Please turn with me to Daniel, chapter 2. Last month, I opened this series on Daniel in Babylon. Daniel has a timely message for us in a time when the Christian spiritual foundations of our country are being steadily eroded. An idolatrous, antichristian spirit, which is Babylon, is encroaching on our society and subtly eroding moral boundaries and threatening our liberty in Christ. Titus 2:11-12 says:
“The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. “
The spirit of Babylon demands that people accept ungodliness, sensuality and sin as normal, and condemns any criticism of these things as “intolerance.” At the same time, it shows increasing intolerance for those who wish to live righteously and godly, because we don’t approve the things they do. What has been declared unconstitutional today in law may soon become criminal tomorrow in personal expression. In February 2013, the Canadian Supreme Court declared that denouncing the sexual practice of homosexuality, regardless of religious beliefs, was punishable under their hate crime statute. According to Dawn Stefanowicz, a Canadian woman raised by gay parents:
Because of legal restrictions on speech, if you say or write anything considered “homophobic” (including, by definition, anything questioning same-sex marriage), you could face discipline, termination of employment, or prosecution by the government….
Last month, I stated: The Book of Daniel declares a truth that is revealed throughout the Bible. God is Sovereign: He rules over the earth and the destiny of all nations, and over everyone on earth.
Right at the beginning of Daniel, we see two kingdoms in collision. The kingdom of this world is symbolized by mighty Babylon. This world’s kingdoms are all built on hubris and domination through force.
In Daniel, proud Babylon is subtly infiltrated by the Kingdom of God, symbolized by Daniel and his three friends, and the temple’s holy vessels. God answers the pretentions of the world in two ways: by sending godly disciples to live out the kingdom of God in rebuttal to the sinful ways of the world, and by sending His word – symbolized by the vessels from God’s temple.
This theme of kingdoms in collision is expanded throughout the book of Daniel…. Daniel declares the sovereignty of God over all human history. He continues a theme declared throughout the Bible. Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.”
We must be ready to confront and, if need be, suffer from the spirit of Babylon in our time. Daniel gives us key truths that enable us to do this – it is a historical template of how to respond wisely in a context where you are surrounded by and subject to a prevailing secular authority.
In Daniel 1, we read how Daniel “made up his mind that he would not defile himself with king’s choice food… or wine”. This first, critical decision to pursue holiness rather than accommodation with a pagan environment was potentially life-threatening for Daniel and his three Hebrew friends. But God stood with him to pass that initial test. In chapter 1, the kingdom of this world subtly enticed and threatened God’s chosen people in the king’s court.
In Daniel 2, we see a far more dangerous test of Daniel’s faith. Through a powerful dream, God set up a situation that both provoked deadly wrath from a king but exposed the ultimate failure of his empire, and every kingdom that challenges God’s dominion. The collision of heavenly and earthly kingdoms in this story is manifested.
It is noteworthy that from verse 4 of chapter 2 through the end of chapter 7, Daniel wrote in Aramaic – the language of ancient Syria and Mesopotamia – rather than in his native Hebrew. Aramaic was the international trade language of their day, much as English is in the world today. So why are Daniel 2:4 through chapter 7 written in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew? According to one scholar:
These six chapters deal with matters of importance to the Gentile nations of the Near East and were written in a language understandable to all. But the last five chapters (8-12) revert to Hebrew, since they deal with special concerns to the chosen people.
Using Aramaic, God evidently intended for Daniel to speak to a wider audience than just the people of Israel. It is also noteworthy that in Daniel chapter 7 – the final chapter of Aramaic – we are introduced to the Son of Man, the Messiah. Daniel wrote that He will inherit a kingdom that “all the peoples, kingdoms and tongues might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”
Aramaic became the common language of Palestine; Jesus and His disciples spoke Aramaic. But Greek became the language of the New Testament, for by then it had become the trade language of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Now let’s read Daniel 2:1-13: Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 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. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.”10 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.11 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.”
12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
This dream came to Nebuchadnezzar in his second year as king; so Daniel and his three friends were mere teenagers in the first or second year of their assigned three-year education to become court scholars. But it didn’t matter: the King of Babylon intended to wipe out all his court advisors and impoverish their families, including the four young Israelites, if no one recounted and interpreted his dream for him.
The mightiest king on earth made an impossible demand of his court advisors, and the astrologers’ reply was truthful – no one on earth could fulfill his demands; only God could reveal it to the king.
