This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:01] You ever have a bad dream and you wake up and you're just like, what was up with that? Anybody else have that experience? Maybe a bad dream that actually really disturbs you and frightens you and you can't get back to sleep. I have known many bad dreams in my life, especially when I was growing up as a boy. I think I saw Sleeping Beauty way too soon. Anybody know what I'm talking about? The Disney animated classic. And I saw that. Let me just say, I was not ready for my lipsitz. You know, that lady, that evil, bad lady, purple and green. And then she turns into a dragon and and that was OK. But it's what she said. And and they've re-created this at Disneyland over the years, but they've edited out what she says in the original Disney animated classic.

[00:00:48] When she turns into the Dragon, she says, and all the forces of like, what did she say? I'm like a church kid growing up. I'm like, I was a real place. This lady just turned into a dragon. She see, that's what I was saying. And this lady, she came in, haunted my dreams. I was freaked out. I would wake up absolutely terrified. Anybody else have bad dreams like that growing up? I don't know what it was for you. For me. Sleeping Beauty. Evil Lady. Right. She drove me crazy.

[00:01:23] Daniel, Chapter two. This whole story that we're about to study right now is basically what happens when King Nebeker Nasr has a bad dream. That's the chapter. I invite you to open your Bible and turn there. I don't know what you do when you have a bad dream, but we're going to read right now a King Nevison Nasr does when he has a bad dream.

[00:01:40] And when you're the most powerful man in the world in charge of the large empire of Babylon, you can do whatever you want when you have a bad dream.

[00:01:47] You want to have a temper tantrum. That's what he does right here. Daniel, Chapter two. So it's page seven hundred and thirty seven. If you got one of our books, I invite you to turn there with me.

[00:01:58] And after he has this bad dream, he gets all of his wisemen together. I mean, he says his spirit is troubled. His sleep left him. So he commands that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, they all be summoned.

[00:02:12] And here's what King Knab does. All right. And this guy, we're gonna learn more and more about King Nebeker Nasr. But he is perhaps one of the most full of himself people that has ever lived on planet Earth. And he says, All right, wise men. All right. All you magicians and astrologers. Here's what I want you guys to do. I want you to not only interpret my dream and tell me what it means, I want you to also tell me what the dream was.

[00:02:38] That's what he posits to these guys. And they come to him. It starts here in verse four, chapter two, verse four. Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, Oh, King Live forever. Now, if you're in ancient times and you talk to the king, that's how you flatter him. That's called kissing up right there. When you come to the king and you say, Oh, King Live forever. No, King lives forever. Not not in this world. But that's that's what they say. Right. King Live forever. Hey, you tell us the dream. We'll show you the interpretation. But the king says, no, that's not how it's gonna work this time. How do I know if you're giving me the right interpretation? If I tell you the dream, you got to tell me the dream and the interpretation. And so in chapter two, verse 40, you see that phrase there where it says, then the Chaldeans said to the king in Arem Man.

[00:03:26] So I don't know if you've been watching a movie and all of a sudden it like switches to a foreign language and maybe subtitles appear and it kind of draws you into the scene because they were talking like in a language you couldn't understand. And then they start talking in English, maybe, or then they were talking in in English, but they switched to another language. And you're like, whoa, what just happened? That's exactly what happens here in chapter two, verse four in the writing of the Book of Daniel. And it started out being written in Hebrew, the language of the Jews, which most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew here in chapter two, verse four. When these Chaldeans come and they talk to the king and they say, Oh, King Live forever. All of a sudden they're speaking in Aramaic, like the whole book of Daniel from chapter two, verse four, all the way through Chapter seven. That portion of the book is in Aramaic. And so Hebrew and Aramaic are very similar languages. But one was spoken by the Jews there in Jerusalem and then Aramaic is spoken here in Babylon. And so it's like now we're really getting immersed into the scene. We're here in the palace. King Nebeker Nasr, his wisemen are around. He's had a bad dream. And now we're reading it in Aira, man.

[00:04:39] And the idea here is the prophecy. What we're gonna see happens through King Nebeker, NASA's dream like that, speaking to all the people in Babylon. So it's written in a language that they could understand that just like God has faithfully revealed himself to his own people of Israel. Now God's going to reveal himself to the Babylonians and they're going to get a glimpse into who God is. And so King Nevison has or he's got this outrageous demand that he wants you to tell him the dream and the interpretation. And these guys, they're just like, we can't do it. Look at verse 10, Daniel, chapter two, verse 10.

[00:05:17] The Chaldeans answered the king and said there is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean no want no no king, no pharaoh. Nobody in all of history has made a request like this that you would we would tell you the dream and the interpretation. Then they say this verse eleven, look at verse eleven.

[00:05:43] The thing that the king asks is difficult and no one can show it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. Now, here in Babylon, there, polytheistic, they believe in many gods, but they're basically saying to King Knab, hey, what you're asking us to do. No man can do this. Only a God could really tell you what your dream was and what it means.

