Dreams and Destinies

Dan. 2:24-47

The world is a mess. Politicians in Washington fight for their own kingdoms and struggle to get along. Wars seem to pop up on every continent and flash into our homes on the television every night. More people seem to be hungry and on the edge than ever before. You wonder if the world will ever get better and what we can do about it. Part of the problem is that so much of the world is built on a false foundation. We think that man can use the resources at hand and build a better world. If we can just get a better corn seed, we can conquer hunger. If we use the internet the right way, the world will be one. Problem is that man is imperfect and finite. Only God is boundless and forever. Our problems often come because we are looking the wrong way to solve our problems.

The king of Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar, has a dream and it bothers him. It is a dream of a multilayer statue with a golden head and feet of iron and clay. He is troubled and threatens to kill all of his wise men if someone can not tell him the dream and its meaning. Daniel tells him the simple truth. Man is not in control, but there is a God who is in control of the future. “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.” (v.28) It is the God of heaven who is in control of the future. Nebuchadnezzar has been given his success and power by God. The king has thought that success has come because of Him. God wants everyone to know that He is God and He alone is in control.

The kingdom of Babylon will not last forever. The statue in the dream shows that it will be replaced by an inferior kingdom. “The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,” (v.32) The Babylonian kingdom is represented by the golden head. The following kingdoms will each be inferior to the last as they become silver, bronze, iron and clay. While we think of man improving through each age, the statue points to the decline and decay of mankind. Each age will drift further and further from the creator who made it. Each age will figure out new ways to sin and to think that they are in control. As man becomes more self reliant, he will forget God and lose the blessings of a people who depend on God for help and direction.  

The last layer, the feet, will be made of iron and clay which will not remain united. They will be brittle and break into pieces fighting against each other. “And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.”  While iron is strong and durable, the clay is weak and easily crumbles. Many have pointed to the Roman Empire as a nation with strong armies, but a divided people that had a succession of Emperors in the years after Christ. When man relies on himself, he becomes brittle and fails. Policy is based on human opinions and not on God’s truth. Nations have little concern for others, but want wealth and comfort for themselves. Such was the Roman Empire as well as the nations of today. We are divided because we worship self and are not following the Lord.

In the midst of the fourth kingdom, God will create a new kingdom that is not ruled by man. It is the kingdom of the church ruled by Jesus Christ. The kingdom will rise during the time of Rome and will be based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (v.44) While there is so much wrong with the world, there is still something right. The love and truth of the Lord will overcome the selfish world and will last forever. The church is the steward of the gospel and can change lives broken by sin. The people of God can make a difference in the world for they will change things by the power of God.

The emperor of Babylon listened as a Jewish boy explained the mysteries of God and was humbled. All of his power and all the power of his gods were nothing compared to the true God, the God of Daniel. Sadly, he would forget the God and one day praise himself as the creator of all. Yet, the lesson is there for us. If we humble ourselves and give glory to our Lord, we can change the world. Daniel brought God to his nation by speaking the humble truth. It is time for us to speak the truth about our God humbly so that the world will acknowledge our God and all men can live in His peace. We have a choice. As Christians we can live as part of the Kingdom of God which crushes the selfishness of man or we can live as part of the kingdoms that will fail. Man is finite, but God is infinite and His kingdom will endure forever.

• How would you judge the world we live in? Are things going well or are the nations struggling?
• What do you think that the Lord would say to the nations today? How would things be if the world followed His suggestions?