1. Dreams and Idols - Faithfulness in Exile [Daniel] - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

grab a Bible and open up to the Book of Daniel the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and we just last week we started a new series we're going to be exploring a new book of the Bible for a couple months now on into into June and it's the book of the Bible I don't know what you know about the Book of Daniel my hunch is that some of you might know it and you may be a saw drawn up on a wall and some prophecy chart that had something to do with the Antichrist in the end of the world I don't know but what we're trying to do is take a fresh look at this biblical book because what its main themes are all about touches on the history of where the world's going but that's actually like an adventure in missing the point really what this book is about it's and if you weren't here last week you know I can't take too much time to setup the stage this is a book about tells the story of a handful of Israelites who were taken captive when at the end of the Israelite Kingdom period the biggest baddest world empire that that the world had ever seen Empire Babylon came knocking on Jerusalem's door and they took over the city they didn't destroy it they what they did was take a whole wave of prisoners captive especially from the upper class and the ruling elite and just hauled them all off into exile in Babylon they put a puppet king over the city and he lasted not very long and eventually the city revolted and Nebuchadnezzar came back and just wipe Jerusalem off the mat for good at least for a couple hundred years and so what book of Daniel tells the story of these four Israelites and they've been captured in a war they've been hauled off to a new land Babylon this new language new religion new culture and they are struggling to maintain hope and faithfulness to their God in the new and and a foreign land and the reason why we wanted to take a couple months and explore this extremely powerful book because it this is all this book is all about attention that God's people have faced for millennia and we face it here at Portland - and it's this this challenge that the God's people for most of history have been a minority a minority counter culture wherever they've been the Jesus Movement begin it was a small minority movement in the sea of the Greek in the Roman Empire and everybody thought they were crazy and they were weird and certainly made fun of them and eventually made fun of them getting killed by the governing powers and this is just you know we don't experience that here in the West and here in America and so stories like this we don't resonate with these stories in terms of our life experience but actually if you think about it you you might in some ways because God's people wherever they've been throughout history always always have to maintain a minority mindset always and it's a challenge it's kind of like I don't know if you've ever gone swimming they never swam in the lament River before I don't know if I should advise you to do it or not you might have health reasons for not for not doing it Columbia whatever say if you've ever sweat have you ever swam in a river before let's just take it okay you slam on a river let's say it's not white water rapids or anything like that it looks like a gentle river if you go hop into you know the Willamette off off the east bank or something like that and you know you're swimming out there I mean it's it's Swift yeah it's Swift and it doesn't necessarily look it though if you're walking across a Hawthorne Bridge you can look down and the pylons you can see like wow this river is really moving and if you hop in chances are you could maybe stay in the same spot for a little while I guess it just depends on if you've been getting your exercises not and what your salmon is that but you can like you can resist the current for a while but eventually your body is going to give out and you're just going to get tired and for some of us that would take about 30 seconds for others about five minutes I don't know I haven't tried it recently but eventually you get it it takes immense amounts of effort to swim against the stream of the river it takes no effort whatsoever to relax and just get carried along and actually even if you are trying to swim upstream against the river what you can't see because you're working so hard is that despite your best intentions you're still getting carried down the river and that's that's the dynamic in the challenge that the Book of Daniel opens up for us being being a Christian is hard following Jesus is hard can I get an amen it's hard and if it's not hard for you I just you know well let me personalize it when following Jesus becomes comfortable for me I know I'm probably not following Jesus anymore alright I mean that's just there's never a time when his sayings and teachings and what he calls us to shouldn't challenge us to the core and make us question our motives and our way of life and everything and so to actually live by the teachings of Jesus and to follow him and and to do it together as a community it means jumping into the Willamette River Hood trying to swim against the current with it with everything with what we do with time and money and value systems how you treat people how you treat poor people what you think of well every part of our lives is reshaped by it and God's people throughout the millennia have always because of that been a minority wherever they find themselves swimming upstream and it takes no effort to stop and get carried along it takes immense effort to keep swimming against the stream and so it