Dream Interrupted -- A Message for August 4, 2024

 

 

This morning, we begin a 5 week focus on the book of Daniel. Daniel was a prophet and faithful Jew who lived during the Babylonian exile. Many former residents of Judea were forcefully relocated to Mesopotamia between 597 and 587 BCE.  The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II reigned during the time of exile – he ordered the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its elite residents. 

King Nebuchadnezzar II was somewhat eccentric – several of his ideas and stories of his power come down to us through the centuries. His armies conquered many diverse peoples, not just the Judeans. One of his ideas was that the captives could be turned into upright Babylonians if he could control their education. So, he had attractive, royal, intellectual young men rounded up and brought to his court so they could be schooled in Babylonian laws and etiquette.  Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Judeans brought to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar II. 

The king had weird dreams. He became enraged because none of his advisors could interpret the dreams. Daniel and his friends had a low profile before the dream issue arose, but they were forced to “show their hand” when the king ordered the execution of his court members because they could not interpret the dreams. Listen now to what unfolded as we read from the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 2, verses twenty-four to forty-nine: 

 

Scripture Daniel 2:24-49 (Dream Interpreted) 

²⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.” 

 

²⁵ Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” 

 

²⁶ The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” 

 

²⁷ Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, ²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: 

 

²⁹ “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. ³⁰ As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. 

 

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. 

 

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 

 

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 

 

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. 

 

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” 

 

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. ⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” 

 

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. ⁴⁹ Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court. 

 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

 

Let us pray.... 

Sermon Dream Interpreted

This week, we begin reading highlights from the book of the Prophet Daniel and his three companions. This book of the Bible reads more like an adventure tale than a book of prophesy, especially when you read the first half of the book. Daniel is the focus of children’s stories and extra-Biblical legends...he survived being thrown into a pit of lions and his friends lived despite being thrown into a fiery furnace. When Lucia was little, we watched the VeggieTales version of Shack, Rack, and Bennie and Daniel in the Lion’s Den on repeat. These faithful men have been heroes of the faithful for centuries.  

 

King Nebuchadnezzar the II, or Nebuchadnezzar the Great, was the most powerful of the Babylonian rulers.... For a time, he was probably the most powerful man in the world. He was responsible for conquering territories and people in the Levant. He commissioned the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7 wonders of the world. He commissioned aqueducts and grand buildings. He believed in his own greatness and planned for his empire to exist into the future...to become greater with each generation. 

 

In today’s reading, Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by his dream – what did it mean? Why wouldn’t his advisors tell him what it meant?  

 

Daniel was a prophet and a follower of God. God blessed him with the ability to interpret the dream – Daniel was brave and yet probably worried how Nebuchadnezzar would handle Daniel’s words – Daniel told the king that his kingdom wouldn’t last forever – future kingdoms would achieve greatness, and then would collapse. Eventually, God will create a kingdom that will never be destroyed and will last forever. 

 

As Christians, we talk a lot about the Kingdom of God – through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we all become part of God’s family and the kingdom of God. As more and more people embrace Christianity, the Kingdom of God is extending throughout the world and throughout all time. The kingdom of God is for all people – people of every land and nation, people of every gender and age, people of every socioeconomic group and sexual orientation.... God’s kingdom is for everyone.  

 

King Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with Daniel’s interpretation of his dream.... As a reward, Daniel was given a powerful role in Nebuchadnezzar's government.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendano were also elevated to prestigious roles. But, Nebuchadnezzar was unpredictable. The Judeans were not safe despite their elevated status. Daniel had told Nebuchadnezzar his rule wouldn’t last forever, but Nebuchadnezzar possibly did not realize that he would not be able to hold on to his power during his lifetime. The book of Daniel described Nebuchadnezzar eventually succumbing to mental illness and living like an animal for 7 years at the end of his life....and even before his decline, Nebuchadnezzar imposed illogical and impractical rules on his subjects. 

 

One of the take-aways from this story for us is that we should not become too confident that our earthly kingdoms will last forever.  I think that sometimes as Americans, residents and citizens of the greatest country and government that has ever existed, we sometimes get a little too confident. It is difficult for us to imagine our country not being the best, the greatest. We have been watching the Olympics over the past week.... our athletes are amazing, and our metal count is spectacular. Our Olympians almost feel like proof positive that our country is the greatest. 

 

But, when we take a long view of history, we are reminded that no worldly empire lasts forever. No country or government is eternal. Only God is eternal. And, as Christians, we have a responsibility to work to expand the kingdom of God here on earth. We must work to be mindful of our actions and our attitudes so that other people and nations are treated with kindness, respect and integrity. 

 

Sometimes, in our personal lives, we also forget how fragile we are. We have a tendency, perhaps especially when we are younger, to feel immortal. And then, things start to change. Sometimes, we catch an illness. I was 30 when I had my first bad case of the flu – I realized that I can’t always take care of myself. Sometimes, we are shocked when romantic relationships fail, or we lose our jobs, or a loved one dies. Sometimes, we discover that things believe in are wrong. Just as nations don’t stay strong forever, we ourselves don’t stay strong – we don’t have control over everything in our lives.

 

When we are reminded of our own mortality, and our own individual weaknesses and failings, it is important for us to remember that God is with us. God supports us. God loves us. God listens to us. When Jesus came to earth, he spent a lot of time with people who weren’t perfect – people who needed physical healing, people who needed spiritual healing, people who were outcasts from their neighbors, people who were bullied, people who were rejected for being foreign, or other religions, or poor, or deviant. Jesus loves imperfect people, just like us. 

 

The book of Daniel takes place during the Babylonian exile of the people of Judah, but it was written down in the form we have now during another major time of trial for the Jewish people. The Greek Seleucid Empire had taken over Israel and imposed foreign rules and religious ideas on the people of Israel. Daniel and his exploits were held up to the Jewish people as a reminder that they had survived a time of exile and rule by a foreign government so the Jewish people living under Greek rule could endure as well. Daniel and his friends remained loyal to God and persevered in following Jewish-ways even when they were in exile in a far-away land.  Despite their time of trail, God guided them and kept them safe from harm. Throughout time, God gives faithful people and helps us through difficult times.

 

We must remember that we are not alone, God is with us. Just as Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom didn’t last forever, the things we create in this life—our governments, our stately buildings, our relationships – the things of this world may not last forever. But, no matter what we experience and whatever trials we face, God is with us. God’s guidance will help us during our trials. And, the kingdom of God will last forever.  

Amen.