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Daniel Prepares to Interpret The King's Dream
v. 14. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom, with sound and prudent advice, to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who was also in charge of the sentence of execution, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon;
v. 15. he answered and said to Arioch, the king's captain, thereby displaying the wisdom for which he afterward became so famous, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Why the furious and sharp command, which came upon the people concerned like a bolt out of the blue sky? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel, giving him the information which he sought.
v. 16. Then Daniel went in, naturally after being properly announced, and desired of the king that he would give him time, postponing the execution of the cruel decree for some days, and that he would show the king the interpretation, thereby giving the king a definite promise.
v. 17. Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, who were of one mind with him in their observation of the religion of their fathers,
v. 18. that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven, the fulfillment of their united prayers being represented as a taking of gifts from before the throne of God, concerning this secret, that Daniel and his fellows, his Jewish companions, should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon, whose death, according to the king's decree, seemed inevitable.
v. 19. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision, the Lord Himself granting the knowledge needed in this urgent case. Then Daniel, properly giving all glory and honor to God alone, blessed the God of heaven, the one and only Lord.
v. 20. Daniel answered and said, responding, as it were, to the goodness of God with his hymn of praise, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, this name including His entire essence and attributes; for wisdom and might are His, the two qualities coming into consideration here;
v. 21. and He changeth the times and the seasons, as would appear in the carrying out of the king's prophetic vision; He removeth kings and setteth up kings, all the events in the history of nations being determined by Him; He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding, Daniel thus tracing his own accomplishments entirely to the gift of God;
v. 22. He revealeth the deep and secret things, which are hidden before the eyes of such as are mere human beings; He knoweth what is in the darkness, what is covered before human eyes, and the light dwelleth with Him, abiding with Him as His possession, so that He is the Source of all light, physical and spiritual.
v. 23. I thank Thee and praise Thee, O Thou God of my fathers, of the patriarchs of the Jewish nation, who hast given me wisdom and might and hast made known unto me now what we desired of Thee, that for which they had so eagerly implored Him; for Thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter, the very thing which the Chaldeans had declared to be an impossibility.
v. 24. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not the wise men of Babylon, their execution thus being summarily stayed; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
v. 25. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
v. 26. The king, having duly received Daniel in audience, answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation thereof?
v. 27. Daniel answered in the presence of the king, whose amazement at his assertion concerning his ability to undertake what the wisest of the realm had found beyond their wisdom had just appeared in his question, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king, it was clearly impossible for any mere man, no matter what degree of wisdom was his, to solve the king's difficulty;
v. 28. but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, possessing the attribute of omniscience of which the heathen gods and their servants knew nothing, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days, at the period to which the believers of the Old Testament were looking forward with such intense eagerness. Thy dream and the visions of thy head, those which he saw in his mind, upon thy bed are these:
v. 29. As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, he was engaged with these problems, what should come to pass hereafter; and He that revealeth secrets, the one true God, whom the Jews worshiped, maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
v. 30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, because he possessed such an extraordinary measure of wisdom by virtue of his own efforts or natural abilities, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. The indefinite expression was used purposely, so that the person of Daniel might be as little conspicuous as possible. When God endows a person with unusual understanding and wisdom in the interest of His Word and work, it behooves such a person to be properly humble, giving the glory to God alone and working in His service with cheerful energy.