raises a question and this is what it's the theme we're going to keep coming about Josh explored it last week is what what is going to motivate you and give you the energy for a lifetime of fighting against the currents of the culture that we find ourselves in and how do you know which currents to swim against like which currents are just fine and so go with those which current should you resist and keep swimming upstream and that's what the Book of Daniel opens up for us and as we turn open to chapter 2 it's really about this question of energy or stamina like what maybe you'd last 30 seconds in the Willamette but you know we're trying to follow Jesus for the rest of our lives as so what what kind of fuel do you require to do that welcome to Daniel chapter 2 Daniel chapter 2 is the next chapter in the book it's the next chapter also in Daniel and his friends story of their journey to remain faithful to their God in a foreign land in a foreign culture and it's a long chapter so one the longest in the book and there's nothing for it we're just going to read it and the reason we're just going to read it is because it's so darn entertaining it's actually also one of the most entertaining stories in the book and it'll draw all of us and just trust me it's it would make a great movie in fact it has multiple times throughout movie history Daniel chapter 2 but I just that's the question you guys the question is what is it that's going to drive and energize faithfulness for God's people when faithfulness means constantly swimming against the stream of the culture in which we find ourselves Daniel chapter 2 hey guys done ready it's a good story Daniel - now in the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar there is king of Babylon which means he's right out king of the world king of the world he had some dreams one night his mind was troubled and he couldn't sleep so he has dreams then he wakes him up huh and then he can't fall back asleep again because he's so freaked out so the King summoned the magician's and the enchanters and the sorcerers and the astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed now when they came in and stood before the king he said to them I've had a dream it troubles me I want to know what it means then the astrologers answered the King and they said may the King live forever with if you're in the presence of a king which is probably never going to happen to you but here this is the first thing you're always supposed to say I said may the King live forever tell your servants the dream and we'll be happy to interpret it for you the king replied to the astrologers hmm this is what I have firmly decided if you don't tell me what my dream was and then interpret it I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble somebody's not had their coffee this morning so super grumpy mood and a bad day if you're an astrologer in Babylon but if you do tell me the dream and explain it you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor so tell me the dream and interpret it for me so your odds or well I don't know what your odds are but it's very clear this Wheel of Fortune all right I mean what do you do there were elephants involved and uh an elf and you know what do you say you try and make one up do you shoot for it what do you do because wealth and honor well here's what these guys say once more they replied just let the king tell his servants to dream I would be happy to interpret it the King answered I'm certain you're trying to buy time because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided if you don't tell me the dream there is only one penalty for you you have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things you're hoping the situation might change so tell me the dream and I will know that you can interpret it for me it's a good story so far I told you you might be thinking what does this have to do with anything with my life well maybe nothing but I think everything just hang with me hang with me so verse 10 but it's a good story nonetheless the astrologers answers the king listen there's no one on earth who can do what the King asks no King however great where mighty has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer what the King ass is too difficult no one can reveal it to the king except the gods and unfortunately they don't live down here among us humans this made the King so angry and furious said he ordered the execution of all of the wise men of Babylon now pause if you were here last week or if you are reading with us through the Book of Daniel what - what status were Daniel and his friends elevated at the end of chapter one to the station of the wise men the councilors of the King so all of a sudden Daniel hasn't even appeared in the story yet but whose life is now in danger Daniel and through no fault of his own just this is how things work in Babylon arbitrary right you got a king is so grumpy and sleepless that means people will die that's how things work in Babylon verse 13 so the decree was issued to put the wise men to death and so the men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death now when our eoq the commander of the Kingsguard had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact when an executioner is on his way to your house speak with wisdom and tact apparently lessons for our lives from the Holy Bible he asked the king's officer why did the King issued such a harsh decree re-open explained the matter to Daniel as this Daniel went into the king and he asked for some time so that he could interpret the dream for him now the king earlier right he accused them of trying to buy time but something