Daniel 2 - Surprising Strength

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Wonderful, wonderful song.

Man, you get a song like that, new members joining the church and being baptized, just

makes you want to skip the sermon and go home, doesn't it?

It does make you want to do that, doesn't it?

Yeah, me too.

Turn with me though to Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

It is needful for us to hear from God's Word.

Last week we began to look at what it's like for God's people to live in Babylon, to be

engaged in a pluralistic culture in such a way that we maintain a singular devotion to

God as His distinctive people.

Last week we saw that it was absolutely essential to have a proper perspective on what's valuable,

to know that God is supremely and eternally valuable above all the treasures of the world.

Today in this next scene we'll see how important it is to have a proper perspective also on strength,

on strength and where it really comes from.

What happens here in chapter 2 is Daniel finds himself in another tense situation in relationship

to a powerful and ungodly king.

Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that troubles him.

He's bothered by it and he demands that the magicians and sorcerers of Babylon tell him not only what it means,

but tell him what the dream actually was.

And his wise men and magicians, some of them come to him and say,

King, we can't do that.

That's not how this works.

You tell us the dream and then we tell you what it means.

And Nebuchadnezzar says, if that's the way it is, all of you will be killed.

He commands the execution of all the wise men in Babylon,

which includes by this point Daniel and his friends.

So the captain of the king's guard comes to Daniel and he comes to execute him with his sword.

Daniel slows him down, calls a prayer meeting,

receives the dream and the interpretation from God,

praises God for that,

and then heads to tell the king what he has learned.

We will come back to look more closely at the parts of the story I just ran through really quickly there.

But all of that happens before we learn the dream and its meaning.

I'll read that part to you from God's word in Daniel 2, beginning in verse 31.

This is Daniel speaking to Nebuchadnezzar.

You saw, O king, and behold, a great image.

This image mighty and of exceeding brightness stood before you and its appearance was frightening.

The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver,

its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

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.

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.

This was the dream.

Now we will tell the king its interpretation.

You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom,

the power, and the might, and the glory,

and into whose hand he has given wherever they dwell the children of man,

the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens,

making you rule over them all, you are the head of gold.

Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you,

and yet a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth.

And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron,

because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things.

And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.

And as you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron,

it shall be a divided kingdom.

But some of the firmness of iron shall be in it,

just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay,

so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.

As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay,

so they will mix with one another in marriage,

but they will not hold together just as iron does not mix with clay.

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.

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.

Thus far God's holy word,

let's pray and ask for his help in understanding it.

Father, it is your word,

and we come as those unfamiliar with dreams and interpretations and prophecies,

but also as those very familiar with the challenges of living in a world

that doesn't share our beliefs,

and sometimes is hostile to our values,

and approaches things different from how you have directed us.

And so we ask for your help that you would teach us

what we need to know in order to live and to love and to serve

where you have placed us.

We believe you have placed us here and called us here.

We believe by your spirit you will give us what we need for that,

and so God, would you do that as we look to you.

It is your word we would wish to hear this morning.

Speak to us by your spirit.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

When I was growing up,

I would occasionally catch part of an episode

of the World's Strongest Man competition on ESPN.

It was one of those things that I sometimes slowed down on,

and one of the names I remember hearing and seeing

was the name Magnus Samuelson.

Magnus Samuelson is pictured here.

Quite a guy, isn't he?

I mean, he actually holds the record

for the most times participating

in the World's Strongest Man finals of this competition.

And of course, his name is Magnus, right?

Great, mighty, and he looks the part.

Magnus won the World's Strongest Man competition

one of those years in 1998.

Pretty impressive guy, don't you think?

Looks pretty strong, especially behind me.

He looks pretty sharp.

But even the year he won,

his strength had limits.

He didn't pull that truck forever.

He didn't hold that log up above his head forever.

However, his strength eventually gave out.

He faced his limits.

He ran out of strength.

