Have you ever had the kind of nightmare that
caused you to awaken from your deep sleep and
to lay there in bed wondering what ogre Was in
the room with you your heart was pounding your
eyes Looking into the darkness to see the monster
Well, I suppose from time to time all of us have
had that When you're young you get out of bed
and go in lay down with mom and dad and feel
like everything is going to be all right But
when you get older, you just kind of lay there
and wonder, now who do I hug? Nebuchadnezzar
had that kind of a dream. It was a nightmare.
It caused him to awaken out of his deep sleep,
and he was unable to get back to his rest. It
was a terrifying experience to him. The story
about this is told in our text in Daniel chapter
2, which is one of the most significant chapters
of Bible prophecy. Its scope is breathtaking,
for it outlines with complete accuracy the history
of hundreds of years and even reaches down to
the end of this age in which we are living. The
chronology as to when this dream took place is
a little uncertain. Verse 1 tells us that it
was the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Now that probably means that it was during the
time that Daniel and his three friends were in
training. to put that all together with how Daniel
was honored at the end of the chapter, but frankly
it's not a big problem to me. It says it was
that second year and so we understand that Daniel
and his friends were not with the rest of the
magicians and the wise men and so on, hence the
chapter falls out as it does in the narrative.
They were only trainees and were not a part of
the official corps yet at this time. Daniel would
have been, no perhaps 17 years of age when all
of this took place. The chapter falls into four
divisions as the narrative unfolds to us. The
first division is verses 1 through 13 in the
King's demand. It says Nebuchadnezzar had dreams
and his spirit was troubled, his sleep left him.
And so he gave orders to call in the magicians,
the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans.
Well, these were different groups of men who
served him as advisors. The magicians were those
who utilized charts to try to answer questions
that the king might have as to the meaning of
things like dreams. They were a part of religious
rituals that were used to try to discern the
meaning of things. Those who were conjurers were
enchanters and used spells and words to work
effects on behalf of the king. The sorcerers
were those who were specialized in the use of
potions and black magic, and they attempted to
contact the dead, the purpose being to tell the
future. The final term, the Chaldeans, is used
in Daniel sometimes as reference to all of the
Babylonians, but here there seems to be a special
class of wise men that are involved. Daniel calls
everybody in, his whole cabinet if you please,
and the king puts them to the test. The king
said to them, I had a dream and my spirit is
anxious to understand the dream. So, the Chaldeans
spoke up first to the king in Aramaic, and it
should be noted that at this point, the book
of Daniel, as it was written, begins to be written
in the Aramaic language, not the Hebrew language
any longer. And probably the words in Aramaic
are in parenthesis, and the Chaldeans simply
spoke to the king in the parenthesis in Aramaic,
the writing goes on. And they say, Oh, King,
live forever. Tell the dream to your servants
and we will declare the interpretation. These
folks had a pretty good thing going. Because
who's going to dispute them about the meaning
of a dream? So they say, King, you tell us the
dream and we'll tell you what it means. Well,
the king answered and said, The command from
me is firm. If you do not make known to me the
dream, and its interpretation, you will be torn
limb from limb and your houses will be made a
rubbish heap." You get the idea that he was pretty
serious about this, don't you? But if you declare
the dream and its interpretation, you will receive
from me gifts and a reward and great honor. Therefore
declare to me the dream and its interpretation.
Now these fellows were in a real difficult spot.
because they didn't know what the dream was.
And if they didn't come up with the answer, they
weren't long for the world. And their houses
were going to be turned into garbage pits. Well,
they answered a second time and said, let the
king tell the dream to his servants and we will
declare the interpretation. And he answered,
I know for certain that you're bargaining for
time. We've all done that on occasion. Inasmuch
as you have seen, the command from me is firm,
and if you do not make the dream known to me,
there is only one decree for you." And he's already
given that. For you have agreed together to speak
lying and corrupt words before me until the situation's
changed. Therefore, tell me the dream, that I
may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.
And so, he threatens them. He promises them reward.
and they respond rather desperately. In verse
10, they say, there is not a man on earth who
could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch
as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything
like this of any magician, conjurer, or Chaldean.