about Daniels approach like he gets it he gets some more time so Daniel returned to his house you explained the matter to his friends Hananiah Mishael and Azariah he urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men in Babylon and so during the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision then Daniel praised the God of heaven and he said now just pause if you're reading whether on your phone or in print Bible is what follows in a poetic format if it looked like a poem or song it ought to yeah he breaks it's a musical if you know Daniels are musical too so he breaks out in song literally breaks out into a poem of praise and it's really important anytime you're reading an Old Testament narrative this is a really neat tool the biblical authors use to create musicals right but it's not just for variety when biblical characters break out and poetry and song in the middle of a story your radar should just be going off the charts then because what these authors do is they they they insert these key poems at key moments in the story to bring together all of the core seams in the story all the vocabulary that you're supposed to pay attention to are you with me when you see a poetry in a story in the Old Testament you should be going like oh this is really important the author's way of getting your attention so everybody don't have your attention pay attention praise be to the name of God for ever and ever wisdom and power belong to him he changes times and seasons he deposes Kings brings them down and he raises up kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning he reveals deep and hidden things he knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him and so I thank you I praise you O God of my ancestors you've given me wisdom and power you've made known to me what we asked of you you made known to us the dream of the king do you get it praise God because he's what he's wise and and and God knows the secrets of history my god knows where history's going and specifically why this is relevant is because there's a king on the throne right now and is he a good guy or a bad guy what do you think about this Kings character so far he wakes up grumpy and so people will die today right that's that's how history works right now and so you'd be very tempted when the king of the world is that kind of a person you'd be very tempted to you know take an apocalyptic view of life we're all going to die this is all over is going to hell in a handbasket right yeah I you just freaked out and what Daniel discerns here is he realizes the dream and and what this means what he realizes is that know that the king of the world isn't Nebuchadnezzar who's the king of the world God is and gods in his providence orchestrating directing the flow of human history and he gives humans immense amount of freedom as we're going to see but but not not enough freedom so that they could take a train on the track right God against this directive role and God is ultimately the one removing bringing up establishing down and that breaks Angela great field piece which house is very good great so Daniel went to Ariana when McCain deploy just execute the wise men of Babylon it says it and don't excuse the wiser take me to the king and all interpreted three or four so REO took Daniel to the king at once and he said I found a man he's from the Exile of Judah who can tell the King what the dream means so the King asked Daniel and you remember Dan Joseph Hebrew name force nobody in Babylon called them that they called him by Babylonia name which is web belteshazzar good pointing all these kids around our most grateful are you able to tell me what I saw on my grave and interpretive annual Clyde's no why no in cancer no position no diviner can explain the king the mystery of death but there is a God - definitely who reveals mysteries he shone King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days come because your dreams and divisions to pass through your mind if you were lying in your bed here there your majesty was lying there your minds turn to things to come as the revealer of mystery shows you what's going to happen as for me this mystery think revealed me not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive but so that your majesty may know the interpretation that you may understand what went through your mind Your Majesty just dream here and see looks and there before you to the large X you now I mean for the new turn em over large statues of your translations have not staff to that image yes away image enormous dazzling images awesome in appearance last week Josh kind of opens up a theory showing Bible project videos that we made on the Book of Daniel and just so we don't get lost because it's so awesome I'll get it Charlie did an excellent here just zoom in okay here you go this is zooming into custom story I don't know if that was awesome and down with you because our our approximation he's not up there give you a visual imagination for what agreement so awesome dazzling now the head of the statue is made of pure gold its chest in his arms were a silver belly size would have run the displays were iron and teeth were partly of iron and partly beige clay now while you were watching a rock was cut out but not by cleaning him that rock struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay smashed them now when iron then the iron to clay the bronze silver the gold all shattered to pieces and became like chaff on the threshing floor summer and the wind swept them away without leaving a trace but there are the struck the statue there became a huge round in the silver bowl that's the dream now let us interpret