Read: Daniel 2:36-49
The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. (v. 44)
Nebuchadnezzar provides a lesson in being careful what you wish for. When the God in heaven revealed the meaning of the king’s dream, it was not good news. Nebuchadnezzar’s dazzling kingdom would one day be crushed. Babylon, and every earthly kingdom, would fall to an ultimate kingdom.
Sometimes, good news sounds like bad news. God’s kingdom is coming . . . and his kingdom advances at the cost of every earthly kingdom, including yours and mine. I am challenged to consider the ways I have tried to create my own little “kingdom”: a corner of creation I can control and compel to serve my will. In “Kingship” from his Unspoken Sermons series, eighteenth-century preacher George MacDonald said, “The one principle of hell is— ‘I am my own. I am my own king and my own subject. . . . My own glory is, and ought to be, my chief care . . . . My kingdom is—as many as I can bring to acknowledge my greatness over them.’ ”
The bad news is that we cannot simultaneously be king and serve the true King. The good news is that God’s eternal, unbreakable kingdom is an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed. It’s a kingdom of justice and peace. It’s a kingdom in which every wrong will be made right, everyone has a voice, and everyone has enough. We may not be able to imagine anything better than life on our terms. But God can. Even better, his kingdom has room for you and me—if we make room for it.
As you pray, ask for God’s kingdom to come.
About the Author
Ben Van Arragon is the Minister of Worship and Leadership at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He preaches and teaches the Bible in church, online, and anywhere else he has the opportunity.