Moreover, the thing which the king demands is
difficult. That's saying the least. And there
is no one else who could declare it to the king
except gods whose dwelling place is not with
mortal flesh." Now these fellows come up with
an interesting confession at this point. They're
the ones who are supposed to be able to talk
to the gods and get the answer. And now they
acknowledge in the king's presence that they've
got a communication problem with the Babylonian
gods. Well, King Nebuchadnezzar doesn't exactly
take kindly to this whole situation. In fact,
in verse 12 it says, he became indignant and
very furious. Now why was he so angry? Well,
perhaps three reasons. In the first place, because
of disappointment. He wanted an immediate answer
to that which had troubled him so deeply, and
he was not getting it. He was probably angry,
too, because of disgust. at these people who
were supported by the kingdom, who were his advisors
and supposed to help him, and yet they were incapable
of doing so. Then thirdly, he was probably displeased
because of their criticism of him, which is not
very well -masked in verse 10. They said, no
one in the history of the world has ever asked
anything like this, Nebuchadnezzar. And you didn't
exactly say things like that too often. to a
king like Nebuchadnezzar, because you see, Nebuchadnezzar
had many virtues, but self -control wasn't one
of them. In fact, he was so angry and upset that
it says he gave orders to destroy all the wise
men of Babylon. And so the decree went out that
every one of them was to be put to death. And
that order embraced those who were still in training.
like Daniel and his three friends. Well, we come
now to the second division, and that is Daniel's
response, verses 14 to 30. You'll notice that
Daniel was not with them, that is, these magicians.
We see his separation here. Daniel wanted to
be identified differently. He did not want to
be in the same group with all of the rest of
these charlatans, if you please. these religious
charlatans and tricksters who lived off the king.
He kept separate from them. And so when Ariok,
the captain of the king's bodyguard, who seems
to be also the chief of the executions, went
to get Daniel, Daniel replied with discretion
and discernment. You see a real contrast here,
by the way, between the sovereign who is absolutely
out of control, and as we will go on through
the book, we'll see it's not the only occasion
that he was that way, and Daniel, the man of
God, who is absolutely in control, a 17 -year
-old young man who answers with discretion and
discernment to the king. and to Ariok, his servant.
And he said, for what reason is the decree from
the king so urgent? And then Ariok informed Daniel
about the whole thing. And then we come to Daniel's
initiation, verse 16. He went in and requested
of the king that he would give him time. Now
again, this is highly unusual. You simply did
not go in to see the king without being bidden
to come in. without being invited. So Daniel
took a real chance here in one sense in that
he went into the king and asked for time and
said that he would declare to him that interpretation.
And it is implied obviously that he got that
time and it seems as though perhaps at this point
the killing stopped. It had been underway. There
were wise men who were killed. But at this point,
there seems to be a hold put on everything. And
Daniel goes back now to his friends, and they
together begin to pray. And it says that they
prayed that they might not be destroyed with
the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Nothing
wrong with that prayer. And they ask God to give
them the interpretation. And the mystery was
revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Verse 19.
Now technically there's a difference between
a dream and a vision. A dream comes while one
is in a state of sleep. But a vision comes when
one is conscious. And so Daniel was in the night,
undoubtedly praying, asking God for the interpretation.
And God gave to him a vision so that with his
eyes He was able to see the very same thing that
Nebuchadnezzar had seen in that dream. And Daniel
blessed the God of heaven. You will notice that
term, the God of heaven, in verse 18, again in
verse 19. The God of heaven rules over the affairs
of men. And Daniel blessed the Lord, and we see
a marvelous prayer of adoration. Some beautiful
phrases here that you and I can adapt for our
own times of prayer before the Lord. And we learn
a great deal. We could preach a whole sermon
on the prayer, but that's not our purpose tonight
specifically. And then Daniel in verse 24, after
having this time of prayer, went to Ariok again.
And he spoke to him, saying, Do not destroy the
wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king's presence.
I will declare the interpretation to the king.
And Ariok hurriedly then brought Daniel into
Nebuchadnezzar's presence. And notice how he
says this, verse 25, I have found a man. So you
see a guy who's trying to take advantage of the
whole situation, make a good point with the king,
Nebuchadnezzar, I came up with the man who can
tell you what the vision is all about. And so
Daniel answered, or the king rather, answered
to Daniel and he said to him, make it known to
me. And so Daniel declares to him, As for the
mystery about which the king is inquired, neither
wise men, conjurers, magicians, diviners are
able to declare it. However, there is a God in
heaven. Notice again that very similar phrase.
