The Statue

The Statue

(Daniel 3:1-18)

Yearly Theme:  “Kindness is… Amazing”

Series Title:  “KING of kings”

August 6^th, 2023

Something to think about:

No matter where we go in the world, we cannot escape the reality that the world in which we live is broken and fallen as a result of sin.  The kingdoms of this world, the nations that rise and fall, are only temporary compared to the eternal Kingdom of GOD.

As we continue our series today, we continue with a passage that we began last week in Daniel 2.  If you remember, we explored the narrative of Daniel approaching King Nebuchadnezzar with an appeal not to execute all the wise men of Babylon for not being able to know and understand the king’s dream, which had disturbed him greatly.  Being given more time to seek the answers from Yahweh, Daniel once again came to the king to tell him his dream and what it meant.  We pick up from there today:

Turn in your Bible to:  Daniel 2:29-49

Because Yahweh is the KING of all kings, and the LORD of all lords, and because we know that He is eternal, we can deduce that not only is His Kingdom the greatest Kingdom in the world, but that though…

Key Point:  “Kingdom’s rise and fall, but Yahweh’s kingdom lasts forever.”

There has been much debate by Biblical scholars over the different kingdoms being represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  Of course, we know that Babylon is represented by the head of gold, but the other succeeding kingdoms represented by various other metals are up for speculation.  However, there seems to be good evidence to suggest that the following kingdoms represented by Silver, Bronze, Iron and Clay, are:  Medo-Persia, Greek, and Roman.  Let’s take a few moments this morning and look at the different kingdoms that Daniel references in his interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and what they represent as contrasted with GOD’s kingdom as represented by the rock cut from a mountain, but not by human hands:

• The  Empire, represented as  .

Daniel 2:36-38 (NLT),  ³⁶ “That was the dream.  Now we will tell the king what it means.  ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings.  The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.  ³⁸ He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control.  You are the head of gold.

• The   Empire, represented as  .

Daniel 2:32b, 39a (NLT),  ^32b  …Its chest and arms were silver,… ³⁹ “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place.  

• The  Empire, represented as  .

Daniel 2:32c, 39b (NLT),  ^32c  …its belly and thighs were bronze,…  ^39b  After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world.  

• The  Empire, represented as  and  .

Daniel 2:33, 40-43 (NLT),  ³³ its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. …  ⁴⁰ Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron.  That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.  ⁴¹ The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided.  Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron.  ⁴² But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay.  ⁴³ This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage.  But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.

• The  , represented as the  cut from the mountain.

Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45 (NLT),  ³⁴ As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands.  It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.  ³⁵ The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold.  Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor.  But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. …  ⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered.  It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.  ⁴⁵ That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold.  The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future.  The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”

Something to take home:

Though not completely confirmed by historians, there seems to be some evidence that during Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile he utter these words: 

“Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal conquered the world but they had no
friends... Jesus founded his empire upon love and at this hour
millions would die for him... He has won the hearts of men, a task a
conqueror cannot do.”

GOD’s kingdom, established by Jesus Christ, is a Kingdom of love and mercy and justice; but not the love and mercy and justice the world has, rather, the love and mercy and justice known in Christ.  In GOD’s kingdom, love is unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless.  There is no hint of selfishness that would drive one to love another in order to be loved in return.  In GOD’s kingdom, love is freely given without strings attached.  Also, in GOD’s kingdom, mercy is extended not to those who deserve it alone, but especially to those who do not; that’s why it is called mercy.  The mercy the world gives is directly correlated with politics and “who you know.”  However, in GOD’s kingdom, mercy comes from a compassionate GOD who desires to bridge the gap between sinful humanity and the Kingdom of Heaven.  Finally, GOD’s kingdom is defined by divine justice, not the justice the world gives.  Justice that the world gives way too often neglects the orphan, the widow, the downtrodden, and the broken.  Justice in the Kingdom of GOD is illustrated through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  GOD’s justice is directly correlated with a person’s faith in, and following of, His one and only Son, Jesus.  In Christ, a person’s sins are covered by the blood of Jesus poured out on Calvary.  Even the most sinful, most corrupt, and most evil person, when surrendered completely to Christ, is forgiven of sin through the cross of Christ and is given eternal life.