answer got Nebuchadnezzar even more angry. He ordered the death of not just the wise men assembled before him, but all the wise men of Babylon.
We see the absolute earthly power of this emperor over human lives. He is so powerful, he has no need to be reasonable or to be fair. Just because he is angry, he orders the killing of all the wise men of the empire. Yet with all this earthly power, he is unable to get what he wants, to know the meaning of his dream.
Read Daniel 2:13 (NASB95) 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
Because Daniel and his companions have been educated and trained to be among the wise men Babylon, they were included in this blanket order. Daniel asks the king’s commander for the reason for this decree and was told of the proceedings.
Read Daniel 2:16–18 (NASB95) 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, 18 so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Unlike the other wise men of Babylon, who just told the king that it cannot be done, Daniel asked for some time. Because Daniel and his companion have a possible lifeline, a glimmer of hope, a channel of appeal. Faced with impending death, they requested compassion from the God of heaven regarding this mystery.
Read Daniel 2:19–23 (NASB95) 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; 20 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 23 “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
God reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel. And Daniel praises God. Daniel praises him because he is a God of power. He holds the power to change history, to remove kings and to establish kings. And he is a God of wisdom, who knows the deep and profound things and reveal them to men. He knows everything that is happening and everything that will happen. He is in full control of all world events, both in terms of fully comprehending them and in terms of actively directing them. Not only that, Daniel thanks God for granting him wisdom and power, by making known to Daniel the contents of the king’s dream and with it the power to halt the executions. Notice how Daniel describes the granting of this wisdom. Previously, he and his friends requested compassion from God concerning this mystery, because they would otherwise be killed with the other wise men. The passage says that God made known to Daniel what they had requested of him. The repetition of the word request emphasizes God’s responsiveness to the needs of Daniel and his companions. Daniel informs the king’s commander and the commander hurries Daniel to the king.
Read Daniel 2:27–28 (NASB95) 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. 28 “However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.
How Daniel answers the king is, in effect, a response to what the Babylonian wise men said earlier. The repetition of words highlights how Daniel’s statement echoes the wisemen’s assertion. The wise men had said, 11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.” Daniels states, indeed, none of the king’s wise men can declare the dream. But there is a God, who dwells in heaven and not with mortal flesh, who will reveal it to the king.
Let’s see what Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar regarding his dream.
Dream’s Content and Interpretation
Read Daniel 2:29–30 (NASB95) 29 “As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 30 “But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
Last week Pastor Michael preached on Daniel chapter 1, and he pointed out the foreshadowing in verse 1:17, which said that Daniel understands all kinds of visions and dream. Pastor Michael also reminded us that Daniel is not the hero of the story, but God is. And here we see evidence of this. Daniel is indeed able to understand Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but not because he is wiser than other men, but because God reveals it to Daniel, so that the king may know what will take place in the future. This statement links to Daniel’s earlier praise of God, who, in his wisdom, reveals the profound and hidden things.
Read Daniel 2:31–35 (NASB95) 31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 “The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel recounted the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. He then proceeded to interpret it in the verses that follow. The head of gold represents Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire. God has given the king supreme earthly power, ruling over all beasts and men in the vast region. The gold head symbolize that power, strength, and glory. The reign of Nebuchadnezzar marked the golden age of the Babylonian Empire.
The breast and the arms of silver represent a second kingdom that will follow the Babylonians. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian Empire was plagued by power struggles and assassinations. The empire deteriorated and within 15 years, Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, first revolted against the Medes that ruled over Persia and then defeated the Babylonians. Cyrus took over the land ruled by Babylon and established the Medo-Persian Empire, which became the dominant power of the Ancient World.
The belly and thighs of bronze represent a third kingdom. The Medo-Persian Empire lasted over two hundred years and was conquered by Alexander the Great. The Hellenistic period, where Greek rule and culture dominated the world, lasted over 300 years before it was conquered by the Romans.
The fourth kingdom is described as strong as iron. The Romans are known for their powerful and forceful rule. The toes of mixed iron and clay refer to how Roman rule became integrated with the other surrounding peoples and were eventually succeeded by the nations in Europe, which is the center of Roman power.
