The God of Mystery

 

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king win haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind. (Daniel 2:25-30 ESV).

 

Our reading today which comes from Daniel, chapter 2, is prompted by Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a giant statue made of various metals, with a stone striking it, causing it to crumble and be replaced by a stone kingdom that will never be destroyed. This dream and its interpretation are a prophecy about the rise and fall of successive kingdoms, culminating in God's eternal kingdom. We should remember that Daniel, a Jewish captive in Babylon, is able to interpret the dream. He explains that the statue represents four successive kingdoms, starting with Babylon (gold), followed by other kingdoms symbolized by silver, bronze, and iron. Very few scholars doubt that the stone that strikes the statue represents the kingdom of God, which will be established and will never be destroyed, and it will fill the entire earth.

 

The dream and its interpretation are a prophetic message about the future, offering hope that even in the face of powerful kingdoms and earthly empires, God's eternal kingdom will ultimately triumph. The dream and its interpretation highlight God's sovereignty and His ability to reveal the future and bring about His purposes. And, of course, we come away with the truth that God is ultimately the source of all mystery and their understanding.

 

Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he had dreamt of an amazing statue that was destroyed by “a rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands.” The great statue represented the kingdoms of this world, which rise and fall. But the rock represented the coming kingdom of God and Jesus Christ—and this kingdom would grow to fill the whole earth. The Scripture teaches that God calls all of us to believe in him and become a part of this kingdom. By trusting in Jesus, God’s Son, as our Savior, we can have life to the full. So, each of us faces a choice: Will I pledge my life to an earthly kingdom or to the kingdom of God? The way we respond makes all the difference in life. In the coming days we’ll explore what being a part of God’s kingdom should look like in our lives. Today, recognize that God reveals these things to us sop that we would know what should do in life’s circumstances. Commit yourself to being a kingdom participant by your actions.