There is so much that happens in this chapter, so I am splitting it into two sections. I will post part two next week. 

We’ve talked about the unrest and historical perspective of Daniel. The sheer overwhelming nature of being carried away from family and friends – of being taken to a place that is so much larger, grander, and more magnificent than anything they had ever experienced. The challenge of encountering a culture that was opposed to the notion of a monotheistic God. Last week, we specifically discussed the importance of knowing your identity and taking your thoughts captive. We must lead our hearts – instead of being led by our emotions or circumstances. I think you could study Daniel chapter two and come up with many different applications. I hope this one blesses your heart.

V. 1 – Babylonians did not count the year of ascension of their kings. So whenever you see this phrase, “In the ‘X’ year of…” you can always add one additional year to reconcile the Jewish notations. So the young men have been training for three years – and when you think about the second year of Nebuchadnezzar based on the way court records were kept, you realize that this chapter occurs shortly after Daniel and his friends have finished their training. God could have given Nebuchadnezzar this dream at any point, but  he waits until Daniel, Hananiah, Meshach, and Azariah are admitted into the ranks of the wise men or court officials. God is writing a magnificent story that these young men could not have imagined, and this is the first visible performance. Everything, including their obedience, has led to this moment.

V. 2-3 – Basically, Nebuchadnezzar calls for a sampling of all his counselors, spiritual leaders, and those who would have been in connection with the spirit world. He is so disturbed by his dreams. The mighty man who conquered Egypt, Assyria, and many other nations – the undisputed world power – is scared by a nightmare. Proverbs 21:1 tells us, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” Regardless of how you feel about our last or current President, this truth should encourage your heart. God has not surrendered ultimate control. He is still guiding and directing. The book of Daniel, if nothing else, should be a reminder that God alone is sovereign. He is the one who reigns. Regardless of what earthly rulers do or think, he is still working his eternal plan. He will still be victorious in the end.

V. 4 – A technical note: this verse is the transition between Hebrew and Aramaic with briefly interspersed Persian. The counselors request that Nebuchadnezzar tell them the dream – and then they will give an interpretation. This seems like a reasonable request, but Nebuchadnezzar had other ideas. He didn’t trust his own advisors. He wanted to test their skill and honor. Did they really have insight and divine revelation or were they simply manipulating him? They could control the narrative and perceptions if he gave them the dream. They could have created an interpretation that would reflect positively on them and ultimately extend control over the king. Nebuchadnezzar’s stubbornness did not allow for that opportunity.

V. 5-6 – Nebuchadnezzar demanded that they tell him what he dreamed – and then what the dream meant. He threatened them with a terrible death and ruin for their families if they could not accomplish this task. However, he also promised them wealth and power if they could reveal truth. Nebuchadnezzar recognized that divinity should equate to revelation and the ability to do the impossible. I don’t know if Nebuchadnezzar woke up feeling like a maniacal murderer, but he seemed relatively indifferent to the possibility of these men dying and he was amazed when Daniel had such insight. He recognized that what he was asking was difficult – if not impossible. He wanted to know who he could trust, and he wanted to test these men’s connection to the divine. They failed the test, and you can almost hear the panic in their statements over the next few verses.

V. 7-10 – The wise men are confused. If we were there, this would be a moment that we wondered, “Is he asking what I think he’s asking?” There are legends in secular history about how deceptive these men were. They often tried to control the king by manipulating his understanding of the gods. They had no leverage in this case. Nebuchadnezzar called their bluff, and as you can see in verse 10, they had no frame of reference for the request. Their gods should have been able to answer the king’s inquiry, but their “gods” were not divine and they a lacked the ability to answer the king’s demand. There is no man who can meet the king’s request…

V. 11 – They make an interesting statement here, “except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” I want us to pause here a minute and think about the application of this verse.

• They acknowledged that only a god could provide the level of insight demanded by the king.

• They showed that their gods either could not or would not provide the answers demanded by Nebuchadnezzar. They were not free to approach their deities at a moments notice. Contrast this with the promises of Hebrews 4:14-16. We are invited to draw near. We are invited to seek God. There is no barrier and he longs to provide grace and mercy when we need it. He is near – he is our Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).

• Jesus broke this assumption to pieces. He did dwell with flesh. He tabernacled among us as a man (John 1:14 & 1 John 1:1-4). He lived, died, and rose again as a man so that he could be a sympathetic High-Priest and so that we might live through him.

• As Christians, we know these truths – but we do not always live in acknowledgement of that truth. We do not live out of the source of our life. We live as though he is a distant god who does not care about our daily burdens or cares. Nothing could be further from the truth.

• The next time you are tempted to view God as distant or uncaring, consider Jesus. Consider what he has already done and what he desires to do in our lives. Live out of the abundance of life and empowerment that we can experience because his dwelling was with flesh and even now his Spirit lives in us.

V. 12-13 – Apparently the soldiers were gathering all of the wisemen together to carry out the king’s order of killing the wisemen. The soldiers were looking for Daniel and his friends (further acknowledgement that their three years of training were complete and that they were court officials).

V. 14-15 – We see in these verses that Daniel replied with wisdom. His tongue was so under the control of the Holy Spirit, that even when faced with death – he was gracious and wise. His thoughts were rarely far from God, so when he spoke it was with discretion and anointing. This book has prayers or some sort of communication with God in almost every chapter. When Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks,” he wasn’t just expressing a nice platitude. He was imparting a real and challenging truth. What we dwell on and give our hearts to will influence what we say and do. If we want to be prepared to speak wisdom at a moment’s notice, then we must begin by immersing ourselves in the truth of God’s Word and surrendering to his will for our lives.

V. 16 – Daniel promises to interpret the dream before he actually knew what the dream was. Daniel knew that God would give him the necessary wisdom and insight. God had brought them through trials already. Daniel trusted that the pain would not be wasted. He might not have fully understood God’s plan, but he trusted the heart of God and that made all of the difference. Notice the contrast between his response and the secular wise men. Daniel was confident that his God would answer – and he was not one bit anxious to approach the throne of grace.

V. 17-18 – One of the first things Daniel did was to share the situation with three godly friends. These men had proven their spiritual wisdom and support. He was not looking for a pity party or a gossip session. He was not looking for vindication of his emotions or sympathy over how unfair it was to be facing another trial. No – he asked them to pray for mercy. He anticipated that they would be faithful and that God would hear their prayers.

• Think of 1-3 people that you call when faced with a trial. Are they committed to prayer and encouragement? Are they a driving force in your spiritual maturity? Do they push you closer to God or do they simply validate your emotional responses? I’m not saying they can’t be sympathetic. True friends listen and love us in the middle of pain, but they also draw us closer to the cross. They remind us of the promises of God. They enter the trenches of spiritual warfare with us. They hold up our hands in prayer when we cannot continue (Exodus 17:12). Choose your friends wisely. If you can’t think of at least one or two people who you could call in the middle of a crisis for spiritual encouragement and prayer… you might need new friends. At minimum, you may need to find ways to introduce a deeper level of spiritual fellowship to your current relationships.

• Are we one of the three? Do we enter spiritual warfare with people? Are we reliable prayer warriors? Do people trust that they can call on us when they need a spiritual advocate? We all want friends like this, but it is harder to be this friend.

V. 19 – Once the mystery was revealed, Daniel praised God. He immediately gave God the glory for answered payer and divine insight.

Next week, we're going to dissect Daniel's prayer. It is a model that we can follow with great benefit. I think it will encourage and challenge your heart, but it is quite long - so we'll save that for next week.