In many ways, Nebuchadnezzar was the Magnus Samuelson

of his day, the world's strongest man.

He was the ruler over the glorious kingdom of Babylon,

an ever-expanding kingdom at the time,

full of human learning and accomplishment,

featuring the hanging gardens of Babylon,

one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, right?

An amazing kingdom.

And who's at the top?

Nebuchadnezzar.

He holds the lives of thousands and thousands of people

in his not-so-safe hands.

A very strong, very impressive guy.

But what God is telling Nebuchadnezzar in this dream

is that as impressive as his strength

and the strength of his kingdom is,

it is ultimately very limited.

Like all other human sources of strength,

his kingdom is a false source of strength

and that it won't last.

Daniel is clear in explaining the dream to the king

how outwardly impressive the kingdom of Babylon is.

He makes it very clear.

Look at verse 31 that we read earlier.

It says,

You saw, O king, a great image.

It's a mighty one with exceeding brightness.

It's frightening when you look at,

and the head is of fine gold.

And as you keep reading down to the interpretation,

which, by the way,

how nice is it to have the dream interpreted for you?

I mean, that saves us a lot of trouble

and a lot of speculation.

It's especially nice if you're the preacher.

So the dream comes,

and Nebuchadnezzar is told,

You are the head of gold.

The one that's described as great and mighty

and exceedingly bright.

It's sparkling.

It's dazzling, isn't it?

This statue.

And Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head.

Strong and impressive.

The gold on the statue is the strongest material,

the most glorious, dazzling part of the statue.

Nonetheless, despite these wonderful outward appearances,

it will be destroyed, right?

Isn't that what we read?

Not only will there be other kingdoms that take its place,

but do you remember verse 35, what happens to them?

All of those kingdoms,

the wind carries them away

so that not a trace of them could be found.

When the statue is shattered,

it doesn't just break up.

It disappears.

It's blown away.

There's no trace.

It comes to nothing.

Nebuchadnezzar, you and your kingdom are being put on notice

along with all the other man-made kingdoms of the world.

Your strength might look good,

but it won't last.

This story teaches the same reality in another way.

It's not only human kingdoms that are limited in their strength,

but also human strengths.

This chapter is not only about the meaning of the dream itself,

but we also have this life and death situation

before Daniel even gets to the interpretation of the dream, right?

The king wants to know his dream and what it means.

All the wise men in the nation are failing to be wise enough to do it.

Daniel, though, if you recall from last week,

is just finishing up as valedictorian of Babylon Prep.

He's the guy, right?

Dreams are his thing.

Dreams and visions, we've been told,

that's Daniel's strength, his expertise.

He graduated at the top of his class in those fields.

Certainly, he will know what to do

with Nebuchadnezzar's question, right?

Certainly, this impressive guy, valedictorian Daniel,

will craft a way out of this mess.

Listen to how Daniel responds when it comes to him.

Verse 17.

Daniel went to his house

and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

his companions,

and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven

concerning this mystery.

And then Daniel comes to Nebuchadnezzar later.

Verse 27.

Daniel answered the king and said,

no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers

can show to the king the mystery.

The king has asked,

but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries,

and he's made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be.

But as for me, the wisest guy you've got,

this mystery's revealed to me,

not because of any wisdom I have

more than anyone else alive,

but in order that the interpretation may be made known

to the king.

Here was one of Daniel's strengths,

but he knew he wasn't strong enough or wise enough

to handle it on his own.

We have such a warped sense of strength, don't we?

We are such capable people here in general at Southwood.

Very strong.

Most of the people in the world would look and say,

y'all are successful, capable, strong,

self-made men and women,

able to handle life and lots of things

that would come at you.

And here's the problem.

Every one of us has the natural tendency

to live in our own strength for our own kingdom.

We do.

Every one of us,

especially those of us who are capable and successful.

You want to tell me my strength is limited?

I'll train longer.

I'll work harder.

I'll plan better.

And I'll jump over the next hurdle.

Just wait and see.

Listen, Babylon is child's play.

Around here,

we're working on ruling solar systems, right?

We can handle it.

And in that strength,

we live for our own kingdoms.

It can be an actual nation focused on man's strength.

Or it can be a self-made family or company

or whatever else you think your strength can control.

The kingdom of will, for example,

to tell you what it looks like in my life,

that I'm often seeking to build in my strength,

consists of an always pleasant wife

with three always obedient kids

in an always moral country,

leading an always growing church

that is always delighted when sermons run over 40 minutes.

It's a fictional kingdom,

but it's nice to dream.

These are things I think I can control, right?

Things that I know I so naturally and consistently live for.

How do I know that?

It's because I see how I respond

when I don't get those things.

When those things don't go the way I desire.

The emotions of anger

or anxiety

or fear.

The responses of ratcheting down,

working harder,

this will happen,

or just yelling louder,

you will be that way.

Maybe that's happened in your kingdom before.

But sometimes we look around

and we think we've done a pretty decent job

building our kingdoms.

I'm just like Nebuchadnezzar

in this passage,

thinking I can build a strong and glorious kingdom

where I'll be safe and secure,

supported by my own remarkable strengths,

gifts, abilities, wisdom.

And God's putting me on notice this morning

as He does Nebuchadnezzar

that all the kingdoms of man

will be wiped away,

will come to nothing.

There may be days that I'm impressive to myself

how well I've built my little kingdom,

how in control of it I am,

how things seem to go my way.

And God says,

it's false.

You've been tricked.

It'll be gone in an instant.

It'll disappear.

You know, there's another tendency I have

besides living in my own strength

for my own kingdom.

And that's a tendency to despair

at the end of my own strength.

When my strength runs out to give up entirely,

it would seem reasonable for God's people

at this point in exile, wouldn't it?

They're far away from the promised land,

looking around,

and from all appearances,

God is absent.

Babylon is strong.

There's really no hope.

Put yourself in Daniel's shoes.

He made it through training, right?

I mean, that was nice.

He might not have been expected

to survive that long,

but now the captain of the king's guard

is at his door with a sword

and orders to execute him and his friends.

Certainly, it would be right to give up at this point.

Hope is lost.

At the very least, Daniel, give up on God.

He's obviously not coming through for you.

Following him is not paying off.

Go to your strengths.

You know this stuff.

Come up with a new plan.

Then, right?

At least try to figure your own way

out of this mess.

Where have you said to yourself

or to a friend,

I just can't do it anymore?

Maybe it's a piece of that kingdom

you've been seeking to build

that seems to have no hope.

I've tried everything I know to do

and this marriage is hopeless.

I'm done with it.

Or perhaps because that marriage

did fall apart,

that this family

or this life I have with God is over.

He's never come through

and I just can't wait for him anymore.

Maybe it's a crisis with a child.

I was such a godly parent

and I did everything I was supposed to do

and God never showed up

and did his part.

I give up.

Perhaps it's a professional crisis.

I tried to live for God

in the workplace

and now I'm fired

and I got a bad review.

There's nowhere for me to go.

If this is how God treats

his children who seek to honor him,

then I'm done.

Get me out.

Have you been in one of those low places

where the strength you've been living on

is just gone?

There's nothing left.

You don't even have the heart

to hope God could come through anymore.

That's how it feels sometimes, isn't it?

There doesn't seem to be any evidence

that he's there

and I'm tired of hoping he'll show up.

Here's where God wants to surprise

our very capable,

self-reliant hearts

with the true source of strength.

And I know that part of your being

very capable people

is that you already know

the true source of strength,

don't you?

You're so well educated.

You've been to church before.

You know the true source of strength.

I'm not confused about that.

I do know that we all like to live

in our own strength,

that I'm not the only one

who struggles in my own strength

to build my own kingdom.

So maybe we're missing something.

Perhaps one reason we're missing it

is that the true source of strength

appears at first unimpressive.

