“War of Kings” Daniel 2:1-49

“War of Kings” Daniel 2:1-49

An Expositional Sermon
This chapter is a war of kings, because Christ the king is who the “stone that wasn’t cut by human hands” points to. Christ is the stone that crushed the power of the kingdoms of this world, and He will finally judge the nations. In Genesis 49:24 we read of Jacob’s hope that through Israel one would come who would fulfill God’s promise to crush Satan from Genesis 3:15. The Messiah would come through Israel, and he’s described as, “the shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” In Psalm 118:22-24 the Psalmist wrote, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Christ is the stone that has become the cornerstone. Isaiah 8:14-15 says, “And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Jesus Christ is the stone. He picked up this theme and applied it to himself  in the gospel accounts (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17). In Acts 4:11 Peter said, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Later, in 1 Peter 2:4, 7 Peter wrote, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious…So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.'” The dream of a Gentile King (Nebuchadnezzar) as God’s people are in exile in Daniel 2 is God’s proclamation of the King of kings and the Lord of lords who is to come. Even as Nebuchadnezzar warned the “wise-men” of Babylon that they would be “cut to pieces” we see that there is a king more powerful than him – Jesus Christ – who will cut the nations who reject him to pieces. As Jesus taught in the parable of the men in the field that if a wicked servant rejects Him in the way he lives while Jesus tarries, “the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 24:51; Luke 12:46) Don’t reject Christ as king and face His eternal wrath. Repent from your sin and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of God’s coming just judgment. He is our only hope. Salvation from the judgment of the stone can only be found in the stone Himself. Jesus Christ is the stone who crushed the kingdoms of this world by being crushed for His people from every tribe and every kingdom. Jesus Christ is the stone who ushers in the eternal kingdom of God, so that now, even though it may appear at times to be weak; it is still growing. The gates of hell cannot and will not prevail against Christ’s church (Matthew 16:18). Christ’s kingdom will be that stone that becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth. The cross and the resurrection is the ignition of the unbreakable and unchangeable everlasting kingdom of God. And now it is expanding, we see it in Acts and later in the New Testament, and we see it in the history of the church, but ultimately it will fully come, not through politics and earthly kingdoms, but when Christ, the stone that is altogether different from and opposed to the kingdoms of this earth, returns. Christ smashes and replaces our weak attempts at self-rule. Worship Him. Turn from you sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Be found in His kingdom and fight your fears with your trust in the supremacy of Christ. In the war of Kings put your trust in the only King who can be bear your sin, crush death, and who will finally judge all the kingdoms of this world.