(Read Daniel 2:39-44)
This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”. Yesterday we started to walk through Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Let’s pick it up where we left off.
Daniel said, “Another kingdom will come after you, but it will not be as great as your kingdom. Next, a third kingdom will rule over the earth—that is the bronze part. Then there will be a fourth kingdom. That kingdom will be strong like iron. Just as iron breaks things and smashes them to pieces, that fourth kingdom will break all the other kingdoms and smash them to pieces.
You saw that the feet and toes of the statue were partly clay and partly iron. That means the fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom. It will have some of the strength of iron in it just as you saw the iron mixed with clay. The toes of the statue were partly iron and partly clay. So the fourth kingdom will be partly strong like iron and partly weak like clay. You saw the iron mixed with clay, but iron and clay don’t completely mix together. In the same way the people of the fourth kingdom will be a mixture. They will not be united as one people.
During the time of the kings of the fourth kingdom, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom that will continue forever. It will never be destroyed. And it will be the kind of kingdom that cannot be passed on to another group of people. This kingdom will crush all the other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end, but that kingdom itself will continue forever.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. God reveals secret things to humans all the time, but our heart must be open to receive.
a) The Lord revealed the future in a dream to a pagan king who had never acknowledged His presence.
b) The Lord revealed the dream and the interpretation of the dream to a teenage Hebrew slave.
c) The Lord is always speaking, but we must slow down and tune in long enough to hear what He is saying.
2. God wants to reveal Himself in the earth.
a) The Lord explained Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel. By doing so the Lord was revealing what would happen hundreds of years into the future.
b) The Lord revealed five kingdoms to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. The kingdoms were: the Babylonian empire over which Nebuchadnezzar was ruling at the time, the Medo-Persian empire that would follow, the Greek Empire that would come after that (with Alexander the Great), and finally the Roman Empire during which time Jesus would be born. The last empire was God’s own empire. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the stone in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. This is a stone that could not be made with human hands. This stone crushed all the other empires and it then expanded to fill the whole earth.
c) Nebuchadnezzar did nothing to earn or deserve God’s revelation. All he did was go to sleep.
d) Daniel did nothing to earn or deserve God’s revelation. All he did was ask in faith.
e) God wants to reveal Himself to you by His grace. Why not slow down today long enough to ask God to show Himself to you? Ask in faith and your faith will access His grace.
3. The secret things belong to the Lord, but the revealed things belong to us.
a) Moses said, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29).
b) God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to dream about things that would not happen for hundreds of years. God then allowed Daniel to interpret the dream. There are several things we can learn from this:
i. God knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). We don’t know the future.
ii. Nothing is a mystery or a secret to God. Many things are a mystery to us.
iii. God chooses to reveal things to humans. When he does, divine revelation helps humans prepare for the future.
iv. Even though God can, He does NOT reveal everything to us. If He did, we would not need faith.
v. There is a certain level of mystery to walking with God. Some things He will tell you, other things He won’t. He wants you to live by faith and to trust Him the entire way.
4. Live by revelation, faith and trust.
a) Open your heart to divine revelation. Expect God to speak to you and show you things to come.
b) Have faith in every Word you receive from God – whether that Word was in the Bible or it came to you another way.
c) Trust God when you can’t trace Him. Trust God, even when you don’t know what He will do. Even when God does not tell you what He is going to do, you do know He loves you, so you know it will turn out for your good!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. You revealed key things to King Nebuchadnezzar, a man who did not know You and who did nothing to earn or deserve your revelation. You did this because You wanted to and You did it by grace. You then revealed Yourself to Daniel, a teenage slave at the time. Daniel exercised faith and you released Your grace for Daniel to see into the future. You have secret things. You know the end from the beginning. There are things You will not reveal to me, because you expect me to live by faith and to trust You. But there are also many things You want to reveal to me. So this is how I live. I exercise faith to access Your grace to receive divine revelation. When You speak to me and show me what will happen in my future, I believe and receive it like it’s already done. I know it’s done in eternity and it is just a matter of time before it manifests in the earth. And when You have not spoken to me yet about something, it may even be something that You will never speak to me about, I simply trust You. I use my faith when You tell me what You are going to do. And I simply trust You when I don’t know. I live by revelation, faith and trust. This way I am never unprepared and I enter every day ready to WIN, by Your grace, for Your glory! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