There is a God in heaven, Nebuchadnezzar, and
he reveals mysteries. He's made known to the
king what will take place in the latter days.
And so Daniel now begins to tell the king what
this dream was all about. King, God, the God
of heaven, not Marduk, the God of your pantheon,
the head of your pantheon, but the God of heaven
has made known to you what is going to happen
in the future. This was your dream and the visions
in your mind while on your bed. As for you, O
King, while on your bed your thoughts turn to
what would take place in the future. And he who
reveals mysteries has made known to you what
will take place." And so Daniel not only tells
what the dream was, but he tells what was on
the king's mind that night he had the nightmare.
He says, you were thinking about the future and
what was going to happen. And God gave you a
dream to answer your concern. As for me, he says,
This mystery has not been revealed to me for
any wisdom residing in me more than in any other
living man." Notice the humility of Daniel. Not
at all desiring to take advantage of this situation
to promote himself. He says, there's nothing
in me. He said, but for the purpose of making
the interpretation known to the king and that
you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
And so now we come to the third division of the
chapter. It is the interpretation of the dream,
its revelation, verses 31 through 45. You, O
King, were looking and behold, there was a single
great statue. And that statue, which was large
and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in
front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
Now here is an image. It is not an idol. that
was to be worshipped, but it was a statue. And
it was a magnificent thing, apparently very large
and of splendor because of what it was composed
of. And it says in verse 32, the head of the
statue was made of fine gold, its breast and
its arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and
partly of clay. You continued looking until a
stone was cut out without hands and it struck
the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed
them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the
silver, and the gold were crushed all at the
same time and became like chaff from the summer
threshing floors. The wind carried them away
so that not a trace of them was found, but The
stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the whole earth. And so, you see the
picture first of all of Nebuchadnezzar just in
awe before this great statue. And as he beholds
it, the statue didn't do anything, but then he
saw a stone that was cut out of a mountain. But
it was not cut out by masons. It was cut out
without hands. In some means, we're not told
how. And he saw that stone then come flying like
a meteorite at that statue. And it hit the statue
at its feet. And having hit the statue, the whole
thing collapses. And though it was made of precious
metals in part, the whole thing goes to dust.
And it just flies everywhere like the wind carrying
away the chaff of wheat at a threshing floor.
And then an amazing thing happens. As he watches,
that stone, cut out without hands, begins to
grow and grow and grow until it becomes a great
mountain itself. And it says that it filled the
whole earth. And so there was the dream. The
magicians couldn't come up with this. But God
revealed it to Daniel. And Daniel now has revealed
the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And so Nebuchadnezzar
can know now that this interpretation that is
given is accurate. I mean, if Daniel can give
the dream, the interpretation is to him perhaps
even a lesser thing. And so he says, now we shall
tell the interpretation before the king. He says,
you, O king, are the king of kings, that is a
title meaning that Nebuchadnezzar did in fact
rule over many kingdoms, lesser kings, to whom
the God of heaven, notice again that same title,
has given the kingdom, the power, the strength
and the glory and wherever the sons of men dwell
or the beasts of the field or the birds of the
air. He has given them into your hand and has
caused you to rule over them all. You are the
head of gold." Now, the language here means that
as far as there was civilization known in that
day, Nebuchadnezzar was going to be the ruler
over it. And I would imagine Nebuchadnezzar was
rather thrilled with point number one. And Daniel
didn't tell it to him to flatter him. But you
had to know that when he said, you're the head
of gold, the Nebuchadnezzar's eyes lit up. But
he says, after you, well now there's a little
let down. Sometimes kings like to think that
they're going to last forever, but not even Nebuchadnezzar
did. There will arise another kingdom inferior
to you. Then another third kingdom of bronze,
which will rule over all the earth. And again,
that's the known civilization of that day. Then
there will be a fourth kingdom, as strong as
iron, inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all
things. So like iron that breaks in pieces, it
will crush and break all these in pieces. And
in that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's
clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided
kingdom. Better understanding of that, it will
be a composite kingdom. But it will have in it
the toughness of iron inasmuch as you saw the
iron mixed with common clay. And as the toes
of the feet were partly of iron and partly of
pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong,
and part of it will be brittle. And in that you
saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will
combine with one another in the seed of men.
