When Human Wisdom Fails

We walk through Daniel 2 as a life-or-death demand forces Daniel to choose conviction over clarity. The story turns into a practical call to pray, rest, and stop feeding anxiety while the God of heaven builds a kingdom that outlasts every “fort” we try to build.  

• Nebuchadnezzar’s impossible demand and the collapse of human wisdom  

• Daniel’s prudence and courage as a teenager under threat 

• Conviction before clarity as a definition of Christian confidence  

• Prayer with friends and God revealing the mystery  

• Sleep and rest as a spiritual issue and a gift from God  

• Jesus’ command to not be anxious about needs or tomorrow  

• Interceding for others instead of saving ourselves alone  

• The statue vision and the rock that becomes an everlasting kingdom  

• Choosing between building our own kingdom or trusting the Master Architect  

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Transcript

Will Hawk 0:50

All right, guys, go ahead and grab your Bibles. Maddie's gonna tell us where you will be, and we'll dive into God's Word together.

A Dream With Life Or Death Stakes

Madison Young 0:58

Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel chapter two, which is on page seven hundred and thirty-seven in the Pew Bibles, and follow along as I read God's Word. Daniel chapter two, verse one. In the second year in of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Childeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said to them, I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. Then the Childeans said to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The word from me is firm. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show me the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation. This is the word of the Lord.

