“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others…”
Daniel 2: 20b-21a NIV
Faith Baptist Church
The Rise and Fall of Kingdoms
You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You. You You. You. You. You. Good morning, church. Good morning. Good morning. to be together again. I hope you're doing well. What a blessing to be able to worship together. What a means of God's grace in our week. So thankful for that. I hope you feel that too. I hope that the scripture today is a means of God's grace in your life to give you encouragement for what is on your plate this week. So to that end, let's pray. Lord, we are thankful to be together. We're thankful that as brothers and sisters, we can point one another to Christ. Lord, that we might magnify your name together. So lead our hearts, Lord, to know you greater in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I've been thinking this week about what lasts forever. Not a lot, right? Not a lot. There's an expiration tag on most things. I'll share with you from Family Feud. They have the top six list in the survey of things that expire. I'll share with you in reverse order. So I'll end with the top answer. So things that expire, credit cards, coupons, driver's licenses, parking meters, meet. What do you think the top one is? You got it. You should be on Family Feud. It was another one from Family Feud. This one was things that don't last or things that don't last long enough. In reverse order, it was sleep. The weekend, maybe you're feeling that already. Vacation. I think we felt that over summer, didn't we, kids? Summer went by a little too fast, didn't it? Money, food, and I don't think you're going to guess the top one. This one's actually kind of sad. Our culture said relationships don't last. Wow. Kind of sad. Yet we do say our goodbyes at some point in our relationships. A little lighter note, the folks that make it to the top, they quickly realize that those things don't last. Our current president's term is about to be over. So even as the president of the United States, you have a four-year term. You got to try and do it all over again. We see it in the Super Bowl. Team wins, and then they got to try and do it all over again. Tom Brady's famous for almost a depression that happened after a Super Bowl and winning MVP. You realize he made it to the top, and it was kind of like the next week he had to go back and train. Do it all over again. And I think it's very evident for those that make it to the top. Sometimes when we have the ladder decline, we kind of feel like we can put our hope right in the next rung of the ladder. Yet for people that make it to the top, they realize, what do I put my hope in now? Is this really all there is, and that awareness that it's about to expire? In the last week, we saw a really good example of this, and let me get this right. Sorry I had a time to the Hawkeye fans, but their 130 lead at the first half, it didn't last, right? And our undefeated cyclones, defeat is going to come at some point, and the church will be here ready to embrace you and tell you told you so. What really lasts in life? And we're not the first ones to think about that. Actually, wise people seek that answer out. Okay, wise people seek that answer out. And the scripture we look at today is very interesting because it's not written in Hebrew. In Daniel chapter 2, it takes a turn and it's written in a different language. It's written in Aramaic. It's written in the language of Babylon, and the language of the kings of the world, because this isn't just for the people of God to know, this is for the whole world to slow down, stop, and consider the question, "What's really going to last forever?" The wisest of all kings, Solomon, he struggled with that question again and again he goes, "Man, all is vanity. It doesn't last." All the things I've built is just going to be handed to another. And my life will come to an end. Another king that this really bugged was Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made it to the top. He took over the known world. He was doing pretty well, and yet he had a dream that troubled him. It was a dream of a giant statue that looked like himself, and the statue came tumbling and crashing down, and that bothered him. Rightly so. He wasn't going to last forever, and he couldn't find the answers. And so we're going to look into the story as this Nebuchadnezzar seeks to find some answers. In chapter 2 and verse 1, if you turn with your scriptures to me, it's a longer chapter, so I won't be able to read all of it word for word, so it's important that you can turn your Bibles to fill in the gaps. But I'm going to try and tell the story to you the best I can in an overview. So the first chapter, or second chapter, verse 1 says that in the second year of his reign, so that first year he was probably celebrating, pouring the champagne, second your head, kicks in, he goes, boy, what's after that? What's next, right? And Nebuchadnezzar says he had dreams. His mind was troubled, and he could not sleep. So the king summoned all of these people together to tell him what he had dreamed. They couldn't do it. That's a tough task. He doesn't even tell them what the dream was. He just says, you tell me the dream and interpret it. In verse 10, they answer him. They say, there's no one on earth who can do what the king