They will not adhere to one another, even as
iron does not combine with pottery. And in the
days of those kings, the God of heaven will set
up a kingdom, which will never be destroyed,
and that kingdom will not be left for another
people. It will crush and put an end to all these
kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
And as much as you saw that a stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, and that it crushed
the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and
the gold, the great God has made known to the
king what will take place in the future. So the
dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.
Now in this remarkable vision, or dream, rather,
that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, God gives to
him understanding of the historical succession
of several kingdoms or empires. You will immediately
notice that the quality, the value of the component
parts of the image decrease as you start with
the head and work down to the feet and to the
toes. It diminishes in weight, that is, in specific
gravity, which would lead us to understand that
this great image, this statue, is top heavy.
It is top heavy, and it does not have a sufficient
foundation for its weight, and therefore must,
at some time, collapse. Each part of it is distinct,
you notice. And yet there is a commonality to
it. There is a unity that runs throughout it.
And we understand that unity to be gentileness,
if you please. Because what is given to Nebuchadnezzar
here is a broad outline of gentile world domination.
And though there are different empires and different
races of people, the commonality is that they
are all Gentiles in the first four of the kingdoms
that are described. Well, very clearly, the first
one is Babylon, the head of gold. The second
one is said to be of silver. And although it's
not identified here as we look over in chapter
7 and particularly in chapter 8, we see it specifically
named. And it is the empire that followed Babylon,
that indeed destroyed Babylon, and then came
to power. It was the empire of the Medes and
the Persians. Daniel lived right until those
days, until the first years. of that empire.
We'll be seeing more about that in weeks ahead.
So although it's not named here, we know from
additional revelation in the book exactly what
that empire is all about. You see, it conquered
and absorbed Babylon into itself. But then the
Medes and the Persians also were destroyed. By
the third empire that arose, Again, it's not
named here, but it is named for us specifically
in chapters 7 and 8 in particular, and it is
Greece. And the armies of Alexander the Great,
who is prophesied in particular in this book
of Daniel, destroyed the Medes and the Persians
and then absorbed the Medes and the Persian Empire
into it. And so you have this great nation of
Greece under Alexander the Great and then his
successors. And that brings us to the fourth
kingdom, which is not named anywhere in the book.
But as we look at it in light of world history,
we understand that the fourth kingdom was Rome,
which again destroyed the empire of Greece, absorbed
the Hellenistic influence into itself, and continued
Gentile world domination. However, an interesting
thing happened with Rome. It began in 63 BC,
but it had no ending officially like the others
did that preceded it. Rome over the several hundred
years of its existence grew in power and might,
and as it talks here about the strength of Rome,
this fourth empire, was the strength of its armies.
Wherever they tramped, they conquered, and they
held great power over peoples, and the empire
stretched from the Atlantic Ocean all the way
over to the border of what is today India. And
from the north it went into the southern part
of what is Russia and middle Europe today, down
to northern Africa. It was a vast, vast empire.
It sought to bring together lots of different
kinds of peoples and cultures. It never did successfully
form a conglomeration. They never congealed,
but there was a forced unity because of the power,
the strength of Rome to crush any opposition.
The thing that is so unique about Rome, as you
know, is that it did not become conquered from
the outside, but it decayed from the inside.
And although Rome was eventually conquered, the
city of Rome, nonetheless the Roman Empire, in
its influence, did not cease. It was absorbed
into the Roman Catholic Church and other political
entities and the world entered into what is sometimes
called the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages and Rome
just sort of petered out. Its influence still
there but certainly under the surface. We can
still say that today Rome's influence is felt
in our own culture. We are the descendants, if
you please, most of us of the Roman Empire. And
then an amazing thing happens. There is a pause
in this flow, a pause that lasts who knows how
long, but... I'm going to say about 1 ,500 years.
Because an amazing thing takes place as Daniel
interprets this vision. That which sort of just
passed away because of decay from within is reconstituted.
