Dream of the King (Daniel 2)

Why did Nebuchadnezzar have this dream? Da 2:29 "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.” Nebuchadnezzar was the King of the Babylonian empire. But he was not content with what he had achieved or what he had become. His mind turned to things to come. He had unsettled questions about the future of his kingdom and the future of his own life. In a general sense, I categorize Neb as a truth seeker who often wrestles with: Where I came from? Where I am going? Why do I exist? And God the Maker, who knows a man’s end from the beginning and thus has the answers to fundamental questions of life speaks to Neb through dreams and visions (Da 2:28). The dream also reveals God’s love expressed as helping Neb to know Him personally. Does God still speak to people through dreams and visions? I think so. In fact I am of the opinion that the time of God speaking directly which the prophet Joel speaks as pouring out of God’s Spirit on all flesh resulting in dreams and visions, of which the Pentecost was only a token fulfillment, is nearer than ever (Joel 2:28, Ac 2:17)!

Obviously Neb does not understand the dream and needs the help of an expert. But although many would come forward as expert interpreters, can he trust their interpretation? Neb is smart and at the same time ruthless. Now is the time to test all those who claim to have supernatural abilities (wise men of Babylon). “I don’t want only the interpretation; tell me first what my dream was?” And he offered them only two choices: solve the mystery and enjoy great honor and gifts or death! The wise men on earth knew that no man on earth can know another man’s dream (Da 2:10). Only gods could do such a thing, but the gods they knew did not live among men (Da 2:11). What they said was true. There is not a man who can know another man’s dream. And the supposedly great and mighty gods they believed to be their gods (such as Bel, Marduk etc) were of no help. What they did not know however was that there is God who is not only able but also willing to help those who ask of Him. And Daniel had personal experience of help and blessings of this God and he believed that His God was able to willing to help him and his three friends for the sake of their lives (Da 2:17,18).

It is one thing to have faith in God. But it is quite another to exercise that faith. Daniel called his three friends to exercise their faith through prayer (Da 2:18). A striking virtue of Daniel is his prayer and it runs through the Book of Daniel. God answered Daniel and his three friends prayer in less than few hours and the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. But before rushing to the king, Daniel did not forget to give to God what is due – praises, for who He is and what He did (Da 2:20). Heartfelt praise comes from experiencing who God is and what He does for us. Daniel declares a few eternal characters of God: He controls time and seasons (good and bad, favorable and unfavorable). In fact God had just delivered Daniel and his friends from a bad and unfavorable time by turning it into their favor; God appoints kings and removes them (the content of the dream proves this); God is the gives of wisdom; God is the giver of knowledge; God reveals secret things; No matter how much we may try to keep secrets they are no secrets to Him; and God is holy, pure and perfect. Before telling Neb his dream, Daniel does not forget to give credit to his God as the revealer of Neb’s dream. This will help Neb see beyond Daniel to Daniel’s God.

The dream of Neb and its interpretation lays out the history of the world in advance. When the kingship in Israel and Judah comes to an end through exiles, what had God prepared for the affairs of the world? Jesus referred to this period as the times of the Gentiles (Lk 21:24). God in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar was unfolding the Gentile history of more than 2500 years in advance until the Second Coming of Jesus. Four types of material used in the enormous statues that Neb saw in his dream represented four successive Gentile kingdoms. The head of pure gold represented Neb and his Babylonian kingdom. The chest and arms of silver represented the Cyrus and the Persian kingdom. The belly and thigh of bronze represented Alexander the Great and the Greek empire. The legs of iron and feet mixed with iron and clay represent the Roman Empire. However, after the Roman empire of which starts as iron (in the leg part) but becomes iron mixed with clay toward the end (feet and toes part), God of heaven will overthrow all other kings and their kingdom and establish His own kingdom on earth (Da 2:44,45). In the order of their arrangement the materials (gold, silver, bronze and iron) decrease in value whereas increase in strength. Each kingdom had their own unique characteristics. Babylon sought to establish good administration. For this the Babylonians did not fear raising up able administrators among their subjects. Persian kingdom sought to establish religious freedom. They sent back their subjects (esp the Jews) to their own country to practice their own religion. The Greeks sought to establish a sophisticated world of philosophy, culture and literature. As Daniels prophecy made it clear the Romans took pride in cruelty and crushing their subjects (Da 2:40).

