4-26-14. Daniel 2:1-30. A PLEA FOR MERCY – my devotional

  Daniel 2:1-30                                          Kevin E. Jesmer                                           4-26-14

“and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon..” (18)

Dear Lord, heavenly Father, I thank you for the Art of Marriage seminar yesterday. Strengthen the marriages of the 5 couples. May marriages be strengthened across America and Canada. Lord, I want to recommit myself to daily bread writing. Help me to meditate on your word through writing. Bless this time in your word. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Part 1: Tell Me My Dream (1-13).

Verses 1-13, “In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.” (ESV)

When King Nebuchadnezzar had an unsettling dream, he made an unusual request of the wise men of his kingdom. Instead of telling them his dream so that they could interpret it, he asked them to tell him his dream as well as the interpretation. Then, when his servants complained that this request was unreasonable, he became furious and determined to execute all of the wise men in his kingdom. This included Daniel and his friends.

It shows that the king did not have any confidence in his wise men. They probably failed him before and he was “up to here” with the fraud they were perpetrating. The wise men of lesser gods can not stand up to the wise men of the God of the Bible. The wise men of Egypt could not stand up to Moses and here we see that the wise men of Babylon could not hold a candle to Daniel, the man of God.

I can also see the sovereignty of God at work here. He wanted to usher his servant, Daniel into the presence of the king of Babylon. He wanted to reveal himself the king, through Daniel. God’s plan was unfolding, but as it unfolded, it put Daniel and his friends in danger. They may have become fearful at what was happening. But they should not have become fearful, because God Almighty was working out his good and perfect will. They needed to simply trust God.

How often do we get fearful about what “might” happen. There could be a financial crunch. There could be deadline crunch. There could be It seems like things are beginning to implode and then God comes through. Who has experienced that before? Most believers can testify to this. We just need to trust the Lord. I need trust God as the mission to the North moves ahead. How do we navigate the future waters? How do we keep the church engaged? What is our next step to getting permanent missionaries up to remote communities? How do we not loose momentum? Will the flame fizzle out? There are all kinds of possibilities that may cause one to fret. But we don’t fret because we trust in God. He has led us up to this point he will lead us through. He brought us up to it. He will see us through it. Our God is the sovereign Lord.

Part 2.  He Urged Them To Plead For Mercy (14-30).

Verses 14-30, “14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, andAzariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons;  he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” 24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.”

What did Daniel do? Did he plead with the king to be reasonable? No, Daniel encouraged his friends to plead with the Lord for mercy. In this way he honored the Lord as the ruler of all. When God answered his plea and revealed the dream to Daniel, he praised the Lord. He is the King of kings, and all wisdom and power belong to him forever. So Daniel could approach Nebuchadnezzar, not with a complaint, and not with a plea to be reasonable, but with a testimony of God in heaven who rules all things with mercy.

Daniel was a true spiritual leader. He asked his team members to pray. He was not into doing things all by himself. He wanted support from others in prayer. This is very important. No matter how skilled a person may be as a Bible teacher, for example, he/she can do nothing without prayer support. “Please pray for me” should be one all of our lips, soliciting prayer from other believers.

When Daniel was revealed the king’s dream he praised the Lord and from his praise we can learn many things about God. Let’s review Daniel’s praise. “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons;  he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” God has power and might. He is the sovereign Lord who controls nature and human politics. He grants wisdom and insight to those whom is pleased to grant it. This is our God.

God was able to speak into the heart of Daniel because Daniel was so humble. Look at verses 27 & 28a, “27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.”  And also in verse 30, “30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.”  He did not claim any praise for his own effort, for Daniel was convinced that what was about to happen was not from his own ability. It was a gift from God. Daniel was giving all glory and honor to the Lord, deferring it from himself. This is true humility. It is not easy to remain humble. Daniel was in the spotlight. He was now considered the greatest wise man. It could have all went to his head  thinking that it was because of some special quality that he was born with that he got in this position. But no. He did not fall into that trap. He told the king it was God who was granting the wisdom.

I am in need of wisdom and insight in being able to stand as church liaison for the mission to the North. I need God’s insight on how to be a spiritual leader in my family. I need wisdom on how to promote Network of Nations missions. I need wisdom on how to grow spiritually and also to be a nurse….etc. Where does this wisdom come from? It can not come from me, for I lack such wisdom. The wisdom must come from the Lord. Jesus is the light of the world. In Christ, we will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life. He will guide our feet on the path of righteousness.

God wanted the king to know the thoughts of his own mind. Look at verse 30b again. “…that you may know the thoughts of your mind.”  Shouldn’t the king know the thoughts of his own mind? Didn’t he have the ability to properly interpret his own thoughts? He is a king of a world empire? This shows the limitations of human beings. We have many thoughts. Many have great degrees and lots of human experience. But they cannot interpret the thoughts of their minds. That is the problem of all people. The only way to properly interpret our thoughts is to stand before the absolute standard of the word of God. By looking intently at Jesus, we can begin to properly interpret the thoughts that our racing in our hearts and our minds. With Jesus we are like sheep who have gone astray. Each of us has take to his/ her own way. We need Jesus, to even know ourselves and to interpret what we are thinking. Jesus is more than willing to shed his light on our minds and hearts.

“Lord, I am nothing. You are everything. I don’t even know how to interpret my own thoughts. I need you Lord. Shed your light in my heart. Grant me wisdom to follow you.”

One Word: God reveals his truth to humble believers.