asks. No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king. Minor exception, except the gods, but they do not live among humans. So here's someone at the very top wanting to know what lasts forever, and guess what? The world doesn't have the answers. Very like today, much like today. In the worldview of our secular culture, something that goes unanswered in the secular worldview is the purpose of life and what lasts forever. At best, they say that we're a product of evolution and an accident. We just happen to be here and make the most of it. For some reason, be moral while you're at it. And then it's over. Done. No point to it all. So no surprise that these worldly people, these wise men of the world, didn't have those answers. And instead of just being complacent and going with the flow of this nemicaniser, he knew that there had to be more to life. And so in verse 12, he got mad. This made him angry and furious so much so that he ordered the execution of anyone who claimed to be a wise man, a man of wisdom. Because you know what? That worldview is bogus. And he puts a death sentence on them all. So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death also. Uh oh, that's not good. As the story continues, they've gone out to kill Daniel. Daniel goes and meets him and with wisdom and tacked, he's able to buy some time and he puts his neck on the line. He gets an audience with a king and goes, "King, I'll get you an answer." I take some confidence. Remember this kid is young. In chapter 1, we figured he was in his teens, like a sophomore in high school. This is just a few years later. So here's an 18 year old know-it-all, right? But actually he says, "I don't have the answer, but I know who does." Let me go talk to him and I'll get right back to you. So he gathers his friends in verse 17. He explains the matter to his three buddies and then they plead for mercy from God and they pray, they pray to the God of heaven, concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Here's a great quote from one of the commentators I read. He says, "The battle was one here. The battle was one when Daniel prayed with his friends. Praying friends are a blessing and in prayer meetings such as these, history is made." Isn't that wonderful to be able to gather with your friends when the answer to the questions of life seemed to be elusive? To say, "God, we don't have the answer, but we know you do." And that surprisingly, God answers that prayer. He answers that faith and that hope and that trust and uncertain times. God's people reached out to God for the answers and God said, "I have an answer for you." And I'll share with you what you need to know. Not everything. Because then you don't need me for the second step. You need me in every step. So I'll show you the next step. Verse 19, "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." There he is. For he changes times and seasons. He deposes kings and raises up others. I was at a nursing home visit this week. Our ministerial group takes turns and so here I am with 20 men and women in their 90s. I probably should have listened more than I spoke wisdom in that room. And we talked about that verse of how he changes times and seasons. You know the world is a lot different than it was in the 1930s. He changes times and seasons. Kings come and kings go. I believe those changes as God changes times and seasons. You know that phrase, "Nothing lasts forever. This too shall pass. Good or bad. You're in a season for such a time as this." But I think God changes those things to help us see more clearly what it is that doesn't change. And that's a gift. It's a gift to not put our hope in those things that will fail us. It's a gift to be able to see that and to put our hope in the thing that doesn't change. So here God is trying to show the world what doesn't change. You know someday, just as kings will come and go, someday our nation will be no more. Someday this church building will be no more. Someday you and I will be no more. Someday your bank account will be no more. Someday your careers and your pedigrees, your reputation, those that loved you, those that hated you will be no more. As Solomon mentioned, it'll be gone with the wind. It'll be blown away. So what lasts forever? Well true wise men seek that out. Nebuchadnezzar, you thought about everything he had built and how it's going to pass away. And so this dream is revealed in verse 31. Daniel says, "Your majesty looked and there before you stood a large statue was enormous, dazzling, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze. Its legs of iron and its feet, partly of iron, partly of bait to clay. And while your watching a rock was cut out, but not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet to iron and clay and it smashed them. Then the iron and the clay of the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. And 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." You see why that dream bothered King Nebuchadnezzar? That haunted him and didn't let him sleep. The idea of everything he built just blowing away in the wind, nothing left at the end of the day, except this rock, this immovable and shakeable rock. Later in the chapter, the explanations are giving that each of these different parts of the body represent different kingdoms that are about to come. It makes it very clear that the first one, Daniel says, "As you Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold as the ruler of Babylon, and then it lifts off different kingdoms that will come through the land." That is an amazing prophecy that was fulfilled. Over in chapter 7, it mentions the same dream, but instead of the statue, the vision is of four beasts that come out. The first beast is that of a lion, which is the symbol of Babylon. The second beast is a bear, which is the symbol of the Medes and the Persians. The third beast is a leopard, which represents Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire. The fourth beast was a terrifying monster with ten horns that was unlike the others. Chapter 8 of Daniel further gives us explanation, and it tells us that these middle two are specifically the Persian Empire and the Greek Empire, and names it by name. It's another vision of a ram that ends up getting overtaken by a goat. In the explanation, Gabriel, the angel himself tells Daniel the ram is that Persian Empire and that the Greek Empire will follow. Anyone watching their Bible during this time would have been amazed. I wonder if Alexander the Greek even read this and thought, "You know what? It's the Greeks turned now." These aren't small prophecies. This isn't just who's winning the cyclone game next week. This is 100 years down the line. Babylon will fall, 200 years down the line. Persia will fall, 400 years down the line. Greece will fall. Most believe that the last empire was the Roman Empire as it expanded. Over in chapter 7, this Roman Empire, this monster with ten horns, is this monster was speaking arrogantly. I want to read this to you. It says, "As I looked, this is in chapter 7, verse 9." I'm not going to have it up there, but it says, "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow, and the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing coming out from before him, and thousands upon thousands attended him. Ten thousand times, ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated and the books were open. Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking, and I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time. And in my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence, and he was given authority and glory and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is never lasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. What are we talking about here? Back to chapter two, verse 44. It's paralleling this last verse in verse 44, and we'll camp here for the rest of the time. It says, "In the time of these kings, whether you look at it from the vision of the statue or the monsters or the ram and the goat, and the time of these 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, and it will itself endure forever." You see, that's what bugged Nebuchadnezzar wasn't what the statue was. It was this rock that came rolling down and crashed and smashed everything in its path and endured forever. That's what bugged the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, saying, "What is that? What is that kingdom that will never fade away? What is that kingdom that smashes all other kingdoms?" And we know that is the kingdom of God that is coming, the kingdom of God. That strikes fear in the kingdoms of earth. You see, in the end times, as things get crazy out there, like Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdoms of the world are afraid of end times. Because the ball is rolling, the clock is ticking, the end times are afraid of Jesus' return. And as God's people, we eagerly expect that and wait for that. We have different responses to that. For Daniel, this was a pivotal moment for him and his friends. They just saw history laid out before their eyes, told that the kingdom of God wins in the end. And so, in the rest of Daniel, when they're threatened by Nebuchadnezzar to be thrown into the fiery furnace, or threatened to be thrown in the lion's den. Because of the faithfulness of God through history, through every prophecy being fulfilled, these men respond to crazy times with crazy faithfulness. Because they know who really is in charge. They know who is the king of kings. They know who stands with them in the fire. They know who shuts the mouths of lions. And they know who's called them for such a time as this. It's through God's faithfulness, letting ourselves be immersed in that, that we then can live faithfully in crazy times. We don't have to muster faithfulness our own. God was faithful first, church. And then our response, our response is then to stay close to him, the author of history. You see, when God was faithful first, it's easy to say, okay, God, I want to follow your ways, because your ways are best. When God was faithful first, it doesn't take our own courage to face the day and face tomorrow and the craziness that might come our way. When God was faithful first, our natural response, say, God, I want to follow you. I want to follow you through this history that you've already laid out before me. And I want to invest in that which will never fade away. I encourage you to look at the rest of Daniel in your own time. It's amazing. Even over in chapter 11 in Daniel, it mentions how many kings of Persia are left. It says, there's four more kings of Persia to come, the last of which will be very great and will wage war against Greece. That's King Xerxes, which overlaps over to Esther. Esther becomes the queen of Xerxes. It's amazing