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DANIEL: Recognising the true God I (Daniel 2 v 46-49)

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream has been told and explained. How will he react?
A daily blog on Christianity.com
Published Feb 06, 2012
DANIEL: Recognising the true God I (Daniel 2 v 46-49)

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream has been told and explained. How will he react?

An amazing sight
Read Daniel 2:46

• What is so amazing about what is described here?

Nebuchadnezzar is the world leader of his day—the most powerful man around. And here he is on his knees with his face to the ground in front of one his captured minions! Imagine the President of the USA doing this today!

An amazing statement
Read Daniel 2:47

• What is so amazing about what is said here?

Nebuchadnezzar would have believed in all the traditional gods of Babylon—and he thought their superiority had been  shown over the God of the Jews (remember how items from the temple in Jerusalem were placed in his god’s temple, Daniel 1:2). But now he acknowledges that Daniel’s God is “God of gods and Lord of lords” because of His ability to reveal this mystery.

An amazing promotion
Read Daniel 2:48

Daniel becomes a kind of “prime minister” of all Babylon, and at his request his three friends take on significant positions (we haven’t seen much of them yet, but they’ll come into play in the next chapter).

God is still God

It is difficult to know whether this is Nebuchadnezzar being “converted”. It seems unlikely, given what we'll see in the next few chapters.
But at the very least, he recognises Daniel’s God as the true God—and that’s one of the key themes of the book. Despite His people being defeated and taken into exile, God remains the true God. Despite His people being in a foreign land and under a foreign king, God is still the ruler and His kingdom will come—and so His people should stay faithful to Him.

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APPLY
Spend some time reflecting:
• Do I truly believe God is the true God and that one day every knee will bow before Him?
• How does that show in the way I live now?
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PRAY THRU
God wants us to “pray for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2 v 2).
Pray now for the leaders of your country and your community, that they will know that God is the true God and rule in ways which take account of His wishes.
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This devotional is taken from Explore—a daily Bible-reading devotional from the good book company which enables you to engage with Scripture and which will encourage, equip and inspire you to live for Christ. Explore features contributions from pastors such as Dr Timothy Keller, Mike McKinley and Tim Chester.

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