Daniel 2: Faith Under Pressure & the God of the Impossible

Bible Study Series: Daniel, Babylon and the End Times

Daniel Chapter 2 Lesson: Faith Under Pressure & the God of the Impossible 

by I Gordon

Daniel chapter 2 presents us with a very interesting little passage. As we shall soon see, Daniel, through no fault of his own, will find himself in a seemingly impossible situation with a death sentence hanging over his head. And that death sentence extends to his three friends as well. So how did it get to this? Well they robbed the Babylonian bank and got caught in the getaway... Ok, that didn't happen. Well, not that I know of. No, the death sentence actually involves God, a vivid dream, a terrible night's sleep, and a cranky stressed-out king... in that order. In fact, everyone in this chapter will find themselves under some pretty intense pressure, where their extremity will be God's opportunity! So this is what we are going to look at in this Bible study lesson:

• We'll look at why God gave the king a bad night's sleep, and why He has done this to many others!
• We'll examine cases where God has allowed situations for His people to be out of control, and why He does this
• We'll see what we do when coming under pressure - and what we should do! 
• We'll look at what God can do when we have Him in the right place in our lives, for He is sovereign and oversees all things!
• And we'll close by exploring what God was and is teaching all involved in this chapter - King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, the so-called wise-men... and you!

A God-given bad night's sleep...

Dan 2:1-4 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, 'I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.' Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, 'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.'

Have you ever had a dream so vivid and real that you wake up startled, sweating, or with a pounding heart? Well King Nebuchadnezzar had one of those. But it came with a small twist - it was totally God given. God has been known to disturb people's sleep from time to time. I mean, God neither slumbers nor sleeps so He probably thinks why should we? Ok, God doesn't think like that! But there are some key biblical examples, and always at the perfect time, when God has interrupted a person's sleep. And it is always for a very good reason!  

We'll examine the specific details and meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream next time, but here is a very quick summary. Nebuchadnezzar saw a great and impressive statue where different parts of the body were made up of different metals. There was the head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly of bronze and the legs of iron. It was a very, very impressive looking statue. But that wasn't that part that freaked the king out. No... it was the stone that freaked him out. You see he saw a stone hit this great statue, smashing it to pieces. There was literally nothing left of it. And then that same stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. 

Now, you know the feeling when you awake from a frightening dream, realize it was just a dream, and begin to relax again knowing it was all just in that slightly odd subconscious mind of yours? Well, the king didn't experience that sense of relief. We need to realize that in those days they believed dreams were messages from the 'gods'. So as Nebuchadnezzar awoke he would have been thinking 'What is that statue? Does that statue represent me? Is this a message from the gods to say that my time is up?' 'And if it is me or my kingdom, when is it going to be smashed?.. And who or what is this stone? Can I stop it happening?' You can imagine the thoughts that swirled in his head. He has all the power and wealth of the then known world, but death is a great leveler and faced with the pressure of his possible death he demands answers!² There is certainly no more sleep to be had for the king that night and nothing else matters! So he summons his 'wise men', his inner circle of top advisors from each of the fields. This was a group of magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers. If it was today, we'd call them a bunch of spiritists and New Agers!

The Hebrew word translated magicians refers to those who use the pen—most likely, those learned in the sacred writings of the Babylonians. Astrologers studied the stars. Sorcerers received power from evil spirits. The Chaldeans were probably a class of wise men.
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Rise of the supernatural

As a little side road, while we live in an age where belief in 'the science' has taken on a religious nature, there has been an interesting move back to 'spirituality' in our day. This involves beliefs of all types including, unfortunately, Satanism. Up until the 1700's people lived in a 'premodern' society where, generally speaking, they believed in absolute truth, divine revelation, gods and spirits. 'Modernism' was seen from approximately 1700 - 1980's with it focus on human reasoning, the age of enlightenment, scientific discovery, a general belief that we can achieve what we need through science and logic, and belief in God or spirits was increasingly frowned upon as 'superstition'. Since then we have had 'postmodernism' age where absolute truth can't be found or known, relativism is in and people create their own truth with the only absolute moral being... tolerance (as long as you believe what they they otherwise tolerance doesn't apply!). People now also talk about 'Metamodernism', from the Greek word 'meta' meaning 'beyond' or 'after'. 

