And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. – Daniel 2:44a

Scripture reading: Daniel 2:31-45

In Daniel 2, during Israel’s exile, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar dreams about a statue crushed by a rock, which grows into a mountain that fills the earth. Daniel interprets the dream and explains the rock:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (v. 44).

This is one of the main promises that lived in the hearts of Israel during the exile as they awaited the coming of the Messiah. They waited for the One who would bring the Kingdom of God. And it was this promise that Jesus spoke of at the beginning of His ministry in Israel.

For the sake of learning about our mission, the important thing is the answer to this question: What did the stone do after it crushed the statue? Did it disappear? Did it hide? “But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (v. 35b).

That verse spoke of the church’s mission today. We live after the coming of the Messiah, after the coming of the Kingdom, in the time in which that Kingdom is growing to fill the whole earth, the kingdom that shall stand forever. That promise – and its fulfillment in Jesus – is what motivates our mission as the church today.

Suggestions for prayer

That God’s Kingdom would continue to grow, and that we would live faithfully as citizens of that Kingdom.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Nick Smith is pastor of the United Reformed Church of Nampa, Idaho.