Read Daniel 2:36-45
“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.”

I had a conversation a few years ago with a colleague whom I thought would be an excellent choice to serve as the President of our national church body. His reply to me was stunning. When I asked him if he would be willing to run he said simply, “No.” That’s not stunning. When I asked him, “Why not?”, he answered, “Why would I want to be king of nothing?” That was stunning. But maybe he had it right – albeit in a way he may not have intended.
“It’s good to be king,” they say. That’s true with several conditions:
- That you’re actually king of something;
- That you’re actually in control of your kingdom; and
- That you’re still king.
Nebuchadnezzar was soon to find out that while he was king…at that moment, and a significant one at that (“head of gold”), his kingdom would not last forever. He would yield his reign to another. Others would follow after that, then still others.
Without going too far into this section, let’s just say this: “Even heads of gold have feet of clay.” We may have our 15 minutes of fame, or a flash of glory, or even a lifetime of achievements. We may be able to claim all sorts of fame or glory for a time, but even the strongest and most powerful will see their lives come to an end.
To that end, I will therefore add to the saying, “It’s good to be king…if you remember that you have feet of clay.” What’s more, whatever power, glory, splendor, and standing you have comes from another. God is over all. He sets kings on their thrones, casts down the mighty, and does all things with one thing in mind: to bring us to repentance and faith.
It’s good to be king if we remember that there is a King of kings: the God of heaven. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who has revealed himself as a loving Father, who sent his Son, and pours out his Holy Spirit through the message of his Son and brings people into his eternally-good, righteous, holy, and glorious rule and reign. His kingdom is above all, and all in whom Jesus rules in truth and grace that kingdom is present. The is the head of gold of whose feet are bronze – solid and rich in meaning (cf. Revelation 1:15, and this interesting article on the meaning of “feet of bronze”).
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