The full audio lessons for Daniel as they are being taught are here:
https://basictraining.org/all-audio-messages/?enmse=1&enmse_sid=275
Thanks to "The Book of Daniel" 2013 movie for some of the scenes.
Notes mentioned are here:
https://basictraining.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Book-of-Daniel-April2024.pdf
In Daniel 2:36–43, we have the interpretation. “You, oh king, are a king of kings.” Now we know that there's only one ultimate King of kings. But again, Nebuchadnezzar ruled, and the dream had him as the head of gold. Gold is, of course, the most priceless of the metals that are mentioned. And so, he's called a king— “a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory.” Now, you would think that this would humble him a little bit. “I didn't get this because I am super smart. I didn't get it because I'm a great military commander. I didn't get it because of all of my battlefield brilliance. I got it because God gave it to me.” Instead, as we're going to find out in the next chapter, he gets a big head about it and he builds the image that he saw in his dream. Now he wants everyone to bow down to it. And God's going to have to deal with him for that arrogance.
What Daniel has just done is laid out a schematic, if you will, or a diagram of history from 500 B.C. until eternity future. Some epochs are not included. The Church Age is not included. There are things that have been revealed from the time of the Apostles that Daniel was not aware of, but even for Daniel, what he knows at this point is very little compared to what he's going to know at the end of chapters 11 and 12, because God is going to continue to give more and more information.
Daniel 2:48, “Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon.” The Empire of Babylon was divided into various provinces. The province immediately around Babylon was called Babylon; Daniel was put in charge of that province. He was second only to King Nebuchadnezzar, just as Joseph was to Pharaoh. It says he became “the chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.” He began to teach them so that for 500 years there were always believers among these wise men. Even after the Medo-Persians took over, even after Greece took over, even after Rome took over, the message kept passing on until finally, in Matthew chapter two, they showed up and they ask a question, “Where is He who is born the King of the Jews?”
Daniel 2:49, “Also, Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” The gate was the place where, basically, the rulers of the land would sit. People would bring their problems, people would bring their requests, their complaints—whatever. If they had law cases to solve, they would bring them to the gate. To be the chief sitting in the gate would be the equivalent of, probably, our Chief of the Supreme Court—our Chief Justice. That was the position that Daniel held. But isn't it interesting, he didn't forget his friends. Daniel petitioned the king for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that they who were in the background, but they who faithfully prayed, they played a very
big part in God revealing the message to Daniel. So, here's a little lesson: When God promotes you, don't forget those who helped you get promoted.
We end with a tale of two rulers. One is Daniel, now a ruler in Babylon, and the other is Nebuchadnezzar. What's the difference between the two? One is exalted by God and humbles himself. One has been exalted by God, and He tries to use it to promote himself. God doesn't take kindly when we take His gifts for ourselves. We need to remember this. Humility and arrogance are the ultimate issues of everyday life. Humility will always lead us to faith. Arrogance will always lead us off track. Stay small, stay humble. As the Psalmist says, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the Temple of God than to be among the mansions of the great”—to be a doorkeeper, to be a servant, to just play a humble part.
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