This right here is 91-year-old

Svend Steensgaard.

That's Svend.

Svend, just before this picture was taken,

walked about 10 steps across the room.

Not only does Svend Steensgaard

not sound quite like Magnus Samuelsson,

if you had seen Svend walking across the room

twice in 10 steps,

you would have leaned forward

to catch him from falling down.

It appeared he could hardly keep himself up.

Not particularly impressive at first.

But 91-year-old Svend Steensgaard,

while outwardly unimpressive,

is actually quite strong.

Svend, at 91 years old,

deadlifts about 300 pounds.

That's way beyond my limits.

Okay, just to clarify,

that's a lot.

Svend is a strong guy.

Outwardly unimpressive, perhaps,

but amazing strength

in a place you didn't expect to find it.

God shows us the source of true strength

again in this passage,

both in the events taking place

and in the dream itself.

First, notice the divine strength

that Daniel appeals to in his crisis.

Even the pagan magicians know

this situation is beyond human strength.

And in verse 11, they say,

King, the thing you're asking is difficult.

No one can show it to the king

except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.

Daniel's not pretending to be wiser than they are.

He agrees.

Daniel goes, they come to him for an answer,

and he gets his friends and says,

Seek mercy from the God of heaven.

That's the only place that an answer could come from.

Here's what I mean by being unimpressive.

The armies of the nation of Babylon

are coming to kill you.

And Daniel's response is,

Hey, could we hold on a sec?

I need to have a prayer meeting.

There will be four of us in attendance

at the prayer meeting

before you decide to kill us.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, right?

Not real impressive.

Seriously, Daniel,

you're the valedictorian of the wise men.

Come up with a real plan, right?

What?

And Daniel says,

Oh, yes, that's right.

A real plan.

Huddle up.

Here's the plan.

Seek mercy from the God of heaven.

Hmm.

To our warped sense of strength,

this makes no sense.

We chuckle.

And we're people who've sat in church,

and we know that praying

is supposed to be a good thing,

but seriously,

the captain of the king's guard

is at the door with a sword.

Well, after God comes through

and reveals the dream

and its meaning to Daniel,

Daniel prays again,

and here we get in his prayer

the heart of what this passage

teaches us about God.

This is a beautiful prayer.

Daniel says,

Blessed be the name of God

forever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might.

He changes times and seasons.

He removes kings and sets up kings.

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those

who have understanding.

He reveals deep and hidden things.

He knows what is in the darkness

and the light dwells with him.

To you, O God of my fathers,

I give thanks and praise,

for you have given me wisdom and might

and have now made known to me

what we asked of you,

for you've made known to us

the king's matter.

Be so encouraged by this,

by who God is.

The point of the prayer

is that God has true strength

and wisdom.

Notice all the particular ways

this can comfort us

as Daniel gets specific.

It is God who removes

and sets up kings.

He's in charge of the nations, right?

Including ours.

He makes those who trust him wise.

He will direct you

in difficult situations

when you look to him.

He even knows

what is in the darkness.

The things you can't understand

and don't know

that are going on.

When life makes no sense to you,

he gets that too.

He's in control of it.

But it's not just that God's strength

is the one we should trust

instead of human strengths.

It's also true that only a divine kingdom

will stand forever.

Back to the king's dream.

In the midst of these impressive metals

that are making up this statue,

enter a rock.

A stone cut out by no human hand

that strikes the statue

and breaks the whole thing into pieces.

End of verse 35.

But the stone that struck the image

became a great mountain

and filled the whole earth.

And in the days of those kings,

the ones who've built their human kingdoms,

the God of heaven will set up a kingdom

that shall never be destroyed.

Nor shall the kingdom be left

to another people.

It'll break into pieces

all these kingdoms

and it will stand forever

just like that stone cut

from the mountain

by no human hand

grew and stood forever.

A small piece of rock

whose origin is what really mattered.

