There is a God in Heaven

Well, please do take a seat. We're in the book of Daniel again, and if you just take your Bibles and open them again, I'll carry on where Charlie finished.

Thank you so much, Charlie, for saving me to read 49 verses all by myself and everyone here from falling asleep as I do so.

So verse 19 of Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.

Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said, Praise be to the name of God forever and ever.

Wisdom and power are his.

He changes times and seasons. He deposes kings and raises up others.

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him.

I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors.

You have given me wisdom and power. You have made known to me what we asked of you.

You have made known to us the dream of the king.

Then Daniel went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him,

Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.

Ariok took Daniel to the king at once and said,

I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.

The king asked Daniel, also called Belteshazzar,

Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?

Daniel replied, No wise men, enchanter, magician or diviner,

can explain to the king the mystery he is asked about.

But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.

He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.

Your dream and the visions that pass through your mind as you were lying in bed are these.

As your majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come,

and the revealer of mystery showed you what is going to happen.

As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me,

not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive,

but so that your majesty may know the interpretation,

and that you may understand what went through your mind.

Your majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue,

an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.

The head of the statue was made of pure gold,

its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,

its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.

It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces

and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer.

The wind swept them away without leaving a trace,

but the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.

Your majesty, you are the king of kings.

The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory.

In your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky.

Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them.

Oh, you are the head of gold.

After you, another kingdom will arise inferior to yours.

Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.

Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, for iron breaks and smashes everything.

And as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.

Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron,

so this will be a divided kingdom.

Yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.

As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.

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.

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.

This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands,

a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.

The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.

The king said to Daniel, surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries,

for you were able to reveal this mystery.

Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him.

He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all his wise men.

Moreover, at Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chief ministers over the province of Babylon,

while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Let's pray.

Father God, we read in this passage that you're the revealer of mysteries.

Father, you're the God who makes plain what otherwise we could not see.

So we invite you now to come by your spirit to make this word alive,

to speak to us, to inform us more of yourself,

that we might leave here trusting wholeheartedly in him,

your son, the glorious one who will reign forever.

So bless us and help us, we pray in his glorious name.

Amen.

So we're in Daniel chapter 2 and we call this,

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

there is a God in heaven.

And I wonder what would be different if you knew the future?

What would be different if you knew the future,

if you knew perhaps exactly what would happen next month or next year?

Well, I dare say if we knew the future,

lots of us might have put money on Leicester City

and could have a lovely summer holiday with our winnings.

We would make shrewder investments,

better and more confident choices.

We would know which hires and advanced hires to take,

which university courses to pursue.

We would know who to marry,

where to buy a house and which fashions to adopt to stay on point.

We would know whether to Brexit or not.

We would be confident whether Nicola and her SNP

were the people to lead us for the next five years.

Knowing the future would alleviate all risk.

We wouldn't be gambling on what is to happen.

Many people here, actually,

their job involves predicting what the future will look like.

So we have economists who are trying to predict

whether things will go up or things will go down.

We have people here who are writing government policy

to future-proof Scotland and to improve society.

We even have actuaries who work crunching data

to work out risk,

whether you're a person for whom the insurance company,

the pension company will win

and the insurance company will win.

Knowing the future would enable us to make informed decisions.

Even in our modern scientific world,

people will try anything to get the inside track on the future.

I read this week that 25% of Britons regularly read horoscopes.

And of that, 8%,

the horoscope informs the decisions that they make.

There is a booming industry in psychics and mystics and tarot reading

and crystals and fortune-telling.

For example, this guy, Jonathan Kaner,

who actually died on Tuesday.

He was the UK's leading astrologer,

earning £4 million a year,

predicting people's horoscopes

and what their futures would hold.

We even consult people like Paul the Octopus

to try and predict the scores.

I thought Paul the Octopus might get a chip

because he's obviously predicting England would lose.

And I thought that might appeal to some of you.

As well as Paul the Octopus,

we have Flopsy the kangaroo,

Shaheen the camel,

Madame Shiva the guinea pig,

and Big Head the sea turtle,

all claiming psychic ability

in predicting future sporting results.

Well, our fascination with the future is nothing new.

And in fact, is the very subject of Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

And so the big theme of Daniel chapter 2 is this.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

God is the revealer of mystery,

the conductor of history,

and the founder of eternity.

As repetition is the mother of education,

perhaps we could all say that together,

God is...

You need to join in properly.

So half-hearted this morning.