[00:06:12] And King, Neb. He is not okay with them telling him no. And so verse twelve, because of this, the king was angry and very furious. And we're going to see King, Nemec and Azour fly off the handle a couple of times here and the book of Daniel. And this time, he commands that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So, OK, you guys can't tell me what the dream was, what it means. I'll just kill all of you. That's that's how King Navigant as a response to a bad dream. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning right there right now. Notice the phrase that's going to show up. A bunch of times in this chapter, wisemen. And you see it right there in verse twelve. And what we're seeing now, we know wisemen from the Christmas story, from Matthew to these wise men who come from afar to worship the king who's been born Jesus. You know what we're seeing now. And Daniel, too. We're seeing the wisemen origin story. That's what this is. Where do those wise men come from? Well, they come from these prophecies that are about to be revealed here in Babylon and jumped down. Now, what we want to look at is verse 17, because when the king says that he's going to kill the wisemen, that means he's going to kill included in this. Daniel and his three friends, Hand and I. I'm Michail and Azariah. And so they get now this word that the king has decreed that all of the wise men need to be killed because nobody is telling him his dream and interpreting it. And so what we're going to pick up the story is in verse 17, and I want to read it for us all the way down to verse 30, because this is when Daniel comes on the scene. And I want you to see what God does here and out of sight, out of respect for God's word. I'm gonna ask if everybody will stand up.

[00:07:58] And I really want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because we're gonna see God reveal a mystery to his young man. Daniel, this is Daniel, chapter two, starting in verse 17.

[00:08:12] Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to hand Aya Michail and Azariah his companions and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven. Concerning this mystery. So the Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then, Daniel, bless the God of heaven, Daniel answered and said, 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. Oh, God of my father's. I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom in my. And have now made known to me what we asked of you for. You have made known to us the Kings matter. Therefore, Daniel went into Iraq, 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. Then Ariel 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 the King declared to Daniel, whose name was Belle, to QAZ. Ah, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel answered the king and said No wisemen and chancers magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the King is asked. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he is made known to King Nebeker Nasr. What will be in the latter days your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed? Are these to you oking?

[00:10:09] As you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries may know to you what is to be. 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. That is the reading of God's word. Please go ahead and have a seat.

[00:10:36] And you could see that Daniel immediately calls his friends to pray and they ask for God to give them wisdom. Specifically, Daniel asked that he would know the dream and its interpretation so that they would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. And look at how when God reveals this dream to Daniel. Daniel responds with worship of God. You could see it there in versus twenty to twenty three. We have recorded this young man. His heart is overflowing. He is so thankful to God for giving him this. Wisdom and revealing to him this mystery that he just starts to praise God and give him glory right here. I mean, that's the first response. He's praying for wisdom. God gives it to him. And immediately before he even goes and talks to the king or area or anything here, he's just worshiping God for answering prayer and revealing to him the dream and the interpretation.

[00:11:36] And so we need to follow the example here of this young man, Daniel. Point number one. If you're taking notes with us here this morning, worship God for his wisdom. That's where we need to begin. God knows infinite knowledge. And he has a master plan for what is happening in human history. And he reveals out of his mysteries. He reveals himself. He makes himself known to us. God gives us wisdom. And this is something we should worship God for it. Maybe that's not something that you think about all the time. We celebrate God's love and his mercy to us. We praise him for his holiness and his justice. But the infinite wisdom of God and even how God will give wisdom to us. When you're done, write down that point. You should put down James. Chapter one, verse five. And this is a verse we've looked at before. This is a precious promise to us as believers in Jesus Christ that if anyone asks God for wisdom, what's going to happen?

[00:12:35] What is God who gives it to us? That's a promise. James, one five is telling you. You've got a dilemma in your life. You don't know what to do.

[00:12:42] You're trying to find the answer to some question. Ask God for wisdom. And if you go to God, who has this infinite storehouse of wisdom, who who is working on a level that is beyond our comprehension, if you go to God and you ask him for wisdom and you ask in faith, really believing his promise that he will give you wisdom, it says he will.

[00:13:03] He gives it generously. God gives his people wisdom. He reveals to us the mysteries of what he's doing.

[00:13:11] And he shows us his will for our lives and he directs us. I just remember watching this happen with my little brother Ben, who now got directed. Never thought he would live in Idaho planning a church there.

[00:13:22] And God has given him wisdom that God will do that with all of us. If we ask him, he will give us wisdom. Now, with the young man, Daniel here and his friends, we know they're teenagers when this is going on.

[00:13:36] Teenagers taken away to a foreign land trying to be brainwashed there at Babylon. You. And they have such strong faith in the Lord. And talking with some of you at our fellowship groups this last week, many people were like, well, how does Daniel get like this? How do you be a young man with this level of faith in God? How was a young man so mature? Who are his parents? What was their what was their secret? What kind of training did he get back there in Jerusalem? How does he know even here? How does he have faith that God would give him a dream?

[00:14:09] And the interpretation. Well, Daniel's not the first young man to be given the interpretation of a dream before the most powerful man in the world. You might want to write down Genesis 41 16 because we remember the story of Joseph. And he also was given dreams by God. And the interpretation of those dreams.

[00:14:32] And Joseph stood before Fero when Pharaoh had a dream. And Joseph was able to interpret the dream for Pharaoh and Pharaoh and elevated Joseph to the second in command in all of Egypt. And Daniel, I assure you, he would have known the law. The first five books of the Bible, he would have been very familiar with the story of Joseph. And I would imagine that that memory of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dream, I would imagine that that increase the faith of Daniel and his friends as they were praying. In fact, it's so awesome. What what Daniel says, look at verse 27. I mean, here's a young man now standing before King Nebuchadnezzar Nasr, the most powerful man in the world when he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. Everybody might be dead. I mean, that's what's going on here.

[00:15:21] And the faith of this young man to now go and address the king and liquidy makes clear verse 27. No wisemen and chancers magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that there is a god in heaven who reveals mystery.

[00:15:37] We don't have this level of wisdom here on earth. This has to come from heaven. This has to be revealed by God.

