Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
325
“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a king-
dom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that
the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake
in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great
God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter:
and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
The king was convinced of the truth of the interpretation, and in
humility and awe he “fell upon his face, and worshiped,” saying, “Of
a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a
revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.”
Nebuchadnezzar revoked the decree for the destruction of the wise
men. Their lives were spared because of Daniel’s connection with the
Revealer of secrets. And “the king made Daniel a great man, and gave
him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat
in the gate of the king.”
In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and
fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man;
the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by
[500]
his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain
is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the
play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the
agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the
counsels of His own will.
In words of matchless beauty and tenderness, the apostle Paul set
before the sages of Athens the divine purpose in the creation and dis-
tribution of races and nations. “God that made the world and all things
therein,” declared the apostle, “hath made of one blood all nations
of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find
Him.”
Acts 17:24-27
.
God has made plain that whosoever will, may come “into the bond
of the covenant.”
Ezekiel 20:37
. In the creation it was His purpose