Daniel's First Interpretation

Read Daniel 2:1-13

Why did he not go to Daniel and his friends first?

When King Nebuchadnezzar first came to Jerusalem to besiege it, it was during his first year of reign (Daniel 1:1). We are told here in Daniel 2:1 that King Nebuchadnezzar is now only in the second year of his reign. What we have here is the same thing that we see in the Creation account of Genesis 1-3. It tells us in Genesis 1 that God created everything in 6 days and rested on the seventh. But then in Genesis 2, we see the storyline back up and retell the account of God creating man, but this time with more details.

We are given the big picture in Chapter 1 of Daniel, showing how the process worked and how long the process would take. Here in Chapter 2, we are backing up and getting some more information of things that took place during that same time.

I say all of that to say this. In Chapter 1, we are told that Daniel, his three friends, and all of the other captives were put into a 3 year training program, at the end of which they were brought before the king and examined individually. But according to the timeline provided to us by the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, these young men had only been in training for one year at this point. King Nebuchadnezzar had probably never even heard of these young men at this point. If he had, it was only in passing.

What does this term Chaldeans mean?

Everywhere else in Scripture that we see this term, it is referring to those who were from the Chaldees. This was Abraham’s home. When God called Abraham into service, He told him to gather his things, his family, and leave the land of Ur of the Chaldees.

But here in Daniel, this term refers to what seems to be an elite group of wise men. There is a lot of speculation as to what supposed powers they were supposed to have, or where even the name come from. What we do know for sure, is that right here in this section, it seems as if King Nebuchadnezzar speaks directly to them for the majority of this conversation. Whoever they were, they seemed to represent all of the wisest men in the kingdom, from magicians, astrologers, and the sorcerers.

Why did the Chaldeans speak to King Nebuchadnezzar in Aramaic, and why is that important?

The Book of Daniel is written in two different languages: Hebrew and Aramaic. From right here at Daniel 2:4 through the end of Daniel 7, the Book is written in Aramaic. The rest of the Book is written in Hebrew.

The most common explanation is a simple one. Daniel wrote all of the parts dealing mainly with Jewish history, Old Testament Law, or Prophecy in Hebrew. The other parts that don’t deal so much with Jewish things is written in Aramaic, which was the most common language within the known world at this time.

What does King Nebuchadnezzar mean when he says that the wise men of Babylon are simply attempting to gain time?

They are hoping that they can talk King Nebuchadnezzar out of his current decree. They hope that he will go to bed, get a good night’s rest, and wake up with a new outlook on things. They were hoping that he would come to realize that no man could do such things as he was requesting. King Nebuchadnezzar saw through their plan, and refused to entertain the thought. He wanted answers and wanted them now.

It is suspected that King Nebuchadnezzar had long suspected the self-proclaiming wise men of Babylon to be powerless. Some say that this is why one of the first things he would do is take thousands of young men from the territories he would conquer, bring them back to Babylon, and train them in the Babylonian ways. This was done in hopes to find some actual wise men.

Regardless if this is true or not, King Nebuchadnezzar calls all of the supposed leaders of each sect together and requires of them something to prove their supernatural abilities. Their answer… “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter… It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

In layman’s terms, “Only a god could do such a thing as you require of us, and he does not share such knowledge with men.” They literally ousted themselves. They just said that knowing the unknowable and telling the future is completely impossible without a God… and… that they had no way of getting in touch with such a god. This is one of the greatest defenses against psychics, magic, the dark arts, and occult worship. Here we have the very best the world had to offer in these things admitting from their own lips that such things are impossible without God.

Read Daniel 2:14-23

It seems as if Daniel has not heard what is going on at this point. He has to ask Arioch why the King’s Decree to kill all the wise men was so urgent. Some translations use the word harsh, which is also perfectly fitting for the situation.

Arioch then explains to Daniel what has taken place. You would think a young man such as Daniel would have been terrified in such a situation, knowing that his own neck was on the line, but instead, Daniel marches straight into the king and tells him that he will provide the dream and interpretation. The only thing he needs is some time.

King Nebuchadnezzar was enraged when he thought the other wise men were trying to kill time, so why do you think Daniel’s request for some time to figure out the dream was different?

Instead of telling the king that his request was impossible, Daniel actually says that he can provide what the king is requesting.

Daniel came right out and told the king that such a thing would take some time, while the other wise men were trying to trick the king into getting more time.

Daniels straightforward answers and humble attitude gained him the time he needed to go home and consult with his friends and God concerning the matter.

Daniel and his friends get on their faces before the Lord and begin asking for answers. Sometime during the night, God provides to Daniel exactly what he needed. In response, Daniel blessed the God of heaven:

***Break down Daniel’s praise of God in Daniel 2:20-23

Read Daniel 2:24-45

Once Daniel had received the dream from God, he immediately tells Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He asks Arioch to instead bring him before the king, so that he can fulfill the king’s request.

Because of the king’s previous encounter with the other wise men of the nation, he wastes no time asking if Daniel can indeed do what he has requested. The others said that no man could do such a thing, but here Daniel stood before the king saying that he could do as the king has requested.

Daniel’s response (vs. 27) was acknowledging that none of the other wise men could do such a thing, but then he says that neither can he as a person: (vs. 28) “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and He has made known…”

Daniel gives all of the credit to God above and takes none for himself. This is the attitude that we as Christians are called to have. Every gift that God has given us can be taken away just as quickly. If it were not for God, we would have no ability to accomplish anything. It is all by the work of His hand that we have any capability to do anything good, so when that good comes, He is the One who deserves the credit for it. Daniel even goes as far to say, “this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart” (vs. 30).

Daniel comes at this in a very humble way. He could have pointed his finger at these other men because of their false religion. He could have pointed his finger in the king’s face and demanded that he worship the only real God within existence. Instead, he humbly says that he is no better or wiser than any of the other men, but rather that God chose to reveal to him this dream and the interpretation. This takes the heat off of the other men, and gives all the glory to God.

Daniel then breaks the dream. There was a massive image. Its head was gold; its chest and arms were of silver; its belly and things of bronze; its legs of iron; its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. King Nebuchadnezzar represents the gold head. But each of the following sections represent other kingdoms that will rise after him. The vision contains information regarding world empires/ruling kingdoms that will come in the days of the future.

Read Daniel 2:46-49

When Daniel was able to reveal the dream and its interpretation to the king, he knew that the God of Daniel was special, was different than the others. Daniel’s God was able to do what the others religion could not.

So King Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel to being the ruler over all of Babylon, answering only to King Nebuchadnezzar.

But Daniel made it clear that he did not accomplish this thing on his on and petitioned that his three friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego) was rewarded as well.

When we experience times to where others are giving us praise, we must not forget all of those who worked so hard to help us achieve those things in our lives. Without the support that each of us have, I would dare say that we would not be very effective in anything really. It is because of those people that we are able to do what we do, and do it to the caliber that we do it.