Now this vision is a view of the future from Nebuchadnezzar’s perspective, revealed to him by God. It is a distorted caricature of God’s creation. God made man in the divine image to rule the world. Instead, an enormous statue made by human hands in man’s image is ruling the world. And the statue is made out of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, the strongest, most durable, most precious materials known to man at that time. Reflecting the perceived power and endurance and glory of human rule.
Some things we want to note. First of all, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar this around 600 BC. He is basically laying out what will happen in the next thousand years. If you look at world history and look for dominating powers that rule most of the known world since
Nebuchadnezzar. Indeed, there has been 4 empires – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The prophecy matched the unfolding of history so closely, that though Daniel does not mention the specific nations, there’s actually very little debate among scholars on which kingdoms the four portions of the statue represent. Think of how amazing this is. This is further support for Daniel’s praise of God. God is in full control of world events. God is indeed directing the advance of history. We know that because as Daniel said, God is revealing that wisdom and understanding to men, giving Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar a preview of the events before they unfold.
And not only that, the fact that these dream interpretations have proven accurate, should give us confidence that the final prophecy will come to pass as well. There will be another kingdom to rule the world. And this one, unlike the statue build by man, will not be built by human effort. It was a stone cut out without hands (v.34, v.45).
Read Daniel 2:44–45 (NASB95) 44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 “Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
The rule of earthly kings is not as powerful or enduring or glorious as Nebuchadnezzar imagined. God is setting up a kingdom that will crush all other kingdoms before it. This is the kingdom of Christ, which will never be destroyed. Jesus will be our eternal king who will rule over the New Heaven and the New Earth. We can have peace and assurance despite all the turmoil in our world today. Not only because God is in control of all world events. But also, especially so, because all the present upheavals are but preamble, preparation, for the final, eternal, divine kingdom to come. When the truth and peace and love of God will rule forever.
When we read these words from God, our reaction should be like that of Nebuchadnezzar.
Read Daniel 2:46–47 (NASB95) 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. 47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
This mighty emperor of the whole known world, fell face down before Daniel as the representative of God. Like Daniel did previously in his praise, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the God of gods and the Lord of kings, the revealer of mysteries. Even an unbelieving pagan king recognized the surpassing wisdom and power of God.
And then look at what happens.
Read Daniel 2:48–49 (NASB95) 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court.
God took care of Daniel and his friends. They had requested compassion from God so that they would not be destroyed with the other wise men, and God revealed the dream to Daniel as they requested. Then God went beyond their request and provided them with positions of power and influence, to prepare them for further work he had in mind for them, which we will learn about in the following weeks. And God did all this as part of the progression of revealing to Nebuchadnezzar his plans for future empires. Even as God orchestrates the unfolding of world events, he incorporates into the process his personal care for each individual among his people.
Scope of God’s Wisdom and Power
You know, I have noticed something about how we usually think of God’s wisdom and power. God is omniscient, all knowing. He knows all things, covering all possible circumstances in all possible time periods. And he is omnipotent, all powerful. He is able to move mountains and create stars, nothing is too difficult for God, nothing is beyond the reach of is power. Our focus tends to be on the magnitude of God’s wisdom and power. Not as much on the scope of God’s wisdom and power.
I just spent a wonderful weekend last week with my son and my daughter. We went to a Christian retreat together. My son is presently studying computer science and earth science in college. My daughter studied computer science and astrophysics. You might say that my son is down to earth and my daughter has her head among the clouds. We often have great conservations together.
As we were driving up the mountain to the retreat, my daughter says, “Do you know that the majority of the matter in the universe is dark matter.” She explains to us, on the vast cosmic scale, the main force in operation is gravity. The universe is continually expanding, and all the matter in the galaxies would go flying apart except for gravitational force pulling things together. The amount of total gravitational force is dependent on the amount of total mass. But there is a problem. Scientists calculated the total mass in a galaxy cluster and realized that there is not enough total mass and thus not enough total gravity to hold the galaxy cluster together. At the speed the galaxies were moving, they should all be flying apart. Thus, scientists theorized that there must be dark matter. Particles that have mass and interact with gravitational forces but do not interact with electromagnetic forces. Thus, they cannot be discovered by human instruments, which depend on electromagnetic interactions. And then in the 1970’s by observing a galaxy cluster that was formed from the collision of two large galaxies and analyzing the effects of that collision, scientists were able to find direct proof of the existence of dark matter. There is all this dark matter in the universe, which we cannot see or detect, helping to hold the galaxies together.
