Daniel 2:1-13 – The God we serve is sovereign

Many of God’s servants in the Bible had received messages from God through dreams. The most notable one was Joseph. In Genesis 37, through two dreams God made known to him his ultimate destiny. Not only did God give him messages through dreams, but He also gave him the ability to interpret dreams. With God-given ability, Joseph was able to derive a plan where his extended family and also the entire then world were saved from a long catastrophic famine. 

In Daniel 2, we see a Joseph-like situation. Just as God warned the pharaoh through two dreams concerning the impending famine that impacted the world then, here is a record of a revelation to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream. It was a dream with a message concerning a future world-impacting event.

Dreams in the Bible are seen as revelations from God. The fact that God would reveal to Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king leaves us without a doubt that He has the whole world in His hand. The king’s dream was so petrifying to him that he suffered from insomnia. Gripped by fear, he summoned for “the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans almost immediately.”

What was unreasonable of Nebuchadnezzar was that he refused to reveal the content of his dream but insisted on his council of the wise to provide its interpretation. They were expected to tell him what his dream was and its meaning. Why did he do that? It is believed that he had forgotten the content of his dream. But it is more likely that he was testing the integrity of his council of supposed wise men. 

He insisted that if they could not meet his demands, they and their household would be brutally punished. But if they did, they would be greatly rewarded. When told that his demands were unreasonable and that it was impossible for anyone but God to do what he had insisted, he was furious. And since none was able to meet his demands, he decreed a death sentence for all the wise men in the land.

Think of it this way, his unreasonableness was setting the stage to show God’s power and prove that He is the only true sovereign of the world. Daniel would be used to make known that the whole world was and is still under His control.

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.” God is sovereign over everyone, whether a king or a peasant, a believer or a non-believer. He is at liberty to work with everyone to fulfill His purpose. The inability of Nebuchadnezzar’s council of the wise to meet his demands tells us that the secret things belong to God. But for us believers, God will reveal to us through His Spirit.

First Corinthians 2:9 asserts that “Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not yet entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Glory to His name!