Transcript Document

Presentation 02
The Table of Contents
Chapter 1v1-21
Chapter 2v1-49
Chapter 3v1-30
Chapter 4v1-37
Chapter 5v1-31
Chapter 6v1-28
Chapter 7v1-28
Chapter 8v1-27
Chapter 9v1-27
Chapter 10v1-11v1
Chapter 11v2-35
Chapter 11v36-12v-13
Compromise or Else
A Disturbing Dream
Dare to be Different
God Humbles the Proud
The Destiny of Man
Finding Yourself on the Menu
The Four Beasts
The Little Horn
Daniel’s Prayer
Spiritual Conflict
History’s Pattern
The End Time
A Disturbing
Dream
Chap 2v1-49
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Introduction
Dreams can be divided into different
categories. Martin Luther King, in a famous
speech described the longing of his heart in
the words, “I have a dream...” He longed for
the day when the barriers of social distinction
in his land between black and white would be
torn down.
Other dreams have a nightmare quality about
them. Waking you from sleep they leave you in
a cold sweat, for they have had a disturbing
effect upon you. Often the anxieties of our
wakening hours express themselves as
monsters who creep out of our subconscious
as we sleep.
Presentation 02
Introduction
Most people probably experience a variety of dreams. Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream not only had a nightmare quality but had an additional dimension
associated with it. It came from God. It was not produced by eating too
much cheese but the disturbing influence of God’s Holy Spirit upon his
subconscious.
Why does God use dreams as a means
of special revelation? Among a number
of answers given the on that may fit
this situation best is that dreams are
a means of capturing the attention of
those who do not have access to scripture.
It was clearly a means of communication
that had a disturbing effect on Nebuchadnezzar.
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The King’s Dream
As Nebuchadnezzar was drifting off to sleep his thoughts, like
those of many leaders, may have turned to the future. Men
like Nebuchadnezzar believe they can build empires to last. But
night after night as drifted off to sleep he had the same
nightmare. It terrorised his waking consciousness.
From a human perspective he should have felt secure.
During his short reign his armies had triumphed on the
field of battle. But this dream fuelled the constantly
growing suspicion that the security of his kingdom was
threatened by something beyond his control. Something
outside of the visible world! As a result he felt increasingly
insecure, frustrated and angry.
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The King’s Dream
Was Nebuchadnezzar disturbed by his dream because he was pursuing
immortality through his building projects. He built The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, a wonder of the ancient world. This dream made it clear that he
was not building anything that would last, his life goals were mirages.
Men and women who live for this world will always be anxious, fearing that
no matter what they do to secure their well-being,
it will never be enough.
Others think that the king’s nightmares,
are the product of guilt. He had
blood on his hands. In his two
short years as king his war
machine had ravaged nation
after nation.
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The King’s Dream
What distinguished Nebuchadnezzar from any other oriental despot? God
was at work in the inner court of his conscience. He fell asleep thinking of
the future but God worked in his sub conscious to reveal his past catching
up with him.
This fact makes people think twice before sharing their dreams. Dreams
can reveal the lurking fears of our heart. Past behaviour
which we have excused explode in our sub conscious.
Imagine the distress of Nebuchadnezzar’s family,
as they saw his paranoia develop. He believed
that his counsellors were conspiring to
deceive and torment him?
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The Local Remedy
Nebuchadnezzar turned to his wise men and
astrologers for help. Today people continue to
turn to astrologers and fortune tellers to
exorcise their dreams. Whenever confidence in
a God who holds the future in his hands
disappears, people turn to the stars and to
superstition! Thy want their fears for the future
soothed. When they become disillusioned with
popular astrology, they can express their
frustration with violence and irritability.
Today men and women with disturbed
consciences need to be put in touch with a
wisdom and word that is entirely beyond this
world.
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The Local Remedy
Neither financial incentives nor crude threats could draw out of
Nebuchadnezzar’s astrologers the cause of his mental and emotional
exhaustion. They had arrogantly claimed in v4 “Tell your servants the
dream and we will interpret it.”
But the king saw through their scheme. He demanded they tell him both
the content of his dream and its meaning. They could not! In his
frustration he condemned them all to death.
The king’s inner self is exposed; despite
his outward show of pomp and power,
he is like a little child lost in the depths
of a frightening forest. His advisors are
right to respond as they do in v10
‘there is not a man on earth... no one
can reveal it to the king except the gods.’
Presentation 02
The Local Remedy
Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction in v12 seems
unreasonable. Why should he fly into such a rage?
His wise men had indirectly reminded him that he
was not ultimately in charge. Not the supreme ruler!
Nietzsche the German philosopher said: ‘If there is a
God, how can I bear not to be that God?’ In other
words he could not bear the thought that he was not
ultimately Lord of his life.
And in this respect he was no different from many
others. Many people display anger and hostility when
it is suggested that they are not masters of their own
destiny. That there is a God to whom they are
accountable and who interferes in their daily lives
whether they recognise his existence or not.
Presentation 02
God’s Interpretation
What then is the significance of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that depicted a
statue made of four different metals and
which was eventually crushed to dust by a
stone carved without hands? A stone which
then grew and turned into a great mountain?
The dream unpacks a number of important
truths:
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God’s Interpretation
1. The Impermanence of Human Kingdoms.
Its hard for any superpower to concede that their rule will not last
forever. Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom would have a comparatively short
lifespan. The statue in the dream looked so impressive, but closer
inspection revealed it had feet of clay. It was an unstable structure,
as is every human kingdom, every man made empire.
All human kingdoms burn brightly for a while but soon they
enter the shadow of history. Book titles like, “The Glory that
was Greece” or “The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire”
speak of something that was but is no more. In contrast, the
stone in the dream has a small and ignominious beginning
grows into a mountain a kingdom that will last forever.