The Fort Story And Human Pride

Why Daniel Switches To Aramaic

Daniel’s Calm Courage At Seventeen

Faith That Rests Before Results

Sleep Anxiety And Trusting God

Daniel Intercedes And Faces The King

The Kingdom That Shatters All Kingdoms

Stand Out For God And Respond

Will Hawk 2:09

Amen. Sometimes when we're reading the scripture, we're going to look at, I wonder if it's somebody's first Sunday. I've found my people. Yeah. We're walking through the book of Daniel. That's why we're in Daniel chapter 2. Uh, and what we're sliding into on Daniel chapter 2 is one of the highest-stakes game shows you're gonna find in all of Old Testament scripture. Nebuchadnezzar looks at the smartest guys in the kingdom and he says, Let's play a game real quick. Here's the game, I had a dream. And they would have been used to that. Uh speaking through dreams would have been exceedingly common back then, uh, actually across lots of different worldviews and religions. Uh, it's one of the reasons Nebuchadnezzar got different people from different cultures uh that were all wise. Uh, that would have been normal to say, I had this weird dream, let me tell you what it is, and then you can sort of psychoanalyze me and tell me what it means. But for a king to say, now here's the deal, my word is firm. I don't want you guys weaving words and seeming impressive and making connections that aren't there, you got to tell me what I dreamed, and I'm not even gonna I'm not even gonna give you a hint. That would be unusual to do that and then say, if you can't figure this out, I'm gonna kill you and everybody you love and everybody at work with you across the entire nation, it steps it up a little bit. Thomas, you're a fan of Survivor, you're the biggest Survivor fan I know. This episode would have been the last episode of Survivor, regardless of how it went. If you want today's notes, uh just because I talk quickly and some of you guys like to uh not have to write so quick and uh pay attention, you can grab that off the QR code. While you're doing that, um, by show of hands, I'm not gonna make you admit to anything that is shameful in front of your peers and friends. Uh, raise your hand. I don't know how anybody would even know this. Raise your hand if you remember playing with blocks as a kid. Okay. Oh, okay. Yeah, I don't remember that. Okay. Um you graduated from blocks to Legos. How many Lego builders? Okay, numbers are dwindling. That's okay. All right, this one's really gonna be a big cut. Uh, you moved from Legos to an erector set or something like that. And people are more proud now. The hands are going higher, okay? Yeah, fewer, but higher. All right. And then the I don't know where to go from that, and I'll get feedback on this. It's not the main point of the sermon. How many of you guys built forts in the woods? Okay. All right, cool. All right, everybody's back in. I would argue with you that that is a very normal thing for children to do. I think, especially for young boys as they get older, building and the building of forts. I think girls, I'm not trying to be a gender stereotype. In my family, boys were building forts and girls were playing house, playing school, or playing kitchen. All right, like, take it as you will. I'm sure there's one lady who's like, I can't wait to see him afterward, let him know I had to. I want to tell you before we dive into this, that Nebuchadnezzar, who was the greatest king in the world up to that point, that had built the greatest city in the world up to that point and had amassed the greatest population of wise people the world had ever seen, probably thought he had the most impressive thing that man had built. I would argue with you that I have built a better fort than let me rephrase, I had a better fort than any of you in this room. And the reason is my fort to this day is still listed on Zilla. It is listed right now for a little over $400,000. Let me explain to you how this became my fort. When my friend at 12 years old, Hunter, moved out of this house, this was his bedroom. When he left, I said, Hunter, I need you to leave that window unlocked, but not cracked. I don't want anybody to know. This was my house that I grew up in. Brandon grew up in this house over here. And sure enough, Hunter and his family sold the house. Nobody moved in for a number of months. He left the window unlocked. For numerous months, somebody was paying my power, somebody was paying my water. I was rollerblading like Macaulay Colkin in a three-story house, and our parents didn't know because we knew if they knew we would lose it. And so for three months, this was my fort, still available on Zillow, though I don't think the neighbors are interested in moving. As impressive as that is compared to whatever fort you built, what Nebuchadnezzar had built would have been impressive to everyone in his world in his day. But what we will find is that God will look at that and it will seem ever so small to the God of the heavens who creates all things and does as he pleases. There's one thing that doesn't really fit in the sermon, but it's a note that I cannot miss. You will not be able to find this in your Bible, and the reason you won't be able to find it in your Bible is because you have an English Bible. When Daniel was brought to Babylon, he was taught the language of the bonus points of the camp store. Yeah, okay, I heard it. The Chaldeans, the Chaldeans. He was given a different, uh, he was given a different language. I just want you to notice here that this and it says, Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, from Daniel chapter 2, verse 4. If you were to look at it in the original text, it moves from Hebrew into Aramaic. The reason it moves is because Daniel's the one who wrote this. He, as a wise individual, would write in a