It is to be noticed that no single kingdom replaced the Roman Empire. Although the English, the Dutch, the French, the Portugues all had their run, no one kingdom ever replaced all other kingdoms. In essence the Roman Empire was not replaced. Daniel later tells us that the final world dictator known as the Antichrist who will have an alliance of ten kings (ten horns? ten toes?) will come from among the revived Roman Empire (Da 9:26).

So the content of the dream is all of human history and political kingdoms on earth until the Second Coming of Jesus and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom – Jesus’ 1000 year of literal rule on planet earth in partnership with the saints.

to be continued …

Gospel for the Mature

I have titled this message as “Gospel for the Mature” with a premise that there is also a “Gospel for the immature.” In the light of Heb 5:9-6:2 and 1Co 2:6 we want to examine some questions: What gospel do I/you have? Is it a gospel for the mature or for the immature? What is the gospel for the mature?

First, the Gospel for the immature. The author of the epistle of Hebrews was frustrated by how some believers were not making progress in their spiritual life (Heb 5:11). They were certainly not recent converts and as per the author’s expectation, by then they should have grown up in the sense not only gain some higher level understanding about Christ but also should have had the confidence to teach those understanding to others (Heb 5:12). He went on to call them infants in need of spiritual milk because they were not moving on from the elementary teachings about Christ (Heb 5:12; 6:1).

Heb 5:9 … once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation …[10] and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. [12] In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! [13] Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. [14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

HEB 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, [2] instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

What then is the elementary teaching about Christ? The author of Hebrews lists six foundational Christian doctrines to be elementary teachings about Christ (Heb 6:1-2): 1. Repentance (running away from sin), 2. Faith (running toward God and connecting our life to Him through Christ Jesus), 3. Baptism (death of the old self and beginning of a new life in Christ by being united with Jesus in his death and resurrection), 4. Laying on of hands (Discovering God’s specific purpose on one’s life and giving oneself to it, also receiving spiritual gifts to fulfill that commissioning), 5. Resurrection (a Christian’s true hope is to look forward to living eternally with his/her glorious resurrected body a life that is free from sin, temptations, sickness and even death in the presence of Jesus and the Father) and 6. Eternal judgment (the final justice of God that will send not only unbelievers but also fallen Christians to second death and the fire of hell).

What?? These are the very foundations of Christian belief. We have understood them as the very gospel itself. So many theological battles have been fought over the nitty gritty of those issues. But to our great surprise, the author of Hebrews calls it THE ELEMENTARY TEACHING ABOUT CHRIST!! He also urges the readers to leave the elementary teachings which kept them immature and to go on to maturity (Heb 6:1) Yes the foundational teaching about Christ as listed above is the gospel, but it is an elementary gospel or an immature gospel. As it is, if you know/believe an immature gospel and remain there, you remain as an infant that should go on to maturing but it is not happening. So, thank God if you have the immature gospel clear to you by now, because it is the beginning of your salvation, but do not remain there. If you remain there, you remain as an infant. Pls go on to maturity. Pls leave the immature gospel and move on to a mature gospel for Christ’s sake and for your own sake! What then is the mature gospel?

