Two Powerful Words

Dannah Gresh: Do you ever feel hopeless about the way our world seems to be headed? Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth reminds us that there’s more to the story.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: And we see the human race always trying to build the kingdom of man, but we see God intervening in human history—without human hands or help—to set up another kingdom. 

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Heaven Rules, for October 28, 2024. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Sometimes it only takes two words to cause worry or fear. Things like:

• Car repairs
• Work layoffs
• Treatment options
• Financial struggles
• Family trouble
• Election results
• Rising inflation

Well, there are always difficult circumstances that can challenge your dependence on God. But today, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is going to talk about a two-word phrase that is always true, no matter your situation. We’re listening to a message she gave not too long ago at a True Woman conference. Here’s Nancy.

Nancy: Just two words, yet they can wreck your day, right? They can fill us with anxiety and fear. In fact, what are two hard words that you have faced in the past weeks or months? Think about them, two words that aren’t comfortable words, aren’t easy words. Maybe just even write them down there in your folder, your program. Jot them down. What are two hard words you’ve had to face recently?

Well, this weekend, I want us to ponder another two-word phrase—simple, powerful, two words. We’ve already talked about them: Heaven rules. We’re going to see that Heaven rules is a grid through which we can view everything else in our lives and in our world. 

In these two words I have found a world of comfort and hope and courage and perspective, and I believe that the same can be true for you as well. We see this theme woven all the way through the Scripture. 

It’s especially prominent in the book of Daniel, where I’ve been parked for the last couple of years. The events in the book of Daniel took place more than 2700 years ago, but the message of this book is timeless! 

So, I’m going to ask you to turn in your Bible, or scroll on your phone, to the book of Daniel. I want you to see and hear with your own eyes and ears what the Word of the Lord is going to say to us tonight.

This message is timeless, but it’s also incredibly timely for much of what we’re experiencing in our world today. The phrase itself—Heaven rules—is found in the book of Daniel chapter 4, verse 26. Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon: “Your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.”

It was just a few years ago when that phrase leapt off the page at me. I’d read it many, many times before, but: “Heaven rules, Heaven rules, Heaven rules! Your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules!” Two words. I want this to become a reflexive response for you.

In fact, just turn to someone who is sitting on either side of you and say, “Heaven rules!” (response) Say it to someone else. (Heaven rules.) I can’t hear you! Say it again! (Heaven rules.) I love that! 

Heaven rules! We’re going to affirm it, and we’re going to deepen our conviction about it in our hearts. 

Now, it’s not just enough to say those two words; it’s not just enough to know them in our heads. But believing that Heaven rules will transform the way that you think about everything. It will transform the way that you live!

Robert, my sweet husband, and I have just looked at each other, I don’t know, maybe thousands of times over the last couple of years, and we’re going, “Honey, Heaven rules!”

Tonight I want to talk about Heaven rules, what difference does it make? What difference did it make to Daniel to know that Heaven rules, and what difference does it make to us? I want to start with five snapshots from the book of Daniel. 

We’re going to do like a fast run through parts of the book of Daniel, through the lens of Heaven rules, kind of a 30,000 foot view. I wish we could just take the whole weekend and soak in these passages, but we’re just going to give snapshots.

Then we’re going to look at five timeless truths about Heaven’s rule that we see in the book of Daniel. And then we want to close by asking, “How will our lives be different if we truly believe that Heaven rules? How will your life be different if you believe that Heaven rules? 

So let’s start with five Heaven rules snapshots from the book of Daniel, and let’s start in Daniel 1, and here’s the first scene.

Scene #1: Babylon Rules! (or so it seems) —Daniel 1

Daniel 1:1: 

In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem [the capital city of Judah] and laid siege to it. The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. (vv. 1–2)

Now, here we have two powerful rulers and two opposing nations. From a human perspective, when you read just that opening paragraph, you’re saying, “This was a really bad day for King Jehoiakim of Judah!” And you’re thinking, “This was a really great day for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon!” 

So what happens? God’s people are crushed! They’re humiliated by the Babylonian empire! But it’s not just these two kingdoms and these two rulers; in fact, it’s not mostly about those two kingdoms or those two rulers at all.

Because there is another, unseen kingdom and Ruler throughout the pages of not only the book of Daniel, but the whole of Scripture. In fact, look at verse 2: who handed Judah’s king over to the king of Babylon? Who was it? The Lord (Adonai). 

You see, it looked like King Nebuchadnezzar was the one who humbled and crushed King Jehoiakim, but it was the Lord who handed over His own people to the King of Babylon. And what we’re going to see unfolding in the book of Daniel—and in all of Scripture—is really a battle between the Lord God Almighty and the false gods of this world. In Daniel, it’s the false gods of Babylon.

So what looked like a human defeat for the people of God was actually the work of a wise, sovereign God who is behind and over everything that is going on here on earth. God is always working out His purposes in this world for the glory of His name.

In the book of Daniel, those purposes include, first of all, disciplining His own people who had forsaken Him. It also involved revealing Himself as the Lord Almighty to pagan kings and people.

Now in verses 3–4, we see that the king ordered young men to be brought to Babylon from Judah. They were the cream of the crop. They were deported forcibly from their homeland. They were conscripted by Nebuchadnezzar to serve him and advance his agenda, and the king immediately set out to make them dependent on him rather than on their God. Verse 5 says, 

The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.

Now, in the rest of Daniel, we hear very little about most of these young men. Maybe they saw this as a good career opportunity, maybe they felt they had no choice but to go along with the king’s plan. Maybe, as many other Jews did, sadly, they assimilated into the Babylonian culture, they settled in, they became at home in Babylon. 

But among all those young men, there were four—four!—who knew that Babylon was not their true home and that the gods of Babylon were not true gods. Now, we know that these four men were young teens at the time. I understand we have, four hundred teenagers signed up here. Teenagers, raise your hands; I want to see you!

Thank you for being here; we love you guys! We’re so thrilled you’re here! We’ll be praying for you tomorrow during the teen track. You’re going to love it!

Teens, can I just remind you as you hear this story and read the book of Daniel, God didn’t choose old people to accomplish His purposes in this book. He chose teenagers who started their young lives, before they reached adulthood, by planting their hearts in the Word and the character of God. There are ways God wants to use your life to accomplish His purposes in this world.

Listen, there were lots of other teens who came from Judah to Babylon, but you never hear about them again. We don’t know what they were doing. Maybe they were partying, maybe they were having fun, but they were not swimming against the tide. The ones who swam against the tide, they’re the ones we’re reading about tonight. 

I want to be reading about you. I want to be hearing about you, years from now because as a teen you said, “I’m going to follow Christ. I’m going to believe that Heaven rules!” Yes, let’s pray for those teens and believe God for that!

Verse 7 says that, 

The chief eunuch [this is the guy in charge] gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

So what did he do? He stripped them of their Jewish names, and each of their Jewish names included as part of their name a variation on the name of God, Elohim, Yahweh. He stripped them of those names and gave them pagan, Babylonian names that had nothing to do with their God.

He was wanting to change their identity, to change their loyalty, so they would be loyal to him and his gods and not to their God. So here’s the king, he’s the boss. He believed he was the supreme king and that Babylon ruled, but these young men knew better. They knew that their God was the supreme King and that Heaven rules!

Slip down to the last verse of chapter 1, verse 21; it’s an interesting sentence here; I love this. It says: “Daniel remained [in Babylon] until the first year of King Cyrus.” You say, “What’s the big deal about that?” 

Well, once you study the history of Daniel, you realize that there were nearly seventy years from the time that Daniel was taken into captivity until Cyrus became king. He was going to be in Babylon for a very long time—the rest of his life, seventy years!

Now, when you’re a teenager, you’re not thinking about what it’s going to be like in your eighties. I’m going to tell you, it comes faster than you can imagine. Am I right? (laughter) But seventy years!

And during those years, one powerful king after another sat on the throne. Empires rose. Empires fell. Daniel faced one crisis and one challenge after another. He was in exile; he was a foreigner in Babylon. He was a servant of the State. He worked for evil rulers and corrupt governments.

He was the object of jealousy, palace intrigue, sinister plots against him, maniacal, narcissistic rulers. Does this sound like anything modern day? (laughter) He was persecuted for his faith, yet through it all, through all those years, all those changes, all those ups and all those downs, he served faithfully in a pagan environment.

And through all of this, God was faithful to him in that very pagan place, protecting, providing, directing, sustaining and delivering. Now, we go to chapter 2, and I want to give you a second snapshot. I want to call this one . . .

Scene #2: The Statue and the Stone (Daniel 2)

Let me just summarize it for you this way: Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream, but the next morning he couldn’t remember what the dream was. He just knew it was a very bad and hard dream, so he ordered his officials to tell him, “What is the dream and what does it mean?” Well, of course, none of his officials could do that, because, how can you tell somebody else what they dreamed?! The king went ballistic! He was given to fits of rage. But we know that God gave Daniel supernatural wisdom to tell the king the dream and what it meant. 

Look at Daniel 2:31–35: 

“Your Majesty, as you were watching, suddenly a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay.

“As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors.

“The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” 

I want to tell you, ladies, that that paragraph is the story of human history, right there. The statue represented a series of world powers, starting with Babylon, and then others yet to come. We see the human race always trying to build the kingdom of man, but we see God intervening in human history—without human hands or help—to set up another kingdom. 

One day, His kingdom will crush every earthly empire through Christ the Stone, the Living Rock, and the whole earth will be filled with the glory and the worship of our great God! (applause) Amen! 

I want to show you a third scene, it’s in Daniel chapter 3, and we’re just doing highlights of these. I’m going to call this scene . . .

Scene #3: All Worship King Me (Daniel 3)

That’s Nebuchadnezzar’s theme song, “All worship King Me!” Now, Nebuchandnezzar clearly missed the point of his dream in chapter 2. He builds this obscenely huge statue and commands all his subjects all around the world to worship it, but we know that the three Hebrew young men refused. 

And when they did, Nebuchadnezzar was furious! Because people who think they are sovereign rulers cannot bear to be crossed; they can’t bear to have their authority challenged. So the king had them thrown into a fiery furnace to be incinerated 

But look at those three Hebrew young men, teenagers remember? There’s no sense of terror or panic. There’s this quiet confidence. Why? Because they knew that their God was the true and living God, unlike the gods of Babylon. They knew that their God was more powerful than the king who thought he was all-powerful. They knew their God could save them from the king’s wrath. 

Now, they did get thrown in the furnace. They were willing to die to be loyal and faithful to their God. But God sent a deliverer into that fire to rescue His faithful servants (many believe that Deliverer was the Son of God Himself). The courage and the worship and the obedience of God’s servants in that time of trial resulted in praise and honor and glory to the God of heaven—and that’s the ultimate point, the ultimate reward, the ultimate end of affirming and believing and living that Heaven rules. God gets glory, and the gods of this world are dismantled.

Dannah: Amen! Soli Deo Gloria! 

That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth with the first part of a message she gave on the book of Daniel. In the face of political, financial, or relational turmoil, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Heaven does rule, right?

If you need an ongoing reminder of that truth, you’ll love Nancy’s book Heaven Rules. The subtitle is Take Courage. Take Comfort. Our God Is in Control. This week we’re hearing a brief overview of the book of Daniel, but this book takes a deeper look at those passages. In it, you’ll learn how seeing your life through the lens of Heaven’s rule will give you renewed hope and perspective.

This week, the book Heaven Rules is our gift to you when you make a donation of any amount. We’re so thankful for your prayers and support! They help us spread the message that "Heaven Rules" to even more women all around the world. Get in touch with us at ReviveOurHearts.com with your gift, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. And be sure to request the Heaven Rules book with your donation. 

Again, go to ReviveOurHearts.com. Tomorrow, we’ll hear more from Nancy about the incredible difference it makes to you and me that Heaven rules. I hope you’ll join us for that.

Before we’re done, though, can I ask you to turn to God in prayer? We’ve asked various individuals to lead us in prayer for our nation. As you know, the election is next week, so we want to cry out to the Lord for the United States. 

Let’s pray together, first with my sweet friend Anna Preston, and then with Pastor George Grant.

Anna Preston: King Jesus, thank You for being our Savior, our Guide, and our Lord. Thank You for unifying us in Yourself and giving us new names, making each of us a new creation by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

I thank You, Jesus, for praying that Your Church would be united. At this time in our nation, when division is rampant and people are choosing to primarily identify themselves with a political party, would You set us, Your Church, apart by our identity in You, our unity, and our love. 

Would You help us to be men and women who bear Your name well, speaking and acting with integrity and sincere faith in a time when temptation is high and opportunities are many to fuel the flames of division around us.

Keep us humble, Jesus, keep us rooted in our identity in You, not in any political party. Keep us united, Jesus. Fill us with Your love. Work in and through us as vessels of Your love to those around us, fixing their eyes on You as our true and eternal King! In Jesus’ name, amen.

George Grant: I’m George Grant, pastor of Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee.

You, oh Lord, are our God. You are the Almighty! Therefore, in these fractious times, we will rest in Your provision, trust in Your providence, walk in Your mercy, remain in Your love, rely on Your strength, and stand fast in Your grace!

You have given us a good land and a rich legacy of liberty and prosperity as an inheritance. We humbly beseech you therefore that we might yet again walk wisely before You, mindful of Your favor, and glad to do Your will here on earth—just as it is done in heaven.

Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from fractious violence and bitter discord, from pompous pride and brazen arrogance. Save us from every evil way!

By Your sovereign hand, fashion us into a united people—the multitude brought together out of many kindreds and tongues. We entreat Your Majesty to endow with Your Spirit of wisdom all those in authority, that there might be justice and peace both here and abroad.

May we show forth Your praise among the nations of the earth. In days of prosperity, fill our hearts with thanksgiving. And in days of adversity, quicken us with Your sufficient grace that our trust in You never flags and never fails.

Arise, O Great Lord, for marvelous are Your works, for You are the Almighty. All this we ask with thankful hope and glad anticipation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen and amen!

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the CSB.
 

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