God is the revealer of mystery,

the conductor of history,

the founder of eternity.

That's what we see here.

And the first thing we see in our Daniel chapter 2

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

is that there is a restless ruler.

Verse 1,

Nebuchadnezzar wakes up in a sweat

because for another night running,

he's been woken up by the strangest dream.

This king is the mightiest king

of the ruling nation of the earth.

And yet he cannot capture a good night's sleep.

He's plagued by this weird dream.

And so verse 2,

he summons the department of futurology

from the University of Babylon.

He calls in the magicians,

the divination experts,

the enchanters,

the sorcerers,

and the astrologers.

These people are massively experienced.

They'd be the highest earners in Babylon.

They had consulted Nebuchadnezzar in the past

on where to invade,

and when to invade,

and what to build,

and what to do.

They are the people,

he thinks,

to decode this vexing vision.

However,

when they appear before Nebuchadnezzar,

Nebuchadnezzar's moved the goalposts.

Because they say,

tell us your dream

and we'll give you the interpretation.

And Nebuchadnezzar says,

no,

you tell me the dream

and give me the interpretation.

If you've really got a direct line to the gods,

then telling me what I dreamt

should not be too difficult for you.

And he says,

there's a carrot and a stick.

If you get it wrong,

I will kill you

and reduce your household to rubble.

If you get it right,

there'll be gifts

and honor

and a place

at the king's table.

Whatever you say

about Nebuchadnezzar,

you cannot accuse him

of being half-hearted.

He's an all-or-nothing

kind of guy.

Verse 7,

the gathered professionals

try to pull a fast one.

Tell us the dream

and we'll give you the interpretation.

And Nebuchadnezzar says,

no,

you tell me the dream

and give me

the interpretation.

And it seems that the carrot

is quickly gone

and all that's left

is the stick.

Well, verse 10,

the astrologers come clean.

There is no one on earth

who can do what the king asks.

No king,

however great and mighty as ever,

are such a thing

of any magician

or enchanter

or astrologer.

What the king asks

is too difficult.

No one can reveal it

to the king

except the gods

and they do not live

among humans.

They've kind of been rumbled.

They've been saying,

Nebuchadnezzar,

if you want to know

the future,

we're the guys.

And now,

they say,

actually,

we've kind of been

making it up

all along.

Well,

Nebuchadnezzar

has heard enough,

shaking with rage,

almost like someone

who hasn't got enough sleep

over the past few weeks.

he flies off the handle

and says,

all the wise people

are going to die.

We're going to enact genocide.

And if you claim

to have special knowledge

from the gods,

you're obviously lying.

You're obviously leading me

up the golden path

and I'll have your head.

And just to heighten

the tension,

verse 13,

we realize that Daniel

and his friends,

who are still training

at the Babylon University,

their names

are on the execution warrant.

Verse 14 is intriguing.

We hear of this guy,

Ariok,

who is the one

who's told,

you've got to carry out

the execution.

And so what does Daniel do?

He goes to find

the executioner.

That's weird.

It's like turkeys

voting for Christmas.

He'd be the last person

you'd want to go and see

as the guy with the hood on

and the axe in his hand.

And Daniel spoke to him

with wisdom and tact.

Well, if ever you're

going to be polite,

it's going to be to the guy

who's likely to chop off

your head.

Yet again,

continuing the pattern

established in Daniel 1.

Daniel says,

I'll interpret the dream

before he knows

what the dream is about.

Do you see that?

Verse 16.

At this time,

Daniel went into the king

and asked for an appointment

so that he might interpret

the dream for him.

Daniel's just heard

what the problem is.

He doesn't know

what the solution is.

He's saying,

God,

I need you to intervene

in this situation

or else we're all

going to be dead.

And the timescale

is not a 10-day experiment

concerning their stomachs.

It is a one-day stay

of execution

to stop their necks

being sliced.

Brave on two counts.

God, you need to intervene.

God, you need to give us wisdom.

So Daniel goes home

to his small group.

He gathers his friends

and he says,

we need to pray.

This prayer meeting

is actually a matter

of life and death.

That if God doesn't intervene,

we will not see tomorrow night.

But Daniel also

is a staunch monotheist.

He knows Isaiah.

These are some of his

favorite scriptures.

Isaiah 43.

Bring out the people

who have eyes

but are blind,

who have ears

but are deaf.

Gather the nations

together.

Assemble the people

of the world.

Which of the idols

has ever foretold

the future?

Which could predict

what will happen tomorrow?

