Most of us dream dreams. We may not always remember them or even understand them but we all have them. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was not only troubling to him but deeply prophetic. It foretells the unfolding of future world empires and the eventual establishment of a single world empire. It also speaks of the destruction of those empires by the coming of the Kingdom of God. It’s a prophetic dream that has not yet come to the conclusion that it forecasts. For me the most fascinating aspect of all of this is that while Daniel is perfectly positioned and abundantly gifted for the task of interpretation Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t appear to do anything about the dream at all. Except that Daniela and his mates get hefty promotions and a great deal of reward. I guess that since Daniel was clear that the rise and fall of empires wouldn’t happen until after Nebuchadnezzar’s time he was fairly happy that it wouldn’t bother him so no response was required.

So why is this story here? Why was Nebuchadnezzar given the dream? Why did he and why do we need to know what God’s plans for the next few millennia might be? When will it all come to pass? Has any of it already happened? What does it mean for us? The truth is that scholars have researched this and debated it for generations and the answer to all of the above is that we’re still not very sure. We can point to places in history where empires have risen and fallen again – we might think of the Greeks, the Romans after Nebuchadnezzar, or even the British in more modern times and many more besides. What we do know is that there has not yet been a single successful one world empire. And we also know that God has not put a definitive timeline on any part of the prophecy. So what does it really mean for us? It means we should pray, we should strive to maintain the same level of faith as Daniel, we should seek Jesus and keep following Him until the time comes and He will come because God has a plan.

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Questions:

Daniel worked hard at his relationship with God. He prayed hard and was diligent in his relationships with others. How are you able to reflect these qualities in your life?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help us to maintain strong relationships with you and with those around us. Grant that we might be disciplined to seek you daily and not just when we want something. Release your gifts in us so that we might serve you well in the world and bless us to carry Your Spirit with us always. Amen.