That which was not conquered but simply lost
its political influence in the latter days is
seen as coming back together, as redeveloping
in the feet and in the toes in particular of
this image. Now verse 42 really picks it up at
that point. As the toes of the feet were partly
of iron, partly of pottery, so the kingdom will
be strong, part of it will be strong, and part
of it will be brittle. And that you saw the iron
mixed with common clay, they will combine with
one another in the seed of men, but they will
not adhere to one another, even as iron does
not combine with pottery." That's a similar description
in verse 41, yet it's repeated, isn't it? Which
seems to indicate that in one sense, as Rome
was when it disintegrated, so it will sort of
reappear. It is very interesting to think of
the developments taking place in that part of
the world, particularly in Europe, today, in
light of all of this. The idea that there could
even be an economic unity, not to mention political
unity, but economic unity in that part of Europe
was just, it was unthinkable, except to people
who believe the Bible. But because of the wall
of communism that cut right down through Europe
and through the very territories that belong
to the Roman Empire that were the heart of its
of its empire in its day and Yet amazingly in
the last few months we have seen that wall come
down to some degree and Those nations that were
divided economically are talking. How can we
help each other? West Germany and East Germany,
Poland going to these other European countries
for help, Czechoslovakia doing the same thing.
Those countries, in part at least, were members
of that, the land belonged to the Roman Empire.
You say, well how is all this going to come together
and what are the ten toes? Well, We're not going
to look at it tonight, but over in the book of
Revelation there is a description of ten kingdoms
that come together that are parallel to the ten
toes of Daniel. You say, what are those ten kingdoms,
those ten countries? I don't know. I don't think
we can know today, but I do expect that as time
progresses and This whole thing gets closer to
reality. It's all going to fall into place It
will become clear to us Assuming that we're still
living that this is the generation that the Bible
speaks about in which we live It'll become increasingly
clear to us how Europe is going to be fashioned
into ten kingdoms that will cooperate together
in which as we will see later in Daniel and then
again in Revelation out of which Antichrist comes
forth. Isn't it interesting that it says part
of the kingdom is strong and part of it's weak?
There is an attempt it seems by the powers in
this last period of the Roman Empire again to
bring together different kinds of people, different
races and cultures of people. Isn't that part
of the struggle right now in those countries
of middle Europe? You've got Czechoslovakia with
three different cultures within that political
realm. The same is true with other countries
there. And there will be an attempt yet in these
last days to bring together, unsuccessfully in
the end, but to try to bring together a power
block. out of those nations that will comprise
the reconstituted Roman Empire. But the most
exciting part of the passage is what is said
concerning this stone that is seen hewn out of
the mountain without the aid of human hands and
which absolutely destroys the statue. Daniel
says that this is the kingdom that God will establish.
We understand it as the kingdom of the Messiah.
This is the kingdom of Jesus Christ that is spoken
of. This reconstituted empire of Rome that we
will see, I think, developing in coming months
and years is going to be a very important player
in the days of the tribulation. And when the
Lord Jesus Christ comes again, He is going to
destroy that empire and its leader, Antichrist,
and He's going to destroy it thoroughly. We learn
several things here about Christ's kingdom. In
the first place, as we've said, it's established
by God, not by men. It's concerning to me that
there's a sect, a splinter group of basically
the charismatic movement that is what is called
the Kingdom Now people. They are teaching that
it is up to Christians to by force if necessary
take over the government and establish the law
of God in this nation. And dominion theology
is another name for it. You may pick it up in
some of the books that are written on prophecy.
You need to be watchful for that. But the whole
idea is that it's up to us to bring about the
kingdom by taking charge. God's given us authority.
Let's take charge of the political realm, and
so on. Now listen, the kingdom of Jesus Christ
will come without the aid of men. God will establish
this kingdom. It is a stone that is hewn out
without human hands. It is an earthly kingdom.
Just as earthly as the first four, so will be
the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Now there is an
aspect to the kingdom that now exists, the invisible
aspect, the hidden aspect. But do not let that
make you think that there will never be a kingdom
on the earth. For there will be, just as literally,
just as truly as there was a Babylon, a media
Persia, Greece, Rome, and a final Rome. So there
will be the kingdom of Jesus Christ on the earth.
And it will be established at the time when these
ten kingdoms come back together as the Roman
Empire. We notice that it comes suddenly and
decisively. It's not progressive, it doesn't
happen slowly, it's not the gospel permeating
culture and eventually turning everything around
and Christianizing the world. But rather it is
the kingdom coming like a meteorite, quickly,
decisively, suddenly, and it strikes the statue
at its feet in that final form of Gentile domination.
