part
8 the prophecies of the Kingdom – in the time of those kings
We have been studying the Kingdom – the kingdom of God,
the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ, the territory or community over
which Christ reigns as king.
We looked at the history of Israel, noting that at one
point, especially during the reigns of David and Solomon, about 1000 BC the
kingdom of Israel was a glorious nation, they were the world dominating
super-power. They had a glorious king;
their king was the king of kings. They
had a large territory, a great population, power, prestige, peace and
prosperity.
However, the kingdom split under the reign of Solomon’s
son, Rehoboam into the north and south, beginning the decline of Israel as the
kingdom of Kingdoms. A house divided
against itself cannot stand. About 900
BC another kingdom was on the rise as a glorious nation, a new world-dominating
superpower, namely, Assyria. Due to the
sins of the northern kingdom, in 722 BC God brought Assyria against the
northern kingdom to destroy them and carry them into captivity, but God
protected Judah from Assyria.
Eventually, in about 612 BC, Assyria was conquered,
giving way to the rise of the Babylonian Empire. From that point forward, Babylon was the
world-dominating superpower, the glorious nation with power, prestige, and
prosperity.
In about 606-605 BC Babylon came to the Promised Land
and began taking God’s people into exile.
This was a dark time for God’s people.
Their once-glorious kingdom was coming to ruin. The north had already been destroyed by
Assyria and now it was looking dark for the south. Within 20 years Babylon would lay siege to
Jerusalem, destroying the people, the land and the temple, leaving the Land a
desolate waste.
During this time, this Babylonian captivity, God sent a
series of messengers, the prophets, with words of encouragement and promises
for a future restoration of God’s people and the Kingdom of Israel. We have looked at the words of Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, who were contemporaries during this dark time in Babylon, likening these words to a syllabus, noting that
God didn’t haphazardly bring the kingdom into being, but gave insight to his
people Israel that they would have some expectations of the coming Kingdom.
Not only would the kingdom be a restored Kingdom of
Israel. God would also restore the
throne to David’s descendents. It would
also be ruled by a branch from the line of David who would also be called
Jehovah, our righteousness – we identified the King as Jesus. It would also be a regenerated kingdom, a
resurrected Israel with a new heart and a new spirit. God would put his spirit in them and bring
them to new life. It would also be a
reunification of the north and south.
Not only that but it would include the nations, the Gentiles.
This morning, we venture into the book of Daniel. Turn with me to Daniel 2.
Here we will continue to look at the
syllabus to see what God promised about the Kingdom.
This morning, the main thing I want you to see from
Daniel, is the timing of the Kingdom. When exactly did God’s people expect this kingdom
to come? Daniel sheds light
on the WHEN of the Kingdom.
Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. When Babylon came to Israel they began in
606-605 BC to take those from the Israelites from the royal family, those of
noble birth, those who were handsome and smart so that they could be taught the
language and culture of the Babylonians in order that they might serve the king
of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Among the
exiles taken from Judah were Daniel and his 3 friends, Hananiah, Meshial, and
Azaria. They were all given new
names. Daniel was also called
Belteshazzar, but we better know his 3 buddies by their Babylonian names: Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednigo.
It was during this time in Babylonian exile that we get
to hear from Daniel and see what he has to add to the syllabus. The way Daniel’s message comes to light is
unique. It’s a fun and exciting story.
Daniel 2:1ff 1In the second year of his
reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep.
2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and
astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and
stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that
troubles me and I want to know what it means.”
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, live
forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly
decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have
you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But
if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and
rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the
dream, and we will interpret it.”
8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to
gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If
you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have
conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will
change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it
for me.”
10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is not a man on earth
who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever
asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What
the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the
gods, and they do not live among men.”
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the
execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was
issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and
his friends to put them to death.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to
put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.
15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh
decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this,
Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the
dream for him.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to
his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead
for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his
friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to
execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men
of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a
man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able
to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can
explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is
a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
Daniel
tells King Nebuchadnezzar God has shown King
Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions
that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these:
29 “As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to
come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30
As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have
greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the
interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large
statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The
head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its
belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of
iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock
was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron
and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze,
the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like
chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without
leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and
filled the whole earth.