[00:15:44] And Daniel makes it clear, if you look at verse 30, he says, But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living. This isn't about me. I love the humility that Daniel displays here. I mean, he's boldly going in front of the King Nebeker Nasr. But he's saying, hey, this isn't about me. This isn't about some special ability that I have. The only reason I'm able to tell you your dream and the interpretation is God gave me wisdom. And that's exactly when he says that that sounds very similar to what Joseph says to Pharaoh. When Joseph says it is not in me, God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. So both of these young men that God is doing a miracle through to give them the interpretation of dreams, both of them are quick to say it's not about me, but to God be the glory. And we should learn from that example. And if God gives us wisdom, if God's shown us his will for our life, if we have a question and we don't know what how to think about it and God reveals it to us, we should be quip quick to worship God as the giver of infinite wisdom. You might want to write down Romans. Eleven thirty three. Romans eleven 33. The apostle Paul is so inspired by the wisdom of God. He just burst forth into praise and he says, oh, he's fired up. He just says, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. Do you see how deep the wisdom is of God? Do you see how rich his knowledge is? Do you see how God's operating on a level that's beyond our comprehension?

[00:17:27] How unsearchable are his judgments? How inscrutable his ways? Who has known the mind of the Lord or been his counselor for from him and through him and to him? Are all things to him be glory forever? A man that's the Apostle Paul.

[00:17:43] And when he sees what God's doing, when he gets it gets a glimpse behind the scenes of this life into the eternal realm. And he sees the master plan of God, the mysterious plan of God now being revealed. He's just like, oh, I got to worship the Lord. His wisdom is infinite. It's beyond what we think. And when we get a glimpse into the glory of God's plan and what he's really doing and inspires his people to pray. So I want to encourage you that God will give you wisdom as you ask for it. And as God gives it to you, worship God for revealing to you the mysteries, the things that he wants us to know that he's doing behind the scenes that he now brings us in on. So now let's get to the dream here in verse 31.

[00:18:31] Let's get to the dream and then we'll get to the interpretation and the dream here. Verse 31, you saw OKing and behold, a great image. This image, mighty end of exceeding brightness, stood before you and its appearance was frightening. So now we're gonna have this image that he's going to describe here. And there's going to be a head of gold in the image, a chest of silver in the image, a bronze belly and then legs of iron. And then we're gonna get down to some feet and some toes. And the toes are really mysterious. They're half iron, which is strong, half clay. Which is weak. And we're going to see that this image that appears to nebeker nesrin his dream that it says here frightens him. Well, then there's this stone brought out of a mountain by no human hands. And this stone just comes and it crushes this image and it shatters it to pieces. And the stone becomes a mountain that fills the earth. That's Narracan as his dream. And so many people, when we study prophecy, that's what this is. It's a prophecy that God gave to King Nebeker Nasser in a dream. And we're gonna see a lot of prophecy here in the book of Daniel. And one of the things that we do with symbolism like this prophetic image is that God reveals is we jump straight to what does it mean, when is it going to happen? And we want to break it all down. But one of the ways that symbolism is used, prophetic symbolism especially, is not just that we would figure out what it means to but to create an impression. And the impression that the most powerful man in the world got from this bright, glorious image and then this stone coming and just crushing it to pieces is King Nebeker Nasr, a man who can just order you dead.

[00:20:26] He was afraid, is what it said. And Daniel just brings that up right away, I know what happened in your dream and you were fright. This was a nightmare for you. King that. See that this image will never Canessa saw this image. It put him in his place seeking Nevison as he thought he was at the top of the ladder at the top of the food chain. And then he realized there was a power much greater than the most powerful man in the world. That's what his dream is really showing him. That's why he is so shaken up by. Now, Daniel says, look at verse 36. This was the dream. Now we will tell the King its interpretation. You owe 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, the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all. So notice the way very wise, that Daniel approaches the King. He acknowledges the kings of absolute authority on planet Earth that at this time King never can answer.

[00:21:38] Among the nations of men he reigns supreme. In fact, he's basically saying there's no man, there's no animal, there's no bird. There's nothing that you don't rule over right now. But then notice how he starts to put in there. But there's a god of heaven that reigns over you. The reason you have all of these things, King never Nebuchadnezzar, is because the God of heaven has given them into your hand. So, yes, you have all the power down here, but there is a god of heaven who is over you.

[00:22:05] And he says, you, King Neville. And as you're picking it up at the end of verse 38, you are the head of gold and another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you.

[00:22:15] And yet a third kingdom of Brauns, which shall rule over all the earth and there shall be a fourth kingdom. Strong is iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes it shall break and crush all these. And then we get to the feet and the toes part of the potter's clay, partly iron, a divided kingdom, and it goes on from there.

[00:22:39] But we see that these different parts of the statue are the the image. They represent kingdoms. They represent the future nations of the world.

[00:22:49] So you've got a little chart there on your handout. If you're taking notes and it says the gold at the top of this image, will the gold that represent represents. King Nebeker, Netzer and the Babylonians. So let's just fill this in here if you're taking notes. The gold is the Babylonians. That's this nation right now, reigning supreme on planet Earth. King Nebeker as can just swoop in, gain a besiege Jerusalem.

[00:23:14] Take the articles of the Temple of God and desiccate them in his own temple for his gods. Take the best and the brightest of the young people of Israel and just bring them back to Babylon. I mean, he is the power right now, but somebody is going to come after him. In fact, look at verse thirty nine, because the way that Daniel says this is really bold, to say it to somebody like King never can answer who's used to hearing things like Old King Live forever as people flatter him. No. Now what he says, verse 39, another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you.

