Exiled: Daniel 2:1-30

Scripture Reading:

Previously:

Daniel and His 3 Friends Were Taken Captive to Babylon as Teenagers

They Were Given New Babylonian Names

They Were Placed in a 3 Year Babylonian Conformity Indoctrination Program

But They Refused to Conform to the Extent of Recognizing the King as Their Provider

They Wouldn’t Eat His Food

Because They Swam Against the Current of Their New Culture for the Sake of Their Faith in God, He Blessed Them Physically and Mentally

They Were Then Placed as High Ranking Wise Men in King Nebuchadnezzar’s Government

They Show Us How to be Members of God’s Kingdom While Living in the Kingdoms of Men

You Be the Kindest, Most Respectful, and Obedient Citizens You can Be

But You Don’t Allow Your Morals or Your Faith to be Compromised by or Conformed to the Wickedness of Your Culture

Introduction

Tell Me if You Recognize What I’m about to Describe

It was a Chilly April Night

The Largest Ship Ever to Float at Around 800 Feet and 45,000 Tons was Sailing Across the Atlantic from England Around 400 Miles Off the Coast of Newfoundland

Everyone Who Saw it Called it “Unsinkable”

The Ship was Traveling at about 25 Knots When it Suddenly Hit a Large Iceberg on its Starboard Side

The Ship Sank Quickly

A Majority of the Passengers Died Due to an Insufficient Amount of Lifeboats

It Became One of the World’s Greatest Tragedies

Would You be Surprised if I Told You I’m Not Talking about the Titanic?

I Actually was Describing the Plot of a Novel Called “The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility”

Want to Know a Really Interesting Fact about this Novel?

It was Written 14 Years Before the Titanic Sank

Due to the Amazing Amount of Similarities Between His Fictional Story of the Titan and the Actual Titanic Tragedy…

Many Began to Believe that Morgan Robertson Could See into the Future

It Seemed Like He Knew Unknowable Information

But No One Can Know the Unknowable Can They

No One Can See into the Future Can They?

Daniel 2

After Daniel and His Friends Received Their Positions in the Babylonian Government Nebuchadnezzar Started Having Dreams that Kept Him Awake at Night

So He Ordered His Magicians, Conjurers, Sorcerers, and Astrologers to Tell Him What His Dreams Were and What They Meant

They Asked Him to Tell Them the Details so They Could Interpret it

He Refused

Daniel 2:5 (NASB)

The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

If They Couldn’t Do this Impossible Task, They Would be Literally Ripped Apart and Their Houses Would be Turned into Porta-Potties

But if They Could, They Would Receive Gifts, Rewards, and Great Honor

They Continued to Ask for the Details of the Dream

But Nebuchadnezzar Logically Thought, “If you have the ability to interpret dreams, then you should have the ability tell the dream itself.”

Notice Their Interesting Reply

Daniel 2:10–11 (NASB)

The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean.

“Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

They Sell Themselves Out as Frauds by Saying that No One Could Do Such a Thing

But They Speak the Overarching Truth of this Chapter in Their Excuse

No One Except a God Could Do What the King Wanted

Only a God Could Tell You What is Going On in Your Own Mind

The King Became Angry with Them and He Sent a Decree to Have All the Wise Men in Babylon Killed

Daniel and His Friends Were a Part of that Group

Daniel 2:13–15 (NASB)

So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.

Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

Notice How Daniel Spoke to the Executioner

With Wisdom and Understanding

NIV Says Wisdom and Tact

You’ll Always See Daniel and hIs Friends Speak Tactfully and Respectfully

Even to Those Who Were There to Kill Them

Let that be a Lesson to Us All

So Daniel Went to the King and Asked for Time to Interpret His Dream

Daniel 2:17–18 (NASB)

Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel Warned the Others of the Death Decree so that They Would Pray for God to Reveal Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and the Interpretation to Them

Have You Ever Prayed Like Your Life Depended On it?

