©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 2:17-30 (ESV) - Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king's matter.”
Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
Question to consider: Why did God ultimately reveal the dream to Daniel?
Even before Daniel and his friends petitioned the LORD to reveal Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation, Daniel made an appointment with captain Arioch to meet with the king. If you knew nothing about the Babylonian exile and only read these first two chapters of Daniel, you may think that Daniel was being presumptuous in making this appointment or, even worse, putting God to the test.
However, to sin in this fashion is to attempt to manipulate God into doing something He has not already promised to do, or to try and force God to act in a needless fashion for selfish reasons. As James reiterated in his epistle, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (James 4:3)
In this case, God had commanded through the prophet Jeremiah that the exiles pray for Babylon and seek its welfare, for in its welfare they would find their welfare. If ever anything threatened the welfare of the magicians, sorcerers and Chaldeans in Babylon, the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar over this dream certainly did.
Peter wrote in his first epistle, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) I would argue that they understood this truth as well. If the answer to their prayer came to Daniel by way of a dream, it means that once they gave their petitions to the LORD, they were able to go to sleep knowing that their future was in the mighty hand of God.
Having received the answer they needed, Daniel praised the LORD with a grateful heart and recognized His mighty hand which raises and topples kingdoms. When brought before the king, Daniel did not take credit for having known the mystery given to him, but pointed Nebuchadnezzar to the one and only God who could have revealed it to him.
Unlike the conquering of the gods of other nations, Jeremiah made sure that Nebuchadnezzar knew that God was delivering Judah into their hands to punish them for their idolatry. Now this God revealed his dream and gave Daniel the meaning which will have a lasting impact on the king. We’ll get into the dream and its interpretation tomorrow, but in the meantime, Daniel revealed that the dream was concerning the future of this kingdom and the ones which come after it.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for listening to our petitions and providing us with the things that we need when we need them. May we live with the joy and gratitude expressed by Daniel and his friends in light of Your blessed and holy will. Amen.