Why would a mighty king demand something so obviously beyond human capability? First, it is evident that his dream shook him to the core of his being. The Bible says “his sprit was troubled” and he told his astrologers as much. The Hebrew word here for spirit, ruach, also means breath, or life-force. King Nebuchadnezzar felt this dream spoke prophetically about his kingdom like an omen of doom. He was terrified by the dream and its implications, and was desperate to know its meaning.
It is possible that he forgot, or partially forgot, the details of his dream, and so was unable to recount the details to them. Thus he was desperate for someone who had access to the gods to tell and interpret it for him. More likely, he remembered the dream, but couldn’t interpret it. He didn’t trust his sycophant advisors could do so either; he knew they would fabricate a soothing lie. He sensed this dream was divinely inspired, so only one who had a connection to the gods would be able to give a truthful interpretation.
Both Nebuchadnezzar and his astrologers were right that the dream was divinely inspired; but neither knew the God from Whom it came. The God of Israel set up Nebuchadnezzar for this fateful encounter, and used a teenage intern as His chosen instrument to introduce Babylon’s king to the King of the Universe. Continuing in v.14:
“When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.”
Notice that the same king who rebuked all his wise men for “bargaining for time” was willing to grant a teenage Israelite time to inquire of God to discern the dream. Daniel didn’t try to manipulate the king into divulging his dream; he simply stated that he needed time to inquire of his God, because Daniel knew the God of Israel was the source of all true dreams.
How did he know this? In the Bible, God had repeatedly spoken through dreams to patriarchs and kings like Jacob, Laban, King Abimelech, Pharaoh of Egypt and King Solomon to guide or protect the children of Israel. Most famously, Daniel knew the story of Joseph, whose trajectory from shepherd boy to Grand Vizier of Egypt came from receiving and interpreting dreams. Joseph saved Israel from famine because he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. Now Daniel had to receive and interpret the king’s dream to save himself, his three friends and every wise man from being drawn and quartered.
Nebuchadnezzar granted Daniel’s request, and must have hoped he’d be spared from executing his rash decree. For if he had killed all his advisors, he would have appalled the remaining courtiers for enraging the gods and spurning wisdom over something ephemeral as a dream.
Everyone knew that, 85 years before, King Sennacherib of Assyria had been murdered for his rash decision to destroy Babylon after it rebelled; for the Assyrian court decided that Sennacherib had offended the gods in doing so. Nebuchadnezzar rashly painted himself into a corner. Now his advisors’ fate, and perhaps his own, was in the hands of a teenage boy with faith in the living God.
Reading from v. 17: Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Daniel and his friends did the only thing they could to spare their lives: plead with God to reveal the mystery of the king’s dream. They appealed to God’s mercy, which in this context is set diametrically opposed to the king’s wrath. Psalm 145 declares that “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger in great in lovingkindness. The LORD is good to all and His mercies are over all His works.” God used Nebuchadnezzar’s rash and ruthless judgment to contrast His great mercy and glorify Himself to all of Babylon.
Note also the repeated use of the word mystery in this passage, and elsewhere in the book of Daniel. A biblical mystery is something that God has concealed until the appropriate time. God used this mystery to declare something of momentous importance to all the kings and peoples of that region: It is God who controls the fate of all nations and sets up and brings down whoever He wills. The declaration of God’s sovereignty over human history is the central theme of Daniel.
We see the word mystery reappear in the New Testament, when Jesus declared the “mystery of the kingdom of God” to His disciples, and when Paul in Ephesians declared the mystery that Jews and Gentiles could be united as the people of God through Christ’s death.
Continuing in v. 24: Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
Notice that Daniel immediately sought to protect the wise men’s lives, extending mercy to them, just as God had extended mercy to him and his friends. God’s love and mercy are always other-centered; and love and mercy are distinctive of God’s people as well.
‘When Arioch, the king’s commander heard this, he rushed Daniel to the king and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”’ Notice the irony in Arioch’s statement: It was an exile from the recently vanquished kingdom of Judah who was the only one who could save Babylon’s wise men and the king’s reputation from death.
The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.
Daniel immediately deflected the king’s attention away from himself and on to the God of heaven who is able to reveal mysteries. Daniel asserted that God had given Nebuchadnezzar his dream to unfold before him centuries of future history – the rise and fall of four great empires: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Daniel told the king:
Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: 29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
The king’s dream involved a great statue made of five different elements from head to toe in descending order of value, but increasing order of strength among the four metals: gold, silver, bronze, iron, and yet finally weak in its feet from iron mixed with baked clay. The statue was struck on its feet of iron and clay by a stone cut without hands. This stone recalled the tablets of the Law cut out without human hands that were given by God to Moses. Symbolically, this stone represented divine justice, which ultimately triumphs over all unjust systems created by man.
