July 25

Day 133: My Rock

The book of Daniel seems to move fast and furious through the first six chapters. Chapter 1 tells of how Daniel and 3 friends were exiles from conquered Judah, captives, yet promoted to the Babylonian court.

Chapter 3, of course, is the story of the fiery furnace; how God saves the 3 friends who remain committed to only worship God. (The fourth person inside the furnace gives me euphoric chills.)

But chapter 2 has a king's dreaming a dream. The king doesn't understand his dream, so asks all of his smart guys to prove they know the king's dream, and its interpretation. Too big an ask.

However, God gives Daniel insight into the mystery of what the king had dreamt, and the interpretation of that dream. The dream gives a visual to world history.

A mighty statue, head of gold, torso and arms of silver, lower body and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay. Daniel helped the king to learn that these body parts were actually world empires; one following another.

(History nerds like me will love this.)

The gold was Babylon. The silver, the Medes and Persians (thus two arms.) The bronze was Greece. The iron was the Roman Empire. But later the feet were made up of iron and clay. A divided kingdom. Strong yet brittle. Eventually crumbled.

The history of world empires to follow Babylon went just like that, in that order. But there was one more aspect in the dream to be considered.

Daniel 2:34 says, "As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces."

And (v.44) says, "And in the days of those [Roman] kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever."

This also came to be. The entire dream was to show to a temporal, temporary ruler that God is the true Ruler who will be the final and eternal victor over the successive kingdoms of humanity.

But perhaps the dream was really intended not for a despotic warlord, but instead to encourage God's own people.

That stone that strikes earthly kingdoms, is Jesus.

Ephesians 1:20-23 tells us, "that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

I cannot speak for you. But in the midst of yet another rainy day, with more stringent face mask mandates, and our church's present "homelessness," I need to be reminded of my citizenship.

I may feel like an exile, but I am not a captive to this world. I may be living in what feels like a restricted, diminished lifestyle, but I am at the same time a free man.

Because I am a citizen of the eternal Kingdom. My King is on His throne. He has conquered all earthly empires. And He is coming back one day to collect His prizes of war. We, who believe, are those prizes.

Jesus is that Rock. My house is built on that Rock. And instead of facing a fiery furnace, we will instead spend our eternity praising the Name of our victorious, all-triumphant King.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau