Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in trouble. Some propose that they alone were left as a remnant among the people of God called Judah. Whether they were the last four standing or not out of the handful that made it out of Judah after the siege on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, they were four of few. And now they were threatened with immediate execution. Not that the four men had done anything wrong; rather they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that would not let go. He called for the wise men, among whom the four Jewish men were numbered, to not only interpret the dream but also tell him the dream. Whether he had forgotten parts of it or not, again, we do not know. But he expected the wise men to do what no men can do: tell another person his mysterious thoughts in the night and then explain what the dream meant.
Now this may seem to be a strange place to take us on the Sunday prior to Christmas. I understand how you feel! But I think there's something here of major importance for us to think about as we approach this time of celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord. It is found precisely in the context of the prophecy of Daniel. The book was written during the 70 year period of Judah's exile, first to Babylon and then to the Medes and Persians. 586 B.C. was the date when the exile officially began with Babylon's conquering of Jerusalem. Somewhere in the mass of people stripped from the land, Daniel and his three friends were taken captive, and in a government re-education program, expected to become good little Babylonian civic leaders. You know the story well, how Daniel and his friends refused to compromise with the enticements of power and indulgence set before them. Consequently, God raised them to positions of leadership in the king's government.
Yet all that seemed wasted when the news came from the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard proclaiming their immediate execution. Daniel called for time to interpret the dream. That immediately thrust him and his friends into a time of prayer, seeking God's face and relying upon His faithfulness. "Then the mystery was revealed in a night vision" (2:19). Rather than whooping and hollering, Daniel worshiped. He made no pretense with the king that he was a mind-reading, dream-telling soothsayer. He ascribed all glory to the Lord as the "God in heaven who reveals mysteries" (2:28).
So who was the dream for? Certainly, it came for Nebuchadnezzar for reasons we will consider. But I think we have to see that it came to give hope and encouragement to Daniel and his friends. Just when it seemed that the remnant in Judah would be snuffed out and that all the promises made of Messiah would not come through, God delivered encouragement through the most unlikely source: the dream of a pagan king. Nebuchadnezzar's dream contained the thumbnail of Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth. The dream and the angel's announcement connect. The dream predicts; the announcement fulfills. One anticipates, the other completes; the first introduces, the latter tells the whole story. God affirmed even to a pagan king the certainty of His Son's coming kingdom. Meanwhile, four Hebrew men would find encouragement to keep pressing on in faithfulness to the God who reigns. Can you find some encouragement in this dream as well? Let us investigate together.
The focus of the Babylonian king's dream was on kings and kingdoms—on his own and others that would follow. He learns that his kingdom will not survive. That, in itself, is rather bold on Daniel's part as he faithfully interprets the dream! Any quick read of the book of Daniel lets you know Nebuchadnezzar's impatience and hot temper. Yet Daniel did not blush to speak in a straight-forward manner of the coming eternal kingdom. What was the Lord doing in making this dream known to an idolater?
First, revealing mysteries is God's prerogative. He is the source of divine revelation; so He chooses the recipients to know His revealed will. "He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days," Daniel told the king (v. 28). "Latter days" is a typical Hebrew phrase that does not zero in on "end times" but on the long stretch that begins when Messiah appears and until the consummation of His kingdom [cf. E.J. Young, Daniel, 70]. That is the same way that the disciples understood the term "last days," as it is used throughout the New Testament (e.g. Acts 2:16-17). God chose for the idolatrous king to know His will. Amazing, isn't it! Yet is it not just as amazing that God chose to reveal the mysteries of His will to you concerning Jesus Christ? (cf. Colossians 1:24-27) Jesus told the disciples, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted" (Matthew 13:11). It is God's prerogative to reveal His kingdom and the King. Be grateful for every snippet He is pleased to reveal to you!
Second, God chose to show the most powerful man on earth that everything a mighty king does has limits. Nebuchadnezzar's kingship would be temporary—he faced death. So would all the other kings of this world. His rule would be limited by length of days and sustaining his kingdom. His rule would be imperfect, flawed, and destined to crumble. Now, did he learn his lesson from the dream and its interpretation? Obviously not, since later we find the Lord humbling this arrogant king by making him crawl around and live like an animal for seven years (cf. chapter 4). How has the Lord been showing you the brevity and neediness of life? Have you listened better than Nebuchadnezzar?
Third, God chose to show to this pagan king that Yahweh is not just God of the Jews but Creator and Sovereign of the world. Nebuchadnezzar thought in terms of tribal deities just as did most people in that day. He had his gods, the Egyptians had theirs, and the Jews theirs. But the dream revealed that there is one God that governs the world whose kingdom would one day be revealed through the King He would install—Jesus Christ. "He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High," the angel declared, "and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:33).
Fourth, this further demonstrated to Nebuchadnezzar, as well as Daniel and his friends, that there is only one eternal and sovereign rule. Even though Nebuchadnezzar was revered as "king of kings," and even though the Lord had given him "the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory," (2:37) he only had his position because "the God of heaven" had given it to him. Men rule by divine pleasure. "There is no authority except from God," Paul wrote to the Romans, "and those which exist are established by God" (13:1). Even the imperfect rule of men exists only because God has ordained it for His eternal purposes.
