Bible Studies for Life Series for Sept. 9: Feeling anxious about the future

Posted: 8/29/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 9

Feeling anxious about the future

• Daniel 2

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

We noted last week that while the hero of the first chapter is Daniel, the main character of the story is God. All throughout the first chapter, we saw God at work in the circumstances of the story—God delivering Judah to Babylon, God causing an official to show sympathy to Daniel and God giving superior knowledge to Daniel and his friends. God’s sovereignty over the situations of life will be the recurring theme throughout the book of Daniel.

It is true once again in Chapter 2. In light of the direction of the study this week, three areas of the story are most important for us.

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The first is Nebuchadnezzar’s dream itself. In chapter 1, we are told that Daniel and his friends were found “10 times better than all the magicians and conjurers.” Many of the methods used by the wise men of Babylon would have been considered against Jewish law, but dreams were a means of divine communication both the Babylonians and Hebrews would have recognized. While Daniel would have been educated in Babylonian means of divination and religion, it is important to note that God did not choose those methods to communicate. God had spoken in dreams previously, specifically Jacob’s dream of the stairway to heaven, and it would not be a method condemned by the Bible. Daniel could interpret this dream without being unfaithful to God.

The second feature we need to pay attention to is the content of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a statue with a head made of gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs made of bronze, its feet made partly of iron and clay. The dream also includes a vision of a rock being cut out, “but not by human hands.” The rock breaks the feet of the statue, and this imposing statue is reduced to dust and blown away by the winds while the rock grows to fill the entire world.

While there has been a great deal of energy spent on the determination of the kingdoms represented by the statue, we need to make sure our discussion does not distract us from the main point of the passage; all of these kingdoms will pass away, but the kingdom of God endures forever. The statue is made by human hands but the rock is specifically said to be cut, “not by human hands.” Daniel speaks to a people in a time of oppression and exile and encourages them that this present situation is not the end of the story.

Finally, we need to pay attention to Nebuchadnezzar’s response. Nebuchadnezzar responds with the recognition that Daniel’s “God is God of gods and Lord of kings.” Now let’s not make a leap that is too great, Nebuchadnezzar was not converted here. It would have been easy for him to include Yahweh with all of the other gods that he recognized. That does not detract from the fact that the most powerful pagan in the world fell at the feet of a servant and recognized the power of his God. Though Nebuchadnezzar fell at the feet of Daniel, he did so in recognition of the God whom Daniel served.

Throughout Daniel chapter 2, we see God at work. Though the mention is not explicit, it is evident God gave Nebuchadnezzar his dream. It also is made abundantly clear that God revealed to Daniel both the content and interpretation of that dream. The story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream reinforces the theme of Daniel: The circumstances of life do not determine the faithfulness of God.

There are a multitude of things in our world that can cause us anxiety—the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorist attacks and the fluctuations in the economy. It is easy to get caught up in the goings on of the world and lose perspective on the eternity of God. How many countries have fallen and changed leadership in our lifetime? We have seen the fall of the Berlin wall and the unification of a divided Germany, the fall of the U.S.S.R. into nation-states in that part of the world. We have seen numerous coups in different parts of the world; maybe Nebuchadnezzar’s dream continues to be fulfilled and the kingdoms of this world continue to pass away?

I remember the early ’80s when the United States bombed Libya. For about a month, I was convinced we were going to reinstate the draft and begin world war three. I also remember that Ayatollah Khomeni, Moammar Khadafi and Mikhail Gorbachev were at one point or another considered to be the coming of the antichrist. Yet, none of those things came to pass. Just like my worries about World War III, most of the things we worry about never come to pass. And if they do come to pass, our worry hasn’t done anything about the situation.

The presence and faithfulness of God we see so clearly in Daniel is echoed in the words of Jesus in Luke 12:24-25: “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

We don’t know all of the answers to the questions that come. But, the good news is that, no matter what, God has the last word. God and not cancer will have the last word, God and not war will have the last word, God and not death will have the last word. God will have the last word, you can say that out loud, and can count on his faithfulness no matter the circumstances of life.

Discussion questions

• Has God ever chosen to speak to you through a dream?

• How do people often respond to others who say God has communicated with them in this way?

• Are people too skeptical when someone says God has spoken to them regardless of the means?