The artwork at the beginning of chapter two in the Daniel Zine shows the statue from King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: a head of gold; a body of silver, bronze, iron; and feet of iron and clay. Standing to the left of that large statue is a teeny tiny person, so small that we may not even notice it at first glance. That small figure may just be there to show the magnitude of the statue, but it might also represent you and me. We may feel pretty small in comparison to impressive and grand things that human hands have made. But human-made things give a false sense of permanence and security.
King Nebuchadnezzar was one of those humans who felt secure and infallible with his large, wealthy, impressive, and seemingly impenetrable kingdom of Babylon. But his dream would communicate that no matter how impressive an earthly kingdom is, it is still temporary. No matter how sturdy or how permanent something seems, the truth is that nothing lasts forever. This can be both a comforting and a scary thought.
Daniel explained to the king that each part of the statue represented a different kingdom that would hold power on earth. But in turn, each one of those would crumble.
Then Daniel interpreted the end of the dream, where a rock was cut out not by human hands and smashed the statue to pieces:
“In the time 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 crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” —Daniel 2:44
After Jesus cleared the temple in Jerusalem, the religious leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The religious leaders, being very impressed with the work of their own hands, said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But Jesus was referring to his own body, which would be destroyed and then raised after three days. (John 2:18-22)
The Jews did not realize that Jesus himself would be the forever temple. They did not know they were speaking to the “rock” not created by human hands who would crush all other kingdoms and endure forever.
When we feel like that teeny tiny figure watching everything around us crumble to the ground, we can take heart that there is a kingdom that will endure forever. And because of Jesus our Rock, we are invited!
Written by Juliette Alvey