it for the King Your Majesty you are the king of cake the God of heaven has given you Dominion and power and might and glory and in your hand she has played all humanity all the beasts of the field all the birds up in the air wherever they live he's made you ruler over them all using are in the head of goal ought to make anyone happy that's it I hope this little curious grumpy baby but then after you another kingdom will arise inferior tears and then without 30 kingdom bran that will rule over there finally a fourth kingdom strong like iron fire breaks and smashes every day and so it will crush a break all of the evidence and then just like you saw the seed and toes were partly clay and then partly iron so that kingdoms going to be divided and you know we'll still have some strength of iron in it and just like you saw the iron mixed with clay but then the toes that were partly under partly closed kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle just it didn't be healthier just as you saw the iron mixed would play though these people be a mixture and will not remain united any more than iron mixes the play as we all know in the time of those Kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed nor will it last be left to another people it will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end and it itself will endure Reverend this is the meaning of division of that rock cut on the mountain but not by human bands and the rock that broke the iron bronze clay is still vertical the dream and the interpretation I guess yes including the story now the great God has shown the King what will take place in the future the dream is true its interpretation is trustworthy then King Nebuchadnezzar II fell prostrate before Daniel and he paid him honor and ordered that in offering and incense he presented the King says to Daniel certainly your God is the God of God and the Lord of canes and revealer of mysteries for you were able to reveal the mystery remember the song danielson River song what it was about who is the true king of history God is Daniel food is true one with power and wisdom and reveals the mysteries about where this world's done the job Daniel does the king of Babylon now agree with Daniel apparently and I think you would too holy cow someone to tell you what you dream website and then tell you what it meant you would be tempted to say something like scoop vindication place Daniel in a high position lavish in font him he made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon place him in charge of all of the wise men moreover at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach Meshach Abednego spree traders over the province of Babylon while Daniels himself remained at the Royal Court Daniel chapter hey guys good now I was entertaining what on earth to have to do would you I've had a lot to do so Fred angel so the engines been exiled to this board lengths and IANS friends are struggling to remain faithful it's the Daniels first task of swimming upstream actually notice what the texts were not and John talked about this last week notice that I'm learning the language of Babylon ah he did that uh taking up the dress Babylon Daniel and his friends the job they received Babylonian man holy cow they've got a government job they work for that water and none of those things are Judith compromise is a Book of Daniel but then comes a moment with food another plastic capsule on food which was heavily symbolic for its realized diets with one of the ways they express their loyalty and painfulness of javascript and see ones compromise of that one and we're going to see as we go on through the book though the other other challenges of where Daniels allegiances who or what is going to worship or not worship or crazy - not crazy these become the areas we get to swim upstream so already he shown that this is going to be a lifetime now in Babylon not as like oysters away from Babylon he doesn't see that and that's not beautiful so he's dressing talking living working so there's a couple of you and that's all hot but was not fun is for him to give us his true identity as a March chosen one of God we remain faithful when it comes to so the stage is set then chapter 1 in the question just like if you're going to jump into the lemon and like how long you get a lot of swimming is Melissa would you better have some Power Bars and it's of energy or you better believe you're being chased by a shark because you're not going to last you don't have the energy what's going to fuel with you what's going to fuel Daniel for a lifetime of navigating these tensions of winds to swim upstream with when do other people think I'm getting in but I'm actually not as long as what does it mean for you what kind of mindset that you have to cultivate so that when you show up to work you know there's a number of co-workers that think you're an idiot because they have a very Christian and they they don't hesitate to let you know about it when when they want to and think about your family members who think you drank the kool-aid hit up up and you're doing the Christian saying and you're just stupid and your friends and when like it's really hard and inconvenient to follow Jesus because it's so counter so what lives here in the West and Portland is America so see what's going to fuel that the vision of Daniel chapter 2 is what's going to deal with angel which is what so here in Babylon a few things is one of ours one of response on this story if you land in Babylon who is the king of the world that's desert that wasn't king of the world and all of a sudden once you realize in Daniel chapter 2 what he comes to realize