Daniel 2 Devotional

The Kingdom No Hand Built

“In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.”Daniel 2:44 (BSB)

Nebuchadnezzar demands that his wise men tell him both his dream and its meaning, and when they cannot, he orders them all killed (2:5, 2:12). Daniel asks for time and urges his friends to plead with the God of heaven for mercy (2:16-18). That night the mystery is revealed, and before he goes to the king, Daniel worships. Wisdom and power belong to God, who changes times and seasons and removes kings and sets them up (2:20-21).

Before the king, Daniel credits the answer not to human wisdom but to the God in heaven who reveals mysteries (2:27-28). The dream showed a great statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, shattered by a stone cut out without human hands, which grew into a mountain that filled the earth (2:31-35). Every human kingdom in the dream, however splendid, ends as chaff on the wind. Only the kingdom God sets up stands forever (2:44). The powers that seem permanent are temporary. The kingdom worth your hope is the one no human hand built.

To think about: What earthly power or security are you tempted to treat as permanent, and how does God's kingdom put it in perspective?