Let’s
look at the text together. I want you to
see here in the text how Daniel interprets the vision.
Daniel
2:36ff 36 “This was the
dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, O king, are
the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might
and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of
the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler
over them all. You are that head of gold.
So
Daniel begins interpreting the dream by saying that the head of gold
represented King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon. Babylon was the world-dominating superpower
of the day with a large population, power, prestige, and prosperity. In fact, look at the title that Daniel gives
the King. He says in v37 that Nebuchadnezzar is the king of kings, the
title appropriately reserved for the king reigning over the supreme kingdom of
the day. He continues the interpretation:
39 “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a
third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 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.
So
we see that this statue in the dream represents the next few major world
empires that would emerge in years to come.
If you look in your bulletin, you will see an illustration of this
statue depicting the various parts, the metals, and the kingdoms represented by
those parts. I scanned this straight out
of my NIV study bible and virtually all scholars agree on who these kingdoms
are. I have never once read from any
scholar any other interpretation than what you see there. The first kingdom, the head of gold is
Babylon. He says after you another kingdom will arise;
this is the chest and arms of silver and corresponds to the Medo-Persian Empire.
Daniel was there in Babylon when Babylon
fell to this kingdom in 539 BC and he records it in Daniel 5. He says, next a third kingdom, the bronze belly and thighs,
will rule over
the whole earth. This
corresponds to Ancient Greece after the conquests of Alexander the Great. Notice here that he says this kingdom will rule over the whole
earth. Question: Did the
kingdom of Greece extend to North and South America? No.
But the text says the whole earth.
Perfect example of how we have to be careful not to force our
presuppositions on the text. You and I,
living in the 21st century, tend to think in terms of what we
know. We have sent satellites into space
and when we say the
whole earth we think in terms of the entire planet. But from the perspective of the Bible, the whole earth
simply meant the known world, the inhabited earth; it didn’t have to include
the other side of the globe. Third
Kingdom: Greece.
40 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.
V40
This fourth kingdom is the legs of iron and corresponds to the Roman Empire.
Again,
virtually all scholars agree on this sequence of Kingdoms as being depicted in
Daniel 2: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Wow!!! Our God is an awesome God. It should be no surprise that he was able to
predict the rise and fall of nations throughout the history that hadn’t
happened yet. He wrote history. If you think about the word history it is HIS STORY. May be cheesy, but it’s true!
41 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. 42 As
the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly
strong and partly brittle. 43 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.
What
is this business with the feet? This
kingdom of iron would eventually attempt to mix with clay. Iron identified the
Roman Empire. What is meant by the clay?
Let’s
compare Scripture with Scripture and identify the clay. (Don’t turn there, but if you’re taking
notes, this is…)
Isaiah
64:8 Yet, O
LORD, you are our Father. Who’s father? Israel’s!
God is the father of Israel.
Israel is the son of God. We (Israel) are
the clay, you are the potter; we
are all the work of your hand.
God is the potter; Israel is the clay.
Israel is God’s workmanship, his creation.
Iron
represents Rome, Clay represents Israel.
We see the clay as a clear reference to Israel again in
Jeremiah
18:6 “O house
of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like
clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Throughout
the Scriptures the clay represents God’s people. He is the potter. Israel is His creation, they are his
workmanship. Israel is the clay.
So
this fourth kingdom which was eventually, a mixed kingdom of iron and clay
would be a mixture between Rome, depicted by the iron, and the Jews, depicted
by the clay.
But
note what the text says in verse 43. 43 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.
So
eventually, the people of this fourth kingdom would attempt to mix with one
another, but it wouldn’t work. Rome
installed a King over The Land of Palestine, King Herod, a puppet king who
would be faithful to Rome, mixing the politics of the Roman Empire and God’s
people. Rome was taxing God’s people
through tax collectors and God’s people paid.
Eventually,
the clay mixed extensively with the iron when a man came performing miracles
and claiming to be God in the flesh offending the super religious people. So the extremely religious people – the clay
– attempted to mix with the iron – Rome and came to them and said hey um this guy is causing all kinds of trouble. What do you say
we crucify him? Rome didn’t
really want to mess with that since it was their own deal. Since this has to do with your laws and
customs you handle it. But he’s claiming to be king. Certainly you aren’t cool with that. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes
Caesar. Come on, let’s kill him. We have no king but Caesar! That was a bunch of baloney because they
resented the rule of Rome. Attempting to
mix the clay with the iron.