[00:23:50] And in the English, that doesn't really sound like the full meaning that it conveys in the Aramaic. I mean, basically, verse 39 after he kind of says, yes, you're in charge now, King Nevison as are.

[00:24:01] Then he kind of says, but after you, hey, you're not going to live for your kingdom is not going to last forever after you, even though the next nation's inferior to you, they're gonna come and they're going to take over the kingdom of Babylon. And that's the Medo Persians. They're the they're the silver represented here, the Medo Persians. And we're gonna see how the Medes in the Persians together as one nation, they come and they're gonna invade. That's going to happen just in a few chapters here in the Book of Daniel. We're gonna meet King Cyrus, who's an important character in the Old Testament. Daniel's gonna be significant in that kingdom as well. So they're coming.

[00:24:38] Then we get to this bronze belly kingdom here, the third kingdom and the bronze refers to and this is universally thought by Bible scholars because these kingdoms have all already happened. We can compare world history with what it says here. And we believe that the bronze belly refers to the Greeks. And it says specifically here that this third kingdom will rule over all the Earth. That's Alexander the Great in his conquests there on planet Earth. And so then this fourth kingdom, this kingdom of iron. Well, that would then be the Romans are the iron. And they are actually the empire that is reigning when Jesus Christ comes to Earth, when the son of God comes down here, lives a perfect life, dies for our sin rises from the dead.

[00:25:25] That's all happening under the rule of the Romans, this iron leagued kingdom. So, God, now we know he's been making prophecies to his people about and promises to Abraham and David and Moses. Gods had a plan for his people of Israel the whole time.

[00:25:44] But now the people have been judged and God's allowed this other nation to come in and take some of them into exile. And God's revealing now himself and Babylon. And he's saying, hey, I've got prophecies here, too, King, Navigant, Ezzor, and you've got your place right now. But. There's gonna be this whole line of kingdoms, and I'm actually in charge of all of these gentile kingdoms. I'm actually the ruler over all the nations of the world. That's what God's revealing.

[00:26:13] God saying you think you're in charge, King, that Wickenheiser. I'm actually in charge and I can tell you who's coming after you and who's coming after them. And I've got history all figured out before it even happens.

[00:26:26] That's what God's saying in this dream. It's amazing.

[00:26:30] Point number two, we should fear God as ruler of nations, fear God as ruler of nations. It may appear that the Babylonians have taken over God's people, but do not be deceived. God is over the Babylonian empire and over there King never nasr. And now through a dream, he is making that clear to the king.

[00:26:53] Hey, it's you. Then it's these guys. Then it's somebody else. Then it's them. I know how it's all gonna play out. They're gonna all seem so mighty and powerful. But I'm the one who reigns over them all.

[00:27:05] When you're done right and down point number two about God ruling over the nations, you might want to write down Act 1726. That's a great verse that says from one man, Paul's preach in there in the area. Obvious, he's teaching them who the unknown God is. You want to know who God is. I'll tell you who God is from one man.

[00:27:23] He has made many nations and God has determined their allotted boundaries and their time periods. God's already decided how long this nation will be here on planet Earth and the boundaries where this nation will exist. God is over the nations of human history. That's what the Bible's reveal. So it's not just one. One way that Daniel wants to praise God is that he gave him wisdom that he revealed the mystery. But then Daniel is praising God that God sets up kings and tear down kings.

[00:27:58] Excuse me, nations rise and fall based on the sovereignty of God.

[00:28:03] We need to understand here today that we have a god in heaven and he does whatever he pleases down here on earth. God is in control.

[00:28:12] And that's what that's what we're saying here.

[00:28:15] And King never connects or even is forced to realize this and is frightened by this. And not only is God over the nations of of men, but then God has a plan for where this is all headed. And you see that here in verse 44. Look at this second part now of the interpretation and then 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 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. This isn't just one of the nations of mankind now, though. This is different. This is something that God's doing and that it broke in pieces. The iron and 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. Do you think that's impressive, King? That Wickenheiser that the God of heaven is over you and over these other nations that are going to come? Well, wait, do you see this stone come and just smash all the nations of the earth to pieces? No way do you see the kingdom, the stone that becomes a mountain that takes over the whole earth. This is not a kingdom of men. This is literally the kingdom of God. And it will never end. And I'll tell you right now who the king is of God's kingdom. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who we're talking about here. This is a prophecy that Jesus Christ is coming to reign on Earth. You want to know when the world's going to know peace when King Jesus reigns. That's the future.

[00:29:57] And so let's not get so caught up in the political climate of what's happening as nations are rising and falling here today and what's happening in our nation and what's going on in other nations. And I don't know if you're still reading newspapers or if you're watching news or if you're even paying attention to news at all at this point. Let me just tell you this. You don't need to freak out. God is in control.

[00:30:20] I mean, for real.

[00:30:22] I mean, he's already got a plan. He already knows how long America is going to have its boundary and how long it's going to be here. He knows about China. He knows about Russia. He's very aware of what's going on in the Middle East. I mean, all of it is working according to the plan of God. And it's all happening on schedule right now. And it may not look like that does, but he's got higher wisdom.

[00:30:44] You do you have this idea of a kingdom coming in to unite the whole world where Jesus is going to reign in righteousness? That's what God's building towards.

[00:30:53] That's something we have not experienced. That's something that's even beyond our comprehension. I mean, we see these prophecies that Jesus is going to come and he's going to rain. It's like, how's that going to work? That's hard to believe. That's that's a really big deal.

[00:31:05] Yeah, that's what God's working towards. And it's bigger than what you and I think is happening.

