October 18, 2022
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:34-34
In answer to the fervent prayers of Daniel and his three friends, God had miraculously given Daniel the exact dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Its interpretation was also divinely provided, which pointed vividly to the second coming of Jesus – and even beyond that to the establishment of His kingdom upon the earth.
Daniel’s book contains a series of visions, each of which culminate in the promise of the everlasting kingdom to come under the headship of Jesus. Jesus is known by numerous names. In our opening verse, He is a stone [that] was cut out without hands.
In 7:13 He is One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!
In 8:11 He is the Prince of the host and in 8:25 He is the Prince of princes.
He is Messiah the Prince (9:25) and Michael your Prince (10:21). The name Michael means who is like God.
King Nebuchadnezzar eventually came to faith in the Savior. He tells his own story in Daniel 4. The theme of overcoming unbelief in thought and action is found throughout Scripture. Jesus, our perfect Example, desires that each of us become that which He envisions for us, fitting us for eternal life with Him. As you learn to yield fully to Jesus, the Rock, invite Him in to crush any-and-everything in you that renders you unfit for heaven so that no trace of them will remain!
An appropriate prayer (and cry from the heart!) for our sin-sick hearts is found in the story of the man in the crowd whose son had a mute spirit (Mark 9:17), the subsequent descriptions of which seem to resemble severe epilepsy. This deaf and dumb spirit (v.25) harassed the child and at times was utterly frightening. The man, himself a loving father, wanted to believe fully on Jesus, but his declaration to that effect ironically revealed his own doubts to himself. His cry to Jesus was truly from the depths of his heart.
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24