language and a tongue that was common to his people and his comrades. That was the common language. It was a language that he had been taught at some point in his life. This, by the way, carries through all the way through chapter 7. The only reason I point this out to you is not because it's logical for the wise men to use this or logical for Daniel because it was common language. The wise men were racially and ethnically diverse. What I want you to realize is if Daniel is choosing to write this in Aramaic, he's not just writing it to the Israelite people. He's writing it to an onlooking world that for 2,600 years, that's about how far we are, for 2,600 years, people are going to hear this story, and Daniel doesn't want them to miss one piece of it. What you're looking at in Daniel chapter 2, verse 4, is this beautiful transition in the Old Testament where one more time the doorway, the doorway into the people of God becomes just a bit wider. And to that, I, and I think the Lord would invite us to watch as this impossible situation is intended by God, orchestrated by God, designed by God to show hope in life when it seems like there is none. Matty read and gave us the context. And so here is Daniel's response, verse 14. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion. All right, bonus points. How old is Daniel? We don't know exactly, but somewhere around Okay, I'm gonna go 17. He's a teenager. I'm gonna go 17. I happen to have a 17-year-old. I had two 17-year-olds that were not mine spend the night last night. So while I was organizing my slides, I was smirking and smiling, thinking about this guy at 17 and most of the 17-year-olds in our culture. If you're 17, I've got nothing but encouragement and one little conviction for you. Daniel shows up with prudence and discretion to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard. Pay attention to the next phrase, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. Daniel, at 17, is standing next to the guy who came and said, Hey, Daniel, come with me. We find out in a moment. Daniel's not completely informed as to why. And Daniel's like, hey man, what's going on? And Ariak says, Oh, I'm here to kill you. The king sent me because he had a dream. Daniel, at 17, with prudence, with discretion, doesn't say, Give me a moment. I just need to run to the bathroom, and kicks a hole in the window and runs out and tries to hide in the field. It's not what he does. He declared to Ariok. He looks at his executioner. He doesn't cower, he doesn't hide, he doesn't run, he doesn't make excuses, he doesn't beg. He looks a grown man with a sword on his hip, which is intended for Daniel in the eye, and he says, I have a message for you. Seventeen-year-olds, man, you point him in the right direction, and they will do incredible things for the Lord. Um, executioner, why is the decree of the king so urgent? Then Ariak made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint a time that he might show the interpretation to the king. Daniel is 17 years old. When I was putting this slide into my iPad, I was standing on the porch grilling chicken with two 17-year-olds who will remain nameless, that do go to this church. And I said, Boys, can I just explain to you what I'm reading right now? What I'm reading is that a 17-year-old guy is standing in front of his ex an executioner. He asks to then go stand in front of the king. He then tells the king, give me a minute, and I'll take care of it, without God answering the prayer yet. That is what kind of a beast mode guy Daniel was at 17 years old. And I said, Do you realize I just heard your conversation about how nervous you are to stand in front of a girl's dad and ask if you can take her out on a date, you pansies. This guy, there's a king in front, an executioner beside, and he's declaring, hey boys, this is how this is gonna play out. What a beast! How do you become like this? Well, before you realize how you can become like this, and 70-year-olds in the room, and 47-year-olds in the room, you have not graduated from this kind of confidence. It exists in the cross of Christ. Might I point to Christ in one little glimpse that God gives us? As Jesus confidently stood before Pilate, we watch as Daniel confidently stands before his own executioner. Sinclair Ferguson would look at this and say, This is the spirit of Jesus before the high priest and Pilate. This is the spirit of Elijah before Jezebel. It's the spirit of John the Baptist before Herod. Daniel is full of the spirit of truth. And even Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest builder, the greatest king the world had ever known, can recognize that. So Daniel replies with prudence and discretion. He looks at the king and he says, You pick the time, and I'll show up, and I will do this very impossible thing that you have asked of me. There's more to say here, but one of the things that we cannot miss is that faith invites rest before the results arrive. Might I submit to you that it is a much easier thing to say, let me go pray first and then I'll come back. And if my God has answered, we'll have a conversation. That is not a lack of faith, ladies and gentlemen. It is not. But this is a capital F, all caps, underlying bold, italicized type faith, where he stands in front of the king and he says, You just pick the time and I'll show up, and I'm confident that God is going to do what it is that he needs to do to preserve my life. This sounds very similar to Shadrach, Neshach, and Abdigo before the fiery furnace. Oh, King, our God can do this. I believe he will do this, but if he doesn't do this, I'm walking into the fire rather than moving away from trusting in him. Christian, I mean this. I'm only talking to Christians in this moment. If you're not a Christian, I have a different