That it was not man-made,

but divine.

Not from a human hand.

The kingdom that destroys the others

will not be passed

to another group of people.

It will be divine

and will last.

And the little stone

will become a great mountain

and the mountain will expand

to fill the entire earth.

Of the increase of His government

and of peace,

there will be no end.

Unlimited strength.

Incredible might.

An unending kingdom.

The stone, of course,

is Jesus

who after the Babylonian Empire,

the head of gold,

the Medo-Persian Empire

that comes next,

the Greek Empire

under Alexander the Great,

and then in the midst

of the Roman Empire

where the iron and clay

down at the legs and feet,

in the midst of that Roman Empire,

Jesus shows up

in an unimpressive manner,

doesn't He?

Outwardly,

very unimpressive,

little beauty or majesty

that would attract us to Him,

Isaiah tells us.

With a ragtag group of fishermen

and other Jews

in the midst of the mighty Roman Empire

and in the midst of apparent weakness,

He displays immeasurable strength

that changed the world forever.

In Luke 20,

Jesus refers to Himself

as that stone

that crushes those

on whom it falls.

The unimpressive stone

that hits the clay feet

of the impressive statue

and causes human kingdoms

to crumble.

In a passage discussing

the cross of Jesus,

Paul explains,

1 Corinthians 1,

the surprising strength

of God.

That Jesus,

the one seemingly weak

and hung on a cross,

is actually the power of God

and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1,

25,

the foolishness of God

is wiser than human wisdom

and the weakness of God

is stronger than human strength.

Jesus,

in many ways,

the weakness of God,

the cross is foolishness.

Jesus,

Jesus first is stronger

than man's strength

in crushing human kingdoms

and then becomes a mountain

that in its magnificence

and might

fills the entire earth

with His kingdom

that never ends.

So what?

So what for us?

Listen,

so we too find

our true strength

in our own weakness.

as Paul says

in 2 Corinthians 12,

admitting our own weakness

turns us to Christ's strength.

The power of God

rests on me

so that when I am weak,

then I am strong.

That's just the way

our Heavenly Father is.

He loves to be strong

for His people.

So not only is He

immeasurably strong,

which is nice to know

theoretically,

but God's unlimited strength

is especially

for weak people like me.

Kids,

you can write that down

in your bulletin.

It's not just kids

that Jesus loves me

is for,

that we are weak

but He is strong.

That's for all of us

who know ourselves

as little,

who are weak

so that He

is strong.

That's the point

of the gospel,

isn't it?

None of us

very capable adults

is any more capable

of working our way

to God,

of standing for God

before pagan rulers,

of having faith

when faced

with persecution.

See,

it's vital

that we admit

our weakness

in the hardest times.

At the times

it seems most dangerous

to acknowledge weakness.

When we're tempted

as Daniel

must have been

to think

the solution here

is to assert

our strength,

then especially

we must cry

to God

for mercy.

When Daniel

opts to admit

his need

and cry for mercy,

God answers

and it gives Daniel

the opportunity

to point others

to God's strength

as he does

in verse 30

with Nebuchadnezzar.

Because he's willing

to admit

that he's not stronger

or wiser

than any other man,

he's able to say

there's a God

in heaven

who is

and he gets

to testify

to the world's

strongest man

that there's

someone stronger

than he is.

Y'all,

when we pretend

that we are

the strong ones,

our friends

and neighbors

are offered

the hope

merely of being

more like us.

When we admit

we are weak,

our friends

and neighbors

are offered

the comfort

of us being

like them

and the hope

of one strong

enough

for all of us.

Isn't that so much better?

Isn't that

what we've been called

to point people

to one strong enough

for all of us

to depend on?

Here's the rub for us.

Do we actually

practically

believe this?

Really,

ask yourself.

I've told you

very little new

this morning

and you may

nod your head

today

but honestly

will you

bow your head

and cry out

to God

tomorrow

the next time

you're in a tight

spot?

