The newspapers give us insight into the world around us. The things that are going on in the world do not dethrone God. It is possible to be a Daniel in the 21st century. God will not be marginalised or ignored. God will shake up even the pagan kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream but more like a nightmare for it shook him to the core! Daniel is called on to interpret.

1 – Daniel keeps his integrity

Daniel has some difficult things to say but he is respectful. It took a holy boldness and an immense amount of courage to go to the king with this message. Daniel was staking his life on what he was about to say. For if he was wrong the king would probably have him executed on the spot.

2 – The statue represents four great kingdoms

The four kingdoms are the Babylonian, Persians, Greeks and Romans. Firstly, you will note that the metals described decrease in value as they are described, but they increase in strength. That is, the metals go from gold, to silver, to bronze, to iron. So they go from the most expensive to the least expensive. Thus, God was showing that each successive kingdom would be less glorious that its predecessor. But note also that each metal is stronger than the predecessor so each empire would be succeeded by one that was stronger.

1. Gold – Babylonian Empire (606-538 BC)
2. Silver – Medes and Persian Empire (538-331 BC)
3. Bronze – Greek Empire (331-168 BC))
4. Iron – Roman Empire (168 BC – 476 AD)

3 – The eternal kingdom of God

Kingdoms on this earth come and go under the hand of God. The kingdom of God when established will be a rock that becomes a mountain that takes over the whole earth. This stone then, who is Jesus, will strike the ten kings at His coming as is revealed in Revelation 17:12-14. Jesus shall then reign on this earth as it says above for “the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed!” See Isaiah 2:1-4. Jesus is known as the:-

1. Rejected Stone (Psalm 118:22)
2. Tried Stone (Isaiah 28:16)
3. Stumbling Stone (Isaiah 8:14-15)
4. Living Stone (1 Pet 2:4-8)
5. The Stone of Israel (Gen 49:24)

4 – Nebuchadnezzar becomes religious

He later builds an idol of himself to himself. Nebuchadnezzar is still a polytheist. This suggests that he had a superficial spiritual encounter without it being life changing. The world does not believe in God, it believes in everything. You cannot become a Christian and live any way that you like. Nebuchadnezzar was a man of great natural ability but it was God who had given him this ability and allowed him to rule over a vast and prosperous kingdom.

5 – Daniel and his friends get promoted

Daniel remembered those who were close to him. He wasn’t going to leave them behind. They had prayed that he might understand the dream & now he rewards them for their part in this saga. Do we sometimes too often forget to thank those who prayed for us? Do we sometimes fail to thank God for what he has done in our lives?

Categories: Daniel