God’s Display of Power
The King’s Dream
Daniel 2:20-47
Allow me to fill in some of the gaps here. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. He calls on all of the wise men of the kingdom to interpret the dream. He tells them that he will kill them if they cannot. The captain of the guards is about to kill all of the wise men when Daniel sets in and says that he can interpret the dream. They may not have given Daniel a chance, but he had proven himself. Recall 1:20 “And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.”
God Displays His Power Through Throne Placement (Daniel 2:20-23)
God places kings on thrones to establish His glory! Even bad kings can be used to cause people to run to God! Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”
God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to be king for their discipline, and His glory. This is set into motion for our good and His glory!
God Displays His Power Through the Interpretation of Prophecy (Daniel 2:31-45)
What are the empires mentioned in Daniel’s revelation? The most common interpretation by biblical scholars is this:
1 Peter 2:4-8 “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
Hebrews 1:8 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”
Who is the Clay mentioned in verse 43?
Possibly Europe. Why? The Roman empire became weakened by a mixture of conquers. They were divided into ten kingdoms, answering to the ten toes of the image. These ten kingdoms are made up of much of Europe. The old Roman Empire map encompasses today’s Europe. There has been a lot of movement over the past 50 years that have stirred a revisit to the Roman Empire through economic means. The Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (TEEC), is an international agreement that brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best-known of the European Communities (EC). It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany and came into force on 1 January 1958. It remains one of the two most important treaties in the modern-day European Union (EU).
Rev.20:8 “and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.”
In Chapter Seven of Daniel we see a separate vision with another King. Most scholars yet again interpret the four beasts as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
God Displays His Power Through Daniel’s Promotion (Daniel 2:46-49)
God uses people to display His power! Here is a teenager that God used to shape a kingdom. We see the foreshadowing of Jesus all throughout this passage! God is still displaying His power today! I love what David Helm says, “God took a conquered Hebrew prisoner of war, and stood him confidently before the ruler and his own execution- a foretaste of wat Jesus would later do for us, except that he not only faced but endured execution.”