[00:31:12] God is literally ruling over the nations to ultimately build the kingdom of heaven, his kingdom here on earth through his son Jesus Christ. Drove me in a solemn chapter to wear in Daniel to go back a little bit to the left in your Old Testament of Psalm Chapter two. Everybody look at this with me. This is another prophecy of the Old Testament about the coming kingdom and the coming king, our Lord Jesus. So even though this is ancient literature of the Psalms, this is like a thousand years before Christ. It still is telling us what's going to happen in the future from our perspective and in Psalm, too. It's an amazing prophecy because we actually get a glimpse here from the father speaking to his son from the God of heaven. Now speaking to Jesus Christ in Psalm two, verse seven. And it's kind of it's kind of making fun of the nations and the kings. And they think that the kings of the Earth actually think that they govern current events. Right. It's like heavens laughing about this a little bit. Can you believe that the nations of the Earth actually think they're in charge of what's going on down there? And then verse seven, I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, You are my son. Here's the father speaking to Jesus you are my son. Today I have forgotten you ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth, your possession. Hey, son, you want to ask me? I'll give you all the nations. I'll give you the entire planet. Or you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. So let's just go back now to Daniel, to the feet and the toes. What are they made out of a combination of iron and clay, like the potter's vessel. What is happening when Jesus shows up here and saw two, that he's smashing them to pieces?

[00:33:03] That's what he's doing. He's dashing them, breaking them.

[00:33:08] Now, therefore, oh, kings be wise, maybe the kings need to be humble, be warned, old rulers of the Earth, presidents, dictators, leaders. Hey, watch out. Serve the Lord with fear. The nations of the world should fear the coming king. Jesus Christ. That's what this is saying. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun. Less TV angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

[00:33:40] When Jesus returns, he is the one king that we will be able to say, Oh, King Live forever and it won't be flattering. He's the one who deserves to reign in righteousness for all of eternity. And here is a prophecy to the kings and to the nations. You better humble yourself because the real king is going to show up and never confess or get a gets a glimpse of this prophecy in his dream. And the most powerful man in the world is humbled before the more powerful God in heaven. And we you and I, we need to be clear in our minds, in our thinking, we need to have such a high view of God that he is on the throne and that he is in control of human history.

[00:34:25] He already knows what is yet to take place because he's the one controlling. We need to fear God. We need to have such a high respect for God. We need to see that he's really the one overthinks. And then what we need to see, point number three years, we need to trust God's promise of an everlasting kingdom, trust God's promise of an everlasting kingdom.

[00:34:49] All of the nations and rulers of the earth will fade away into one eternal kingdom led by our Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:34:58] Do you really believe that this is something that might not be trendy to talk about it? I don't know how many people are really thinking it through. Do you believe, based on ancient prophecies of the Old Testament, that Jesus Christ is coming back to reign as a king? Do you believe that? That's what the Bible says?

[00:35:16] So we understand a little bit we understand about the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus humbled himself. We understand that he was born as a baby.

[00:35:25] We understand that he was crucified as a man, that he died in our place, that he rose to give us this new kind of eternal life. But do we understand that Jesus is coming back and all of his unveiled glory as the king to reign and to defeat all of his enemies that rise up against him? I mean, here come the nations of the world acting mighty, thinking they're tough and Jesus is just going to come like a stone and just smash them to pieces. That's what the Bible said.

[00:35:55] There is a king who is coming. And the world needs to get ready.

[00:36:00] And imagine if that was the headline, right? King Jesus coming to rain all Bowan fear that would be a good headline for the news. You want to start intimidating with people with fear. Let's start with that headline right there, news. Let's see that on CNN. I'd like to see that call and request. Right. To see people talking about a king coming to rain and everybody better bowed down now because we're all going to be bound down later. Is that what you believe? Do you believe this is all building to a climax when everyone, every living soul, whether they're above the Earth, whether they're on the earth or whether they are under the earth, every knee will hit the ground, every mouth will open and their tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[00:36:41] That's where it's all headed. That's what's going on. Nobody's talking about that on the news. Christians aren't even talking about it at church. This is the future. This is what's going on. And it's revealed an ancient prophecy. It's revealed to kings and rulers. Hey, it's not about you.

[00:36:59] King Ned. The God of heaven, he's got a greater kingdom. He's got a greater king. And it's all come and you better humble yourself. You better bow the knee before you're forced to. When King Jesus comes to reign. I want to write down Revelation 11 15, which clearly says that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. That is the promise of what is going to happen. All of the nations of this world in God's got them all planned out. All of the nations of this world will lead up to Jesus Christ. That is the future. Now go back to Daniel to. And what's amazing here is King Nebeker, NASA's response. I mean, Daniel gets the wisdom from God and he boldly approaches the king in humility, making it not about him, but also boldly speaking to the king to humble the king. And he tells him the dream. And he tells him the interpretation, which was frightening to King Nebeker Nasr. And surely the interpretation was not what he wanted to hear. Thinking that he was the most glorious, most powerful person in the history of the world. And now King Nebeker Nasr has been put in his place and how he responds here for being such a proud man.

[00:38:18] I mean, look what happens here in verse 46. I mean, this this doesn't happen.

[00:38:23] Then King Nebeker Nasr fell upon his face. King's don't bowed out. King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid Omeish to Daniel and commanded that in offering an incense, he offered up to him and the king answered and said to Daniel, Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings. And a revealer of mysteries for you have been able to reveal this mystery. I mean, there's our there's our three points right there. King Knab is now preaching the sermon right here. I mean, remember what the wisemen said, hey, what you're asking. No man can do. King never acknowledges that. Hey, there is a God who reveals mysteries. There is a god of wisdom. Only God could give me that dream and have that interpretation. And now we're way beyond Siao now we're way beyond even. What was the dream. And what did it mean. No. Now we're actually looking at the future of what's going to happen.

