The Kingdom of God

Daniel 2v34-35, 41-49

1^st November 2019

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which frightened him. None of his advisors could interpret it, but God showed Daniel both the dream and its interpretation. Daniel went to the king, described the dream and then gave the interpretation. As we saw last time, the dream was a prophecy about the five dominant kingdoms of world history: the Babylonian empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek empire, the Roman empire and the kingdom of God.

The last part of the dream was:

Daniel 2v34-35
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. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time, and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without a trace, but the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth."

The interpretation of that part of the dream was:

Daniel 2v44-45a
In the time of those kings [the Roman empire], 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 will itself endure forever. 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 silver and the gold to pieces.

This kingdom that will never be destroyed is, of course, the kingdom of God. Only His kingdom will last for ever.

Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

God set up the Kingdom of God at the time of the fourth kingdom - the Roman empire. Jesus came to Earth during the reign of Augustus Caesar and ministered, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven during the reign of Tiberius Caesar.

This picture of a rock cut out but not by human hands speaks about Jesus not being from earth, but from heaven. And it describes Jesus and His kingdom as a rock. Consider:

Deuteronomy 32:3
O praise the greatness of our God. He is the Rock.

1 Samuel 2:2
There is no-one holy like the Lord. There is no-one besides you. There is no rock like our God.

Psalm 18:2
The Lord is my rock.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Our forefathers were all under the cloud. They all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink because they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them. And that rock was Christ.

Both Jesus the king and the kingdom of God is not earthly but from heaven. That's one of the reasons why it's often called the Kingdom of Heaven.

Some people say that this Kingdom of God that is being prophesied about here began when Jesus first came to earth, in the time of the Roman empire. Other people think it will begin when Jesus comes again at the end of history, but surely both are true. Here are a few scriptures that show us that the kingdom of God is already with us.

Matthew 12:28
Jesus said, "I drive out demons by the spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you".

Note the past tense. The Kingdom of God has come.

Matthew 21:31
"I tell you the truth", Jesus said, "the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you".

Here Jesus uses the present tense. This was happening in the lifetime of Jesus.

Matthew 28:18
Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me".

Again, this is in the past tense. Authority - kingdom - in both heaven and earth had already been given to Jesus when He said this.

Mark 9:1
Jesus said, "Some of you standing here will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come in power".

This prophecy was fulfilled in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church.

Ephesians 1:20-21
...he [God] raised him [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Many preachers today might have said, "Not only later but now" but Paul says, "not only now but later". The presence of the kingdom of God on earth then was obvious to him, and to his readers.

On the other hand, empires are still here, problems and disease and death and sickness and death and opposition and heresy are still here. The Kingdom of God has come, but it's not perfect. It's not complete. It's not whole yet.

The kingdom of God is a growing thing. Theologians talk about this in terms of words like inaugural or definitive, progressive and consummated or complete. The Kingdom of God has come. The Kingdom of God is coming. The Kingdom of God will come. All three of these statements are true. If you ignore any one of them, you're missing something important. The kingdom of God was inaugurated when Jesus first came, it has been growing ever since, and it will be consummated when he comes again.

The Kingdom of God is here. To quote an old preacher I used to know, "It's not pie in the sky when you die. It's steak on the place while you wait." But it's only here in part. It's not here completely. Jesus said:

Luke 13:18
What's the Kingdom of God. What shall I compare it to? It's like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.

The Kingdom of God on Earth started as small as a mustard seed, but it will end as big as a tree. Daniel said that the rock "became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth". It will grow, progressively, and one day it will fill the earth. Jesus also said:

Luke 13:20-21
"What shall I compare the Kingdom of God to? It's like yeast that a woman took to mix into a large about of flour until it worked all through the dough."

I have occasionally made bread. You take a tiny amount of yeast and you put it in the dough, and then you work it, you knead it and knead it until, eventually, it works all through the dough. Then you bake it and it rises. Jesus sowed His Kingdom in twelve disciples two thousand years ago. And for two thousand years, God has been working the Kingdom of God through all the earth, and now there are churches in every country. There are more Christians alive today than there have ever been in the history of the world. The church is being worked through the world. The Kingdom of God is coming, but there's an awful lot still to come. The glory we will see on that final day cannot be compared to what we see now. It will be the consummation of thousands of years of God working through the earth.

So here we are. There are still empires. There's still terrible teaching. There's still great falsehood: false religion, false philosophy. We are still damaging our children, abusing our citizens, making huge mistakes that cost everybody, but the Kingdom is coming. All the time the Kingdom is growing. All the time it's being worked. Like the mustard seed, it becomes a sapling, then a small tree, and eventually it fills the garden. God will make His plan come to pass. The Kingdom is coming.

It's already here, and it's coming, and one day Jesus will come back and make it perfect.

In the meantime, there is much suffering. Much suffering. And there's much joy. There's much foolishness, but there's much wisdom. There's much sin, but there's much righteousness. There are places you go in this part of the world and get your head kicked in. There are churches you can go where you'll be loved and embraced and appreciated and nurtured. We're in a stage between the beginning of the Kingdom of God and its fulfilment. And the church's job is to continue to work for the gospel to go throughout the whole world and change society for God.

Finally, Daniel said:

Daniel 2v45-46
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 silver and the gold to pieces. This great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.

Daniel was only human. He must have waited for King Nebuchadnezzar's reaction with some trepidation. But this is how the king responded:

Daniel 2v46-47
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour, and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, "surely your God is the God of Gods, and the Lord of Kings, and the revealer of mystery because you' were able to reveal this mystery".

King Nebuchadnezzar came to realise that the true God is above, greater than, wiser than, Babylon's wise men. He is more powerful and loving than any other God. It is our role, dear brothers and sisters, to help others to see that our God is the only true God.

And Daniel, the only person in Nebuchadnezzar's empire with the wisdom, the faith and the courage to ask God to intervene, to stand before the king, to trust God that he really had the correct interpretation, and to tell the truth, was rewarded:

Daniel 2v48-49
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. 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.

May you and I be given the wisdom, faith and courage of Daniel, and may we serve the eternal God faithfully.