Marks of Divine Wisdom
by Terry Wane Benton
Daniel told the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, that "there is a God who reveals secrets" (Daniel 2). All the false gods of Babylon and Egypt were no match for the true, living God. Daniel demonstrated the power of the true God by not only telling the king what he dreamed, but what it meant. He dreamed of an image with four precious metals, Gold, silver, bronze, Iron and clay, and Daniel told him these different metal parts of the image were four consecutive kingdoms of men.
Each would pass down until the fourth (Roman); then God would set up an everlasting kingdom, one that would not pass away like the four earthly kingdoms. The Babylonian would pass to the Medes and Persians, which in turn would pass to the Greeks, which in turn would pass to the Romans, and during that fourth kingdom, the kingdom of Christ Jesus would be established (Daniel 2:44f).
Jesus set up His kingdom at the right time (Acts 2:36; Colossians 1:13). How could Daniel have known beyond his time when the Messiah would come and set up His kingdom? How did He know that Jesus' kingdom would be the kind of kingdom that couldn't be destroyed? It is clearly a mark of divine wisdom. No other book possesses foreknowledge equal to the Bible.
Daniel also predicted the timing of the Messiah being "cut off" for the sins of the world (Daniel 9:24ff) and that afterward the rebuilt temple would be destroyed again. So, basically Daniel prophesied the temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians that were holding him captive, would be rebuilt (it was during Ezra and Nehemiah's time) and then after the Messiah came and was "cut off" (killed) the temple would afterwards be destroyed again. This goes far beyond Daniel's time and shows that this prophecy came from God. It demonstrated God's reality and His wisdom in seeing the distant future.
God in heaven reveals secrets. The Bible God is the true and living God. Jesus' kingdom has been standing for about 2000 years. The four kingdoms of men have been in the dust of history, but Jesus' kingdom is not earthly (John 18:36) and cannot be destroyed. You can kill some of its citizens, but the seed will germinate in another heart and produce other citizens. It cannot be destroyed. The church of Christ still exists today, proving that Daniel was guided by God to tell the dependable truth of the Almighty. Be amazed at God's wisdom!