Their Lives Depended on an Answer to this Prayer

I Would Love to Have Heard Those Faithful and Earnest Prayers

I’m Guilty of Allowing My Prayers to Become Vainly Repetitive and Heartless

But in Times of Trouble, My Prayers Really Come Alive and are Sincere

Daniel 2:19–23 (NASB)

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven;

Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound 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 power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Daniel Says Several Key Things in this Prayer of Thankfulness

Wisdom and Power Belong to God

He Controls Time

History Bends to His Will

He is in Control of All World Powers

Kings Rise and Fall by His Power and Authority

He Gave Daniel and His Friends the Knowledge and Understanding that They Possess

He Reveals Things that are Hidden in the Dark Because Light Dwells Within Him

Things Hidden Within the Mind are Not Hidden from God

God Knows the Unknowable and See the Invisible

Only After Daniel Voiced His Gratitude to God Did He Request to See the King Again

Nebuchadnezzar was Told that an Exile from Judah Could Interpret His Dream for Him

Daniel 2:26–27 (NASB)

The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?”

Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

This is Where Daniel is Supposed to Say, “But I Can!”

“Out of all of your supposed wise men, I’m the only one who can do such amazing, impossible things!”

But that’s Not What Daniel Said at All

Daniel 2:28–30 (NASB)

“However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.

As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.”

He Tells the King that the God of Heaven has Revealed Through His Dreams Future Events

Knowing the Dream and its Interpretation had Nothing to Do with Any Wisdom Daniel Might have had

Daniel Only Knew Because God Needed Someone to Tell the King

Daniel Saw Himself as Nothing Special, Just a Vessel

Much Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 4

He was just a Clay Jar Used to Hold the Treasure of the Gospel that God Wanted Others to Receive

Daniel Wasn’t the Dream Seer or Interpreter

He was Simply a Messenger for the One Who the Glory Truly Belongs to

We will Stop There on a Cliffhanger and Wait Until Next Time to Look at the Actual Dream and its Interpretation

Application

Remember That God Knows The Future

There are Things that can Catch Us Off Guard and Rock Our World

But There is Nothing that Catches God Off Guard

Knowing that God is Omniscient (All-Knowing) can Sometimes be Troubling and at Other Times Comforting

Troubling Because We May Wonder Why an All-Knowing, All-Loving God Would Allow Bad Things to Happen

But Comforting Because We Know that He will Allow Nothing to Happen to Us Unless it is for Our Good or for His Glory

That’s Not to Say that Losing a Child, Being Diagnosed with a Debilitating Disease, or Becoming Paralyzed is for Our Good or for His Glory

But with Faith, Those Circumstances can Help Us to Grow in Ways We Might Not Have Been Able to Grow Previously

And Those Circumstances can Open Opportunities for God’s Glory that Were Currently Unavailable to Us Before

An All-Knowing God isn’t Caught Off Guard by Tragedy

He Turns Tragedies into Opportunities

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Make Prayer Your First Line Of Defense

What was Daniel’s First Reaction to Learning His Life was in Danger?

Did He Begin Brainstorming with the Other Wise Men to Think of a Solution?

Did He Try to Run Away from His Problem?

Did He Give Up, Go Home, and Get His Affairs in Order?

He Prayed

And He Asked Other Faithful People He Knew to Pray

I’ve Been Guilty of Seeing Prayer as a Last Resort

Isn’t it Silly that We Have a Father Who Knows the Future and can Change the Course of History to Fit His Will, but We Often See Asking for His Help as a Last Resort

Prayer Ought to be Our First Line of Defense Because Prayer is the Most Powerful Tool We Have in Our Arsenal

But We Don’t See it that Way Because We’ve Seen So Many Prayers Go Unanswered

Maybe Our Prayers Have Gone Unanswered Because They are Selfishly Motivated

James 4:3 (NASB)

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Or More Likely, They’ve Gone Unanswered Because We Don’t Believe They’ll be Answered in the First Place

James 1:5–7 (NASB)

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

This is a Challenge I’m Going to Take On Myself

I Want to be Like Daniel and Make Prayer to an All-Mighty and All-Knowing and All-Loving Father My First Line of Defense

Be A Humble Vessel

Daniel Told the King that it Wasn’t His Wisdom that Did the Impossible

It was God Using Him as a Willing and Humble Vessel

God has Done Amazing Things Through Many People Throughout History

But it Wasn’t Because They Were Anything Mighty, Amazing, or Special

It was Because They Humbly Offered Themselves as Vessels for His Will

“God Doesn’t Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called”

Humbly Allow Yourself to be Used by God for His Purposes, Whatever that May Be for Your Life

And When God Begins to Do Something Amazing Through Your Efforts, Be a Humble Vessel that Always Directs the Glory Back to the One to Whom the Glory Belongs