Many of our
new ladies may not know that I a bit of a rock hound. It
started when I taught Rocks and Minerals third grade. Our field trip to the gem
mines. Each child picked up a rock and donated it to our rock fountain. That
year as I worked on my National Board Certification I went to a conference over
Christmas break at Western Carolina. This photo is the wall of frozen ice
lining the highway. My love is to study nature and the natural gems our Lord
created.
When CBS met
at Lutheran Chapel we did a study of Revelation. A former ATD took glass
marbles and made a tower of colors for the twelve foundation stones in New
Jerusalem. It so inspired me that I searched for the twelve gemstones listed in
the chapter. From that I fashioned a Revelation 21 bracelet and later a
necklace using the stones from the text in the Bible. Hope you are looking
forward to the study of Revelation and Daniel is giving us a foretaste tonight
of the latter days and Christ’s
reign. Prayer
Dream Interpretation Lesson 4~Daniel 2:24-49
·
Omniscient
God in Heaven
o
All
knowing, He knows the end from the beginning from ancient times, what is still
to come. (Isaiah 46:10).
·
Jesus
the Solid Rock
o
The
Messiah, the promised one
Christ’s Kingdom is Forever
25 Then Arioch 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.” Contrast Arioch pride with the humility of
Daniel.
First the
King wanted to know if Daniel could tell him the dream and interpret it.
Honestly Daniel reveals that no man could possibly know this.
28 but there is a God in heaven who
reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will
be in the latter days. Two of my favorite words in the Bible are “but God!”
Daniel gave
the glory to God alone. “With absolute confidence and skill, Daniel unfolded
the dream while informing the king that God in heaven has the whole world in
His hands and that it is He who rules the future. Nebuchadnezzar might have
been surprised at having his dream revealed, but Daniel knew that God was able
to reveal mysteries.” Bob Conway from Decoding
Daniel
Daniel slept
well unlike King Nebuchadnezzar. He did not fear for his life for he trusted in
God. Can we do less with our daily concerns and irrational fears?
30 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.
31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a
great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you,
and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of this
image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle
and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet
partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked, a
stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of
iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the
iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken
in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and
the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found.
But the
stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the
whole earth.
Warren Weisbe in his book “Be Resolute” four things we know to be true
1.
God is
in control and Christ’s kingdom will last forever. As we read
last week in verse 21 “he removes kings
and sets up kings;”
2. Earthly rulers and human endeavors decline as
time goes on
3. The difficulty for things to hold together at
the end of the age
4.
Jesus will return and destroy his enemies and
establish his kingdom
Dr. Renald
Showers, in his book 'The Most High God',
writes
'Babylon used gold extensively in its buildings,
images and shrines. Even walls and buildings were overlaid with gold...
In ancient times silver signified money. Medo-Persia became noted for basing
its power on money... (Ann’s
comment-remember the thirteen pieces of silver paid Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.”)The
Greeks developed this metal (bronze) highly and used it extensively... Ancient Rome was
noted for its use of iron in its military weaponry.'
As we gaze
at the statue starting at the top gold is the most value element but very soft
and 10 times the atomic weight of clay;
silver five times heavier than clay. Moving in descending order the metals
silver, bronze, iron are less costly but greater strength is depicted as we
move down the statue. Wiersbe says the statue was actually top-heavy. “From age
to age nations and kingdoms appear strong and durable but they're always in
danger of falling over and crashing.
Each section of the image represents proportionally the duration of
four empires from the shortest to the longest.
First, the head
is the shortest duration: Gold - Babylonian Empire (606-539 BC)
Second, Silver
Chest and Arms - Medes and Persian Empire (539-330 BC)
Third, belly Thighs
of Bronze - Greek Empire (330-63 BC)
Fourth, Legs
of Iron , which are the longest - Roman Empire (63 BC -
476 AD)
In A.D. 455, the Western Roman Empire fell to the Vandals, and in A.D.
1453, the Eastern Roman Empire fell to the Ottomans. Bob Conway from Decoding
Daniel
Feet of Iron
& Clay - Revised Roman Empire/European Union present
until Jesus returns
Ladies, who was looking for a place to write in the
fifth kingdom on the chart in your lesson?