What is interesting is that in this post or even metamodern world where everyone has their own truth, spirituality is making a comeback... but it is coupled with the belief that there is no absolute truth so anything goes. You see this when you switch on your TV and note all the programs about psychics, mediums, witches and the paranormal. Even Satan got his own show. The fact is that the supernatural, in all its forms, is making a comeback and we know that in the end times that the supernatural will be commonplace. There will be all sorts of signs which, if possible, would even deceive the elect. So be careful out there! Not everything that glitters is gold so stay close to God's word in what He has told us before it happens.

So back in Daniel it seems that nearly everyone was consulted. You've got the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, the astrologers. Everyone is asked for their advice... except the believers in the one true God that is! The only ones not consulted were the Bible believers. It seems things haven't changed! But this motley bunch of 'wise men' are pretty confident saying  'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.' Like most mediums and clairvoyants they probably think that they can just be clever and make up some vague, waffly answer and get away with it... But the king has other ideas and he is not budging!

And you thought you were grumpy in the mornings!

Dan 2:5-9 The king replied to the astrologers, 'This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it,  you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.' Once more they replied, 'Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.' Then the king answered, 'I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.'

Clearly, the king knows his 'wise-men'. This isn't their first meeting but this time the dream is far too important and worrying to mess around. So he is not going to play their little games. The king is grumpy... very grumpy. And he has made a firm decision - if the wise men can't tell him both the dream itself and the interpretation, then they will be cut into pieces and their houses will be turned into piles of rubble. Hmmm. When someone is not performing at work you might hear them say expressions like 'I might the boot... I'm facing the chop... looks like I'm gunna get the axe.' Well, for all of the king's 'wise men', and that includes Daniel, these were not just figures of speech! It was quite literal and they would face the chop! But on the plus side, if they can state both the dream itself, and the interpretation, all manner of rewards and honor will be theirs. No pressure right? 

Life and death - in the hands of the King

So, quite literally, life and death stood before all involved. The foundation of all men would now be tested. If they knew God and were given revelation, they would live. If their so-called wisdom was based on a lie, they would die. This was truly a separation of the sheep from the goats... Nebuchadnezzar style! In a similar way all mankind will stand before the true King and life and death is in His hand. All will be tested to see whether their life was based on Him and His truth, or whether their wisdom was built as a house of cards, only to be exposed on the day of judgment. So where is your hope? What is your foundation? Is it in the true God? I trust it is.

So with the king dictating such extreme outcomes it is good to ask why he would do this. On a natural level the king is probably sick of these 'wise men' that make it up as they go along. He is probably tired of their greasy advice that just tells him what he wants to hear. But on a more spiritual level it is God again who is behind this. And be assured that when God causes extreme things to happen (then or now), it is so He can act extremely. God sometimes allows things to happen in our lives that are completely beyond our control, as it was here for Daniel, so that He HAS to act! And then God, and only God, will get the glory. For example:

• God specifically led Israel into a dead end at the Red Sea, surrounded by the sea on one side and the entire Egyptian army on the other! Why? So that He could do the miraculous!
• God got Gideon to sprint down the hill, yelling at the top of his voice and shining his light, with 300 fellow Jews, to take on the entire Midian army. It was God that got the glory that day!
• God put it in the heart of a young Jewish boy to go out and fight a giant who had all of the Israelite army shaking in their boots! The God of Israel was honored that day!
• God allowed the might of the Assyrian army to come against Judah... and faced with an impossible situation, their godly king Hezekiah cried out to the Lord and overnight an angel slew 185,000 Assyrian fighters!  
• And let's not forget what is to come. At the end of this age, God will draw all nations to fight against Israel. And Israel's extremity will again be God's opportunity as He fights for them and shows Himself to the world!
• As someone (well, many people) have said 'Man's extremity is God's opportunity!'

