Of Kings and Kingdoms

How do you survive and thrive while living in Babylon? (Represents opposition to God). Think about our situation. Do we live in a land that is opposed to the Lord? How do we navigate life in a land that is opposed to the Lord.

Daniel spent the entire 70-year exile in Babylon. Once Daniel left Jerusalem as a young man, he never returned. He lived, he served, he grew old, and he died in Babylon.

How did he do it?

He knew that God was sovereign over everything. That fact shaped how he lived.

We see in chapter 2 Daniel living in peace and honesty and humility.

“God’s ultimate victory over the powers and authorities of this present evil is sure, so the wise will be faithful to the Lord in the meantime, whatever pressures are brought to bear upon them.”

If we are confident that God’s purposes and plans will stand, then we should have all the confidence we need to live in and to reflect the character of the Lord.

• Isa 46:8-10 (ESV) “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, [9] remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, [10] declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

• Isa 42:9 (ESV) Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

• Isa 43:13 (ESV) Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

• Psa 33:11 (ESV) The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

• Psa 135:6 (ESV) Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

• Pro 19:21 (ESV) Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

• Pro 21:30 (ESV) No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

• Dan 2:45 (ESV) just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

• God as King shapes my character.
• Dan 2:24-30 (ESV) Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” [25] Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” [26] The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” [27] Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, [28] but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: [29] To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. [30] But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
• A life of peace.
• A life of honesty.
• A life of humility.
• A life of praise.
• A life of wisdom.
• A life of purpose.

• God as King means all earthly kingdoms will expire.
• Dan 2:31-35 (ESV) “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. [32] The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, [33] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34] As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. [35] Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
• Psa 1:4-6 (ESV) The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. [5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; [6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
• Psa 2:8-12 (ESV) Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. [9] You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” [10] Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. [11] Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
• Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome?
• Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece?
• We get hung up on the details and trying to figure out the details. We will look at and try to analyze the details of Daniel’s visions, but we first need to make sure that we try to understand the vision’s the way they first saw them. All Nebuchadnezzar was given was he was the first kingdom and there would be earthly kingdoms after his (three that God describes) before the final glorious kingdom of the God of heaven.
• The kingdoms are pictured as a unit. Representing all the kingdoms of the world that will fall to the glory of the Lord.

• God as King means an eternal kingdom is coming.
• Dan 2:44 (ESV) And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
• The stone is Jesus!
• Psa 118:22-23 (ESV) The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. [23] This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
• Luk 20:18 (ESV) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
• We will see from Daniel 7 that the vision in Daniel 2 is reference to a messianic kingdom.
• A divine kingdom.
• A powerful kingdom.
• A glorious kingdom.
• An all-encompassing kingdom.
• An invincible kingdom.
• An eternal kingdom.
• Hab 2:14 (ESV) For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
• Heb 13:14 (ESV) For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
• Don’t simply hang on and wait for the end. Believe in the God of heaven and work till the end.