it yes what Nebuchadnezzar is very powerful but as he actually contained a portal a true king of the world is the goddess of the maker of heaven and earth even humans immense amount of freedom and responsibility to as we're going to see in a second rule this world of gods represented but ultimately all human kingdoms are subordinate to and accountable to their true king whether they realize it or not they're accountable to a much greater king who's the god is the god of man man now so but does that mean that Emmet Nesser he's not important he's very important in fact it's the dream highlights of this what what is on the statue who's never censor the head and what's the head made out of made out of schools and you remember in the dream like what Daniel and the interpretation what Daniel was the king of Babylon he says your majesty you are the king of kings some of you when I read that were like wait a minute I thought God is a campaign look exactly yes yeah yes God is the king of all Kings but they're lizard goddess Gardens established Nebuchadnezzar for such a time that's the never desert can also be called a Content and with it remember what it said here's the God gave you dominion he gave you power he gave you mine in your hands he pledged all humanity all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the sky Nemitz Nezzer rules the birds he rules Eagles what is this all about what does that you say something like and this is where the author of Daniel the dream of Daniel assumes that users are immersed in the entire Moulton subscription and you're going to pick up little cues being drops here in the little things all of the kingdoms of the world are symbolized in the dream with one statue or some you translations have image and you think of another place in the Bible where humans are commissioned to rule as an image where is the Bible our humans called the image I'll page one the second one I don't know if you failed or passed that population system there you go page one like it's hard to think that this year to provide everything anything about anything in the Bible it all you'll find it all on pages 1 to 2 so paying to take one extremely important fiction about the nature and purposes of human being and will just quote premise here you'll see oh yes sir under top in the annual the word for image or for statute of you look out right there you want to try to pronounce them TS the good fella at selim selim and on its most normal meaning you're looking at right here except you and here's what you learned about the nature and purpose of human beings on page 1 so God created humanity in his own self in the selling of God he has God created him humanity male and female he created them god bless them and said to them be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth and subdue it rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground so let's pause so the image of God you know I don't know what that what that brings into your mind in the Western Christian tradition when people think of the image of God they tend to think of things that set humans apart from animals like rationality or over spirits having spirit thing or the abilities made comes and promises community realities community relationships something like that and that's all very interesting of course there's nothing about that here and the fact was here the first use of this idea of the image of God actually tells us quite clearly was the image of God is all about I think one of the Bible's the image of God is not something that humans possess it's what human being are humans are the image of God and as God's images for representatives whatever humans are Commission here to do make more of yourself we're at it I hope life that that's the first thing so they are to come together as communities and families and be covenants with one another an ounce of covenant promises do life is generous and that is image of God how does something about God's nature the God apparently some kind of community clubs well it's carbonated to it each other within God's on being story they look back with that in and then out of that less Covenant love life is created making and all twice on the board so that's the first thing and then once there's a whole bunch of lies and you got a whole bunch of human and they're spreading and making neighborhoods and cities and song what are the humans Commission to do as documents to rule woo it's not a word we really use anymore would we really like something cut rules you know like if you're you know if you're a manager in a subway you know rule that subway right boy is there might think that you think you have you know rules the place but you know that word we use anymore but it's about or the humans human beings have a unique role here on earth and it doesn't take that long to look around and see like monkeys didn't build in New York they're surprised you know zebras and makes rocket to go to the medicine like human being cousins you need creative capacity where we did not inhabit the world we remake the world as we go along and that's according to page one of the Bible but one of the ways we image stuff we rule we we take the raw material just like I did okay part of the Bible we take the raw materials that are packed into this world we develop it and we've cultivated created and whole new possibilities that's what cumin unlike any other feature on the planet and so with that with that purpose commission comes great responsibility I get Dungey with me so so what's happening here is is extreme what would be when that kind of being cold here if the knees receive an incredible responsibility yes that human all humans