Daniel 2

The question we are asking in Daniel was, “How did God use Daniel to reach Nebuchadnezzar for Christ?”

This morning we will look at the setting, the spiritual preparation and the soul searching that takes place as a result in Nebuchadnezzar’s life.

The setting for your life might be different, but you will be able to draw some parallels to your own life.  The spiritual preparation is important.  The soul searching does take place in people with whom you interact, sometimes it comes out and at other times it works inside on their heart.

The setting is given in Daniel 2.

Nebuchadnezzar has a dream.  He wakes up and is troubled by the dream.  It may be that he doesn’t remember all of it, but he remembers enough to be troubled.

He calls his best advisors and asks them to do two thing for him: 1) to tell him the dream and 2) to interpret the dream for him.

He warns them that if they do not tell him the dream, they will die and their houses will be destroyed.  Can you imagine the conversation at home that night?  Honey… you will never guess what a bad day I have had!

              The advisors come back and say, “Tell us the dream and we will interpret it.”

              Nebuchadnezzar says, “You are stalling for time.  You guys are fake.  Tell me the dream or die.”

The advisors say, “Impossible.”  I want to quote them here because the text is interesting.

“10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No-one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”” Daniel 2:10, 11, NIV.

This makes Nebuchadnezzar very angry.  He orders the men to be killed.

For some reason, Daniel was not called in for this meeting.  Remember Arioch.  He is the executioner.  He is the commander of the king’s guard.

He comes to take Daniel into custody.  But Daniel asks him why and what happened.  Daniel, with God’s help, convinces Arioch to take him in to see Nebuchadnezzar.

What does Daniel ask for?  He asks for time.  The delaying tactics of the advisors was what has caused their death sentence. 

But Daniel is not tricky.  He comes right out.  He does not trick Nebuchadnezzar into delay.  He asks for time to help him with the dream.

Nebuchadnezzar gives him time.

So what does Daniel do with the time?  He uses it for spiritual preparation.  Now we understand the setting, most of us would get by ourselves or seek a way out of the city.

But Daniel calls for a prayer meeting. 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.

Many people are facing difficult situations.  But they are trying to deal with them on their own.  When we do so, we miss out on the support of friends.  When we do so, we are apt to lose focus on God.  When we do so, we may get very discouraged.

I wonder how many of you have prayed with anyone else this week?  I wonder how many of you have submitted a prayer request to someone else so they could pray for you?  We miss out because we do take advantage of the spiritual blessings that come by contact with the body of Christ.  It is a sin.  The Bible says that we are to pray for one another, that we are to encourage one another daily.  To be independent is a sin.

God answered Daniel’s prayer.  He told him both the dream and the interpretation of the dream.  What a moment that must have been for Daniel.

So what does he do next?  He stops and thanks God for the answer.

In this crisis, Daniel is under control.  He is not wildly running around, seeking to find answers, and when he finds them, running to put them into place.  There is a tempo to his life.  God is first, so he takes time to thank God in prayer.  It’s not a long prayer, but it is a real prayer. 

“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 sets up kings and deposes them. 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, O God of my fathers: 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 2:19-23, NIV.

We cannot underestimate the power of spiritual preparation.  It is Daniel’s recognition of God’s involvement that will eventually cause Nebuchadnezzar to do his soul searching.  But more on that later.

Daniel now goes to Arioch and asks that he be allowed back into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.  Nebuchadnezzar asks him if he can deliver the goods:  both tell him the dream and interpret it.  Notice Daniel’s answer.

“27 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. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these: 29 “As you were lying there, O king, 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 other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.” Daniel 2:27-30, NIV.

Notice that Daniel gives God credit.  What an effective way to witness by telling people the truth.  That is our witnessing tip for the day from Daniel.  Tell people the truth.

If God has done something for you, tell people the truth:  God did it.  We often hide God’s part or we take credit.  When we do, we lie. 

If we prayed and God answered prayer, if we ask for wisdom as Daniel did, and we received it, we lie when we live and act as though we are the smart ones.  Tell the truth.

Now I thought Daniel missed an opportunity here. 

30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.”

Why didn’t Daniel say, “So you would believe in God?”  One answer is that that wasn’t the reason.  God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know the dream and he wanted Daniel to be the one to tell it.

You see, there are some difficult things to walk up to a king and say.  Tell him his kingdom won’t last and you could die.  But give him a dream and then have some young man come and tell him the dream makes him more receptive to the message.  God has multiple purposes in giving this dream and interpretation to Daniel.

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar the dream and gives the interpretation.  You can read this on your own, as I am not interested in this message in getting into the prophetic part of this.

Go down to verse 46.  Here, we have seen the setting and the spiritual preparation.  Now notice the soul searching that is going on in King Nebuchadnezzar’s mind.

“46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour 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.”

The Babylonians believed in many gods.  They did not believe that there was only one God. 

So Nebuchadnezzar makes a significant move in placing Daniel’s God before all the other gods, the ones the advisors had said don’t live among men and therefore could not help with the dream.

This situation has him thinking.  Daniel threw out seed and this seed is not returning void.  Nebuchadnezzar, the one who took the holy things from the temple to show the dominance of his gods over the God of Israel is not having serious second thoughts.

And Daniel is rewarded for being faithful to God.  If Daniel had been unfaithful, he would have been dead.  But Daniel not only lives, but flourishes because of what God has done.

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. 49 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.” Daniel 2:46-49, NIV.

Solomon tells us that “when a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with Him.”

Telling the truth, being transparent, will not always bring success on this earth.  But in many cases, Christians who have high integrity, who live their faith, who speak the truth, gain respect of others.

I want to challenge you to be a truth teller.  If God has anything to do with your situation, if Jesus has anything to do with your decisions,  if the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do something,  be truthful and give them credit.

In so doing, you plant the seeds of understanding in the lives of other who don’t know Christ or don’t understand his will for them.