The kingdom of Christ.
Presentation 02
God’s Interpretation
2. God is the Lord of History.
There can be no doubt that the ‘mystery’ of v27 relates
to God’s control of times and seasons, the rise and fall
of kingdoms as he makes history serve his will including
the establishment of his coming King and his Kingdom.
This dream takes on the form of predictive prophecy.
The book of Daniel outlines the dominant world
superpowers for the succeeding 600 years; the
Babylonian, Medo Persian, Greek, and finally the
Roman Empire. The birth of God’s king and the
establishment of his kingdom would take place during
Roman rule. The purpose of this dream is not to define
these empires but to make clear that God is in charge of
history and that his kingdom will triumph.
Presentation 02
God’s Interpretation
3. Christ’s Kingdom will Stand
The Christ depicted here must be proclaimed to the
tottering dynasties of this world and to its petty
tyrants with feet of clay. Jesus describes himself in
Lk. 20.18 “as a stone that will make men stumble
and a rock that will make them fall”.
Jesus is the flying stone in this Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream. The statue warns all human kingdoms of
their impermanence and of their inability to thwart
the progress of Christ’s kingdom.
Presentation 02
God’s Interpretation
3. Christ’s Kingdom will Stand
The statue can also remind us of the little empires found in the hearts of
many ordinary people. As they grow their little kingdoms, they try in vain to
find security and satisfaction within them.
Experience shows us how quickly family empires fall. What were once
household names quickly fade from human memory.
None of us can ever be truly secure or enjoy peace
in all its fullness till we are prepared to acknowledge
the insignificance of our little empires, which must
give way before the coming kingdom of God.
The dream encourages us to place Christ’s kingdom
first, to seek it first. Why? Because only it will stand
the test of time.
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Daniel’s Challenge
Between the king’s disturbing dream and God’s remarkable interpretation
stood a man. A key man. Daniel was the only wise man able to act
decisively while the others were hopelessly incapable and paralysed. He is
not driven by self preservation and concern for his own safety but by faith
in God, whom he believes has put him in this situation to be his witness cf.
v16. Daniel stood before the king not with
the arrogance of the astrologers but
with the confidence of faith and
asked for time to provide the king
with the interpretation of his
dream.
Several important observations
can be made:
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Daniel’s Challenge
1. Daniel involved Himself.
He acted differently from other religious men in
Babylon. Many claimed to be religious but he
was in touch with a God whom he knew was not
distant and uncaring but near and eager to
intervene. A God who loved a rebellious world.
Indeed, it was because he was in touch with God
that he was constrained to serve not only the
people of Israel but also the pagan Empire of
Babylon. He recognised that the God of Israel
cared for this heathen emperor and for his peace
of mind and that he cared for the poor deluded
wise men whose lives were in danger.
Presentation 02
Daniel’s Challenge
2. Daniel turned to God in prayer.
God had given Daniel the ability to interpret dreams v17, yet he is not
presumptuous, he is in fear and trembling up until the moment the
mystery is made known to him. He pleads with his companions to join him
in prayer.
They did not pray out of a sense of fear in order to
save their own skins. They cried for ‘the mercies from
the God of heaven concerning the secret’ in v18.
They recognised that they were God’s servants, men
of destiny, placed in Babylon to make his name known.
Their lives were intertwined with God’s glory. Daniel
believed God had the solution to the crisis. It was
through prayer that the answer came.
Presentation 02
Daniel’s Challenge
2.Daniel turned to God in prayer.
How are we to meet the need of a troubled world, a world
beside itself with worry and which gets no lasting help from
the latest astrologer or guru? Only through prayer.
In Daniel’s day, Gods word came as a result of prayer.
In the early church the same was true. Paul
asked the church to “pray for us, too, that God
may open a door for our message, so that we
may proclaim the mystery of Christ” Col 4.3.
If we are going to have God’s answer to
men’s needs, and be effective in our
communication of that message, it will
only come through prayer.
Presentation 02
Daniel’s Challenge
3. The Response of Worship.
It has been said that the test of our spirituality comes after our intercession
not before it. Receiving the answer form God Daniel responded not by
rushing immediately into the kings presence but by spending time in worship.
Relief unaccompanied by worship is an inadequate response to the mercies
of God. Daniel’s refusal to accept the praise of the king is a further evidence
of his God-centredness, Daniel knew he was
not the source of blessing merely a channel
of it and so he points away from himself to
God cf. v 27, 45. Daniel had no interest in
robbing God of his Glory.
Presentation 02
Daniel’s Challenge
The Progression of God’s Work.
Daniel confronted the king with another kingdom, speaking with grace and
boldness. God is described as a ‘revealer of secrets’, secrets that had
unsettled Nebuchadnezzar provide a him with a foretaste of something much
more glorious than the throne of Babylon. But his
response to this revelation did not produce radical
change; there is no heart repentance, no religious
conversion. His emotions are clearly touched and
he experiences a certain amount of psychological
relief. God having captured his attention has more
to do to bring him to a place of transformation.
God will not force repentance but creates
circumstances to induce it. Repentance is God’s
gift Acts 5:31, 2Tim 2:25
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CONCLUSION
The disturbance Nebuchadnezzar experienced is shared by many. Our world
is full of many deeply troubled people. God alone has wisdom enough to
deal with the deeply troubled heart. Christians need to pray that they might
have God’s Word to speak to those in need.
Those disturbed by the uncertainty of the future often want to cling onto
their own petty kingdoms and by so doing stand in the way of Christ’s
kingdom!
Must Christ portray himself as one who will crush us
in order to advance his kingdom? But he wounds
in order to heal. He humbles our hearts that
he might exalt us. He wants to bring us to the
place where we recognise that he is the
only solution to all our fears for
the future.
Presentation 02