This statue is symbolic of the idolatry of all earthly governments when they vaunt themselves to a place of self-importance. Ancient kingdoms were all idolatrously committed to self-preservation above justice, exalting power above righteousness and displaying wealth above generosity.
God revealed to Daniel that each succeeding empire would be both baser and stronger than the preceding one; and so it proved to be. Ancient Babylon later sacked Jerusalem and ended Judah’s kingdom; but unlike the other three, it learned to respect the God of Israel and thus protected the people of Israel in exile. Xerxes, the King of Persia, also tolerated the Jews, but nearly exterminated them under the influence of a wicked advisor, Haman the Agagite, a descendant of ancient enemies of Israel.
The Hellenistic Empire founded by Alexander the Great thrust Judea into the center of a protracted power struggle between the Ptolemy’s of Egypt and the Seleucids who ruled Asia Minor to the North. Around 165 BC, the wicked Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes sacked Jerusalem, and defiled the temple when they resisted his efforts to outlaw Jewish rites and impose Greek values on Judea.
And finally, Rome destroyed Jerusalem and its second temple, and scattered the Jews twice in just 70 years; and they renamed the region Palestine, in honor of the pagan Philistines. They were the most destructive of the empires to the Jewish people, symbolized by the metal iron, which Daniel said “will crush and break all the others.” But this kingdom would eventually become brittle and its people “will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” So the Roman Empire absorbed so many peoples that it was unable to create internal unity sufficient to oppose waves of heathen invaders from the north and east in the fourth and fifth centuries AD.
Ironically, Rome became the vehicle for the expansion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel ultimately transformed ancient Rome from a ruthless pagan empire into a Christian one before it was overthrown. Thus, the Christian faith became the stone cut from rock without human effort – that is, by Christ’s atonement alone. It struck the Roman Empire on its feet by winning converts among the common people and undermining its pretentious Caesar worship. And it grew to become a great mountain that pulverized paganism in the Empire and eventually all of Europe.
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
The result of this one dream, and Daniel’s interpretation, is that Nebuchadnezzar gained an immediate respect for the God of Israel; and he made Daniel his chief advisor and administrator over the province of Babylon. Daniel and his God gained great favor in Babylon’s court, because they saved them from certain death. Daniel was untouchable until a new Persian court was installed after Babylon’s fall.
Daniel then wisely had his three Hebrew friends appointed as chief administrators, which ensured that Daniel had key allies to administer the empire’s capital. The Jews were now effectively in charge of the most powerful city in the world; and the Jewish people were thus protected and able to prosper until their exile ended 70 years later.
What can we learn from this story that is applicable to our own lives? First, God is Sovereign over everyone and every nation on earth. No matter what happens, God is still on the throne of this world; and He will guide everything to accomplish His perfect will. From this we can truly believe Romans 8:28: “We know that God causes all things to work together for good; for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”
God’s kingdom will ultimately prevail over every empire and system devised by man, when Jesus Christ returns to the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the stone cut without hands, who will defeat Satan and establish justice and peace throughout the earth.
Second, God can act in unexpected ways to put us in danger, but also create enormous opportunities to display His glory and advance His kingdom. We should never doubt God’s goodness when we are confronted by adversity or loss. He will make it up to us in His own way and time, if not in this life, then in eternity – for God does everything with eternity in mind.
Our response should be just as the four Hebrews’ when faced with danger: go immediately to God in prayer and appeal to His mercy. God is totally aware of our circumstances and will meet our deepest needs exactly when we need it, but not a minute sooner. Prayer is our greatest weapon when facing circumstances beyond our control; but the time to cultivate a prayer life is before the crisis hits, not in the midst of it. Psalm 32:6 says, “Let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.”
Like Daniel, we should extend mercy and grace to others, even when they don’t deserve it, as God has done for us. Babylon’s astrologers and magicians were all idolaters steeped in pagan witchcraft. Daniel extended mercy to them anyway. So should we to the sinners who surround us.
Finally, when you walk wisely and humbly before ungodly authorities, as Daniel did, you will never be overcome by them. For “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Why? Because “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). We triumph because God’s love for us is steadfast and unfailing; and everlasting life in heaven is our guaranteed reward for trusting Him.
Let us pray.