Daniel 2:28, 31-36, 44: But there is a God in heaven
that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall
be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are
these; Thou, O king, sawest, and behold
a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood
before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was
of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of
brass, His legs of iron, his feet part
of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay,
and brake them to pieces. Then was the
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,
and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried
them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image
became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the
interpretation thereof before the king. And in the days of these kings shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
This is not referring only to Daniel's time. It is our time. It's not just to society or those around us; it is also to you and me. God does things on a global scale BUT He also deals in personal levels. What we stand on counts.
We're living in a time of great apprehension. There is growing unrest. We are now forced to face just how critical things are. The American dream doesn't exist anymore. We are the last nation to feel the effect of what's going on. There is no longer the prosperity and the ease we've known. Gas prices. Food prices. Everything is becoming unstable. We are hurting in every way, shape and form and we're doing it to ourselves.
The dream Nebuchadnezzar had was a picture of what's going on with civilization. The enduring mistake is the mistake of living our lives without God; we'll fall flat on our face. It's building to a great climax. It's at the feet of the image that we are depicted. What takes place is not by a heartless God but by mankind itself. It's the end result of thousands of years of Godless generations. Civilization began in what is now Iraq along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The tower of Babel came along and all civilization collectively rebelled against God. They said we'll build a tower to the heavens and we'll sit on the top of it, not God. The end result of that was the confusion of languages; the people could not communicate with each other. They walked away from each other and we have the different nations today because of it.
Babel always rears itself back up. Babylon ruled. The king was a genius. No one was stronger than he. His works were an engineering and architectural marvel; He had one of the seven wonders of the world. He conquered Israel and tried to convert them to his religion and philosophy–his view of how things should be. He spent his energy everyday to make it happen. But when he laid down at night and took off his robe and his crown, he went to sleep as only a man. He dreamed. It scared him. He couldn't figure it out. Here a man of courage, who was ruler of the world, stood scared.
He sent for all his wise men, astrologers, and advisers. They tried to tell him, but he was still scared. We can look back then ahead–how can we describe what's going on? Now is the time for reality. It had been Nebuchadnezzar's life-long dream to rule all people and be looked upon as a god. He had pretty well gotten there. He though he had it all figured out….until he had that dream.This is why we keep going back to there. We're forced to turn to Babylon, for where it began is where it will end. Most people don't realize what's going on until retribution comes. Do you see yourself in the dream life, as the ruler of your own life?
Daniel told the king he would give him the meaning after he consulted with God. He would like some of the interpretation and not the other part. There is the dream. The dream is certain. The interpretation is sure. We all have our opinions on politics and religions. BUT IT IS THE RULE OF GOD THAT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN. Nebuchadnezzar was about to find out who he was; he was about to come face to face with reality. He was about to see the dream as it really was.
The image was tall and strong. The head was fine gold. It was impressive–just like Nebuchadnezzar was. Daniel told him the image represented him. The devil gets to our head today. He plays mind games with us. He does it with the whole world. We think our minds are fine gold. The king was first impressed then scared. Look at yourself. Is your image big and inflated? The media feeds it–life is a dream to be fulfilled to its fullest. Cruise along. Pursue whatever you want. Have your fancy cars. Shut out the world and look at anything you want. The devil doesn't want us to look ahead. He wants us to see ourselves as fine as gold. But we are feet of clay; that clay is crumbling. The head is the last to hit the ground at a fall. We then find that everything wasn't quite as it seemed.
The gist–be careful of your dream–the image you create of yourself. It's the view of God, not yourself and others that matters. Do you think you can take on the world? Don't be deceived. Civilization is about to fall on itself and yet we are deceived. The devil tells us to trust the silver of the image for its materialism. Trust the brass and be bold and assertive; don't let anyone or anything stand in your way. It's happening all around us.
The furtherest part from the head is the feet. They are the weakest part, clay that won't stick together. We are as clay that won't stick together without God. There is no wrong/right anymore. We turn to everything and everywhere for help. We go to doctors, take vitamins, whatever we need. We don't have it rough. We have plenty but still we are weak. If you're not saved or are turning back from God, you'd better get right. If you're not ready for the coming of the Lord, get ready now.
The real dream is not what we imagine. The real dream is certain. The real interpretation is sure. There is no other way. Daniel told the king to listen, and he did. Nebuchadnezzar agreed that Daniel's God was the God of the universe. He listened. He agreed. He didn't learn. Look at verse one of chapter 3: Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. He didn't learn. When will we learn? The dream is all around us. It's certain. We see it, but can't change it. We can't change it to fit us. We must fit into the reality.
The interpretation is sure. That kingdom has pulled the world's eyes to itself again. Where are we in the dream? THE DREAM IS CERTAIN. IT'S INTERPRETATION IS SURE. The only way out of fear and uncertainty if Jesus. Don't wait until the statue falls.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 