But
remember the people
wouldn’t mix any more than iron wouldn’t mix with clay. So eventually, in 66 AD, a group of zealous
Jews, the clay, decided that they had enough of Rome’s rule and they revolted
against Rome, refusing to pay taxes.
This began the Jewish wars which lasted until 70 AD, when Rome destroyed
Jerusalem and the temple as Babylon had done in the 6th century
BC. Thus, the clay and iron didn’t
mix. This kingdom divided against itself didn’t stand.
Now
look what Daniel says. Verse 44 is the
key verse in our text.
44 “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.
We
have already seen from the syllabus that the
Kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom.
Our text here reveals that this everlasting Kingdom (the one that
would never be destroyed but would endure forever – the kingdom of heaven, the
kingdom of God) would be set up in the time of those kings. It doesn’t say that God would set up the
kingdom say oh 2000 years after the time of those kings, but in the time of
those kings. So we clearly have a
statement declaring the timing of the Kingdom of God. It would come in the time of those kings.
45 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.
All
of the world dominating superpowers – empires built with human hands eventually
crumbled but this kingdom, one built not with human hands, but by the power of God,
that Kingdom will never be destroyed nor left to another people.
In
this we can see not only the timing of the kingdom but the nature. This heavenly kingdom isn’t something that
can be taken by military might.
Babylon
was destroyed by Medo-Persia and the kingdom was left to them. Medo-Persia fell and the kingdom was left
to the Greeks. Greece fell and the
Kingdom was left to Rome. The
pattern stops here. The kingdom wouldn’t be an Israel with a powerful
military force who would beat down the Romans and take the kingdom by force. That would be another kingdom built with
human hands – one that could be again destroyed and left to another
people.
The
earthly kingdoms could always be taken by force and military might. It’s like playing settlers of Catan. You’re never really safe, never know when
someone is going to build the longest road, and the largest army and come and
destroy you and emerge as the new world dominating super power. The kingdom spoken
of in Daniel
2:44 is the everlasting heavenly kingdom not built with human hands, one that
can’t be taken by military might or force, one that cannot be destroyed or left to another people. It will endure forever.
The
fact that it was NOT
cut out by human hands shows that it isn’t an earthly kingdom, but a
heavenly kingdom – a spiritual Kingdom.
The
Jews of Jesus generation didn’t understand this and found out the hard way when
they tried to take the kingdom by force from Rome and Rome crushed them,
vindicating Jesus, his disciples and their message.
Let’s look now at the NT as our
transcript and see how God followed the syllabus. Turn with me to Luke 1.
As you do, I want to remind you that the primary point
of this morning’s message is to show the timing of the Kingdom. God would set up
the Kingdom in the time of those kings. That period of history stretched from Daniel’s
day to the first century (when the clay was mixing with the iron). God set up his
kingdom in those days. Any view
that says God will set up his Kingdom outside of that time period beyond it simply
doesn’t reconcile with the teachings of the Scriptures. The kingdom would be set up no later than the
time when the iron and clay were attempting to mix but wouldn’t mix. The clay was smashed by the iron in 70 AD so
the setting up of the kingdom was no later than that. God’s syllabus
plainly says when the kingdom would be established and God follows his
syllabus.
Luke 1:26ff 26 In the sixth
month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named
Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who
are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
So here we have a virgin named mary who is pregnant with a son who will rule on the throne of David over a kingdom that will never end. Hmmm…who could this child be? I’m thinking it might be the same son promised in Isaiah 9. More importantly, when was all of this happening? When was this virgin with child? Look at Luke 2.
Luke 2:1ff In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Look, a child born to us, a son given. The government will be on
his shoulders and he will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God
everlasting father, prince of peace. Of
the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule on David’s throne and over his
kingdom establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from
that time on and forever.
Could that be this child born to us?
When was he born to us? In the
days of Caesar Augustus, the emperor of Rome, the iron kingdom. In the time of those kings. When iron and
clay were attempting to mix.
Jesus was born during reign of Augustus. In 14 AD Tiberius Caesar began to reign.
Turn over to Luke 3.