Finally, God chose to reveal that the eternal, spiritual King is superior to the worldly, temporal kingship. This King, whom the angel Gabriel announced to be Jesus (Luke 1:31), would "crush and put an end to all these kingdoms" while His kingdom "will itself endure forever" (Dan. 2:44). Historians continue to study the kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and a string of Roman Emperors, yet all of them perished; all their kingdoms have vanished. Nothing but dust, stones, and ruins remain of these most powerful men and their kingdoms.
Here's what we must see. While we may be awed by the power of certain nations and certain international leaders—don't; none hold eternal office; no government or nation lasts through eternity. We needlessly fret over issues that, while momentarily disconcerting, cannot usurp King Jesus or threaten His Kingdom. His reign "will itself endure forever"!
To begin with, what did Gabriel tell Mary about Christ's kingdom? It would be an actual reign in the royal lineage of David—"and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." His would be no upstart kingdom but a universal kingship far eclipsing that of David's. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever"—so His kingdom is not threatened by exile, overthrow, or anarchy. "And His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32-33). The angel told Joseph that the King would also be Redeemer—"for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Later, at the commencement of His ministry, Jesus called for repentance as the means to enter His kingdom and live under His rule, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). That is, the kingdom is right in your midst, the rule of the King who will either govern you in grace or judge you in righteousness is at hand, so repent. His kingdom is unlike the failing, crumbling kingdoms of this world. Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world…My kingdom is not of this realm" (John 18:36). His kingdom continues existence and has no geographical, political, spatial, or language barriers or limitations. But that was not the case for Nebuchadnezzar or the myriad kings that followed him.
We see this in both the contrast of the earthly kingdoms with the eternal kingdom that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, as well as the unusual symbolism used to describe Christ and His kingdom. The amazing statue that the king saw in his dream was "large and of extraordinary splendor…and its appearance was awesome" (Dan. 2:31). We get the idea that the king was struck by its size and seemingly indestructible might. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon were at the top, symbolized by the golden head; the empire of the Medes and Persians were the breast and arms of silver; Alexander the Great's Greek Empire was the belly and thighs of bronze; and Rome the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. Here were the great kingdoms of the ancient world molded together into one giant figure, representative of all the kingdoms of the world in all their strength and might.
But what happened to these kingdoms? "A stone was cut without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them" (2:34). The kingdom which the God of heaven will set up, will never be destroyed and "will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms" (2:44). The rule of depraved men is not meant to last forever. Christ will overthrow every rule when His kingdom is consummated, and no power will stand against Him. Revelation 19 picks up on this theme, declaring, "From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron" (19:15). Zedekiah ended the failed Davidic reign when he was blinded and taken captive to Babylon. He represented the unrighteousness that plagued that lineage for generations. But the reign of Christ established David's throne in righteousness. Ultimately, the reason that every throne of men fails is due to unrighteousness—not lack of power or political strategy or money. The reason that Christ's throne lasts forever is that it is wholly righteous.
This "stone cut without hands" implies the humility and meekness of Christ, unlike the gold, silver, bronze, and iron of the other empires. Yet it is the rule of Christ in humility and meekness that pleases the Father, demonstrating that He is not like the other kings of this world. His origin is unique—shown to be divine by the stone cut "without hands" and installed by "the God of heaven." As the Second Psalm declares of Yahweh, "But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain" (Psalm 2:6).
That word "sovereign" implies supreme authority and rule; one that rules without question or compromise. Who can actually bear that title in honesty but Jesus Christ? Nebuchadnezzar exercised sovereignty over the realm of Babylon but he had no power to avert the divine judgment against him when he arrogantly claimed sovereignty. Alexander the Great conquered every nation in his path but he could not conquer his own passions that led to his premature death. Roman emperors ruled capriciously over the centuries; yet just as surely as they were elevated to authority they fell.
The stone cut without hands crushed the kingdoms of this world. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, and 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" (Dan. 2:35). The picture shows total demolishing of these mighty kingdoms so that they were as the chaff that blew in the summer breeze. The kingdom of Christ alone "will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it [His kingdom] will itself endure forever" (2:44).
The angel that announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds outside Bethlehem explained, "There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). Though born in obscurity, "wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger," this Deliverer from sins is also Messiah the Sovereign! At the same time He is Savior and Lord—Redeemer and King—the one who alone saves from sins and the one who alone rules over us as eternal Sovereign. Do you know Him as the one who saves from sins and rules as Sovereign? Though Daniel's prophecy showed His Sovereign Lordship in chapter 2, chapter 7 explains Him as "Son of Man… given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed" (7:13-14). Do you put your heart into the kingdoms of this world that the "stone cut without hands" will crush? Or does your heart belong to the King whose dominion is everlasting?