Where are the witnesses

of such predictions

who can verify

that they spoke the truth?

A little later

in Isaiah 46,

particularly addressing

the gods of Babylon.

Remember the things

I have done in the past

for I alone am God.

I am God

and there is none like me.

Only I can tell you

the future

before it even happens.

Everything I plan

will come to pass

for I do

whatever I wish.

Daniel knows his God

and he has confidence

in his God

that if this dream

is really from God

then it is his God

who will be able

to interpret it.

If Nebuchadnezzar

really did have a dream

from God

then it is only

Daniel's God

he will be able

to reveal it

and interpret it.

And so isn't that

a lesson for us

that the more we know

about God

the more we will

depend on him

the more we'll

trust him

the more we'll say

God I don't understand

but I need your

wisdom

I need your

help

I need you to

guide me through this

because left to

my own foolishness

it will only go bad.

Daniel's knowledge

of God

gives him confidence

in God's presence

and help

in this situation.

After a restless ruler

we see a prayerful

plea.

Daniel gathers

his small group

he explains

the situation

if we're

unsuccessful

we're dead.

Verse 19

during the night

the mystery

was revealed

to Daniel

in a vision.

Suddenly

the tension

that's been building

since Daniel

Daniel 2:5

2 verse 5

has suddenly

been lifted.

This great mystery

that plagued

the king

that caused him

to fly into

a genocidal rage

has a chance

of being stayed

and not being

enacted.

And so

wouldn't you

do what

Daniel did

in verse 20

he praises

the God

of heaven.

Praise be

to the name

of God

forever and ever

wisdom

and power

are his.

He changes

times and seasons

he deposes

kings and raises

up others.

He gives

wisdom

to the wise

and knowledge

to the discerning.

A prayer

about the

sovereignty

of God

the wisdom

of God

the power

of God

the mercy

of God

the grace

of God

the fact

that their

God intervenes

in history

he doesn't

just wind it

up and retreat

to the edge

of the universe

to look on

but he's

involved

and he cares.

