Dreams and visions were used by God in the Bible to reveal Himself. Sometimes he used believers to reveal these prophecies to, other times He chose to bring the message to light through a nonbeliever. The problem was understanding the dream. What good did it do if no one understood it? In the book of Daniel, we see that king Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream and none of the wise men could describe or interpret the dream for him.
But, Daniel comes to the rescue when he shares the dream and its message with the king. He doesn’t claim to have discovered the answer on his own, but attributes it to his God. So, the dream is given to a pagan king, who in our day, we could compare to revealing a dream to Hitler. Thinking of an evil person who killed many innocents through the atrocities they committed during their reign.
So why does God provide this dream to the king at this particular time? God’s chosen people had pushed Him away and had chosen to worship idols and false gods. In return, they fell to evil kings through the years and were in captivity in Babylon. The people of Israel feel far away from God at this time and He is telling them, through this prayer, what is to come.
Daniel describes the king’s dream about the statue of a bull that is made of many different parts. The head is gold, chest and arms were silver, middle and thighs were bronze, legs of iron, feet partly of iron and partly of clay. A stone was cut out by a hand that was not human and it struck the statue breaking all of the parts into pieces which were blown away. The stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Through this dream, God is telling Israel that he isn’t through with them yet. Right now, Nebuchadnezzar is on top. All of his power, might and glory comes from God who has given him the rule over man and beast. But there will come a time when another kingdom will rise to replace Babylon, not as great, but stronger. It will be followed by another kingdom and so forth, each becoming stronger than the one before. The feet represent a prophecy about the end times when a 10 kingdom confederacy will rule the world.
The ironic thing is that Nebuchadnezzar only hears the part about him being above all of the other kings. He totally misses anything about what’s to come. Since Daniel was successful in his task, the king promotes him ruler over the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is a bit of an egocentric!
I know that’s a lot to digest, but the take away here seems to be that we are on the verge of the feet of clay and iron. Our pastor shared that human kingdoms are built on unstable foundations which are inevitably flawed. They are deteriorating as one is built on the ruins of the one before it. Human government is disintegrating. The conflict and turmoil that we see in the world today makes this obvious, I think.
The people will rise against the government, but it will grow in force to shut the rising of the people down. But as Christians, we know how the story ends, right? God triumphs over evil through His son, Jesus Christ! “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. -Psalm 118:22
This is why I love my church family. When I read scripture, I miss interpretation that is beyond my ability to comprehend. But through my pastor or others who have studied scripture deeply, things are brought to light that I wouldn’t have gotten on my own. Should I take the word of someone without examining it for myself? Absolutely not! There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing that we need to be wary of. So always study the scripture yourself to determine validity. Scripture should always back up any truths that we are told. Another reason to be involved in Bible studies or small groups.
So, study God’s Word to be aware of what’s coming. But, don’t be anxious because we know who is ultimately in control! Live on His promises and grow to know your Savior!
In Faith,
Pam
If you’d like to listen to Jon Porter’s sermons in their entirety, click here to go to the website of Milan Christian Church in Milan, Indiana. Click on the sermons link in the upper right corner. Enjoy!
Where God Leads 