14When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
Daniel’s immediate response to the critical danger that threatened him and his three companions was to ask Arioch, the king’s officer, the reason for the death sentence. He spoke with wisdom and tact, and the king’s officer explained the reason for the royal decree.
Daniel’s response was truly noteworthy. In the first place, he was aware that God had blessed his training up to now. Furthermore, he was convinced that God had another reason for bringing him and his three friends to Babylon besides just to have them executed. But how could he reverse the awful fate that the king’s executioner had just announced?
Since nobody approached an ancient king without first being invited, Daniel’s next step was to ask for an audience with the king. Because Nebuchadnezzar was still troubled by the dream and wanted it interpreted, he granted the request, and Daniel was ushered in before the most powerful king in the world.
Instead of being overawed, Daniel calmly asked the king to grant him time, so that he might bring the king the information he wanted. Daniel’s request was granted, and the death sentence was postponed.
It may at first seem strange that the king, who had previously accused his own Babylonian wise men of stalling for time, would grant the request of this Jewish teenager. But we learned in the previous chapter that the king had been favorably impressed with the four young Jewish men. And we dare not forget that God had a hand in changing the king’s mind. It might also be noted that unlike the Babylonian wise men, who had told the king they could not interpret his dream unless he told them what it was, Daniel asked only for time to interpret the dream and bring the king its meaning.
Making this request of the king required courage on the part of Daniel, and the Lord supplied that. Promising to interpret the king’s dream required faith, and the Lord supplied that too. At the moment, Daniel had absolutely no idea what the king had dreamed, let alone what the dream meant. Yet Daniel was aware that the God of Israel had blessed his training up to now, equipping him to “understand visions and dreams of all kinds” (1:17). He was confident now that the same God who had so far guided and blessed him in his new homeland would stand by him in this hour of mortal danger. Daniel’s confidence rested not in his own ability, but in the God who had placed him in this situation. His confidence was not misplaced.
17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He 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. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
22He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
23I 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 left his audience with the king, returned home to his friends, and told them what had happened. Then he urged them to pray to the God of heaven for information about the king’s dream, which was still a mystery to them. Human wisdom was of no help in this crisis. All the wise men of the greatest kingdom on earth were helpless in this situation. If help was to be found, it would have to come from another world. It would have to come from the true God, not from the false and useless gods of Babylon.
Note Daniel’s words carefully: “He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven.” Daniel realized that God did not owe them the information they sought. If God did choose to reveal the information they wanted (and needed, in order to stay alive), it would be not because they deserved it, but only because of his great love. And so the four young men prayed earnestly. And they prayed confidently. The Babylonian wise men had despaired of getting help from their gods, but the four young men worshiped a God who had revealed himself to sinful mankind as a merciful God.
God apparently did not answer the prayer of his loyal sons immediately, but he did answer it. His answer took the form of a vision. “During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.” God miraculously revealed to Daniel the dream that had troubled the king.
Daniel was so grateful for this revelation that he burst out in a hymn of praise, a hymn resembling one of the Old Testament psalms. “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever.” God’s name is not only the title he gives himself, the words we use when we address him. God’s name is his reputation; it’s everything he does and says to let us know who he is and what his loving plans are for us. The young men had pleaded for mercy from the Lord, and in sheer, all-out goodness he heard the prayers of his servants in Babylon. Here is the first note of Daniel’s song of praise: “Lord, you have shown mercy to us!”
Daniel praised the Lord also for revealing the truth about the king’s dream. “I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: . . . you have made known to me what we asked of you.” Already in his prayer, Daniel gives an indication of what the Lord had revealed about the king’s dream. He hints that the dream had to do with the succession of kings and kingdoms. Daniel praised God, who “changes times and seasons,” who “sets up kings and deposes them.” It is the God of heaven who determines the sequence of human events. The history of empires is not a matter of accident. Neither is their history determined by the stars, as Babylon’s astrologers claimed (and as many in our day believe), but it is determined by God. “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.”
Here is the very heart of Daniel’s hymn of praise. There are some things that are hidden to the mind of man, things that only God can reveal. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was only one of many mysteries that neither the Babylonian wise men nor Daniel could ever have found out by themselves, mysteries that only God could reveal. The big truths about the sinner’s relationship to God are likewise mysteries to sinful man. Saint Paul emphasized this fact in his first letter to the Corinthians: “No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (2:11).
Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving shows how happy he was that God didn’t keep him in the dark. Surely here is something for us to be happy about too. The God whom we love and serve is not a God who likes to withhold information from us. Through the miracle of revelation God has pulled back the veil and uncovered many of his sacred secrets. He has shown us truths we otherwise would not have known—truths about who we are, and who God is, and what his loving plan for us is, and what we have done to ruin that plan, and what he has done to restore it.
Here is the essential difference between Christianity and all other religions. Christianity is revealed religion; we have the truths of Christianity only because of a special miracle of God. All other religions are natural religion; they originated in the mind of sinful man.