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Alexander the Great. New facts
taught me as influential and as great a warrior as he was, he only reigned only
13 years, dying at age 32. He never lost a battle and was responsible for spreading
the Greek language and culture through the land, may be the reason the New
Testament was written in Greek. After his death his four generals divided the empire.
The feet of
partly iron and partly clay symbolize the changing of rulers and empires.
The weakness was
not located in the iron legs (Ancient Rome), but in the feet and toes.
But when Christ returns his Kingdom will last Forever
But when Christ returns his Kingdom will last Forever
Daniel 2:41 And as
you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it
shall be a divided kingdom, but some
of the firmness of iron shall
be in it, just as you saw iron mixed
with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the
feet were partly iron and partly clay, so
the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As
you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,[c] but
they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. (Makes
me think of oil and water.)
Nebuchadnezzar kingdom was vast and wide. On the map you can see
the green area marking the Babylonian Empire. The red trail shows the distance
the Hebrews had to travel to their captivity. He was dazzle about the
brilliance of the gold and precious metals that the image was standing on feet
of iron and clay.
Representing
the present through the time when Jesus returns the ten toes of mixed with iron
and clay show the deterioration of sovereignty. WW p.41 “Clay robs iron its
ability to hold things together. Society today is held together by treaties
that can be broken, promises that can be ignored, traditions it can be
forgotten, organizations that can be disbanded, and money making in a process
that can fail--all of it iron mixed with Clay! Man at his best is Clay for God made them from the dust of the earth
Genesis 1:26.”
The difficulty
for things to hold together at the end of the age will be covered later in Daniel
7:23–24 and Revelation 17:12-14
44 And in 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 and bring them
to an end, and it shall stand
forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human
hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, 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.”
47 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.”
Jesus
will return and destroy his enemies and establish his kingdom.
Now we will
talk about the Rock of my Salvation. Many songs of our faith about the rock. So
many verses in the Bible are about stones and rocks. One author found 14
instances of in scripture referring to Jesus. Here are a few for you to check
out.
The stone is
an image of God messiah Jesus Christ son of God
His Kingdom lasts
Forever
•
Psalm 118:22
•
Isaiah 8:14
•
Isaiah 28:16,
•
Matthew 21:44
•
Luke 20:17-18
•
Acts 4:11
•
1 Corinthians 10:4
•
1 Peter 2:4-8
I will give
you a just a taste of these scripture for Jesus in the gospels and Peter in his
letter combines many Old Testament scriptures.
Psalm 118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has
become the cornerstone.
Isaiah 8:14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of
Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28:16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Matthew 21: 44 And the one who falls on this
stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush
him.” (Luke 20:18)
Acts 4:11 This Jesus[a] is the stone that
was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
Jesus is a smitten stone representing the rock struck my Moses
to bring forth water in Exodus 17:5-6
1 Corinthians 10: our fathers were all under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and
all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,3 and all
ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all
drank the same spiritual drink. For they
drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
1 Peter 2:4-8(ESV)
4 As you come to him, a living
stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are
being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
6 “Behold, I am laying
in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not
believe,
“The stone that the
builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,” (Matthew 21:42)
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
has become the cornerstone,” (Matthew 21:42)
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
King
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn that the wealth and prosperity of his great kingdom
meant nothing. It would be reduced to
chaff and be blown away. The king had to learn that he must be looking to
and living for the ‘stone’ that
would become a everlasting kingdom over the entire earth! Christ’s Kingdom is Forever
Psalm 89:26
‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
Ladies we
work and save to buy perishable things which have no earthly value. My home, my
family heirlooms, my car; all will be left behind when I go to meet my sweet
Jesus. I've heard it said there will be no U-Haul or armored car behind a hearse. That's why we lay up treasures in heaven.
We must
remember that our entire lives will pass through a fire that will test our
works. Only that which is built upon the foundation of the true stone, Jesus
Christ, will remain. (1 Cor 3:10-15) JesusPlusNothing
Will you choose to join Jesus Christ
in His eternal kingdom?
RESOURCES
Warren
Weisbe in his book “Be
Resolute”
David Jeremiah in his book “Handwriting
on the Wall”
http://www.decodingdaniel.com/ Bob Conway
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