to Commission to rule here kill all humans amazing but then humans get together you know communities and then like cities and then they need to govern themselves and there's you know people come into those positions of authority through all kinds of different ways industry but eventually you get some and and yet even those are just images of the true king and the temptation of human history of course is to like I you know I get a little history after myself I maybe you know those resources people respect me and I kind of feel like a God in my house I run this place my weakness your apartment the place did you rule so you have them you know what I'm talking about you get a gerbil your life I know you feel like very superior in then whatever you know and then maybe you do get elevation to be a manager of the pathway and then you tell my parents how things are going to work and I that doesn't something to do it it does something to you and then all of a sudden like it's not just subway like you all sense of authority over a city or her papers or proble people's group what does that see you to you yeah and exhibit a human history right it's absolute remember the brain would a history class absolute power to us absolutely correct something happens to use a different it rises like the default setting of selfishness to preserve my interest me and my group the expensive you and your group and once I get it mints amounts of power in my hand just bad people died if I wake up grumpy but Baskin industry so what Nebuchadnezzar's being reminded here is that he may be elevated to a position of immense responsibility and authority but at the end of the day he's just an infant indifference and of what he's actually called to do is to reflect and embody God's Authority and rule over the world and what human beings forget that all of a sudden the image of our Authority and power becomes an idol and actually ironically precisely the next story the votes for nemesis is of the Nebuchadnezzar's power his image of power becomes survival and you calls the whole world to acknowledge him as a god because it's a power now you might think that's really extreme or whatever but once again think about how you feel about the gerbil as your house and you kind of want the gerbil to know who you really are you know and then you have power over its life and death cleanliness is it okay it is not my goodness it does to a weird position power so when everything hasn't being reminded here is that he thought God actually God the true king of history what is the impetus and he's a has a regiment actually what he was they give it to about to say is that he's actually not going to be around forever the Babylonian Empire left a solid solid thousand years on stages the Roman Empire uh which is one of the last great empires in Western history like half a millennium we Americans the two hundred we're not even 250 yet right and it seems like this always glazings up their courses or do people look ridiculous like the world but that's what human beings need to be reminded of is is that we're so our lives are so short and things are so temporary and impermanence a slip the king needs to be reminded of so it's this train of Kingdom but you're just ahead there's another Kingdom coming up for you there's another one coming after that there's another one after that and you get to the end of it and you know Daniel gets to be the bearer of this news say listen you think you're the hotshot you know of the world right now but of course you won't be around forever and sorry your kingdoms not you can watch for as long and there'll be another one after that another one after that and all of it symbolized by this image this follows train of kingdoms throughout human history and did you notice what kind of metal was the heads made out of gold s go down from I for this material boundary is the kingdom kingdoms go throughout history it is the dream is cultivating this mindset that would human beings do you fire their own power and authority what happens is they go from great to pretty good - okay to bad to worse this is like the natural progression of nations and empires once that once that self-exaltation the idolatry of us and our way of life takes place the course disinhibited leads of downhill from there it is all is all going to end was it all go ahead what is wrong right Nebuchadnezzar's reminded that his way of lives and did Kingdom and what he thinks is all so temporary which is which is going to be bad news for him but as great as Prudential what's this book about because it is trying to instill in Daniel and his friends and and you and I the readers of what kind of mindset and that's a question for minds this gonna help us swim upstream and if the mindset says you know like whatever kingdoms does people happen to find themselves with it isn't how things have always been and this is how things are always going to keep it's kind of like here is here in Portland how passion goes here at Portland remember that a while ago in the thing was like to dress like it was 100 years ago you remember that what's the status of that right now so some of you bought into that your dis on Milan that train that's fine that's great your fashion forward or backward which is amended and then there's others about diversions I got a limited don't resonate with it and so we just kind of waited it out and now it's over you know or maybe it's not maybe I'm just that clueless I don't know but there's something when you realize how impairment something is it becomes much less compelling and of course you can do that with fashion and you can do that with technology and so you won't buy the