message for you, and it is still good and it is still full of hope. But if you are trusting in Christ, Christian, you can have confidence in God before the result is given. You can. You ought to, quite honestly, because Christian confidence is dependent on your conviction, not on your clarity. The majority of the time I meet with an individual or a couple and counseling is involved. Marriage counseling, uh, mental health crisis, physical health crisis, hospital, hospice. One of the first things I'm trying to do is get clarity. What's the nature of the disease? What's the nature of the prognosis? Tell me how long you've been married, how many children do you have? We're meeting to talk about your adult age child who is straying from the Lord and the life that you called them to. Give me the details. What's their friend group like? Are they plugged into a church? Is there anyone who knows the Lord that is near them or in their life? I want all of this clarity. It makes sense, but please notice this. Daniel has 0.00% clarity into the dream of the king or the interpretation. He has 100% clarity that if he doesn't figure it out, he and everybody who he knows around him is about to die. He's met the guy who carries the sword. He stood in front of the king. And with zero clarity, he manages 100% conviction in the goodness of his God. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known. After confidence, not clarity, after conviction, after trusting in God enough to stand in front of the king. Then he goes to his house and he makes his matter known to his buddies. Hey guys, there's not going to be any PlayStation tonight. That's going to have to wait a day or two. We're not watching a movie. We're not making popcorn. Knees on the floor, nose in the book. It's time to pray. Because if God doesn't step in, this may be the last night we spend as friends. So he makes the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, better known to us as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, his companions. And he told them, Seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Just for a moment, notice this phrase, God of heaven. Then the mystery was revealed. Just notice this gap. How much pleading, how much praying? Might there have been tears? What did it look like in that teeny little gap from verse 18 to 19? Did they pray for nine hours? Did they pray for nine minutes? Did they pray for nine seconds? We have no idea. The Bible treats it as a moot point. They prayed, and God answered. Some of you were praying for day 18, month 18, and year 18. And I'm telling you, your gap's going to feel different than the people around you. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Time doesn't dictate the amount of preaching I would like to do on this. So I'm just letting you know. And Thomas, since we'll be hanging out tomorrow on the podcast machine, then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. There is a whole sermon in this on how to respond when God answers your prayers. If you want to check that out, it'll be in What Got Cut this week. I can't go into it, but it is a beautiful song that you will see in your Bibles following verse 19. But what we find here is that God does step in, and it says he stepped in during a vision of the night. Now, before I change slides at all, you don't have to tell anybody, but I want you in your own mind to determine what that looked like. When he had a vision of the night, what do you think that means? I'll give you five seconds. You don't have to share it. What do you think it means? Okay. There might be more than two, but there will at least be two interpretations. How many people think he fell asleep and had a dream? I'm just curious, Hans. It's all right. How many people think he was awake and saw a vision? Hans? I know those two. I'm not going to make you share your answer. Does anybody else have a different idea? I'm just curious. Because those are the people I want to grab coffee with. All right, good. All right. Easier week for me. Um I would tell you, I think he fell asleep. The reason I think he fell asleep is if we look at this same phraseology in the book of Job, which again would be a scripture I would encourage you to look at more deeply. We see the same vernacular in Job 33. In a dream, in a vision of the night. So here, the same word is defined in the book of Job that a vision of the night was a dream. And in case you're curious, well, maybe it was a daydream. This says, when deep sleep falls on men. Is this person snoring? What do you think? I think he's snoring, okay? While they slumber on their beds. This is the kind of sleep we all want, okay? This is Sunday after church at 1 p.m. You've had a good lunch, deep sleep, slumbering on their beds. Notice what the God of heaven does. He opens the ears of men. I think Daniel was asleep. I think I can make the argument Daniel was asleep because Scripture gives me a parallel, which means, at least to a high degree of certainty, that a few hours ago Daniel was with his executioner. Perhaps only an hour ago, Daniel is standing before a king. He is 17 years old, and it's moments before he has to walk back with the executioner and stand in front of the king and find out if his head's gonna roll or not. And, eyes on me, adults in the room. Kids, I don't care about y'all. I do, but not for this as much. He doesn't lose a wink of sleep over it. I think that matters today. I think it ma and maybe it's because he's 17. I don't know. Maybe they went running for three miles before. Maybe they went on a prayer jog. I have no idea, but it seems like they just went into the room and they prayed. And Daniel, who's about to have to do this absolutely impossible task in front of the most impressive man the world has ever seen, with another guy that's got a sword on his thigh, doesn't lose a wink of sleep. That stands out to me. It stands out to me because according to Scripture, rest and sleep is not only important, it is a gift that God gives. It's in vain that you rise up early, thinking that getting to work early is gonna change your life in some marked way, or go to bed late, pining over emails that need responses, eating the bread of anxious toil is what scripture would call that. For he, being God, gives, gives, gives to his beloved sleep. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep. This one's for my wife. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. My wife has no trouble laying down. She gets to bed on time way better than I do. But this and, man, this and is a it's a buster. All right. It was because of an injustice done to somebody that I care about. In fact, a number of somebody, and I'm not going into it. I just need you to know that while I was laying in bed last night at 1.30 in the morning, leaning into two o'clock in the morning with some national geographic audio book about a tree frog in Brazil, just trying. Like, how do I turn my brain off? How do I stop thinking about this? How do I make my emotions not deal with that thing that happened earlier in the day? I feel like I'm relating with some of you in a way I usually cannot. So I'm thinking this was given by the Holy Spirit, okay? Usually I'd be like, hey, people with a clean conscience sleep will move on. That's usually how I operate my life. God gave me last night in a tree frog, okay? So as I'm dealing with this, this and stands out. In peace, I both lie down and I fall asleep. How many lists run? Through our minds, how many concerns, how many emotional realities, how many frustrating things, how many injustices, how many unfair situations, and you want to turn it off, but it just won't go anywhere. You want it to just be quiet, but the quieter you are, the louder it becomes. How do you get there? Well, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. It is God who cares for us. And even while we are unconscious, notice the next one. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. Foregone conclusion. I lay down, I go to sleep, I wake up. God was good the whole time. Emails were coming, emails were going, decisions being made, things were happening, I wasn't even conscious, conscious, and God was good. Let me say something hard to the adults in the room. I promise I'll say something hard to the 17-year-olds. I kind of did. Like, man up, be like a Daniel. Adults, when it comes to your sleep, maybe you have a medical condition. Maybe there's a reason you're not sleeping. Maybe you need a mask on, maybe you need some pills, maybe you need a warm cup of milk. I don't even know if that's good like ideas anymore. It sounds unhealthy. But maybe you have a medical condition, but most of us have a spiritual one. Maybe you have a medical condition, but most of us have a spiritual one. And if your immediate response of mind, of flesh is, well, I'm a warrior, it's just who I am. Well, I'm a pessimist, or maybe you church it up a bit and you call yourself a realist. Can I just tell you the moment you say I am, it is a very dangerous line to cross. The reason it's a dangerous line to cross, I'm not trying to step on your toes needlessly. I just want to tell you what the Bible says. That is my job. Therefore, do not be anxious. This is a four-word declaration to you, just as Daniel made a declaration to the king. This is God writing to your heart and his command, not request, not suggestion, his command is do not be anxious. Now you immediately may say, Well, about everything or some things. Well, let's look together. Don't be anxious about what you eat, don't be anxious about what you drink, don't be anxious about what you wear. And some of you have dodged a bullet and you're feeling good about yourselves right now. Closet is full, pantry looks good. The Gentiles seek after all these things. Pay close attention to the next line. And your Heavenly Father knows that you do not be anxious about your needs. Your Heavenly Father knows you need them. He knows what the birds need. He knows what the tree frogs and the rainforest in Brazil need. And he knows what you need. What you most need is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That's what you most need. That's what your soul needs. That's what Dan needed. It wasn't just I need freedom from drug addiction or I need freedom from selfishness. It's I need freedom to realize I can't provide my own freedom. That's what you need. I need to go to one who created the world, put it in an order, created me, slid me in the order, has shown me I fall short all the time and has made a way for me to say, God, I want to for I want forgiveness of my sins. If you're still offering that, I want a new lease on life. I want to know that it's not completely dependent on me. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and you're going to get all of it anyway. All of these things will be added to you. Now, some of you feel like you've dodged the bullet, but the verse doesn't stop there. It goes on and it says, Therefore, let me give you another do not be anxious. And it says tomorrow, which means the Bible, uh-oh. Is it messing up up there? That's the order of service. Don't worry, I'm on time. Come on, girl. There we go. You're not just told not to be anxious about your needs, you're told not to be anxious about your future. By the way, what the Bible defines as your future is about 12 hours from now. So if you actually want to put this into practice, let me tell you what scripture allows you to be concerned about. Everything from this moment until your head hits the pillow. That's what you get to be concerned with. Even in it, you should be