Luke 3:1ff In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (began
to reign in 14 AD so this was about 29 AD) —when
Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother
Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of
Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
This is John the baptizer. What did John preach? A baptism of repentance. Guess what else he preached?
Matt 3:1-2 In those days John the
Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and
saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Of course he was preaching that the
kingdom of heaven was near. This was the
time of the empire made up of iron mixed with clay. This was the last empire in the sequence of
empires from the King’s dream in Daniel 2. And the kingdom was to be established in the
time of those kings. It had to be
near because the time
of those kings was coming to a close – the head of gold came and
went, as did the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze. John came preaching in the days of the toes
made of clay mixed with iron.
The clay mixed with iron would end in
70 AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem, so the time of those kings was about to
come to a close. If God didn’t set up
the kingdom in the first century by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, then he didn’t follow the syllabus and Daniel was
a false prophet and we can’t believe the Bible.
But we can believe the bible, because
Daniel wasn’t a false prophet, and John did come preaching in the days of those kings that the
kingdom of heaven was near because it WAS NEAR; God
did set up the kingdom in those days during the empire made up of iron mixed
with clay.
In fact, in Luke 17:20ff 20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the
kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom
of God does not come with your careful observation, 21
nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom
of God is within (or among) you.” (most commentaries say “in your midst”)
·
NASB the Kingdom of
God is in your midst.
·
ESV the kingdom of
God is in the midst of you.
·
NLT For the Kingdom
of God is already among you.
Hey guys, remember, it’s not going to
be a kingdom built with human hands so it’s not going to come with your careful observation;
you’re not going to be able to see it like you can see the roman empire. In fact, you don’t have eyes to see, so you
can’t see it right now. It’s here, I’m
the king. It’s like the time of those kings, and I’m
like here setting up the kingdom right now.
This is happening!
Remember
from the dream the rock cut out but not by human hands. The one that strikes the statue and all those
other kingdoms dissolve, but the rock grows into a huge mountain that fills the
whole earth – that rock is the Kingdom.
It begins with the rock, identified in the Bible as Jesus Christ. We see this rock become a mountain as Jesus
entrusts the message of the kingdom to 12 disciples (the rock is growing a little
bit); these 12 then take the message of the kingdom from Jerusalem to
all Judea (see the rock growing), and then to all Samaria (rock is
getting bigger and bigger), and then to all the earth (the rock
is now a huge mountain that fills the whole earth).
1 Pet2:4 4 As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and
the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8 and,“A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8 and,“A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone that serves as the
foundation of the kingdom.
Acts 17:24-25 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven
and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is
not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives
all men life and breath and everything else.
Kingdom of old was built by human hands as was the
temple of the old kingdom.
But the new temple of the messianic
kingdom, which we have seen is us the living stones – not built with human hands –
spiritual.
And the circumcision under the old
administration, in the kingdom of old was done in the flesh by human
hands. Not in the kingdom. Look at Col 2:9ff 9 For in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in
Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him
you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,[a] not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the
circumcision done by Christ
So we can see clearly in the NT as our transcript God following the syllabus in
bringing forth this rock, from the vision, Jesus Christ, upon whom the kingdom
is built, a
kingdom not built with human hands, with its component parts such as
the temple not built with human hands and circumcision also not done with human
hands. The kingdom is
spiritual as its component parts are spiritual.
APPLICATION
While the main point of this morning’s message is the
timing of the kingdom – in the time of those kings, we can learn a few
things for application from Daniel.
First of all, this is awesome! If you study history you can watch the
succession of world empires and see how it all unfolds
exactly as God predicted in the syllabus, through his prophet Daniel and
we see the Bible vindicated as true. All
those kingdoms did end. There’s no Caesars
today ruling over a Roman Empire that’s a world dominating superpower. But King Jesus is still reigning on his throne
and the earth is full of citizens of his everlasting Kingdom.
The next thing I want to point out from this morning’s
study is a precept that you hear often from me…
DOCTRINE DRIVES YOUR
ACTIONS.
What you believe affects how you behave. What you believe about the timing and nature
of the kingdom will affect how you live.
This
makes one wonder about the sad story of church history, especially in events
like the crusades.
If
those involved in the crusades had understood the nature of the kingdom of God,
namely that it ain’t built with human hands and can’t be taken by military
might, I doubt that so much blood would have been spilt in the name of Jesus
Christ.