[00:39:24] And this guy, he kidnaped condensers like he's admitting right away. Even all our Babylonian gods, all these idols that we're worshiping, your God, this God of heaven, he's over all of them.

[00:39:35] I mean, he acknowledges that.

[00:39:38] In fact, not only is he overall of our gods, he's over kings. I mean, here now, Neville Condensers sees himself maybe for the first time in his life, in the right pecking order, that God is above him, that he is the lord of kings.

[00:39:51] And he sees that. Well, he gave you that wisdom. He he's over the nations, he's over the guards.

[00:40:00] I mean, you want to know what was going on in the Babylon Bugle, what was their headline when King Knab said all of that? Right. Wow. King Nebuchadnezzar admits our gods aren't real next at 11:00. I mean, that that's a headline right there. Verse 48, look at how God blesses Daniel and takes care of his friends. Then the king gave Daniel High honors and many great gifts. I wonder what the gifts were, what were the perks of dream interpretation here?

[00:40:26] And they made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon. And chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel immediately made the second most important person in Babylon. And now all the Weizman. He just graduated top of his class from Babylon. You. Now he's over everybody. Astrologers, magicians, Enchanters Daniels, the leader of the Weizman. And what is Daniel do? Because he's a humble guy. Daniel made a request of the king and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and the Bendigo over the affairs of the promise of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the King's court immediately. Daniel brings along with him his three buddies, and he gets them in great spots.

[00:41:04] And Daniel is now there in the king's court. Do you see how God is showing us? He can do whatever he wants with human history. Do you see how gods even repeating a story that he's already done before? Just to kind of prove to us, hey, remember back in the day in Genesis, if you've read that, remember how old Joseph, remember how he was a prisoner? Remember how his brothers sold him into slavery? Remember how I made him the second most important person in Egypt? Yeah, I can do that whenever I want action.

[00:41:33] I'll have my my young men who really believe in me, who identify with me, who want to worship me. I'll have them get exiled. I'll have them get put into the uniques. Year of King never can. I'll have them come and try to brainwash them. You watch what I'll do. I'll make them the most important people in the kingdom.

[00:41:50] That's how God works.

[00:41:52] God is literally in heaven, doing whatever he pleases here on earth. And he puts his people right where he wants them to be, right when he wants them to be there. That's what he's saying.

[00:42:01] I mean, it was just last week, it was just chapter one when these guys got invaded and they were trying to have their identity taken over and they were trying to get brainwashed into assimilating into the culture of Babylon. Now they're running Babylon.

[00:42:17] That's the power of God. That's the power of God.

[00:42:19] He's just looking for a few people who are wholly committed to him, resolve not to defile themselves. And he's ready to use them to reveal his glory.

[00:42:28] This is this is amazing.

[00:42:30] We're only in Chapter two, and Daniel's already reigning over Babylon in the king's court. And I want you to turn with me to Jeremiah. Twenty nine, I need everybody to turn to this other prophecy here in the Old Testament of Jeremiah, Chapter 29. Because maybe you've heard this famous verse of Jeremiah 20, 9/11. Maybe you've heard this before. Maybe you've seen it on the Instagram. Let me read it for you.

[00:42:57] Here says, for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans for welfare or plans for good and not for evil. To give you a future and a hope if you've been around church much, I'm guessing you've heard the beautiful promise of Jeremiah 20 9/11. And we throw it up on something like Instagram, or maybe it was cross stitched at grandma's house. If you remember that back in the day. Right. And it always looks nice. It's got a nice font. It's got some beautiful colors to it. Maybe there's some flowers up in there, maybe some pink clouds. You know what I'm talking about? It looks beautiful, right? And people are like, God's got a plan for me. God's got a plan for my good. Can I just say humbly to you here today.

[00:43:36] God's plans are way bigger than you. Okay. Can we just. This verse is not about God's got plans for your life. God's got plans for all of human history. Now, yes. Your life does fit into human history. Yes. God does care for you as an individual. And he knows how many years are on your head right now. He has all your days written in a book.

[00:43:57] If you're one of God's people who love him and are called according to his purpose. Everything in your life is working for your good and God's glory. Yes, it is true that God has a plan for your good. But please see that God's plans are so much bigger than your good.

[00:44:15] I mean, God's got plans that are bigger than just our little church here. God's got plans that are bigger than just our little nation of the United States of America. Kind of an upstart in world history. God's got bigger plans than Mary. I mean, people come up to me and they're so excited when they see the sovereignty of God in their life. And I love hearing stories like, hey, I was praying about this and I was really asking God to do this. And then this happened. Like, can you believe it?

[00:44:41] God's involved in my life. He's hearing my prayers. He did this for me. And we're just having this great conversation praising the Lord. And while you and I are realizing that God is sovereign in our lives, a billion other people, a billion other people all over the planet are experiencing the same thing. That's how God's plans work. He's got plans on plans.

[00:45:03] It's not just your life. It's way bigger than that.

[00:45:07] And so we've got to have a higher view of God. We are not the center of the universe.

[00:45:12] The story doesn't revolve around us.

[00:45:15] And then now we can really see what's going on, and I hope that you'll be blessed by the full meaning here of Jeremiah, Chapter 29. Let's take this beautiful promise and let's put it back now in its gritty context, which is the people of God have been taken over by Babylon.

