Do you remember the story of Daniel and his three friends who won the great king’s competition because God had given them wisdom? That great king, whose name was Nebuchadnezzar, was very good at forgetting, as this story will show.
The king had a bad night with a very troublesome dream. In the morning, he sent for all the wise men in his kingdom to solve his problem. The king’s problem really had two parts. First, the king could not remember his dream, so the wise men were to tell him what the dream was about. Then second, they were to tell him what the dream meant.
The wisest men in the kingdom found themselves trying to do the impossible. Not only that, the king told them they would all be put to death if they couldn’t tell him the dream and what it meant.
What terror those wise men must have suffered. Not one of them knew the God who knows all things and says, “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them” (Ezekiel 11:55And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. (Ezekiel 11:5)). For those of us who know Him, it is a relief and a joy to remember that God knows and understands our thoughts. But for those who do not know Him, it will be terror when they stand before Him without an answer.
The wise men tried to gain time, but the king’s unreasonable anger made him order his soldiers to kill all the wise men of Babylon. It seems that Daniel and his friends, who had not been told before of the king’s problem, were included in the list.
Perhaps you can guess what Daniel did. He did not quickly say, “Leave it to me; I’ll tell him.” Instead, he went confidently into the presence of the enraged king and asked for time and told the king that his God would tell him the dream and its meaning. Then Daniel went to his three friends, and they prayed about it together, asking God to show Daniel the dream and its meaning so they would not be killed.
Can’t you just see those four young men in all that terrified city, confidently asking their God to do what no one on earth could do? That same God can do more for you than Daniel ever knew about, because Daniel lived before the Lord Jesus died on the cross. Daniel never heard, as you have, that “Christ died for our sins . . . and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3434Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:34)). But Daniel believed what God had already written, and this was the power in his life.
God gave Daniel a night vision which opened the whole secret of the dream and its meaning to him. Daniel’s answer to God was, “I thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might” (Daniel 2:2323I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. (Daniel 2:23)). I wonder if you know, as Daniel did, that power that belongs to God.
Then the king’s servant, Arioch, hurried Daniel with his answer into the king’s presence. The king asked Daniel, “Art thou able?” Daniel’s answer was, “There is a God in heaven that [reveals] secrets.” He didn’t use the words “I” and “me” in his answer. He gave God all the credit.
The king had dreamed of a great statue with a head of bright gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Then he saw in his dream a stone which came and struck the statue so that it crumbled to dust and was blown away like bits of straw. Then the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Perhaps you can guess why this dream troubled the king so much. When he saw that great statue turn to dust and disappear, he felt somehow that his own kingdom would be destroyed too, and he was right. It is a terrifying thought, if you have no Saviour, to think that someday everything around you will be burned up by the power of God. If you are trusting in only yourself and your own things, when that time comes you will have nothing left and no protection, for “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:1010But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)). What will you have left when God does this? If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then you will have riches and rest in Jesus, that the greatest of men perhaps know nothing about.
Daniel explained the dream -that the king was like the head of gold. Another kingdom after him would be like silver, which is not so valuable. Then a third one would be like brass, and a fourth one would be strong and bruising like iron. It finally would be like the feet and toes of iron and clay, which is not strong because they will not stick together. This statue was telling future events of the world as only God could show them.
Finally, Daniel explained that the stone would not only knock down the kingdoms, but would destroy all world power and then fill the whole earth itself. This has not happened yet, but the Bible tells us it will. Daniel probably did not understand as well as we do that that great stone is a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose kingdom shall stand forever.
There is only one Refuge in these days of terror yet to come, but this Refuge takes away all doubt and fear, and gives all the protection and joy and peace and security that no one can have without Christ. Jesus, the Saviour of sinners, is ready now to welcome you to Himself. Will you accept Him as your Saviour?
ML-03/30/1997