A chimpanzee throwing darts at a board predicts the future about as well as experts in politics and economics, and the leader of East Germany declared that the Berlin Wall would stand for another hundred years. It fell ten months later, in a single night. This sermon returns to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and to Daniel, who stood before the king with a death sentence hanging over his head (Dan 2). When reality feels like a nightmare and the world’s great powers seem eternal, Daniel prays to a God who knows secrets and has the last word in history. Listen if you want to check whom you trust when you don’t know what will happen.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Why could the wise men of Babylon not fulfill the king's request, and what does their helplessness say about the limits of human knowledge (Daniel 2:10-12)?
- How does Daniel respond to the death sentence, and what does he do before he stands before the king (Daniel 2:16-23)?
- What does the statue made of different metals mean according to Daniel, and what about the stone that becomes a great mountain (Daniel 2:31-45)?
- How does it change the way you see the world that God sets up and removes kings, and that history has not slipped out of His control?
- What in your life feels like a bad dream today, and how can you trust God in that situation, the God who knows the unknown?
- How can you live this week, in your work and daily responsibilities, as a subject of a greater King, just like Daniel and his friends?
