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Living in Interesting Times ~ Daniel 2:1-23

Living in Interesting Times
April 17, 2016

Scripture: Daniel 2:1-23

I. You can turn to God because He is faithful to His children.

A. The problem for Daniel and his friends all started with a dream (vs. 1). In the ancient world, dreams were thought to be shadows that the future cast in front of itself. Dreams then would help you to know the future. But King Nebuchadnezzar apparently forgot enough important details in his dream that he asked for help from his magicians, enchanters and sorcerers (vs. 2). The king remembered just enough of his dream to know that it was a bad dream. So the king got a hold of the political consultants and the trend spotters of his day – these magicians and sorcerers.

B. There was one way the king would know if these guys were the real deal. If they could not only give him the interpretation of his dream but actually tell him the details of the dream itself, then he would know these guys were worth their pay. If they could do that, then he would give them gifts and rewards and great honor (vs. 6). But they couldn’t do that (vs. 10-11). Only the God of Daniel and his friends could do that. God was faithful to answer the prayers of Daniel and his friends to show them the king’s dream and the interpretation of the dream (vs. 17-19).

II. You can turn to God because He is powerful.

A. When God answered Daniel’s prayer to reveal the king’s dream to him, we see Daniel respond by praising and thanking God for two things in vs. 20-21: God’s power and wisdom. God powerfully revealed the king’s dream to Daniel. And we will learn next week from the end of Daniel 2 that only Daniel’s God knows and controls the future. The Babylonian gods’ did not either know the future or control the future. Their gods were useless. But not our God. Our God is greater than any other god. Our God is powerful.

B. Sometimes God does miracles for us like he did for Daniel. But sometimes God gives us the power to persevere through very painful and difficult situations. Think for example about the Apostle Paul in the painful situation he endured in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9: “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

III. You can turn to God because He is wise.

A. King Nebuchadnezzar turned to his wise men for wisdom. But the Babylonians did not have a god who lived among them (vs. 11). But we Christians do. John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus is also full of wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:30: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Jesus is our wisdom that we can always turn to.

Application:
If you have nowhere to turn, you can still turn to God.

Sources:
The prophecy of Daniel
Commentaries on Daniel by Iain Duguid, Tremper Longman III, and Joyce Baldwin