The chapter begins with king Nebuchadnezzar having dreams which troubled him greatly. He summoned all his wise men which included magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to tell him what his dream was and then interpret the meaning of the dream. All the wise men requested the king to tell them his dream and they would then interpret it; however, the king insisted that they were to tell him what his dream was to prove that they were genuinely able to give him the correct interpretation of the dream. Of course, the wise men explained that no one could carry out such a request and ironically, they exclaimed “No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among human beings”. They obviously were not aware that there was and is the true God who could meet the request of the king.
The king was so angry and furious with their response, and he ordered all the wise men to be executed; Daniel and his friends were thus implicated as they were among the ‘wise men’ in the court of the king revealed in the earlier chapter. Daniel, in wisdom and tact, requested for time from the king to meet his request; he was given that permission and Daniel ‘recruited’ his friends to pray and to ask God for mercy so that they might not be executed with the rest of the wise men.
God revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel and his friends; Daniel was then brought before the king and he was able to tell the king what the dream was and its interpretation. The chapter ended with the king acknowledging the God of Daniel as the God of gods and he promoted Daniel. At Daniel’s request, his three friends were also promoted in the kingdom.
Before we look at the dream and its interpretation, let us consider what we can learn from the response of Daniel and his friends. We are aware that they were among those in the first deportation to Babylon when king Jehoiakim became a vassal of king Nebuchadnezzar. They had to leave home, the temple in Jerusalem and learn a new language, a new culture in a hostile foreign environment. And apparently, things were getting a bit better when they had to face another crisis – this time their lives were in danger and execution was impending. Daniel turned to God for mercy and, in prayer, requested God for the revelation of the dream and its interpretation. Before that, he acted wisely and with tact, and requested time from the king through the king’s officer. Facing a crisis, Daniel continued to trust God and sought the like-minded friends to pray together to God. When God answered their prayers and revealed the mystery of the dream, Daniel’s response was one of praise and thanksgivings with affirmation of God’s omnipotence, wisdom and sovereignty. It is a wonderful reminder of how we should face crisis and stressful circumstances in our lives and how we should always be grateful and thankful when God shows His mercy and grace towards us. Perhaps, Daniel was calmly aware that a crisis can provide an opportunity to trust God and to see God working in the situation; it was also an opportunity to respond in a way that would glorify and honour God. Is this how we look at and respond in a crisis in our lives? Whether it be a dangerous situation, a time of persecution, an illness, whatever God allows in our lives, we need to look to Him and to affirm our confidence in Him as the perfect, good and wise God. Also, in dependence on Him through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we can look at it as an opportunity or a test to refine our Christians character; during the terrible plague years ago, when the dying were abandoned by their own families, the believers stayed back and nursed the sick and dying. Some of them also succumbed to the disease but their powerful testimony and their love for strangers caused a great turning to God and the gospel.
Daniel shared some similarities with Joseph; both were able to interpret dreams and both were careful to give the credit to God almighty and not claim the credit for themselves. In that way, they truly gave God the honour and caused even unbelievers, including foreign kings like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge the true God in some ways. It is pertinent not to claim the glory which belongs to God alone, even in our Christian ministry.
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue and its interpretation revealed that beginning with the kingdom of Babylon, kingdom after kingdom would arise and fall, but finally the kingdom of God, seen as the rock cut out of the mountain, would ‘destroy’ all the other kingdoms and remain and endure for ever. God was revealing the history of the world, culminating with the establishment of His kingdom which will last after all the other kingdoms were ‘crushed’ by God’s kingdom. Although it was revealed through a dream to king Nebuchadnezzar, the reality was to be revealed to God’s people through the interpretation of Daniel. It shows that God is the Creator of all things, including mankind and the nations, and as sovereign over them, He will someday overcome their rebellion and fallenness and bring them under His gracious dominion. It is God who will be exalted and glorified and all the nations and kingdoms will be judged and reclaimed as His worshiping subjects.
Daniel was just one of God’s people, in a certain period of time, at a certain juncture in the outworking of God’s eternal plan and although Daniel might not fully comprehend all that God was doing, he could rest assured that he could trust God unconditionally to sovereignly undertake all situations in his life. For us today, the kingdom of God has come with the first coming of the Lord Jesus and this kingdom would be fully established after His second coming. In the meantime, we can go through all situations and crisis with the full assurance that God is in control and if we respond faithfully, we can experience His peace and even His joy in the midst of challenges in our lives. We can maintain an eternal perspective and cling to our hope (a certain one that is exercised with faith in the sure future) with confidence and steadfastness.