Faith Under Pressure!

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Video Lesson on Daniel, from Daniel Chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream "Faith Under Pressure"

• Main Point: The Kingdom of God will last forever.

• Key Verse: "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed... it will last forever". - Daniel 2:44

• Daniel, through no fault of his own, will find himself in a seemingly impossible situation with a death sentence hanging over his head. How did it get to this? Well, it involves God, a dream, and a cranky stressed-out king! In fact, everyone in this chapter will find themselves under some pretty intense pressure. And that’s what we are going to look at – Faith under pressure and the God of the Impossible.

• The purpose for Nebuchadnezzar – King Neb (for short) was the king of Babylon that had just defeated Israel. The purpose of the dream for this king is to remind him that all earthly kingdoms will be crushed and smashed, including his own, and that only the Lord’s kingdom is eternal. It was a dream specifically designed to put the fear of God into his heart! And it seemed to have worked! Stayed tuned for the following chapters though! All those that are ignoring God can learn from this!

• The purpose for Daniel – Daniel was a young man exiled in Babylon. Along with his friends and fellow Jewish exiles, he stood alone in a society that honoured foreign ‘gods’. But through this dream God was reminding Daniel that He was the One who was in control. He ordained the rise and fall of kingdoms. Though exiled, Daniel would have received tremendous encouragement to see the God of Israel firmly in control even down in Babylon! We too can learn and take heart from this as we live in a world that seems to no longer honor God.

• The purpose for Babylon’s wise men and on-lookers – God was showing them who the true God is. He was showing them that all their wisdom, ‘gods’ and everything that they placed their hope in amounted to nothing. They would be shown up by a young Israelite boy whose God, unlike theirs, was alive and in control!

• The purpose for all today – This God-given dream that Nebuchadnezzar had accurately listed the world empires that would rise (and fall) from that day down to the return of Jesus Christ. What an amazing dream! What an amazing God who declares the end from the beginning! Believers can look at this and know that God is in control despite the chaos of world events. They can know that it is all building for the grand finale where the stone cut without human hands (the Lord Jesus) smashes the kingdoms of the world and establishes His own on this planet. Come Lord Jesus!

• Name changes - I failed to mention in video but Daniel's three friends are the same, and I apologize for not explaining that correctly in the video. Here is the explanation: All four of these Hebrew names had meanings connected to faith in God. But upon arrival in Babylon, their names were changed: “The chief official [of Babylon] gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego” (Daniel 1:7). The boys’ names were changed as a way of encouraging them to forget the God and traditions of their homeland and become conformed to the ways and gods of Babylon. However, God kept these young men alive, even though they refused to conform to the indoctrination, diet, and religion of Babylon. I think this is an important reminder that it only matters what God calls us by, not the enemy or people of this world.

Link to video lesson: 

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