next Apple thing because you'll wait for them to version two to come out that's $200 cheaper you're just going to wait it out because it just keeps changing so quickly and that's the mindset that this dream is trying to cultivate and Daniel and you the reader what seems to us so permanent and fixed in the world the kingdom in which where whoever happens to live in at that time but it hasn't always been that way it isn't always going to be this way in fact God's the king one's the king of history and he's orchestrating history towards its goal and the greatest mistake that God's people can ever do can be to ground their true identity in the nation or Empire in which they happen to live the moment that happens you've sold the farm you've lost your way because you're grounding your identity and something that's impermanent and something that just true to human nature is going to inevitably go from great - pretty good - okay to bad to worse really flimsy place to ground your hope and your identity and so the last thing where this vision goes here is that where's the story conclude the dream it concludes with this rock remember that with the rock comes and it's a rock that didn't get corridor dug out by humans this idea that's not by human power that this rock comes and then this rock comes and it just decimates the whole statue it decimates the idolatrous image and it all crumbles and then you remember what happens to the rock grows to this huge mountain now that this whole thing that's going to get played out as we go throughout more in the Book of Daniel and it's that rock and the striking that inspires all the prophecy charts and so on that you've and so we'll talk about all that but but ad at its base just think of the story and what this means for Daniel what is the rock symbolize do you remember what it said the rock is it's the kingdom of God it's God's reign and it's God's rule so what the vision fosters is both of you of human kingdoms that they're impermanent that the comment that they go and that I shouldn't find my identity by the fact that I happen to live in any of these kingdoms and actually the true goal of history where history is heading is the full realization here of God's reign in God's kings and that for Daniel that's where he grounds his identity and his hope what's going to inspire Daniel to keep resisting the currents of his culture well it's you know it's not going to be this way forever and by the way I you know my identity isn't defined by the currents that are pushing against me my true identity is defined but were I trust where this world's heading and that's the kingdom of God the kingdom of God now let me let me just kind of land land the plane with one concluding reflection here and this will be important to as we go on in the Book of Daniel what is the what is the rock of God's kingdom do to the kingdoms of this world you remember it's like annihilates them okay is this a violent image yeah violent image what does that mean the God's kingdom is going to come and destroy and smash and shatter the kingdoms of this world well here's something very interesting we we know that the Book of Daniel is extremely important to Jesus extremely important if you were with us in our long journey through Matthew I mean he was constantly quoting from it and alluding to it so we know this book was very important to him we also know that there were lots of other Jewish readers and religious people who were inspired by the Book of Daniel there's a there's a Jewish historian who lived right after Jesus's time and he was trying to help people understand why the Jewish people revolted against Rome and why they called themselves freedom fighters other people called them terrorists but they were Jewish guerrilla groups who started performing raids and eventually declared all-out war on Rome and his name's Josephus the historian and he says you know there's there's a passage in our Bible the Old Testament their Bible that tended to inspire these groups to revolt against Rome and can you guess what chapter of the Bible he pointed to this one I mean God's kingdom it's going to resist and revolt and destroy all of these idolatrous pagan kingdoms so maybe God the kingdom needs a little help in coming here to earth and so they were quite happy to help that process along here's my point you guys if you if you just take this chapter out of context in the Bible and don't think it through as a Christian this is a dangerous chapter of the Bible this chapter has inspired terrorists in the history of its interpretation or freedom fighters depending on your interpretation so what does this mean to say that God's kingdom is going to come and smash the kingdoms of this world and if I'm a follower of Jesus I mean I need to know what Jesus thought about this and how he viewed himself and what he was doing and so here's here's where we have to go and we'll come back here with the Book of Daniel the way that God's kingdom in Jesus comes and invades history and smashes and confronts and challenges the kingdoms of this world upside-down remember after Jesus finishes great final speech to the disciples in the upper rim in the Gospel of John and things are going to get really bad from here you're going to have lots of trouble and then he says but have peace because I have conquered the world Jesus final words in John 16 I've conquered the world and then from those words he goes into the Garden of Gethsemane and gets arrested whipped and executed he conquered the world by being conquered by the world and then there's this dramatic irony right this paradox that happens in Jesus's passion we remember he rides