I think that one of the reasons we may struggle over grasping the eternal, conquering nature of Christ's kingdom is due to our view of kings and kingdoms. Let's face it: we typically have either a fairy tale view of kings and kingdoms, with castles in the clouds and glass slippers on dancing Cinderella's; or low views of kings with titles who actually hold limited power. In one view, kings and kingdoms are not real, just make believe. So coming to terms with Christ's reign over our lives is difficult to handle because we're still stuck on fairy tale mode. The other view takes us to modern kings and queens and their kingdoms. We've grown up with Queen Elizabeth, realizing that she only has ceremonial power; or the Grimaldi family in Monaco that seem to only play and not rule. So from that point of view, Christ's kingdom does not mean much. It is more ceremonial in our thinking instead of a conscious, actual rule over our lives.
Daniel's interpretation is meant to shatter such views just as the stone cut without hands shattered and crushed the actual kingdoms of this world. Notice the last phrase of verse 44: "but it will itself endure forever." What is the "it" that he refers to? It is Christ and His eternal kingdom. It does not end because it is an actual rule in righteousness over a spiritual kingdom that has eternal dimensions. But the question each of us faces is whether or not we have taken this kingship of Christ seriously? Nebuchadnezzar did not take it too seriously at first, though he offered token honor to Daniel's God as "a God of gods and Lord of kings" (2:47). But later on when he came face to face with God's righteous rule over the stubborn, callused and hardened heart of man, He changed his tune, confessing, "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth." Then in a telling way, he added, "And no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (4:34-35) It sounds very similar to what the angel told Mary, "And His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:33).
Why is it important that Christ ultimately conquers all worldly power? It is because all worldly power is just that…worldly. It is bound by this age, affected by the fall, and so executed by fallen men. The best of human governments is still affected by sin. One of the best arguments against monarchies in favor of democracies is that the concentration of all power in one person subject to the fall, colored by all manner of sin, controlled by sinful passions, dominated by depraved goals guarantees oppression. It's not that in democracies people are better but it is that they have more public accountability. They are more apt to be brought in check by the votes of constituents than if left to their own devices. C. S. Lewis was right, "The real reason for democracy is…Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows." He added, "Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters" [quoted by John Piper, "A Child to be Born Will Be Called Holy—the Son of God," Luke 1:26-38, 12/25/05; quoted from C.S. Lewis, "Equality," in Present Concerns: Essays by C.S. Lewis, quoted in Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root, eds, The Quotable C.S. Lewis, pp. 152-153].
Nothing could convey this image more clearly than that of the threshing floor: "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold [so, all of these kingdoms] 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" (2:35). Even though these kingdoms did not exist concurrently, the dream shows them crushed together in one instant. Where did the rule of sinful men meet its doom? Did that not take place at the cross and consequent exaltation of our Lord? That's why the New Testament spends much time exulting in the fact that one day "every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
Think about all the kingdoms and empires that we had to study in high school and college. I remember slugging my way through some of them and trying to fit them into some kind of geo-political jig-saw puzzle. Summerians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Parthians…where are these once mighty kingdoms today? Dust, ruble, archaeological digs but no thrones and power. I know that we look at today's nations and empires, thinking they can never end. But the reality is that all will one day be no more than stubble that the wind drives away. Why is that the case? The Psalmist explained in the first psalm, "The wicked are not so [that is, like the righteous that continue to be like a fruitful tree planted by streams of water], but they are like chaff which the wind drives away… For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish" (Psalm 1:4, 6). But in contrast the angel told Mary, "And His kingdom will have no end."
The angel that spoke to Mary declared Christ's rule to be genuine and unending. If His kingdom has "no end," then, not only is it eternal, but also universal. Nebuchadnezzar's dream reveals this as well: "But the stone that struck the statue [that is, the King and kingdom that ultimately conquers all kings and kingdoms] became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (2:35). Though a small beginning in the region of Galilee, Christ's kingdom began to grow like the Palestinian mustard seed and the leaven hidden in the flour (Matt. 13:31-33). Quietly, even mysteriously, it seemed, the gospel began to spread, calling sinners to the kingdom through repentance and faith. Even with much opposition, the gospel kept on spreading, just as it does today. "A great mountain" symbolizes the stability and longevity and enduring nature of Christ's kingdom. As it fills the whole earth, we find the truth of the good news for all the people, as the angel told the shepherds (Luke 2:10).
Every kingdom excludes some while including others. Prejudice, bigotry, racism, hatred, murder, treachery characterizes the kingdom of men. But Christ the King welcomes sinners of every stripe who lay down their rebellion at the cross, who embrace the all-sufficient death of the Savior, and who bend the knee to follow Him as King. We worship Him whom the angel called Christ the Lord and whom Nebuchadnezzar knew only as the "stone…cut without hands," that struck the statue and became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. That Stone entered humanity as a baby, facing the same needs that we face, but enduring the hostility of sinners against Him until He laid down His life at the cross, bearing in His own sinless body the weight of eternal judgment. He is the King before whom we bow and worship, the King whose kingdom cannot end.
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:
Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.
Copyright 2011, South Woods Baptist Church, All Rights Reserved