Second, the mature gospel. One of the thing that the author of Hebrew mentioned as gospel for the mature was Jesus’ high priestly office in the heaven (Heb 5:10,11). Jesus became the source of eternal salvation and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek after he was made perfect. I think Jesus’ being “made perfect” is same as being “glorified” after his death and resurrection (Jn 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:32; Ac 3:13; 2Th 1:10; 1Pe 1:21). Just like things and events are associated with our lives progressively, so also there are events associated with Jesus’ life in progression. The glorification of Jesus is one such event, that happened after his resurrection and ascension. We understand very little about it because it happened not here on earth but in heaven. But the references mentioned above make it very clear that the Apostles were very confident about it.

As such we know quite a lot about Jesus from the gospel narrations. But we mostly know about his life and ministry on earth, things that happened already 2000 years before. But if we believe him to be alive with a resurrected body as fully man and fully God, what is he doing now. What is his appearance? What are his plans? What is he saying to me today on my own specific life situations and calling? In the Christmas time I received many people greet me saying, “May BABY Jesus be born into your heart this Christmas season and give you peace, joy, …” What?? How many times does Jesus need to be born? And why baby? Is he not  a man with flesh and bone and is 2000+ year old now. He is not a baby anymore! Frankly, I don’t need a “baby” Jesus when my Lord is sitting at the right hand of God in the throne room of heaven and looking after the affairs of the whole universe. I like celebrating His birthday. But for that He does not have to become a baby year after year. On my birthday, if someone greets me saying, “I love you baby Abraham“ I will be offended even if that was spoken with sincerity. These are such understanding about the Lord I call “immature gospel.” There is truth in it, but we need to move on to maturity!

Similarly, in 1Corinthians chapter 2, Apostle Paul talks about a message of wisdom for the mature (1Co 2:6). Many people make a big deal about Paul’s resolution to speak only about the cross of Jesus to the Corinthians (1Co 2:1-5). Paul did so because the Gentile Corinthians needed to meet Jesus as their personal Savior by receiving the forgiveness of sin that is available through Jesus’ paying the price of our sin on the cross. Though Jesus died as a powerless victim, in reality his death is the power of God. Though among many impressive stories of pagan gods, Jesus’ death on the cross looks foolishness, His death on the cross is the very wisdom of God. (1Co 1:23-25) Does this passage mean that we all like Apostle Paul must resolve to speak about the cross and nothing else?

Not so. Apostle Paul himself makes it clear that he spoke to them only the cross of Jesus because of their immaturity. His use of the word “however” at the beginning of the next paragraph indicates that neither it was his permanent resolution nor should it be ours (1Co 2:6-7). He spoke only about the cross of Christ to the Corinthians, not because he had nothing better to talk about Christ, but because he was mindful of the spiritual maturity and the need of his audience. He certainly had a message of wisdom for the mature, which spoke to the mature.

1CO 2:6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. [7] No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

Apostle Paul delivered/taught gospel messages. But he made distinction in the content of the gospel depending on the maturity level of his audience. He spoke elementary teachings about Christ, which I call “the gospel for the immature” when he was among the immature, but he spoke a message of wisdom or “the gospel for the mature” when he was among the mature. What according to Paul is the content of “the message of wisdom” or “the gospel for the mature” that he preached/taught to the mature? Paul makes it clear in the same verse that it was not about this age. It was also not about the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. What then was it about? It was about the coming age. It was about the coming ruler. Jesus and the Apostles talked about the end of this present age and the coming of a new age, to the question of his disciples, “Tell us what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Mt 24:3)

The end of this age and the coming of the age is the gospel we all are waiting to be fulfilled. Who does not want this present evil age where Satan and his fallen angels control human activities on earth to be finished? Who does not want the devil to be defeated, captured and thrown into the lake of burning sulfur? Who does not want the kingdom of God (God’s direct ruling) to come on the earth as it is in heaven? Aren’t these promises we long to be fulfilled and even pray for? Isn’t it the GOSPEL? But it is a “mature gospel” for the mature believers. It is not surprising that the secular media, entertainment industry and even hindu religious groups are talking about end of this present age and beginning of the new age. Movies and books on the theme of "end of the world" are super-hit these days. I have been reading posters like “Yug parivartan ka sankhnaad” on public places, which translates to “Trumpet call of the end of the age.” The hindus believe in end of the present evil age (kali yug) and the beginning of the new golden age (satya yug) and they have started announcing it boldly. Where as we (Christians) who believe in the end of the age ushering in the new age through coming of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven are mostly unaware and uninterested. It’s because the gospel we have believed and are preaching is a “gospel of the immature.” We have not moved on from there to understand or believe “the gospel for the mature”.

