Gone With the Wind
April 24, 2016
Scripture: Daniel 2: 24-49
I. Since God rules, you should live with humility.
A. In vs. 25 Arioch, the captain of King Nebuchadnezzar’s guard, says to the king, “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” This statement was a lie. Arioch did not find Daniel. In vs. 24 Daniel had found Arioch and told him that he was ready to speak to Nebuchadnezzar about the dream that had troubled him. Why did Arioch lie? Like many who surround people in power, Arioch was skilled at self-promotion. “Look, O King, at what I have done. I have solved your problem with this troubling dream.”
B. The pride of Arioch stands in stark contrast to the humility of Daniel. When the king asks Daniel in an incredulous way in vs. 26, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”, notice how Daniel does not answer. Daniel does not say, “Yes, king, I can do that for you. In vs. 27-28 Daniel took the opportunity to bring glory to God instead of promoting himself. Daniel gave credit where credit was due. God should be praised – not Daniel. So Daniel humbly gave God the King the honor due His name. It is God who rules.
II. Since God rules, you should live knowing that every earthly kingdom will fall.
A. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of the dream beginning in vs. 37. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. After his kingdom, other kingdoms would rise that would be inferior to his kingdom. There would be kingdoms of silver and bronze and iron and one partly iron and partly clay. Then finally, God would (vs. 44) set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. God will rule.
B. No matter how powerful any country or kingdom becomes there will always be another kingdom that will follow it. There will always be an after this (vs. 45) with one exception. At the end God’s Kingdom will come. The kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar was similar to the kingdom God gave Adam and Eve. Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
III. Since God rules, you should live knowing that Christ’s kingdom will last forever.
A. At the end of all the earthly kingdoms, God will act. Who is the stone Daniel refers to in Daniel 2:45? Jesus spoke words that are similar to the words of Daniel 2, and Jesus said that He Himself is the stone. Read what Jesus said in Luke 20:17-18: “But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Application:
Live with hope in Christ’s coming kingdom even though all earthly kingdoms are gone with the wind.
Sources:
The Prophecy of Daniel
Commentaries on Daniel by Iain Duguid, Joyce Baldwin and Tremper Longman III