trusting in the goodness of God. Let me work out for you what I think that looks like. What it looks like is the paper that's due in two weeks, the job proposal that you have to get in, the relationship that you need to repair or define, whatever it is, and it's waiting out there a day, a month, a year, the orders that are coming for you. Here is your job. It is for you to take those things to the Lord before your head hits the pillow and then trust those things with the Lord until your head hits the pillow. You see, sufficient for the day is its own trouble, which means you got enough to, I'm not gonna say worry, you have enough for your mind to be concerned with today. If there is something in the future that needs to be dealt with, send the email, pray and then rest in it. Send the proposal, pray and then rest in it. Send the text message, pray and then rest in it. Do not allow tomorrow to invade today. If Christ wanted you there, that's exactly where he would have you. No, while the world worries, believer, here is what you can find. You get to find rest in God's goodness. He created all things, and in creating all things, he created a seventh day called the Sabbath. He created from the beginning before there were computers or AI or email or anything else. When our job looked like, must find food today, take care of family, love the Lord. Like when that was the job description of every man on the planet, we were already resting in God's goodness and he instructed us to. But it isn't just that, we rest in the work of Christ. He has justified, made right everyone who asks him to forgive them of their sins. It's no longer looking into your past and figuring out how to play catch-up. It's Christ covering all of it. We don't even just rest in the work of Christ, we rest while Christ is working in us. So not only does he provide salvation for those who trust in us, the parts of you that aren't done yet rest that he's still working on them. And if you're reading about it and praying about it and in community about it and confessing about it, you're doing what you need to do. God wants you exactly where he has you. Why am I still struggling with that thing? Because God's not ready for you to be done struggling with that thing. If he wanted you to be done, you would. That's based on you not being negligent. That's based on you actually pursuing it. And finally, believers, I'm being angry, but this is like good stuff. Okay, let me tone change. This is awesome. We get too, I just feel like we're a culture of warriors. And I know it because I watch your prayer request come in. And you're talking to a guy whose sovereignty of God quotient is so high that all my life I have bebopped around just wondering why people worry. It is difficult for me to like engage in this and relate to this. But I will tell you, when you find rest, it is a beautiful gift, and we get to eventually rest with God forever. Where tears disappear. We're parents who are navigating a 21-year-old in hospice. That's a prayer request from this past week. Trust in the goodness of God. Where a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old in the same family get cancer at the same time. They get to rest in God. I think what I would simply say is this God knows what he's doing when he brings difficulty. His timing is always good. You adding worry isn't going to do anything. But you adding faith might change everything. So don't be worried about your needs. Don't be worried about your future beyond these next moments. And with that kind of a perspective, Daniel went to Ariok, the executioner, whom the king had appointed, to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him, Don't destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king. It would have been simple, by the way, something amazing happened here. It would have been very easy for Daniel to say, Hey, I've got a message for the king. Great prayer time. Hung out with my buddies. I don't want you to kill them. If you don't mind, just bring me before the king. He expands it. He says, Don't destroy the wise men of Babylon. Would have been simple to say, Don't kill me and my buddies, but he intercedes on the behalf of others. He covers their inability with his ability. Notice Christ stepping onto the page for the second time. Leviticus 19 is where this would come from. Daniel would have known this. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Before Jesus walks through the Middle East with a message like this, summarizing all of the law, saying, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, Daniel would already have known this. And if you know this story, sometime later the very people he saved are going to turn on him. They're going to throw him in a pit of death. They're going to close the door and they're going to walk away. Sound like anyone you know? Welcome to Daniel the 17-year-old, pointing us once again to Christ. I'm going to show you a lot of text. Don't get nervous. There's a reason. Ariak brought Daniel before the king in haste and said, I found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation. Daniel, uh the king declared to Daniel, whose name was Beltishazzar, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel, are you able to do this thing? And by the way, it's an impossible task. Nobody can do this. And Daniel's answer, much to the surprise of some in the room who haven't read this, he starts with the word no. Once again, this is a bold 17-year-old. He's banking on Ariok, not having an itchy trigger finger. All right? No. No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked. And as you know, I can't do it. Nobody else can either. Tucked into this is a beautiful lesson that sometimes God asks you to do the right thing quietly. Sometimes he asks you to do the right