Daniel’s story echoes the stories of Jacob, Joseph, and Solomon in some interesting ways. Jacob’s and Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams are both about the connection between heaven and earth, Daniel’s given the ability to interpret dreams as was Joseph and both were called to interpret dreams for Gentile kings, and like Solomon, Daniel’s respected for his wisdom.
Our story this morning begins a few verses earlier when King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and challenges his wisemen, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. 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 pieces of rubble.” The wisemen can’t do it and the king orders their execution. It seems Daniel wasn’t there, as we read in verses 14-16, “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. He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.”
Daniel goes to God and God gives him the dream and its meaning. Daniel appears before the king and the king challenges him, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” Daniel’s honest and tells the king that he can’t, but his God can and did, since God gave the king this dream. Daniel tells the king, “As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.” Daniel then tells the king his dream of the statue and the rock and its meaning.
What a dream! Nebuchadnezzar saw a large statue with a head of gold, its chest and arms made of silver, with a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet made up of a mixture of iron and clay. The statue changes from wealth to power to fragile. The shocking part of the dream is the rock, unlike the statue, is not cut out by human hands and strikes the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashes them, completely destroying the statue that the wind sweeps it away. Meanwhile the rock grows until it fills the whole earth.
The king listens as Daniel tell him the dream, and Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that the king is the head of gold. But Daniel also tells Nebuchadnezzar that it wasn’t through his own power and ability that he’s this wealthy powerful king, but that Israel’s God has made him the king of kings with dominion and power and might and glory, ruler over all mankind and creatures. Daniel’s speaking spiritual truth into the power of the world. The language Daniel uses to describe Nebuchadnezzar echoes biblical language that points to Jesus, but with a huge difference, Jesus’ kingdom is eternal while Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is not. This is a reminder and warning for God’s people to not put their faith in human rulers, for at some point they all fall or die. We’ve seen this in the fall of the government in Syria, the uncertainty in the governments of countries like Germany and France, and even our own Canadian government. There’s the temptation to look with fondness to the governments of other countries, but they too are only temporary.
There are mighty empires represented in the dream. Daniel tells the king, “You are the head.” We know Nebuchadnezzar’s followed by the Persian empire, the Grecian empire, and the Roman empire which becomes divided and ends up a mixture of iron and clay. The clay is a brittle type of clay used for earthenware, easily shattered. From a distance, the statue looks powerful, but as you come closer, the foundation’s weak, made up of human might and philosophies meant to help them hold onto power, but that clash with God’s will.
It's an impressive statue pointing to impressive empires, but in the end, they’re crushed at the coming of the rock from heaven. The world’s kingdoms keep underestimating the power of the kingdom Daniel serves, the kingdom we often don’t pay enough attention to, a kingdom that will never be destroyed. The rock that Daniel describes is the kingdom of heaven which comes near in the coming of Jesus who calls us to, “Repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The statue becomes meaningless while the rock becomes everything!
Jesus refers to himself as a stone on whom others will be destroyed. In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a parable of workers who kill the son of the owner so they can take over the vineyard, Jesus interprets the parable, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ “Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” Jesus is returning to establish his kingdom over the whole earth and those who cannot or will not accept him will be crushed. The infant in the manger becomes the Lord of all the universe.
We were planning on celebrating the baptism of Peyton this morning, baptism is another encounter in this clash of kingdoms. In baptism, we make a choice for the kingdom of God over the kingdoms of this world. Baptism’s a sign and seal given to the church to remind us and strengthen us as followers of Jesus, reminding us of who we are and who God is. Heidelberg Catechism Q+A 70 teaches, “To be washed with Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven our sins because of Christ’s blood poured out for us in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us to be members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and live holy and blameless lives.” Baptism reminds us that we’re members of Christ, members of the kingdom of heaven as we become dead to sin and live holy lives, set apart and our sins are washed away, a gift of grace.
Baptism reminds us that we belong to Jesus. When we baptize children, we remember that God works first, choosing us before we can choose him. This is why, as parents and church, we promise to invest in, teach, and mentor them so that when they’re older, they’ll accept Jesus as their own Lord and saviour. We promise to help parents to raise their children to know Jesus as their king. It all starts with us truly accepting Jesus as our King of kings, taking seriously his call on our lives, shaping our lives, our beliefs, our values on him. To do this means regularly reading the Bible. For God’s Word to make a difference in our lives, studies by Barna and other groups shows we need to read Scripture 4-5 days each week. It takes regularly talking to God in prayer, even if it’s simply taking a few moments throughout the day to ask for his presence, wisdom, grace, and guidance. It worshipping regularly with your church family so you can worship God together, pray for and with each other, sharing how God’s working in your lives, encouraging each other.
Isaiah gives us glimpses of the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah 2:3–4 points to a kingdom of peace shaped by the law of the Lord, “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
It’s a kingdom of righteousness where creation once again lives together as God originally intended, Isaiah 11:5–10, “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Nebuchadnezzar falls prostrate before Daniel, recognizing, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries.” In a place far from the Promised Land, a king of kings has a dream of the King of kings, the revealer of mysteries. God sends this pagan king a dream of a heavenly kingdom overcoming the world, echoing to Paul in Ephesians 3:6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” With the coming of Jesus, the rock appears and begins rolling its way into history, becoming the holy mountain where the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, and Gentiles and Jews live together under the King of kings forever.
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