For Daniel's

first readers

this would be

very encouraging

the people

reading this

in exile

the people

whose whole

lives have

been spent

under the

heel of a

foreign oppressor

and to

hear that

it is

their

God

who

deposes

kings

and raises

them up

gives them

great hope

that it

won't always

be like

this

that this

is in

the end

they won't

be Babylon

captives

forever and

ever

but the

standing

behind the

despotic

Nebuchadnezzar

is the

God of

the universe

who governs

everything

according to

his sovereign

will in

accordance with

his sovereign

plan

the God

who gives

wisdom

to the

wise

the God

who is

ready to

give us

help

knowledge

in order

that we

might live

skillfully

in the

world

Daniel

and his

friends

pray

earnestly

for

wisdom

and living

in our

confusing

world

in our

world

that has

become

unanchored

from

faith

in the

God

of the

Bible

the one

thing we

need

above

everything

is

wisdom

how to

live

skillfully

in this

world

if you

look at

the 25

extended

prayers

of Paul

in the

epistles

16

of those

prayers

involve

would you

give us

wisdom

and

knowledge

would you

be with

us

and guide

us

as we

get through

this

confusing

situation

what we'll

see as we

go on in

Daniel

the two

things that

mark his

life

are wisdom

and holiness

he lives

skillfully

and he lives

differently

and what

starts out

in chapter

one as a

bit of

assimilation

will by the

end become

total

persecution

meaning that

he has to

go into

the lion's

den

because his

life is

marked by

wisdom

and holiness

I love

verse 25

made me

smile all

week

Ariok took

Daniel to

the king

at once

and said

I have

found a

man

among the

exiles

he did

not find

Daniel

Daniel

found him

but he

would like

a little

slice of

the pie

if blessing

is going

to be

distributed

well the

next 23

verses of

Daniel

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

involve this

vision and

what it

means

and so

what we

see is a

fragile

future

Daniel is

very clear

that in

stark contrast

to the

failed

futurology

department

his wisdom

and revelation

does not

originate in

himself

it's not

because he's

better or

wiser

it's because

the God

who is

all wise

has given

him

understanding

Daniel

then describes

what Nebuchadnezzar

had dreamt

he speaks

of this

colossal

dazzling

statue

made of

five different

materials

from head

to foot

then in

graphic detail

describes

the rock

cut out

not by

human hands

that rolls

and strikes

the statue

smashing it

reducing it

to powder

that is then

blown in the

wind

like on a

threshing

floor

this rock

is then

the only

thing left

and it

grows into

a giant

mountain

no wonder

it's a

troubling

dream

today

Nebuchadnezzar

would be

told to

stop

snacking

on cheese

before

bedtime

but there's

something way

more in

this

from

verses

36 to

45

Daniel

then

interprets

the dream

Nebuchadnezzar

would have

loved hearing

the first

part

a description

of Nebuchadnezzar's

dominion

and power

all topped

off by the

declaration

Nebuchadnezzar

you're the

golden head

who wouldn't

like to hear

that

you have

the pinnacle

and most

precious kingdom

Nebuchadnezzar

is loving

Daniel

but verse

39 would be

scary to

declare

to a

despotic

ruler

after you

Babylon

won't last

forever

it would have

been hard

to fathom

if you were

on the

streets of

Babylon

in this

great

civilization

with its

impenetrable

walls and

enormous

skyscrapers

if you were a

Babylonian citizen

you would think

we're here to

stay

but Daniel

is quite clear

after you

after you

another kingdom

will come

this time of

silver

slightly less

precious

and after that

will come another

kingdom

this one of

bronze

and then one of

steel that will

be

really hard

and will crush

everything in its

wake

then that kingdom

will be split

apart

in this kingdom

made of clay

and iron

lots and lots

of ink is built

trying to interpret

which kingdom

is which

the general

consensus is

that Babylon

is gold

I guess we

know that

after that

Medo-Persia

is silver

Greece under

Alexander the Great

is the bronze

belly and thighs

and the iron

legs are

Rome

however the

vision is not

primarily about

specificity

but wisdom

knowledge and

revelation

challenging

Nebuchadnezzar's

view of his

Babylonian gods

that they're just

making it up

as they go along

they're writing

history as it

goes along

they're literally

playing dice

Daniel says

no outside of

creation

there is an

omnipotent

omniscient

God

a God who

is conducting

intervening

and unveiling

history under

his sovereign

control

according to

his sovereign

will

Nebuchadnezzar

is now

confronted

with the

real

God

and the

only

God

verse 45

the great

God has

shown the

king what

will take

place in

the future

the dream

is true

and its

interpretation

is trustworthy

because the

God who gave

it now

gives the

interpretation

well Daniel

has won the

jackpot

verse 46

Nebuchadnezzar

the most

powerful man

in the world

falls down

before him

and paid

him honour

and ordered

him

that an

offering and

incense be

presented to

him

the declaration

from the

king

the king

whose chief

god was

Marduk

the chief

of the

Babylonian

pantheon

and Nebuchadnezzar

says surely

your God is

the God of

gods and

the Lord of

kings and

a revealer of

mysteries for

you were able

to reveal

this mystery

what a

declaration from

a pagan

king as

one who

lives a

holy and

wise life

helps him

in his

hour of

need

Daniel gets

promoted

lavish with

gifts

everyone in

his small

groups get

a bump

in pay

and a bump

in status

as well

and a death

sentence

has been

replaced by

promotion to

high ranking

diplomats

looking back

to what

Daniel saw

we now see

with great

clarity

the end

of the

vision

the Lord

Jesus would

identify himself

clearly in

geological

terms

he would

refer to

himself again