thing and make it known. He's making it known to Nebuchadnezzar. You have been asking an impossible task. You're asking something that I can't do. Notice the next thing he says, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Now I've told you twice to pay attention to this phrase, the God of heaven. It appears five times in chapter two, verse 18, 19, 28, 37, and 44. In contrast to the pantheon of Babylonian gods, there is a capital G God in heaven. Here's what he's saying to Nebuchadnezzar without exactly saying it to Nebuchadnezzar. You know all those astrologers that look up into the sky to tell you how the gods are getting along, who you should be sacrificing to and what decisions you can make? There's a God bigger than them. There's a God that reigns over all those little g gods that you are trying to serve. He does reveal mysteries to men. He is engaged in the affairs of men, cares about men, created men. Daniel's God isn't tribal and he isn't regional. He is looking Nebuchadnezzar in the eye and he's saying, You thought you took me from my house? Nebuchadnezzar, God sent me to you. You thought you stole me from my people. There's a God in the heavens who does all that he pleases. He has handed me to you for a reason. And for the first time in Nebuchadnezzar's life, his God Marduk, who he thought was the capital G God, is about to have some competition because God loves us too much to leave our idols unchallenged. He loves you far too much to leave your idol unchallenged. Nebuchadnezzar could have looked at one. It might have been a god of fertility. He wants to have more kids, or a God of fertility of the land. He needs good crops, a God for the rain. Maybe for you it is a god of security. God loves you too much to allow security to go unchallenged. Maybe it's peace, maybe it's being in a relationship, maybe it's being out of a relationship. God loves you too much to leave that idol unchallenged. And Daniel looks and he says, But for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom. I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king. I'm going to tell you the thoughts of your mind. Keep in mind, up to this point in the chapter, Daniel has not pulled it off yet. He's posturing. This is what happens when you know things are about to go well for you. Like this is like confidence on confidence. Because we can have confidence before the result is given. So Daniel says, Let me tell you what you saw. Here's your dream that you have told no one about. What you saw, O king, was a great image. It was mighty, exceedingly bright, stood before you, and it was frightening. The head was of gold, chest and arms silver, middle and thighs bronze, legs of iron, feet, iron and partly clay. This moment for Daniel is when uh your 13-year-old learns a card trick and he goes, Is this your card? Knowing full well it is. He'd been on YouTube for three hours trying to figure this thing out. So he could go pick a card, any card. Except Daniel had no cards. He was picking out of thin air, and he goes to the king, and this moment had to be great. He goes, Nebuchadnezzar, is uh this your card? And Nebuchadnezzar, his mind had to be absolutely blown. Nobody asks for this. Nobody does this. Christian confidence is dependent on conviction, not clarity. And Daniel had it. He says, But that wasn't all. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, struck the image on the feet of iron and clay, broke it into pieces. The iron, the clay, the bronze, all of it fell to the ground like chaff of grass that is blown away in a summer wind. Verse 36. This was the dream. Do you want to know what it means? Can I explain to you what it means? I'm gonna do this quickly. I'm not gonna read every line you're gonna see. But he looks at Nebuchadnezzar and he says, Hey man, you're the head of gold. Don't get too cocky about it, though. Because this thing is coming down. 65 years from this interpretation, this kingdom would fall. After that would be a kingdom inferior. That would be the Medo-Persians. They lasted for about 200 years. The third kingdom of bronze would come. That would be the Greeks, led by bonus points of the camp store, starts with an A, Alexander the Great, which is why Scripture goes on to say, shall rule over all the earth. The known world at that time was run and led by Alexander the Great. And here we are, hundreds of years before. And the 17-year-old with three prayer buddies is telling the world what's going to happen. And then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. Anybody want to guess? Rome. Because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. Really fascinating about this is as you go down, the metals go down in value but increase in strength. Some theologians think there's something tucked into that, that the glory of the kingdoms would diminish as their might and cruelty increased. But did you notice what happens at the end of this? A rock comes and shatters every human kingdom. It then begins to grow into a mountain that remains forever. You see, before you start going through all of the kingdom, something steps in and it steals the show. Verse 44. And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven is going to set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. I want to teach you something that Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abendagh would have known that you would not. It's one of my favorite things about this. Nebuchadnezzar, if you were to pronounce it, it sort of breaks down into Nabucaduri Usir. If you interpret that, what it turns into is O Nabu, that would have been one of his little gods, protect my heir and kingdom. None of us remember that Nebuchadnezzar was Nebuchadnezzar II. The reason you don't is because he was a much bigger deal than his dad. So we just