[00:45:31] And they're trying to take their soul to worship false gods. And so we got Daniel and his friends and now other people keep getting brought to Babylon.

[00:45:42] So King Nebuchadnezzar shows up at six hundred and five B.C. and they take some of the best and brightest over there. Well, they come back later and they take more exiles to Babylon and then they come back a third time, 586 B.C. and they just destroy Jerusalem once and for all. And we've got the Weeping Prophet. This man named Jeremiah. And he's here in Jerusalem just watching the city of God get destroyed by the Babylonians, just watching people get taken.

[00:46:10] That's when this verse is versus and on Instagram with flowers. This is this is a harsh time for the people of Gaza.

[00:46:17] This is a time where the people of God might think we've lost all of our hope, all of our future.

[00:46:23] It's over. We've been invaded. They're demoralizing us. They're ruining our worship of God in the temple. They're ruining our future by taking our young people away and brainwashing them like it's over.

[00:46:35] That's the context.

[00:46:37] Jeremiah, the prophet of God in Jerusalem. He writes a letter to the people who are in Babylon, to the exiles. That's what Jeremiah, 29, is. Look at verse four says.

[00:46:48] Thus, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. So here's a message through Jeremiah, from God to all of these exiled Jews.

[00:47:03] Now in Babylon, build houses and live in them plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters.

[00:47:11] Take wives for your sons and give your daughters and marriage that they may bear. Sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease.

[00:47:19] Hey guys, move in where you are. You're there in Babylon. Yeah. Get a house, a build a garden. Watch it grow.

[00:47:27] Hey, you should. You should get married. You should have a family. You should really settle down roots. In fact, he's talking about generations. Where do you see your grandkids?

[00:47:34] You're gonna be an exile for a while. That's the context here.

[00:47:38] In fact, you need to embrace being in exile. He says in verse seven, seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile.

[00:47:45] Start praying for the people around you. Pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare, you will find your welfare for those, says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel and now eat.

[00:47:54] Now here he's gonna say there's prophets in Jerusalem that are saying, hey, we're gonna be fine. The Babylonians aren't gonna destroy us. Everything's gonna be OK. There's prophets saying peace, peace when there is no peace and don't listen to them. You're going down and you're gonna be an exile a long time.

[00:48:10] And then it says this in verse 10 four, thus says the Lord, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place 70 years from now. I'll bring you back. Then verse eleven for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.

[00:48:35] Then here's what God wants his people to do in response to his plans. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord. And I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. So God's saying this to Daniel, his friends and everybody else who gets exiled into Babylon. And he's saying it through Jeremiah, who's watching Jerusalem just get destroyed and he ends up with lamentations over here. This is a dark time in the history of Israel. And God wants them to know, even with what's happening right now, I still have a plan for your good.

[00:49:27] I still have a hope for you, a future for you.

[00:49:31] Man, it's a great thing for us to think about, even though we're living in a different context. We are not where we belong. Our citizenship is where brothers and sisters have we don't belong down here. Have we ever thought about the fact that some day you will not identify as an American, you will no longer associate with the United States of America because you will consider yourself a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus Christ?

[00:49:57] We ever thought about the.

[00:50:00] Right now, we have an inheritance and have we've been adopted as sons and daughters of the most high. We belong with our father in heaven and we're in exile down here right now.

[00:50:12] We don't want our father saying to us, hey, live here.

[00:50:16] Have a life. Have a family. And you know what you should do? You should embrace this space and this time that God has put you in because he put you here for a reason.

[00:50:25] You should pray for the people around. You should get involved in what's going on in the culture around you. You should shine as lights. You should be the salt of the earth because God's got a master plan. And he's actually got you right where he wants you right now.

[00:50:40] You're not born in the wrong time. You're not living in the wrong place. You're a part of the sovereign plan of God. You're part of the exiles. And here's what God wants you to do.

[00:50:49] Now, he's got a plan for the future.

[00:50:52] And specifically here, it's 70 years later and he's going to bring them back. There is a future.

[00:50:56] There is a hope. And you should trust that God's got the plan. And he knows what he's doing. And it's going to work out in the end as much as it might be hard to see right now. In the end, it will be his glory and it will be your good. And because of God's secure future for your soul, you should right now seek God with everything you've got.

[00:51:17] You should pray to him. Call out to him. You should trust that your future is sure because of Jesus Christ, because of the king who is coming.

[00:51:27] And you should right now give God all you've got, all your time, all your life. Give it up, Dan.

[00:51:33] Seek God with all your heart. Let's get that down for number four, seek God for all things future, seek God for all things future, worried about what's going to happen in America.

[00:51:45] Pray to God about it. Worried about what you should do next for your career. Pray to God. Ask him for wisdom. Anything that comes up that you're tempted to be worried about, anxious about God has plans for the future. And those plans are so far above and beyond what you and I can imagine.

[00:52:01] Let's trust him. Every one of us has hope. Every one of us has a future. All of us who are God's people. He has plans.

[00:52:11] And so we should see. God, I love that here you will find me when you seek for me with all your heart.

[00:52:20] That's a promise that shows up multiple times in the Bible. Anybody who's seeking God with everything they've got, they will find him and their life will be blessed.

[00:52:30] You might want to write down Matthew, chapter six, verse 33. Sikhi first. Here's what Sikhi. First, his cane. That's what we're living for. The kingdom that's coming. King Jesus, who's come in to reign. Put Jesus Christ first, his kingdom and what his righteousness. Isn't that what we've seen it in?

[00:52:50] Daniel wanted to so far we saw we saw these young men, especially Daniel. He kind of is our main character we're following on the human level. And Daniel, he resolved righteousness.