and again

as a rock

as a stone

a stone

not made

by human

hands

that destroys

and supersedes

all earthly

kingdoms that

have gone

before

he would

say in

Matthew 21

have you

never read

in the

scriptures

the stone

the builders

rejected

has become

the corner

stone

the Lord

has done

this

and it

is marvelous

in our

eyes

therefore I

tell you

that the

kingdom of

God

will be

taken away

from you

and given

to a

people

who will

produce

its fruit

anyone

who falls

on this

stone

will be

broken

to pieces

anyone

on whom

it falls

will be

crushed

it is

the kingdom

of this

Jesus

that will

eventually

supersede

and dominate

all

other

kingdoms

it is

as Jesus

describes

in the

peril of

the mustard

seed

something

that starts

small

but in

the end

will grow

and dominate

just as

Daniel

encouraged

exiles in

Babylon

that this

wasn't the

end of

the story

so Jesus

himself

encourages

us

fear not

little

flock

for it

is your

father's

good pleasure

to give

you the

kingdom

a great

truth

that earthly

kingdoms

will rise

and fall

there'll be

Nebuchadnezzar's

and Alexander

the greats

and Caesar's

that will

come and

go

but in

the end

there will

be one

who rules

and rules

absolutely

over absolutely

everything

for absolutely

ever

and his

name will

be Jesus

the one

who identifies

himself as

the stone

not cut

out by

human hands

so the

big theme

of Daniel

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

is

that God

is the

revealer of

mystery

the conductor

of history

and the

founder

of eternity

and so

what can we

take away

well the

truth is

that we

can trust

this God

this God

who was in

control

is still

in control

he hasn't

taken a

backward

step

he hasn't

moved to

a hammock

to wear

slippers

he is still

the alpha

and the omega

the beginning

and the end

he has

history

under his

control

if he says

I've got

eternity

worked out

then I

think we

can trust

him with

tomorrow

if we

know this

God

then the

sleepless

night that

plagues

Nebuchadnezzar

need not

be our

experience

that as

we lie

down to

sleep

our God

is in

control

and when

the alarm

clock goes

off that's

just his

message to

us saying

I had it

all sorted

even when

you were

asleep

and so

whatever's

worrying

us

whatever

we're

anxious

about

know that

this

God

is in

control

and he's

able to

give us

wisdom

to get

through

secondly

I think

it gives

us great

hope

that if

there's one

thing we

see in

this passage

it is that

it won't

always be

like this

so whatever

you're struggling

with

illness

stress

bereavement

strife

injustice

anguish

infirmity

then know

that this

God

in the

end will

bring a

kingdom

where none

of those

things are

present

and that

gives us

great hope

as we

suffer now

knowing that

we'll be

with him

then in

a kingdom

that will

never be

destroyed

where the

righteous

judge of

all the

earth

worships

rightly

and where

the prince

of peace

is in

absolute

control

and ushers

in his

kingdom

of peace

and thirdly

we see

some urgency

what

Nebuchadnezzar

saw Daniel

confirmed

and Jesus

fulfilled

that in

the end

there will

be one

kingdom

and the

only thing

that will

remain

are citizens

of that

kingdom

with this

king

Jesus

there is

nothing

more important

than being

a citizen

of this

kingdom

because

everything

else

will be

destroyed

and blow

away in

the wind

like dust

and therefore

we all have

a choice

we can

either

build our

lives on

this rock

the Lord

Jesus

or we can

stumble over

him and be

crushed by

him in

the end

to be on

God's

mountain

forever

with God

and with

all his

people

there is no

greater joy

and what

we know

in this

life is

just the

national

anthem

before the

kickoff

of eternal

life

don't be

left out

don't be

absolutely

nailed by

this rock

as Jesus

inaugurates his

kingdom forever

and so our

God is the

revealer of

mystery the

conductor of

history and

the founder of

eternity

shelly

percy the

great english

poet wrote

a poem

i met a

traveler from

an antique

land who

said two

vast and

trunkless legs

of stone

stand in

the desert

near them

on the

sand

half sunk

a shattered

visage lies

whose frown

and wrinkled

lip a sneer

of cold

command

tell that

it's

sculpture

sculptor

well those

passions

read

which yet

survive

stamped on

these

lifeless

things

the hand

that mocked

them and

the heart

that fed

and on

the pedestal

these words

appear

my name

is

Ozymandias

king of

kings

look on

my works

ye mighty

and despair

nothing

beside

remains

round the

decay of

that colossal

wreck

boundless

and bare

the lone

and level

sands

stretch far

away

a monument

to a bygone

time

where this

guy

Ozymandias

thought that

he was

the lord

of all

he surveyed

and yet

later on

a traveller

comes and

all that's

left is

this broken

statue

let's be

clear

whatever

pedestal

we're

building

our lives

on

or whatever

statue

we're making

for ourselves

unless our

lives are

linked to

this Jesus

it will just

be a monument

in the sand

that people

mock

and ridicule

in the end

let's pray

together

father we

praise you

because you're

the god

forever and

ever

who has a

complete monopoly

on wisdom

and power

father you

change times

and seasons

you depose

kings and you

raise others

up

and so lord

we pray you

give wisdom

to those who

are wise

and knowledge

to those who

are discerning

father you

would continue

to reveal deep

and hidden

things about

your son

thank you

that you

know what

lies in

darkness

and thank

you that

light dwells

with you

father thank

you that

that ultimate

light has

shone in

the person

of your

son and

so lord

may we

live our

lives in

that light

and you

might be

glorified in

us and

through us

as we

live lives

of wisdom

and holiness

in response

to your

grace

bless us

we pray

in Jesus

name

amen

ah