Our next question was, if all these dark matter particles are flying around and they have real mass, why don’t they collide with visible matter. To get that explanation, we have to go from the cosmic scale down to the subatomic scale. Look at this metal stand. It is very solid stuff. But the truth is, it is almost 100% empty space. It is made up of atoms. Most of the mass of an atom is at the nucleus, which is about 100,000 times smaller than the atom itself. And then you have the puny, puny electrons whipping around the nucleus and all that empty space in between. I can’t put my hand through the metal, not because the mass of the particles is blocking me. But because the electromagnetic forces are holding all the particles so strongly in place that none of them can be penetrated or moved aside. Since dark matter particles do not interact with electromagnetic forces they don’t encounter any resistance and fly right through, with miniscule chance of colliding with a nucleus or an electron, because it is mostly empty space.
My daughter said that when you closely examine these things, you learn to appreciate how difficult creation is. On a cosmic scale, all the physical laws and universal constants and gravitational forces have to be so finely tuned for the galaxies not to collapse on themselves or go flying apart. At the same time, on a subatomic scale, all the physical laws and universal constants and electromagnetic forces have to be so finely tuned for the electrons and the nucleus of an atom not to collapse on themselves or go flying apart. My son replied, yeah, but you can say that regarding just about everything. How finely tuned and balanced things have to be for water molecules to exist, for cells to exist, for life exist, for ecosystems and planetary systems and galaxies and the universe to exist. And my son is right, everything has to be so carefully designed and exquisitely balanced every step of the way. God exerts the same attention and power and wisdom to hold together an atom which is 10 to the negative 10th meter in diameter, as he does to hold together a galaxy cluster which is 30 million light years across. Oh, the wonders of our God.
That’s why we should have no problem comprehending that God was directing the development of the four empires over 1000 years and while simultaneously giving undivided attention to the personal troubles of Daniel and his friends. Likewise, God controls the shifting landscape of international affairs today, and at the same time pays full attention to the daily problems of you and me.
We believe that, because the scope extending from our individual lives to world events, is but a limited subset of scope extending from the subatomic to the intergalactic. The scope of God’s attention and wisdom and power extend to fully cover the entire universal range.
Our God is a God who sustains the clusters of galaxies and a God who directs the paths of electrons. Our God is a God who establishes the succession of empires and a God who heals the toothaches of our children.
Conclusion
For kindergarten, my daughter Noey went to a school that emphasized group harmony and getting along with each other. They talk a lot about community and cooperation. And then one day she came home excited and agitated. Her cheeks are all red and she is talking super fast, describing this big fight during recess. To her it was a huge deal, sticks were swung and stones went flying, and many kids were caught up in it. And then she exclaimed, “The fight was over LAND!” Despite our genuine concern, we thought it was a little funny. Because all fights are pretty much over land, ranging from the ancient Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman conquests, to the England, France, Spain conflicts in the Middle Ages, to the world wars, to the present fights in Ukraine and Middle East. All the groups were pretty much fighting over land. Apparently that playground fight was as well. The kindergarteners wanted to play in an area of the playground but the first-graders thought they should get to use it. So it escalated into a war between the grades, and sticks came out and rocks flew.
Now, I know the school ground fight was not in any sense comparable to the wars raging today. But to us as parents of a kindergartener caught in the middle of the playground fight, it wasn’t any less significant. That’s the thing about God, we are his beloved children, and he is the perfect loving Father.
God is not only omnipotent and infinitely wise, but also, he is omnipresent and infinitely loving. This means he is as much in control, but not only that, as involved and concerned, in the playground fight as in the international war. That’s what infinite presence and power and wisdom is all about, not just magnitude but also scope, not just breadth but also depth. God wraps his mind around not just around the broadest, most complex cosmic issues, but also around the most minute details of individual lives; exerting his attention, wisdom, power and control. Not a sparrow falls without his knowing, all the hairs on our head are numbered in his mind. If God is so wise and so powerful, but also so attentive and so loving, what is our worry? Really only thing that matters is, are we his children? Because if we are, he will care for us as the most perfect, most loving, most attentive father. That’s where our true peace and true tranquility truly lies.
North Village Church
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