A Dream Come True

Daniel 2

June 25, 2005

Background

A. The first 6 chapters of Daniel have lessons for living this side of Heaven. Jesus said He was preparing a place for a prepared people: that’s us… all who trust in Him. The initial stage of that preparation is a new birth… a new humanity is begun. That makes us no longer at home in this world. These are lessons for people who are no longer of this world but are now strangers and sojourners. “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through…”

a. Chapter 1: Be faithful in spite of the pressures

i. Babylon was the center of world power and domination; a lot of deception and false religions; as secular as it could be; as rebellious a history as any city ever wrote; Babylon: the symbol of all that is wrong with the world (gold, garments, religions)

ii. Daniel’s incredible pressures: loss of his family; loss of his maleness; loss of his name; loss of the Temple; loss of prestige; faced with conform or die. Incredible pressures for a young man and he remained faithful. We need to hear that this kind of life is possible.

b. Chapter 2: God is in control no matter what

c. Chapter 3: Fiery trials work together for good of everyone

B. Purpose Driven Hearts: Purposed in his heart. Trials and temptations will sort for you the real commitments of your heart and reveal what is solid and what is not.

C. The Purpose of Dreams: psychological sometimes spiritual (Heb. 1:1-2)

D. Daniel reminds us of another biblical character who was an exile from home with virtuous in character under stress, who also interpreted a dreams for a king and served in royal Gentile courts: Joseph.

E. The setting: Daniel has been in office for just a short time when the chief executioner was sent to kill him and his friends… indeed all the heads of every department.

I. A Troubling Dream

A. When sleep leaves us

1. eating the wrong thing at dinner

2. Worries about the day

3. Worries about tomorrow:

a. No matter how powerful a person you are, tomorrow can trouble you

b. No matter how much money you have, tomorrow can trouble you

c. Dr. Gerhard Dirk the man credited with developing the basic concept of modern computer memory. He said three things have caused more stress: TV, computers and the atomic bomb

B. An impossible demand: the ungodly response

1. Flattery

2. Negotiation

3. Failure of their resources and a revealing admission v. 11 (“It is a difficult thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”)

C. An impossible demand: the godly response

1. Asked for time to fulfill the request

2. Prayer – not panic or flight or negotiation or checking any human resource… just prayer

a. Group prayer for an answer based on God’s “mercies”

b. Then the thing was revealed to Daniel

c. Then Daniel gave thanks to God and kept giving all credit to God

d. Prayer is an interesting gift we’ve been given. It cannot be legislated out of schools any more than it can be legislated out of the heart of a believer. One of our members everyday walked around her school praying for the needs of that school.

e. Israel needed to hear this message. God was answering prayer! Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple was leveled. The priesthood was scattered and the prophecy of Hosea had come true. “For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.” (3:4) The rest of the prophecy that they would later turn to God has not yet happened but it will.

f. Daniel is the written personal testimony of a man of God telling the story of God’s work in his life.

f. WE need to be reminded of that message: God is answering prayer.

3. Praise – (20-23)

a. It was the right thing to do BUT note that he was under some pressure to produce and he took the time to honor God.

4. Daniel honored the ungodly man over him. He could have ignored protocol and gone around Arioch.

II. The Dream Interpreted

A. Man takes the credit

1. Arioch’s self-serving statement, “I have found a man…”

B. Daniel gives God the credit

1. Daniel could have said a lot of self-serving things here, but he didn’t. His first interest was making sure the king knew the real facts. It isn’t man but God.

2. Daniel delivers more than what was required. He tells the king about what led up to the troubling dream… his thoughts about what is going to happen next… after this… after he dies…

a. The most powerful man on the earth… concerned about the future

b. Where does a person go for security? Every other place will come up woefully lacking except God.

C. Daniel gives the interpretation

1. Head of gold – Babylon associated with gold – note that it was a dazzling site

2. Shoulders and chest of silver – Greece associated with bronze

3. Belly and thighs of iron – Roman (iron fist of Roman peace)

4. Feet and toes of iron and clay – some kingdom of 10 nations related to the old Roman empire

5. Besides the mystery of the various parts, the most attention grabbing part of the dream was the Rock hewn without hands that reduces the statue to dust that blows away and then becomes a mountain that lasts forever.

a. Prophetically this has two fulfillments: (Matt. 3:1-2; Matt. 4:17) John declared that “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Jesus said, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

b. A new ruler had arrived. A new kingdom was started.

c. Ultimately it refers to the time when Jesus will come  and set up His everlasting kingdom referred to in Rev. 17 when the Babylonian like religious system is crushed and the Babylonian commercial system in Rev. 18.

d. Kingdoms rise and fall but God is in control

c. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

D. Note how even the unrighteous are blessed because of the righteous doing what is right.