Remaining Holy in a Hostile World: Daniel 2-- Only God knows Dreams

Introduction

Psalm 137:1–9 NKJV

By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth— If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!” O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!

These are the words of Psalm 137. A Psalm written by the captives of Judah in Babylon of where Daniel, his three friends, and hundreds if not thousands were also. They were by the rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates weeping as they remembered Jerusalem. Yet, now they were in this new land where as Jeremiah had written in his letter as instructed by God. Jeremiah 29:4-9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

This was the world in which Daniel and his friends were in and at the moment Daniel and his three friends were in grave danger, because Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream and none of the magi of Babylon could tell him the dream and thus could not tell the meaning. He had ordered the death of all the wise men. As we left the story last week, Daniel’s life and that of his three friends was hanging in the balance. We will pick back up where we left off last week.

The Answer by the Wise Men and the Response of the King (Daniel 2:10-13)

Daniel 2:10–13 NKJV

The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. 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.” For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.

From last week you remember that King Nebuchadnezzar had been having some really restless nights and he had been having a dream. He had called in the wise men of the land and asked them for the dream and its interpretation. The debate had gone back and forth, but the wise men could not tell the dream to the king so we saw that a decree went out to kill the wise men of Babylon and that also meant Daniel and his three friends.

The Appeal (Daniel 2:14-16)

Daniel 2:14–16 NKJV

Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.

Arioch (he is the captain of the king’s guard). He is literally the one who was sent to kill Daniel and his three friends, yet the Scripture (which remember is in Aramaic) says that Daniel answers with:

Counsel (Prudence) and Wisdom (Discretion). Daniel is using his talents, his gifts, and the wisdom that all came from God. This is a teenager convincing the body guard to the king not to kill him and his friends.

It is like if you were confronted by the Secret Service or the FBI because the President of the United States considered you a threat. Nebuchadnezzar considered all the wise men a threat at the moment.

Daniel was God’s man for the hour. He put himself out there. He stood in the gap. Once again, he doesn’t know how this is going to turn out.

Part of being holy, the theme of this series, is putting others before you.

Philippians 2:4 “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

John 15:12-14 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

1 John 3:15-16 “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Daniel in a very real sense is laying his life on the line for the wise men of Babylon (not just himself and his three friends).

When Daniel hears what the issue is he goes to the King and requests time as he had not been part of the group that had gone before the King earlier.

Once again, he had put himself out on the line. The King could have said kill him now. Yet, that doesn’t happen.

Now here is something else that is good to note. While at the end of Daniel 1 we know that Daniel was given “understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17b) as far as we know from the Scriptures, he had not interpreted a dream up to this point. Yet, he had faith in his God! Whereas the wise men of Babylon did not know of anyone that can truly tell dreams other than the gods…Daniel knew that his God could reveal dreams and the meaning. Maybe he thought about on the Patriarch's Joseph, whom I have mentioned before.

Daniel knew that God could give him the answer for both the dream and what it meant. That is faith!

Prayers and Intercession (Daniel 2:17-18)

Daniel 2:17–18 NKJV

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Was Daniel being cocky? No, he had faith! Yet, he knew that he, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah needed to PRAY!

As Erwin Lutzer writes in his book The Church in Babylon “Salvation is free, but as the seven churches of Revelation discovered, there is a cost to living authentic lives of holiness in a godless culture. We cannot take the resources Christ offers for granted but must diligently seek Him and His Word with prayerful wisdom.”

Daniel and his three friends needed prayerful wisdom. It was a matter of life and death!

Around a century later we see a similar kind of prayer meeting over life and death.

Esther 4:13–17 (NKJV)

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

We are not told how long the prayer meeting lasted with Daniel and his three friends. How often do we pray for long periods of time? Do we just pray once and if God doesn’t answer we give up?

Matthew 7:7-8 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Luke 11:9–13 NKJV

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

James 4:1–4 NKJV

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Luke 18:1–14 NKJV

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Ask yourself:

What are you asking for?

What is the motivation behind what you are asking for?

Are you asking once and then giving up? (It is not that God doesn’t hear you the first time, but He does things in His timing)

Has God already answered it, but you don’t like the answer?

Is your prayer list a shopping list for God? Do the prayers just scratch the surface of what we could and should be praying. Have deeper prayers, richer prayers in conversation with God.

We do not know what they prayed, but they prayed.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.

Amos 3:7 NKJV

Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Answer and Praise to God (Daniel 2:19-23)

Daniel 2:19–23 NKJV

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; 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 demand.”

Some believe because of the urgency of the King’s request that this might have been only one night, but the Scripture is not clear in this manner. What is clear that God answered their prayers!

The secret the mystery of the dream and what it meant is given to Daniel in a dream/ vision itself.

What was the first thing Daniel does? What should we do? Praise the LORD! Bless His name! We have this wonderful praise Psalm of Daniel. Let’s read it again.

Daniel 2:20–23 NKJV

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; 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 demand.”

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever — how often do we stop and praise God’s name? We live in a culture that rushes and so often our prayers are rushed too. When praying take time to praise and adore our God and his name! Like Psalm 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!”

For Wisdom and Might are His! Job 12:13 ““With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding.” Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

Changes the times and the seasons: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.”

Removes kings and raises up kings. This was very fresh in Daniel’s mind with what had just happened in Judah.

Gives Wisdom to the Wise and Knowledge to those who have understanding.

Reveals Deep and Secret things, Luke 8:16-18 ““No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.””

Knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with Him

Thank You and Praise You, O God of my fathers. Begins again praises the LORD again!

You have given me wisdom and might What God has done for Daniel!

You have made known to me (Daniel) what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand. God has answered their prayer and has given him the dream and the meaning.

Taken Before the King (Daniel 2:24-25)

Daniel 2:24–25 NKJV

Therefore Daniel went 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; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.” Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.”

Daniel is brought before the King…what will happen next?

Application/Conclusion

There will be times where each one of us will need to stand in the gap. We are called to be holy in the midst of the hostile world we live in.

Matthew 10:16–26 (NKJV)

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And YOU WILL be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

John 16:33 (NKJV)

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world YOU WILL have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

In the Forward to Edwin Lutzer’s 2019 book The Church in Babylon, Ed Stetzer writes these words of the church, particularly the church in the United States.

The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness Foreword

We have to take an honest, hard look at why we are seeing this trajectory now. Many have noted that the decline of Christian values can be attributed to a reactive, angry, disengaged, and politically motivated Christian culture that has sought to assert itself in order to win a culture war that was destined to be lost. We have the best news in the world, but often we have communicated it as the right news instead of the good news. Many times, we have preferred to be right instead of loving, and lost our reputation in the process.

Christians today are faced with at least three ways to respond: (1) assimilate the secular culture, (2) isolate from the secular culture, or (3) engage the secular culture. In light of the gospel, the only choice for the Christ follower is to engage.

To be the light of the world as Jesus brought up in the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:14–16 NKJV

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

We cannot be assimilated into the culture (just as most of the people from Judah did). We cannot just go to some mountain and hide away waiting for the rapture or death, no we need to engage the culture. We have the message of hope that is found only in Jesus Christ. Let the world when they see you see Jesus Christ. I know I struggle with it, but if we are to remain holy in this hostile world and engage the culture as Daniel and his three friends did, it is a must.