Ladies Bible Study
The Book of Daniel Chapter 2 Part 1
Relevance for Today
This will be the second lesson in our series in the Book of Daniel.
Let’s quickly review from last month.
We learned who Daniel was and how he came to be in captivity in the Babylon Empire.
We discovered that Daniel was a man of resolution revelation and reverence. And that the Book of Daniel is historical, spiritual and prophetic.
Daniel and his companions were young men without blemish, taken into captivity to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. One thing I learned is the according to my Nelson Study Bible all four of these young men were related to Zedekiah’s royal family. As you remember from last week, Zedekiah was one of the sons of Josiah, the last righteous king of Judeah. He was captured by Nebuchadnezzar while trying to escape to Egypt, along with friends, family, and servants. He was forced to watch his entire entourage be savagely murdered and then they put out his eyes. I repeat this so that we can remember how vicious and cruel Nebuchadnezzar was.
Daniel and His friends were given Babylonian names that reflected the god’s the Babylonians worshipped, in an effort to transform them into Babylonians. Other ways of accomplishing this was through education, diet and dress.
Daniel and His friends stood firm in their belief, revealing him as a man of resolution, not to partake of worldly things. This faithfulness was rewarded by God and Daniel and His friends were put in places of authority in the court. Obedience always brings about favor with God.
This is a long chapter, and I am going to divide it into 2 lessons.
Let’s now start with today’s lesson.
Daniel 2:1-3 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. 2. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3. And the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.''
At this time, Nebuchadnezzar had become a world leader. Conquering many nations and enslaving them. Probably he was concerned about the future course of his rule and empire.
At any rate, God gave him a vision, through a dream and it was so compelling that it woke Nebuchadnezzar in the middle of the night, and he lost sleep over the meaning.
The content of verse 3 leads us to think once he woke up, he could not remember the dream.
Daniel 2:4-13: Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.'' 5. But the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. 6. "However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.''
Some scholars believe that Nebuchadnezzar could remember the dream but wanted these men to tell him of the dream and its interpretation so that he knew it was a true interpretation.
Vs 7. They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.'' 8. The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: 9. "if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.'' 10. 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 requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
Nebuchadnezzar calls for all the wise men in the land, the sorcerers, magicians and astrologers to interpret the dream. You see, Nebuchadnezzar was not Hebrew, not God’s people, He was unsaved, as idol worshipper, a Gentile. He knew the dream meant something, but by himself was unable to determine what it meant. At this point in Chapter 2, the language in the book switches to Aramaic from Hebrew. This was done because what occurs from this point on is for the Gentile world to know, therefore it was written in a language all could understand. This dream tells the world what will occur, it tells of upcoming Gentile rule, therefore God gave the dream to a Gentile, in a form he would recognize as an idol worshipper.
Many scholars believe that Nebuchadnezzar was mentally unstable as exhibited by his volatile outbursts and outrageous demands. I think this may be true, but I also believe in the adage “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” If you are in power or in a position of leadership and are not a man or women of God, if you lean on your own understanding and do not acknowledge Him, then you will succumb to the temptation of the enemy, and become an ungodly ruler. Amen? Amen.
I believe this was the situation with Nebuchadnezzar, He was truly an ungodly man and it showed in His rages and demands and mental instability. More later
So, what we see here, is the King demanding the wise men to tell him the dream and its interpretation and conversely the wise men asking the King to tell them the dream and they will tell Him the interpretation. Why this jumble occurs is not clear. Many scholars speculate it was because Nebuchadnezzar did not really trust his “wise men”. When you deal in evil, are led by evil, eventually the “truth” you spout will be revealed as lies. The reason his “wise men” could not interpretate the dream was because The Almighty God had given it to him, not one of the heathen gods. Darkness cannot interpret things of light. A person who only understands darkness generated by false dead gods cannot interpret living images given by God. Amen?
You see a man desperate for the truth asking men who are totally incapable of revealing anything truthful for the answers! What a mess!
At one point the wise men say to the King, “what you ask is too hard. No one can know the dream except the gods, and they do not dwell among us.” This one time, they spoke a partial truth, Only God, the Lord of Host, the King of King, the Creator of all things could know the answer, yet they did not know Him, to ask Him.
Stop a moment and thank God that you do know the Lord, that he is the revealer of mysteries to us. That we too can walk in revelation knowledge. All we have to do is ask and it will be granted to us. (See Ephesians 1: 17-18 and James 1:5)
Vs 12-18: For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 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; 15. 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. 16. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. 17. 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.
At this point Daniel becomes involved. The King in a rage has ordered all wise men to be slaughtered.
Proverbs 16:14: 14. As messengers of death is the king's wrath, but a wise man will appease it.
Notice the wording of verse 18, “with counsel and wisdom” Daniel asks what is going on?
Other translations say with prudence or with discretion and discernment, Daniel wisely asks the head of the King’s executioners what is going on? You get the impression that Daniel and his companions were not present in the court when all this occurred, but He probably did know and used this as opportunity to “let calmer heads prevail”
Proverbs 1:5: 5. A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
No matter what the situation we find ourselves in, it should always give glory to God. One way to accomplish this is to walk in discretion and discernment or prudence.
Webster’s defines prudent as: handling practical matters judiciously, managing carefully, behaving circumspectly, discreet. I would not describe the situation as practical, but we do see Daniel behaving judiciously, carefully and discreetly. He had to be careful how he approached the head executioner and how he asked for time to pray and seek God.
Seeking God should always be your first recourse. No matter what the situation, seek Him and His wisdom first, seek His guidance and then proceed in the path God has chosen. Don’t seek Him, evaluate His response and then decided if you want to follow God’s advice. It is not advice, it is direction and it will never fail! Amen!
Let’s look at verses 17 and 18 again.
- Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18. 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.
Daniel immediately knew he had to seek God and He went to his three companions for added intercession and agreement.
Matthew 18:19-20: "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.''
This is an example of unified absolute faith. These four young men, knew their God, trusted in Him absolutely and believed in His mercy. The verse does not say they hoped to seek the mercy or that were waiting to receive the mercy, no they sought the mercy expecting to receive the answer so that they would not be killed. They needed as answer and went to the only source available for that answer! Amen!
I want to stop here, next week we will look at God’s answer.