We really struggle

here,

don't we?

I know I do.

This week

I really wanted

to preach

a good sermon

and I had a little

bit smaller

window of time

than usual

for a variety

of reasons

so I thought

to myself,

you know,

I kind of

have a general

idea of what

the sermon's about.

It's about our

weakness

and God's

strength

and the value

of prayer

so I know

exactly

how to get

this sermon

ready.

This is one

of the things

I do.

I do sermons.

I did what?

Cracked the study

Bible,

spread out the

commentaries,

dove in,

got to work

fast.

Right there

in the middle

of it I get

to Daniel

turning to God

in prayer

and I think

that's important

I should tell

people to do

that.

I'm going to

prepare skillfully

and efficiently

to tell everyone

to rely on God.

Stop depending

on their own

strength and

trust God.

That's what I'm

going to do.

That happened.

It's not just

a sermon

illustration.

I was reading

about Daniel

turning immediately

to prayer

but I sure

wasn't.

I more naturally

trust my own

human strengths.

I give lip

service to

prayer but

often my lips

don't actually

pray.

I decided

this week

that probably

if a pastor

forgets that

when it's

staring him

in the face

and he's

writing a sermon

about it

I suspect

life gets

going fast

and engineers

forget

when they're

hard pressed

at work.

I suspect

moms forget

when their

family seems

to be

falling apart.

I suspect

Christians forget

when their

friends are

hurting and

they're more

comfortable

offering human

solutions to

them than a

divine savior.

We're quicker

to give advice

than admit we

need to cry

out for help

and we know

the one who's

strong to save.

Haven't you

been there?

Don't you feel

that in your

own heart?

In a pluralistic

culture that

preaches

independence

you could

easily be

like every

other voice

around.

That's the

world we

live in.

You can do

it.

I'm going to

encourage you.

You're strong

enough.

God's people

should be

marked

distinctively

by our

dependence

and prayer.

Here's the

reality we

have to face

today.

We are

God's

children.

We have

a direct

line to

the one

who rules

over the

kingdoms

of the

world,

who removes

and sets

up kings

and we

don't pray.

We fret

and read

political

analysis

instead.

We talk

about

passionately

wanting God's

kingdom to

advance in the

world and

wanting to be a

part of that

ourselves,

but we're so

self-reliant

that we don't

pray.

We don't

pray to the

one who has

promised to

turn a small

stone into a

mountain that

fills the whole

earth.

We must

repent this

morning of our

warped sense

of strength,

that we would

turn to

ourselves before

turning to

God.

Where are you

longing this

morning to

see God's

kingdom come,

but it feels

hopeless or

unreasonable?

Get four

weak,

desperate people

pleading to a

strong God.

Cry out to

Him and watch

what He does.

Do you believe

that's who He is

or does that

still sound

silly?

Are you

willing this

morning to

lay hold of

Him and say,

I believe He's

like that,

that He delights

to show Himself

to be strong

for you

and to make

His kingdom

into that

massive mountain

that you can

stand firm

on.

May we hope

in no other

kingdom and no

other strength

than the one

that will fill

the earth

forever.

Let's pray.

Father, we

confess that

we like the

feeling a lot

more of

thinking we

can handle

it.

For a while

at least it

makes us feel

better.

We confess

we're quick to

give up on

You and to

think there's a

better shot

with our own

methods than

with crying

out to You.

We think we

could fix

something and

You probably

wouldn't care

to.

Father, give us

eyes to see

how strong

You are,

how magnificent

Your kingdom

is,

to know

the love

of a Father

that is strong

for us,

who delights

to care for

His children.

children,

and as we

see You

like that,

might we

indeed cry

out to You

more often.

Might our

hearts become

increasingly

dependent on

You.

Do that work

in our hearts,

not just for

our sakes,

not just so

we'll be better

people,

but so that

Your kingdom

will be made

great,

and many will

know of the

greatness of

Your name.

We ask it in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.