By Dennis Edwards --
In the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament we find Daniel and his friends living in Babylonian captivity during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Since they were sons of noblemen they had been chosen to be trained in the sciences of the Babylonians. However, when they go to the Babylonian school for training they are presented with foods which they are not used to eating, foods that were forbidden in the laws of Moses. They decide to keep to their convictions and refuse to eat the Babylonian foods preferring the basically vegetarian diet of their culture. As a result, God blesses them. In the end, they pass their exams in the Babylonian sciences so well that the Bible says,
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.[1]
In the Psalms we read these promises:
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.[2]
Those that meditate on God’s word and follow His precepts are accorded wisdom from on high.
In the process of time, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has a troublesome dream which he cannot remember. He calls for all the wise men in Babylon to divine the dream for him and its interpretation. The wise men protest saying the king could not ask such a thing as it was impossible for them to know the king’s dream, if he himself could not remember it. But the king insists and says, “Tell me the dream and the interpretation of it or you will all be slain.”
It is at this point that Daniel tells the captain of the guard to give him time and he will find out the dream and its meaning. Daniel and his friends get down in desperate prayer and pray that God in his mercies will reveal the dream unto them. Daniel in a vision in the night sees the King’s dream and learns the interpretation of it. And Daniel thanks God:
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.[3]
Afterwards when Daniel is before the King, the King asks him if he is able to make known to him his dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel responds:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;[4] But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.[5]
Daniel goes on to explain the dream and its interpretation. The king bows down before him and worships him and says,
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.[6]
Daniel is made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. His friends are also given positions of authority in the province of Babylon, but Daniel served as the king’s counselor. It was Daniel relationship with God; it was his desperation and ability to hear from God, which enabled him to be able to interpret the king’s dream, a prophecy about the future of the world.
I put this section about Daniel in to reiterate the point that God is a revealer of the future. In fact, the Book of Daniel is one of the most important prophecy books in the Bible. A little book with only twelve chapters, it has nearly eight whole chapters given to prophecy and two other chapters given to prayer. One prophecy that Daniel received predicted the year of the Messiah’s death.
Footnotes:
[1] Daniel 1:20
[2] Psalm 119:98-100
[3] Daniel 2:20-23
[4] Daniel 2:27-28
[5] Daniel 2:30
[6] Daniel 2:47
In the Psalms we read these promises:
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.[2]
Those that meditate on God’s word and follow His precepts are accorded wisdom from on high.
In the process of time, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has a troublesome dream which he cannot remember. He calls for all the wise men in Babylon to divine the dream for him and its interpretation. The wise men protest saying the king could not ask such a thing as it was impossible for them to know the king’s dream, if he himself could not remember it. But the king insists and says, “Tell me the dream and the interpretation of it or you will all be slain.”
It is at this point that Daniel tells the captain of the guard to give him time and he will find out the dream and its meaning. Daniel and his friends get down in desperate prayer and pray that God in his mercies will reveal the dream unto them. Daniel in a vision in the night sees the King’s dream and learns the interpretation of it. And Daniel thanks God:
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.[3]
Afterwards when Daniel is before the King, the King asks him if he is able to make known to him his dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel responds:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;[4] But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.[5]
Daniel goes on to explain the dream and its interpretation. The king bows down before him and worships him and says,
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.[6]
Daniel is made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. His friends are also given positions of authority in the province of Babylon, but Daniel served as the king’s counselor. It was Daniel relationship with God; it was his desperation and ability to hear from God, which enabled him to be able to interpret the king’s dream, a prophecy about the future of the world.
I put this section about Daniel in to reiterate the point that God is a revealer of the future. In fact, the Book of Daniel is one of the most important prophecy books in the Bible. A little book with only twelve chapters, it has nearly eight whole chapters given to prophecy and two other chapters given to prayer. One prophecy that Daniel received predicted the year of the Messiah’s death.
Footnotes:
[1] Daniel 1:20
[2] Psalm 119:98-100
[3] Daniel 2:20-23
[4] Daniel 2:27-28
[5] Daniel 2:30
[6] Daniel 2:47
copyright@DennisE.Molinski
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