And as a result of it striking the feet and the
toes, the whole thing collapses. For you see,
all of these kingdoms fit into one another. There
is a certain sense in which each one became a
part of the succeeding empires. So that when
that final form of it is destroyed, they're all
destroyed at the same time. It quickly then,
this kingdom of the Christ, becomes worldwide.
Let me just read to you a statement that I think
is a good one by Chuck Swindoll. He says, as
the smiting stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream,
the Lord will not absorb, restructure, or adapt
to previous kingdoms. He will totally annihilate
them and set up his own monarchy, which will
be absolutely perfect politically, morally, economically.
and religiously. And then he will rule over the
earth for his reign of a thousand years and his
reign will go on throughout eternity. It is Laman
Strauss who points out to us that in the progression
of the Gentile powers we start out with an autocratic
kingdom. We have a king who rules with absolute
authority in Nebuchadnezzar. Then we have an
oligarchic kingdom. in Mediapersia. And then
when we come to Greece, we have an imperialistic
kind of kingdom. When you come to Rome, and these
all then flow into one another, then when you
come to Rome, you have an emphasis on a democratic
kind of kingdom. Rome, you see, tried to combine
the strength and the power of the Senate and
of Caesar with democracy, the rule of the people,
and that will be the ploy of the last days too,
and yet it will not succeed. Well, we have to
conclude by looking now at this last division
of the chapter. It is the King's response to
all of this. Notice that Nebuchadnezzar fell
in his face. Critics of the Bible say now here
is proof that this is absolute nonsense. for
no king ever fell on his face before a prophet."
Well, they're wrong. Nebuchadnezzar fell on his
face and did homage to Daniel and gave orders
to present to him an offering in fragrant incense.
The king answered Daniel and said, surely your
God is a god of gods and a lord of kings. and
a revealer of mystery since you have been able
to reveal this mystery. I don't understand this
so much as Nebuchadnezzar worshipping Daniel
as his worshipping the God of Daniel by what
he did here. Not that he was converted from his
polytheism at this point. He was still a worshiper
of many gods. He didn't become a monotheist now.
Maybe he did later. We'll talk about that. But
not at this point. And yet he recognized the
supremacy, the superiority of Daniel's God. And
the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great
gifts. And he made him ruler over the whole province
of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise
men of Babylon. So Daniel was put over everybody.
This is why it's a little tough. to understand
this as being during his training period, that
three -year period you remember when he was a
trainee. Maybe the promotion waited until after
that. It's a little tough to put all that together,
but the point is that because of what God did
through Daniel, Daniel was placed into that position.
And then Daniel made requests to the king and
had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego appointed
as his helpers. and they assisted him in the
administration. Daniel's office was in the White
House, and then these other three fellows were
in the executive office building across the street,
and they helped him carry out certain administrations
for King Nebuchadnezzar. Well, I tell you, this
is an amazing chapter, and we only get the broad
sweep of it here. As we get on to further visions
in Daniel, We're going to see more specifics
exposed regarding the things that are said in
this chapter. I hope you'll hang in there with
us. I want you to go away tonight with this thought.
That the God of heaven rules over the affairs
of earth. Not just in the kingdoms of the world,
but also in your life. If you're his child tonight,
God is sovereign, friend, and whatever you're
passing through, will you trust God? Will you
realize that God is bigger than Nebuchadnezzar,
and God is bigger than Cyrus, and God is bigger
than Alexander the Great, and God did away with
the Caesars, and God has now, we think, begun
to put together the empire of Rome that he said
long ago, would be put back together. God is
bigger than all of that. God can take care of
your life and mine. He's a big God. So let's
trust Him with our lives this week and let's
be obedient to Him. Let's pray. Now Father, we
worship you as the God of heaven who reveals
mysteries. We acknowledge to you that there are
many questions that Remain unanswered in our
minds, even regarding this text and some of its
implications and fine points. There are some
things you have not chosen to reveal to us, but
my, what an amazing revelation this is. We acknowledge
you as the God of history. We acknowledge you
as our Father. and that this is your world in
which we live. We hold your hand and you hold
ours and we walk with you. So we entrust our
today and our tomorrow to you. In Jesus' name,
Amen.