how this all unfolds. And God's people are positioned along the way. At the end of this chapter, we can go to that now. The next slide. It mentions that this is trustworthy and true. And the following slide here, Nebuchadnezzar's response to all of this, he says, surely, surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries. Nebuchadnezzar got put in his place. And no, he seems to forget so far, so often we forget. Like we come to church and we hear about this God who holds history in his hands and then tomorrow when our car breaks down, we say, what in the world? Right? Or we watch the news and the presidential debates, we say, what in the world? We forget Proverbs 21 verse 1 that says, God holds the hearts of kings like water in his hands. But we forget the Nebuchadnezzar he forgot. In the very next chapter, he sets up a statue just like the one he dreamed. And he says, everybody bow down to me. On Sunday, it was about God, but on Monday morning, it's all about me now. Serve me, people around me. It's about me now. No, it's not. No, it's not. It's for our good and God's glory that he reminds us it's not about me. There's too much pressure in that anyways. God gets to be God. We get to follow him in peace and blessing and obedience and joy. Later on in Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar gets stripped of his throne and God reveals himself once again, patiently, faithfully reminding Nebuchadnezzar once again. In the end of that incident, Nebuchadnezzar once again remembers and sends the needic to the world saying, I forgot, but I remember again, God is the God of history, the revealer of mysteries, the Lord of kings, the God of gods. So what is our response to all of this? You're part of the kingdom that's going to fall or the kingdom that will rise and last forever. You see, wise men seek out what lasts forever. That's why in the beginning of the Gospels, they announced that there is a kingdom that's coming. That's why in Matthew chapter 1 it says, unlike the Babylonians who thought God cannot exist among men, Matthew 1 says that God is with us. And Mark chapter 1 says that the kingdom of God is calm. And Luke chapter 1 says that the Lord has given him the throne and his kingdom will never end. That the first chapter of John says that God has become flesh and dwelt among us. That's why Matthew chapter 2 says that the wise men came from the east looking for the Messiah who would have a kingdom that would never end. These three wise men in our Christmas story, they came from the east and they came because they're watching the stars in the passing of time. Because in Daniel chapter 9, Daniel says that after 70 years of captivity, there will be 490 years until God comes to set up his throne forever. And these wise men, generation after generation who had already seen all of the prophecies being fulfilled, that yes it was the Persians, then it was the Greeks. And it was this beast of Rome. The rock is rolling and the rock is coming and they were expecting it and they were waiting for it. And most everybody forgot about God's faithfulness except those three wise men over in Babylon were waiting and counting. Investing everything they had, gold, frankincense and myrrh. You don't invest stuff in the stock market that's going to go bankrupt tomorrow, right? Redbox was not a good investment nor was Blackbuster. It's gone. Things change. Seasons come, seasons go. You invest in something that lasts forever. That's what these wise men did. Say we're not giving our money to Babylon or Persia or Greece, we're giving it to Jesus. We want to be part of that kingdom that will never fade away. You can have it all, Lord, because of your faithfulness, I want to be faithful and you can have it all. So what about you? The ball's rolling and it's going to crush most of what we build here on earth, except that that which is invested in the kingdom of God. And so I encourage us to invest into God's work into souls that will live for eternity. I encourage you to invest and live lives of faith and lives of hope and lives of love. His first Corinthians 13, 13 says, now these three remain faith and hope and love. Live in those church. Don't let the end times as we're living in the toes of that statue, brittle like clay, waiting to topple over. Don't let those leave you. Live in lead with love and hope and faith. Those will not be taken from you. And those are ways of investing in that kingdom that will last forever. We have a big god. And we need one another to give that nudge, that elbow on the side. When our face becomes downcast and our chin starts to drop to say, hey, look up. Jesus is coming. Let's pray. Lord, to borrow from Daniel chapter 9, we thank you that just the right time you sent Christ to die for us. We thank you that he is establishing his throne that will last forever. We thank you that through the blood of Jesus and our faith in that, we can live with you. We thank you that you came to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, to anoint the most holy place. To give us, as first Peter says, an inheritance that will never perish or spoil or fade, Captain Heaven for us. So protect us your church, Lord, that we might live lives of faith and hope and love. Use us in such a time as this, to be faithful and fuel us with remembrance of your amazing faithfulness as you write history. In Jesus' name, amen. [Music] [Music]