Carpenter’s Corner: Helpless without Him

The magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, all stood motionless as king Nebuchadnezzar de­clared that all of them were to be put to death. The king had experienced a troubling dream that shook him to his core. He desperately wanted someone to interpret, someone to under­stand and make known to him the meaning of his dream. Un­fortunately, the so-called wise men were not that wise or om­niscient.

As the decree went out and the wise men began to be exe­cuted, Daniel seeks an audience with the king. He intercedes for the wise men of Babylon much like Moses interceded for the Israelites on so many occasions. What drove these two great men of God to stick their own necks out to help other people espe­cially men who did not share their own convictions?

Daniel was a man of purpose, prayer and prophecy. He had faith in God and knew that the God of Heaven was the only One who could reveal the dreams. As Daniel, and his three compan­ions pray, asking God for His knowledge of the unseen world, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was revealed to Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar had been concerned about the future and sovereignty of his vast empire. Worry had driven him to many sleepless nights. In God’s per­fect timing He gives this gen­tile king a vision of an immense image. This image had a head of gold, arms of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay.

As soon as the interpretation had been given to Daniel by God, Daniel seeks another audience with the king of Babylon. Now he is able to tell the dream to the king in the exact way that the king remembered it. Over­joyed at the revelation, the king wants to give Daniel praise and reward him for the correct inter­pretation but instead of taking any credit for the interpretation Daniel gives God all the glory.

Located in Daniel chapter 2, where we don’t have to guess at the meaning of the king’s dream, is a detailed explanation. God gave Daniel the meaning and Daniel has faithfully given the interpretation to the king and also to the world. As a matter of fact this section of scrip­ture is written in Aramaic to show that the information was for the gentile nations.

This image stands, no pun intended, for four world empires that would soon and successive­ly come into power. It is a mat­ter of history now. The various metals and their position in the image are important, a topic foe next week.

While Nebuchadnezzar was a king of kings he was not the King of Kings that God had al­ways planned on giving to the world. Messiah, the Immanuel, the Savior of the world, Yeshuain Hebrew, Jesus in Greek came to earth two thousand years ago and will one day take His right­ful place sitting on the throne of His father David.

So people get ready because there is a King who is coming! He will not ask for our opinion, whether or not we like the wor­ship team, the color of the car­pet or the coffee bar located in the church foyer. The King will not ask for representatives to help Him, the government will not be a democracy; it will be but ruled by King with absolute power.

We will not have a vote in the kingdom of God. It is not about us, but it is all about Him and what He accomplished for us. So if you call yourself a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, then why not start to follow Him? If you have not yet bent the knee and confessed Yeshua as Lord better get busy.

For all of us Christians who believe we know what God is thinking, where He exists and every detail about Him then we better think really hard about our next thought. For God is the Potter of this studio and we are but a lump of clay in His hands, formless, void of life and help­less without him.

I propose we tear off all Chris­tian bumper stickers, burn our Christian shirts and lose our pomp, smug religious attitudes. Don’t you see, it is time to give God all the glory that is right­fully His and His alone. We are a peculiar people who judge one another, withhold help from one another while we push our poli­tics and religious rhetoric.

When it comes to our own personal salvation, God does not need our help. He raises up kings and removes them as He wills. He existed before when the morning stars first began to sing. He will exist long after this world has returned to dust.

Dare to be like Daniel, a man or woman of purpose, of prayer and one who never hesitates to intercede for others.