Similarly we long for all the evil rulers of this age to be punished and brought into justice. We want Jesus who is both Savior and Lord to return to the earth as the King of kings and take the promised throne of David and rule for ever. Ultimately what is all about the revolution that started and spread to replace evil dictators in the Middle east? What is the fight for Lokpal in India? The Occupy Movement? These are all expression of one and the same issue: We are fed with evil rulers and evil systems and want a righteous ruler and a righteous world! Doesn’t the Bible talk about Jesus’ return to the earth to sit on David’s throne and rule the world as the righteous ruler with justice and peace? Isn’t it the gospel or the good news? Yes, it is. But this too is a “mature gospel” for the mature.

What if we remain in the elementary teaching about Christ, in the infant stage still drinking milk and not taking solid food, in the immature gospel and in our immaturity and not moving on to maturity? The author of Hebrews says that that then we are not aquainted with the teaching about righteousness (Heb 5:13). Then we are not living a righteous life that God has planned for us? Yes. Righteousness is not only about being free from moral sin and contaminations. Righteousness is about doing the right thing. It is not what I want to do though those things may be very nice things, though those things may look like godly, but it is about learning what God wants me to do in the present time through fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us to teach us what things are right in the sight of God and to help us to do those things. For example, He (the Holy Spirit) is not only teaching about the return of Jesus, but also how to prepare for the unique dynamics at the time of Jesus' return. He is teaching that Jesus is not only returning as the King of the Jews, but that Jesus loves the Jews and we too ought to love and pray for them even if they may not be so lovely at the moment! These are secretes in Jesus' heart today that the Holy Spirit is revealing to those who seek a mature gospel. Learning and obeying them is what the Apostles call being aquainted with the teaching about righteousness (Heb 5:13). I am reminded of the Jewish leaders of Jesus' time on earth in history. They had much truth about the Messiah from the OT scriptures, but they only had the elementary teaching about Him. Ignoring what the Messiah should be doing in his first coming, they were trying to fit every description about him that actually will be fulfilled in his second coming. As a result they crucified the Lord of glory. I am afraid that by remaining in the elementary knowledge about Jesus' Christ and not aware of His present and future plans, we may actually stand opposing Him when we see him doing things that we understand not. Then, though we may be sincere christians, though we may have given our whole life to Jesus and His work, we might end up opposing Him, just like the Jews rejected their Christ 2000 years ago!  

God planned this world before it came to exist. But he loves to keep his plans secret with His ultimate desire to reveal them progressively to those who can be entrusted with His secrets. Sometimes he reveals them directly through audible voice, dreams and visions. At other times he sends the Holy Spirit to illuminate truth that are in the Bible yet hidden to us so far, or have been partially or even sometimes misunderstood, to be understood clearly. The qualification to be entrusted with His secrets is our love for Jesus. If we love Jesus, he gives us the secrets of his hearts, the secrets of his plans, even about the end of the age and the new age to begin. We can choose for ourselves to remain in “gospel for the immature” or move on to “gospel for the mature.” We can choose to remain as an infant or become mature. We can choose to worship the historical baby Jesus of 2000 years back, or choose to seek what He is and what His present will and plan are for my life.

I can go on to talk about what maturity means and how we can be mature, which apostle Paul makes clear in this passage as being taught by the Holy Spirit (1Co 2:10,11,13,16), but due to lack of time and space I leave it for you to find for yourselves. After all we must make effort to mature! Don’t we?