call him Nebuchadnezzar. We forget about his dad because what he did was so great. Daniel and his buddies are given new names. Why? Because it's supposed to be tied to their new futures. And yet, here what we have is a king whose name means protect my future and my kingdom, standing in front of the God of the heavens who does all that he pleases, that's gonna decide if Nebuchadnezzar III comes or if this kingdom lasts at all. And Daniel the 17-year-old is the one bringing in this message. The man named God Protect My Kingdom is meeting a God of heaven who decides whether his kingdom is gonna stand at all, and Nebuchadnezzar knows it. Now listen, all of my friends would have been impressed at 12 years old. If you could go and look at Babylon, all of you would be impressed at what Nebuchadnezzar had built. But God is not impressed with the erect or set Lego things that you and I put together in this world. No, Daniel comes with this message. In the days of those kings, the God of heaven is going to set up a kingdom and it'll never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It'll break in pieces all these kingdoms, bring them to an end, and it will stand forever. And as though Daniel had not already done the work, he points to Christ a third time. Eyes on the screen for 10 seconds, please. This is the same verse broken down to show you that there is a true God, the God of heaven, who will set up his kingdom. That kingdom is going to last forever. It will not be left to another people. There is not a Jesus the second or a Jesus the third. He is King of kings and Lord of Lords. He reigns eternally. He already died. He decided to beat up death. He's not going to die again. He will be king who reigns forever. And that kingdom isn't going anywhere. A kingdom that begins small in the midst of other kingdoms and eventually surpasses them all to be established forever. What does it sound like to you? It sounds like to me everything Jesus talked about when he was walking through this world, the king, the rock who came, creating a mountain of a kingdom in the midst of all the other kingdoms. Now listen, you got three options today. You can try to erect or set Lego, build your own kingdom. Make it as impressive as you want. I hope it posts on Zillow. When you stand before God, it's gonna seem awfully small. Give it your best shot. I hope you do, only to realize you can't do it well enough and you run to the architect of your soul. It's what I hope happens. Option number two is you let somebody else build and you try to hide in it. Let mom, let dad, let grandma, let inheritance, let whatever, let security provide for you. I hope you don't do that either because it's gonna be found to not be enough. Or you can go to the master architect and you can give him your soul, and you can trust him for every day that comes, and worry only about these moments you have before your eyes close and hit the pillow tonight. Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and he paid homage to Daniel, commanded that an offering be given. And the king answered and said, Your God is God of gods. He is Lord of kings, and he does reveal mysteries because you have been able to do this. This is the mightiest, most proud man for a moment, bowing the knee. He won't stay down there long, but God will get him where he desires for him to be. And Daniel comes out looking just fine. He gets high honors and many great gifts. He's 17, he's not turning down an Xbox. But he becomes the ruler at 17 over the whole providence, province of Babylon. His buddies turn out okay too. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they didn't miss the prayer meeting. So they're put over the affairs of the province of Babylon. And Daniel remains at the king's court. If you've ever been curious why Daniel wasn't there for the fiery furnace, this is probably why he hangs out at the palace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are sent out into the province of Babylon. But this would be my closing thought for you as we get ready to respond, as the ushers come in to pass the baskets, as we respond to capital campaign, as we receive prayers, we stand and sing. Because the 17-year-old kid was not nervous to stand before a king, because he had confidence with an executioner who had his arm on his shoulder, he receives a position higher than anyone else. So for the fourth time, I invite you to find Christ in the pages of Daniel 2. We're not exalted because we work hard. Daniel's not smart because of his score on his SAT or his ACT. Nobody here cares about what grades he made in school. Do you know what the Bible cares about? This is a young man who has conviction before the answer is given. He trusts his God, whether it seems to make sense to or not. And you don't have to be 17 or 47 or 70 for this to be the case. Daniel didn't survive by hiding, and he didn't survive by blending in. He thrived by standing. Out for God. Christian, you are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot, should not be hidden. Nobody would light a lamp and put it under a basket. That's foolishness. Instead, let your light be propped up on a lampstand. Let it give its light for all who are in the house of the reaches of your life. In the same way, believer, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. And if you don't know him, come to him, that the lights in the house of your heart might be turned on. As the guys get ready to respond, I would invite you to think about a couple of reflection questions. Pledge cards are there, envelopes are there if you want to respond to that this week. If you would like to receive prayer or join us for prayer, we'll be on the back porch. But let's not let this moment and this good word of God pass us by without a response. Let's respond together.