Episode 155: Daniel 2:1-23 God the Giver of All Things

We began to explore the part of Daniel where the king has a dream and ask the wise men of Babylon to tell him the dream and the interpretation of it. The kings advisors object to this and ask for Nebuchadnezzar to tell them the dream and they would give the interpretation. This angers Nebuchadnezzar who demands they tell him the dream as well as the interpretation because he believes they are frauds. They again object and tell him to know the dream is in the realm of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar is enraged and orders his executioner to kill all the wise men of Babylon. It appears on hearing this the wise men scatter. The executioner goes to the school where Daniel and the other new wise men in training are being taught. They apparently did not know what had transpired so Daniel asks what’s going on to bring on their death. The executioner tells him and Daniel asks if he could interpret the kings dream for him. The executioner takes Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar and he arranges for some time to seek God for the answers to the kings request. This stays the execution of all the wise men. God visits Daniel with the answer. This leads Daniel into four verses filled with praise. Daniel does this before he even goes to the king because he is certain of God’s provision of the answer. Daniel’s praise highlights how God is the source of wisdom and strength. God is the one establishes kings and removes them. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness. He knows all things and has made known to Daniel this matter of the kings. What we see in the beginning of this story is how Daniel is faced with a life threatening situation. His response is to turn to God depend on God and direct others to the source of wisdom and might.