Nightmares

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Daniel 2:44

If you’ve ever had a nightmare, you know that they can leave you unsettled all day. In Daniel 2, the Babylonian king’s dream shook him so much that he demanded his sorcerers and astrologists to both recount the dream and interpret it — or die.

When an Israelite captive named Daniel heard that the king was about to execute all the wisemen in Babylon (himself included), he jumped in with a bold request for more time so that he could interpret the dream. In response to Daniel’s urgent prayer, God revealed the dream’s meaning to him, and he was able to tell the king both his dream and its interpretation, giving all the glory to God.

So what was this dream that caused the king such turmoil? He had seen a large statue made of various layered materials get smashed to bits by a large rock that then turned into a mountain and filled the whole earth. Weird, right?

Daniel explains that the different layers in the statue represented different kingdoms to come after Babylon, and that the great rock represented God’s Kingdom, which would crush all worldly kingdoms and never itself be destroyed or overtaken. 

What a dream! Even though this dream was given thousands of years ago, we can still be comforted and challenged by it. God’s Kingdom is coming. Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was near (Mark 1:14), and His death and resurrection established God’s Kingdom forever by defeating the ultimate enemy of sin and death. As His Kingdom reigns in our hearts, we await the full commencement of His Kingdom at Jesus’s return. 

So when things look gloomy in the world around you, remember that this is not the end. God’s Kingdom is already here in part, and it will come in full soon enough. Don’t put your hopes in the governments of the world, but patiently await God’s Kingdom, because it will stand forever and fill the whole earth just as He revealed to Daniel.

PRAYER: Lord, give me the strength to hold onto this truth when the world seems to fall around me. Thank you for establishing your good and righteous Kingdom, and for being a trustworthy God that we know will come through. Give us the patience and the strength to wait for your return.