Diving into Daniel: A Revelation from God
Daniel 2:14-24; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 - Faith is being able to praise God because of the promise and before we even have the answer in hand!
“Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.
Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter, so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; Daniel said,
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.””
Daniel 2:14-24 NASB1995
First, I want to sincerely thank you, the wonderful folks who have subscribed to our devotional Substack. We are not graduates of seminary or have any formal Biblical training; we can really be described as ignorant and humble amateurs who journeyed away from faith but were saved by Him and came back. We are seeking to understand the Word of God, beyond just reading it or hearing it. We are both engineers by training and have a deep curiosity about how things work and that now includes how God works. We started these devotionals over three years ago (March 4, 2022). I gravitated into blocks of scripture on various subjects, then started doing full books. Steve does marvelous (and usually very timely) subjects on random verses. It is as much for our learning as for anything that you might glean from our ramblings. Blessings to you all and thanks for staying with us!
Now back to Daniel. The king has ordered that all of his “wise men” be hunted down and slain because the Chaldeans who came before him were unable to fulfill the king’s request to access his dream and interpret it. Daniel hears of this from Arioch, the captain of the King’s bodyguard. Daniel was probably about to be given the axe, so to speak, when he spoke to Arioch with discretion and discernment. So what do these two words mean, in the ancient text? Let’s consult the Blue Letter Bible:
Discretion comes from the Aramaic feminine noun עֵטָא or ʻêṭâʼ (ay-taw) meaning prudence or counsel. Discernment comes from the Aramaic masculine noun טְעֵם or ṭᵉʻêm (teh-ame) meaning taste or judgment.
Daniel uses good judgment and prudence in his response to Arioch. He asks this commander why the decree is so urgent. Arioch answers his question and doesn’t follow through on his assigned task, so Daniel then boldly goes marching into the king’s quarters and asks for more time so that he can declare an interpretation of the dream that would come from the one true God. Nebuchadnezzar had just erupted in a furious rage at his soothsayers and we don’t know how this conversation went, but Daniel was apparently very persuasive. He is not executed and the king listens to him and grants him the time!
Daniel goes back to his house and informs his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter. They offer up prayers asking for compassion from God about the mystery, so that they will not be destroyed like the other wise men. God responded, of course, being the God of mercy and Daniel is granted the answer to the mystery in a night vision.
So what does Daniel do? Does he immediately run off to the king to tell him what was revealed? No! He prays a beautiful blessing prayer to God! Let’s take this prayer and break it down a little bit:
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.
I like this J.C Ryle observation quoted in Precept Austin:
"By the "name of God" we mean all those attributes through which He is revealed to us—His power, wisdom, holiness, justice, mercy and truth. By asking that they may be “hallowed,” we mean that they may be made known and glorified. The glory of God is the first thing that God’s children should desire. It is the object of one of our Lord’s own prayers: “Father, glorify (aorist imperative) Your Name!” (John 12:28). It is the purpose for which the world was created; it is the end for which the saints are called and convened: it is the chief thing we should seek—“that in all things God may be praised (glorified through Jesus Christ)”
It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.
Charles Spurgeon has marvelous commentary about this sovereignty of God on His throne, quoted in Precept Austin:
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth. And we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust. (Divine Sovereignty )
It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 helps us with this revelation:
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NASB1995
To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Enduring Word has good commentary on this final part of the prayer:
c. You have given… You have made known to us: Daniel had the certainty of faith to believe that God gave him the answer, even before confirming it before Nebuchadnezzar.
i. Our level of faith is often indicated by how long it takes us to start praising God. If we won’t praise Him until the answer is in hand, then we don’t have much faith. Greater faith is able to praise God when the promise is given and received.
Daniel boldly goes to Arioch and asks him not to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He declares that he has the revelation of the dream and wants to see the king. Daniel wants mercy even for these non-believers! There’s an interesting possible connection here between these pagan wise men (sometimes called “magi”) and a later appearance of certain magi in the Gospel of Matthew. John MacArthur is quoted in Precept Austin about this connection:
We learn from the book of Daniel that the magi were among the highest-ranking officials in Babylon. Because the Lord gave Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream-which none of the other court seers was able to do-Daniel was appointed as “ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon” (Da 2:48). Because of his great wisdom and because he had successfully pleaded for the lives of the wise men who had failed to interpret the king’s dream (Da 2:24), Daniel came to be highly regarded among the magi. The plot against Daniel that caused him to be thrown into the lions’ den was fomented by the jealous satraps and the other commissioners, not the magi (Da 6:4-9). Because of Daniel’s high position and great respect among them, it seems certain that the magi learned much from that prophet about the one true God, the God of Israel, and about His will and plans for His people through the coming glorious King. Because many Jews remained in Babylon after the Exile and intermarried with the people of the east, it is likely that Jewish messianic influence remained strong in that region even until New Testament times… The magi from the east (Mt 2:1 - the word literally means “from the rising” of the sun, and refers to the orient) who came to see Jesus were of a completely different sort. Not only were they true magi, but they surely had been strongly influenced by Judaism, quite possibly even by some of the prophetic writings, especially those of Daniel. They appear to be among the many God-fearing Gentiles who lived at the time of Christ, a number of whom (e.g., Cornelius and Lydia - Acts 10:1, 2; 16:14) are mentioned in the New Testament… Though having had limited spiritual light, they (the magi from the East) immediately recognized God’s light when it shone on them. They had genuinely seeking hearts, hearts that the Lord promises will never fail to find Him(Je 29:13). (MacArthur, J: Matthew 1-7 Chicago: Moody Press) (Bolding added by Precept Austin)
It’s all in His sovereign plan, isn’t it?
My next devotional examines Daniel 2:25-35 - Daniel describes the King’s dream (interpretation begins in verse 36).
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Help me to pray blessing on You like Daniel: To understand Your Wisdom and the Power of Your Name, to bow before Your sovereignty over this universe, to have the profound and hidden things be revealed by You, and to praise You for Your promises at all times. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 3/23/2025 to review the lexicon for discernment and discretion.
Precept Austin was accessed on 3/23/2025 to review commentary for Daniel 2:14-24.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.