into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey and everybody's excited because he's been announcing the kingdom of God and they've got Daniel to in their heads and so they're thinking he's the Messiah he's going to trump on the Romans and then the whole week that's exactly what Jesus doesn't do and then he ends up persecuted and then he gets arrested and then he said he's going to conquer the world but it looks like he's being conquered and then as Jesus is being whipped and he's put on trial and beat by the soldiers what's put around his shoulders his royal robe and what's put on his head a crown and what's put in his hand a sceptre and what happens to Jesus's body he gets lifted up and exalted and thrown onto the onto an execution rack and he even gets a title in a big plaque that says he's the King of the Jews what's what's happening in the story what's happening in the story of Jesus is the upside down paradoxical way that nobody saw coming about how this is this rock would come smashing into human history and it's that the God of Israel would come among his own idolatrous people and he would smash the kingdoms of this world by letting them smash him I mean not when you come and you say when did the kingdom of God invade the world in Jesus and begin to smash the kingdoms of this world Jesus the entire New Testament is going to give you one answer to that question in Jesus's life this humiliating execution and death and in his resurrection from the dead now that'll spin your brain a little bit but that's what it means to read and think about Daniel - as a follower of Jesus one of the most impacting ways that any of Jesus's followers talked about this and I'll close with this this would be a great way to lead us to the bread and the cup is in Paul's letter to the Colossians and here's how Paul talks about God's kingdom smashing into this world he said after God disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by by the cross some some how the cross represents the moment of God's defeat and his victory God allows the kingdoms of this world it's just human nature with the volume turned up to 11 to do to him what we do to each other which is we wake up grumpy people are going to die today human history and if God's indictments and as God's exposure as his making a public spectacle of the human condition the cross displays both the place where Jesus takes the consequences of humanity's sin and idolatry but it also becomes the place where he conquers it and gains victory over it as he vindicates Jesus in his resurrection from the dead and my friends are following Jesus is so hard it's so hard and perhaps in America what makes it so hard is because in some environments you really do feel like a minority culture right swimming against the currents and the but there are other parts of American culture that are trying to make Christianity the dominant culture and then that gets all complicated and are you with me this is so difficult to follow Jesus in the modern West what vision of hope is going to fuel that nice edge of faithfulness and knowing what areas are like fine and I'm happy to live here and be here and dress like the babylonians and tie it because it's a wonderful place to live but at the same time the moment I give in on that one I'm compromised and I'm going downstream like how do you navigate that and as a follower of Jesus it's about this hope this hope that began at the cross this exposure of the human condition and this this profound hope that in Jesus heaven has already come smashing into earth and as we come and we come weakly to worship this Jesus and we take the bread and the cup together we're formed into people and as a community that's a contrast community that's a the counterculture that resists all of the influences that are trying to vie for our attention and so I don't I don't know exactly what that means to you but that's the story we find ourselves in as we come from Daniel chapter 2 so I'm going to pray and I would just ask you to like what's what's the decision what's the area of being a Christian right now that's the area of most tension for you where are you being tempted to just like sell the farm and just that area is too hard to follow Jesus I'm not going to do it what is that for you where do you feel the most pressure against you with the currents of our culture and to bring that to Jesus as we take the bread and the cup today and to ask his love for you his life is death in his resurrection to fuel renewed energy as you walk out into your work week as you go back to be with the people in your family and in your neighborhood the kingdom of God is the hope of God's people amen let me close with the word of Prayer Jesus thank you for both the puzzle and the wonder of who you are thank you for this incredible story thank you for the way it shines a spotlight on the ways that we overvalue ourselves we think much too highly of ourselves and our kingdoms Jesus we need your spirit in your presence to empower us to be faithful to you thank you for this wonderful city that we live in but Jesus we want to be fully aware of the cultural forces you're pressuring us to abandon faithfulness to you help us see what those are give us wisdom Jesus we want to follow you ultimately because we love you because you lived us and so we come to the bread and the cup today and we participate in this story of your life and your love that was given for us so that we might live with the hope of your kingdom over this world we pray in your name Jesus amen yeah amen you

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 56min 32sec (3392 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 19 2017