[00:53:01] He wasn't going to defile himself. And then what happens? He ends up with this dream and interpretation of what the kingdom. Here's a young man in a foreign land in exile. But what is he doing? Seeking God with all of his heart, seeking the kingdom, seeking righteousness. What is he now? Second most powerful man in the land. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things will be added to you. Don't get caught up in what the Gentiles are caught up in. Don't get caught up in the world, in the nations and the kings and everything that everybody else is like.

[00:53:33] How's it all going to work out? We know how it works out.

[00:53:35] The Kingdom of Jesus seek that. Seek it with all your heart. Seek that righteousness, that holiness that leads to those who see the Lord. Jeremiah, 29, is a prophecy made at the time of the Exxon.

[00:53:54] And now you now we can start to understand the context. And let me just tell you, the book of Daniel just gets better. It's OK to read ahead if you want to. You don't have to wait for us to get to it. All right.

[00:54:04] And if you're reading ahead, I mean, this whole prophecy of the future kingdoms, that's going to come back up. And Daniel seven, we're going to get into that prophecy again. So if you want to get more into the interpretation of the dream that's coming in Daniel seven and then in Daniel Chapter nine, it's amazing.

[00:54:20] And Daniel nine, he reads Jeremiah, 29 for his scripture of the day, basically. All right. And he reads Jeremiah, 29. And this is many years later. Now, by the time we get to Chapter nine of the Book of Daniel. He reads this passage and he reads the prophecy of 70 years. And Daniel realizes it's been 70 years. And that's why now you can start to understand this is why Daniel was looking out a window facing towards Jerusalem, praying three times a day for 17 years because he believed the word of God. And when he when he reads it in Daniel nine, he gives us one of the greatest examples of prayer in all of the Bible. And he prays, he confesses the sins of the people of Israel. And he says that God was right to judge them. And he asks that God would now send them back to Jerusalem, send them back out of exile, that God would do what he said he was going to do.

[00:55:18] And Jeremiah. Twenty nine. And when Daniel is done praying, an angel shows up.

[00:55:24] And an angel says, not only is God going to answer your prayer and the exile is over and the people are coming back, just like Jeremiah, 29, says will do you one better, Daniel. And the angel gives Daniel this prophecy. We're gonna get you and Daniel nine. That is a countdown. All the way to the birth of our savior, the king. Jesus Christ.

[00:55:45] And wise men following down generations. Wise men, they follow that prophecy. Astrologers who follow the star and wise men hundreds of years later come to worship the King of Kings when he is born.

[00:56:02] That's the kind of plants that got his. Little bit bigger than me and you. He's got plans.

[00:56:08] Our hope, our future is secure in the infinite wisdom of God. He knows what he is doing. You can trust him with your life and you should seek him with all of your hearts. I hope you're getting inspired by Daniel and his friends in our study. And I hope you're getting even more inspired by what God is doing in his sovereignty as he is over all things. And I had a great conversation with our beloved our very own pastor Dan. After the service last week, he came up to me and we had a little bro moment. I don't know if you have those moments where you really connect with somebody, you really hear their heart. They came up to me and he said, you know, when I was growing up, they called me Dan. And when I became a man, they started to call me Dan. And then I became a Christian and God saved me.

[00:56:54] And then I realized that my birth name, my given name, Daniel. That was such a godly name. It's like I wished everybody would start calling me Daniel, but then he said to me, but nobody took me seriously and they still call me Dad.

[00:57:08] Right. And I was like, I felt what he was saying. You know, I was like, I hear you, brother. Right.

[00:57:15] So from now on, we're all gonna refer to him as Pastor Daniel, everybody. All right. You are with me on this.

[00:57:20] All right. With me now, Alice, listen.

[00:57:24] He he he's for this. He wants to be called Daniel. He doesn't need everybody to go up to him after the services. He's not. He's not he's not big on that part of it.

[00:57:32] All right. But but he but he wants the L in his name because the L is short for the Hebrew word L.O. Heem, which is God.

[00:57:42] So Daniel, Nate means God is my judge. And that's what we see here. God is the one who sits on the place of authority.

[00:57:52] God is the one who is over all the earth. And so we're gonna worship God right now. Let me pray for us.

[00:57:57] Father in heaven, we come to you and we acknowledge that you are the God of heaven and you rule over the nations of the earth. You rule over the kings of the Earth that you are sovereign and in control.

[00:58:09] And God, we thank you for revealing your mysteries to us. We thank you for giving us wisdom through your word. We thank you for this inspiring example of Daniel and his friends for just being able to see what you're doing.

[00:58:22] To watch you work. God, I just pray that we'll have a higher view of you.

[00:58:27] They will stop thinking about ourselves and start stop thinking about our own little lives, and we'll get a bigger glimpse into the glory of what you're doing behind the scenes in all of human history.

[00:58:38] So, God, give us a higher view of you and let us worship you for your wisdom. Let us worship you for your sovereignty. And God open our eyes to see King Jesus coming to reign. Establishing an everlasting kingdom. Let us see him coming to defeat the nations of the Earth to smash them into pieces. Let us see him coming on the clouds and let us worship the name of Jesus Christ. Let us live. Hi. His name.

[00:59:05] And I prayed that we would know our fruit future is secure, that every one of us has hope in Jesus Christ. And how we would seek you first, that we would seek you with all of our hearts, that we would trust in you, that you know what you're doing. And it's going to be all for your glory and even for our good God to open our eyes to see you and let us worship you. Now we pray in Jesus name in.