So let's continue on and see if God gets the glory in this situation.

Daniel, the man of God

Dan 2:10-17 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. 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.' This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. When 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. He asked the king's officer, 'Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?' Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

So as we saw, King Nebuchadnezzar has asked the impossible, which the king's magicians and astrologers openly acknowledge. Only the 'gods' can provide an answer for this and 'they do not live among men' they say. Well, the real God does dwell with His people and this shall soon be shown! What I really liked about this passage though is Daniel's response when he finds out that he is about to be put to death (along with his friends). Does he panic? Does he freak out? Not at all. This young man (and remember, Daniel was likely still a teenager at this stage) knows God. And so he is able to speak to both the commander of the king's guard, and the king himself, with wisdom and tact. As Major Ian Thomas said 

'It is the presence of the Lord Jesus that allows a man to be gloriously detached from the pressure of circumstance!'
Major Ian Thomas

And Daniel is gloriously detached from the pressure even though his life is on the line! That is the presence of God. Nothing else can do that. Someone once asked Einstein's wife if she understood the theory of relativity. She replied that she didn't but that Albert did and he could be trusted. I like that! How much more should we trust the One who is all knowing and all powerful and looks after His own? We may not know what is going on but God does and He can be trusted. Proverbs reminds us saying:

Proverbs 3:25-26 Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; (26) For the LORD will be your confidence And will keep your foot from being caught.

In our day the pressure is only increasing. There is pressure with jobs, health and relationships. This is increasing strain upon families and difficulties in raising the young in such a troubled world. We look around the world and see financial instability, wars and rumors of wars and sadly all of these things combine to make anxiety the epidemic it is today. Things are getting harder and there is a shaking going on so, as scripture tells us, that those things that are unshakable may remain (Heb 12:26-29). So are you convinced of the faithfulness of God? Are you as convinced of that faithfulness when trouble comes? Daniel was able to remain calm when the pressure came on because of his close relationship to the Lord. And may we be the same! But he did also have some practical steps when faced with trouble so let's look at that now.

Best be organizing that prayer meeting though! 

Dan 2:18-19 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 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. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.

What is Daniel's first response to this trouble? Prayer! Naturally speaking our first response is normally towards what we can do to get out of the situation. But we would do well to learn to stop and make our first response a prayer of thanksgiving and request unto God. This settles the heart and mind in trying times. And there is nothing like a good old trial to get the prayer life firing! So Daniel gets on the blower and calls for a prayer meeting! He swings straight into action and organizes his three friends to 'plead for mercy'. Remember - God has to intervene here. They are all 'dead men walking' and without Him these next 24 hours will be their last on planet earth (for the meantime anyway!) It is God or nothing. There is no doubt that in our troubled days we need prayer, we need each other, and we need to be praying for each other! So make sure you have people around you that you can ask to pray in times of trial. Daniel did. And like I said, make sure you take things straight away to the Lord instead of stewing on them for a while!³

So what was the result? Well the Lord answered and granted their request concerning this mystery. The Bible says that the mystery was revealed to Daniel 'during the night'. We do not know whether Daniel kept praying till he received an answer or whether he was able to rest and sleep knowing that God had heard and was in control. I suspect the latter. But either way, Daniel showed great faith in a faithful God and h e is certainly a wonderful example for us today.⁴

Glory and praise to where it belongs!

Dan 2:19-23 ...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."