It’s
sad but so many people are against what they call “organized religion” because
they claim (and rightly so) that so much blood
has been shed in the name of religion and how can that be good? It’s not.
But when we invite people to have a relationship with our God through
Jesus Christ and invite them into the kingdom, we aren’t inviting them into a
kingdom built with human hands, one that expands through military might and the
shedding of blood and conquest. We are
inviting them into a kingdom not built with human hands, a Kingdom of peace,
ruled by the prince of peace where we beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning
hooks.
If
we as God’s people begin to understand the true nature of the Kingdom to which
we belong, I believe the world around us would have no grounds upon which to
levy such accusations. I believe it’s
time for God’s people to understand, and teach and preach and manifest the true
nature of the Kingdom.
PRAYER
The
next thing we can draw from our study is a good reminder of the power of
prayer. Recall Daniel’s first response
when he learned of the king’s decree. He
went to his brothers and asked them to pray with him. This is a good reminder to us that a healthy
response in any situation is prayer.
Often times it tends to be our last resort. We tend to think: how can we devise a plot to manage
this situation? Well, that didn’t work;
I guess all we can do now is pray.
Rather, it should be our first response, our first priority.
Rather
than looking to the left and to the right, rather than going horizontal, let’s
go vertical. In fact, let’s hit our
knees and go to God in prayer.
There
is nothing wrong with seeking wise counsel from our brothers and sisters but
there is something so right with seeking the wisdom of the omniscient one. There is nothing wrong with seeking the aid
and assistance of our brothers and sisters but there is something so right with
seeking the power of the omnipotent one.
As
we see here from Daniel, an appropriate first response is prayer.
PRAISE
Not only did Daniel seek God in prayer, but
immediately praised God. Daniel 2:19b Then
Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said: “Praise be to the name
of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes
times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the
wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden
things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23 I
thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the
dream of the king. ”
There is so
much to praise God for. As His people,
who enjoy the benefits of His Kingdom, we should be a people who sing His
praises. Not just when he does what we
ask him to, but for who He is, and what He’s like.
HUMILITY AND LOVE
The
next life application we can draw from Daniel is one of love and humility. Recall when Daniel receives from God the
unveiling of the mystery. Daniel
immediately tells Arioch don’t put all the wise men to death. Daniel could have used this as a power
play. He could have told Arioch, kill all those
other chumps, but spare me and my buddies.
We got this. This would be
a great opportunity for Daniel to climb the corporate ladder to success in this
world dominating superpower of a kingdom, but he doesn’t. We see no self service here, but Daniel
sought the good of all. He saw his good
fortune as an opportunity to bless others and spare their lives as well.
GLORY TO GOD
Not
only do we see Daniel having a loving response toward other people, but we see
here that Daniel’s response to the king is one of humility. 27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or
diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but
there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
He
doesn’t use this as an opportunity to make himself shine and exalt himself, “that’s right,
King Neb, I am the wisest of the wise men.
If you want your kingdom to flourish, you should appoint me as the chief
wise man.”
Daniel
recognizes that it was God who gave him insight into the mystery and in turn he
gives credit where credit is due. He
humbly gives God the glory and uses it as an opportunity to put His God in the
limelight. You Babylonians may have your
various so-called gods, but I serve the God of Heaven, the true God, and He is
the one who revealed this mystery to me.
So
we see embodied in Daniel the very things that we seek to promote as a church, Loving God and loving others.
May we live accordingly and let the lessons in Daniel move
us to a life of prayer, and praise, a life of loving
God and loving others, a life of giving God the glory and shining forth
his light that others would in turn join us in giving glory to our God and
King.
www.ncfgeorgetown.com
Church in Georgetown, Texas. Reformed church Georgetown, Texas Preterist
church Georgetown Texas. Pastor David Boone. Sermon audio mp3 sermon download
Full Preterism. Covenant Eschatology. New Covenant Fellowship Georgetown. Page
House 10:00 am Loving God. Loving Others. Realized eschatology fulfilled
eschatology Preterist church Austin
Texas. Bible church Austin Texas Second
coming of Jesus Christ churches in Austin area. Non denominational Churches in
Georgetown TX
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