I love how this section concludes with Daniel offering up this wonderful word of praise and thanksgiving. Let's comment on some parts of this prayer:

• Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his - You can only imagine how much joy and amazement would have been in his heart at this time towards the Lord who had revealed this great mystery and saved them from a certain death. And of course, God gets the glory because only He could show them the answer and spare their lives. God doesn't 'need' anything. He is self-sufficient. So what then can we give Him? Well, only our praise and our lives. 
• He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them - Not long ago several bullets just missed Donald Trump's head by millimeters and only because he moved it at the very last second. In fact there was only a fraction of a second in it. A few millimeters and a fraction of a second and history radically changes. Whatever you think of Trump, we should acknowledge that God raises up and puts another down and if it is not His will and timing it isn't going to happen!
• He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning - Now this sounds a little odd. Why would wisdom be given to those that are already wise? And knowledge to those already discerning? This reminds us of what Jesus said: 'To him who has, more will be given.' You see, to gain wisdom we need to at least be wise enough to know where it comes from. And 'the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding' (Pro 9:10). If we have the wisdom to know that true knowledge and understanding is given from God, then more wisdom will be added to us because we will learn to rely on God and seek His wisdom.
• He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. - Obviously Daniel was thinking about the king's dream that had been revealed to him. That was certainly in a deep and hidden place... in Nebuchadnezzar's subconscious mind! But God reveals more than this. He can reveal the reasons concerning the dark times that we go through. In our age the pressure is on but God knows what lies in the darkness. May we be like Daniel and commit all things unto the one who holds our lives in His hand. He is still the God of the impossible. He reveals deep and hidden things. And He gives wisdom and power to those in need. What we would consider times of darkness is still light to the Lord.

This whole prayer by Daniel reveals the power, sovereignty and providence of God. Listen to another similar passage concerning the true God as described by Job:

Job 12:13-25 "With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding. (14) If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release. (15) If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth. (16) With Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His. (17) He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges. (18) He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt. (19) He leads princes [14] away plundered, And overthrows the mighty. (20) He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders. (21) He pours contempt on princes, And disarms the mighty. (22) He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light. (23) He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. (24) He takes away the understanding [15] of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. (25) They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

That is the God we serve! So remember these words as you see leaders and countries rise and fall. God is in control!

Conclusion - The purpose of the dream

So as we conclude, let's just explore why God gave this dream. What was God's purpose? This was a dramatic event but God obviously had a purpose in mind for all concerned. So what was the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar? For Daniel? For Babylon's wise men and onlookers? And what about the purpose for us today?

1. The purpose for Nebuchadnezzar

   Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon that had just defeated the kingdom of Judah. The purpose of the dream for this king is to remind him that all earthly kingdoms will be crushed and smashed, including his own, and that only the Lord's kingdom is eternal. It was a dream specifically designed to put the fear of God into his heart! And I think we can safely say, it worked! All those that are ignoring God can learn from this!

2. The purpose for Daniel

   Daniel was a young man exiled in Babylon. Along with his friends and fellow Jewish exiles, he stood alone in a society that honored foreign 'gods'. But through this dream God was reminding Daniel that He was the One who was in control. He ordained the rise and fall of kingdoms. Though exiled, Daniel would have received tremendous encouragement to see the God of Israel firmly in control even down in Babylon! His faith would have been greatly strengthened through this time. And we too can learn and take heart from this as we live in societies that no longer honor God.

3. The purpose for Babylon's wise men and on-lookers

   God was showing them who the true God is. He was showing them that all their wisdom, their 'gods' and everything that they placed their hope in amounted to nothing. They had been shown up by a young Israelite boy whose God, unlike theirs, was alive and active!

4. The purpose for all today 
   As we will see in the next message, this God-given dream that Nebuchadnezzar had accurately listed the world empires that would rise (and fall) from that day down to the return of Jesus Christ. What an amazing dream! What an amazing God who declares the end from the beginning! Believers can look at this and know that God is in control despite the chaos of world events. They can know that it is all building for the grand finale where the stone cut without human hands (the Lord Jesus) smashes the kingdoms of the world and establishes His own on this planet. Come Lord Jesus! So the purpose of this dream today, for all including you, is to make sure you are honoring and worshipping the true God who knows all things.  

FOOTNOTES