Daniel Interprets the Dream (Daniel 2:1–49)

 

Daniel Interprets the Dream (Daniel 2:1–49)

How does one know the future? Fundamentally, no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Yet God reveals what is to come and what the invisible kingdom of God is like through various channels. He makes himself known through the mystery of the universe and all creation and of life itself, and above all he teaches through the living word of God.

Daniel chapter 2 tells of how God showed a vision in a dream to the Gentile king Nebuchadnezzar and made known to him what would take place in the future. Yet until God interpreted the dream through Daniel, neither the king nor the so-called wise men of the world could understand the meaning of the vision. God is pleased to give understanding of his secrets. He teaches the secrets of the kingdom of heaven to everyone who asks, seeks, and knocks (Matt. 7:7).

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 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, 3 he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means." 4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it." 5 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. 6 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." 7 Once more they replied, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it."

8 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: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only 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." 10 The astrologers answered the king, "There is no one 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. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans." 12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 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 too. (Dan. 2:1–13)

God spoke to people in many different forms and ways. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made (Rom. 1:20). God spoke directly to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses through his voice, a burning bush, or visions. During the period of the Judges and the monarchy, he gave his word through prophets. Finally, Jesus came to this earth and spoke the word of God directly through the lips of the Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:2). And to us he has given the sixty-six books of Scripture.

God gives dreams to people. He gave a dream to Pharaoh king of Egypt as well. That dream was a revelation that showed the future. But not every dream is a revelation. The king of Babylon had seen a vision in a dream, and his mind was troubled by it. He was troubled because he could not understand the vision he had seen in the dream.

Around the king there were magicians, enchanters, and astrologers who could interpret dreams and visions. But King Nebuchadnezzar demanded both the content of the dream and its interpretation, and despite the repeated requests of the astrologers, he was resolute that he would not tell them the content of the dream. If they could not produce the content of the dream and its interpretation, all the astrologers of Babylon would face an inescapable death sentence.

The wise men and astrologers pleaded with the king that no one except the gods could interpret his dream. It was the same with Pharaoh king of Egypt. The secrets of God cannot be known unless the Lord himself teaches and gives understanding of them. In the end, God interpreted Pharaoh's dream through Joseph, who was imprisoned. The same was true of the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar. God had prepared in advance before the ages and taught through Daniel, the young man of Judah who had been brought as the king's captive.

The fact that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and receive forgiveness of sins through faith is not by human will, but by the revelation and understanding that comes down from heaven (John 1:12; Matt. 16:17). God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his love (Eph. 1:4). When God's time fully came, we entered into the glorious salvation of believing in Jesus Christ. And he continues to lead us to understand and grow in the knowledge and secrets of God.

The Secret Revealed to Daniel

14 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. 15 He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 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.

19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. 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 deposes kings and raises up others. 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, God of my ancestors: 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." 24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him." (Dan. 2:14–24)

When Daniel heard the news of death from Arioch the commander of the guard, he went to the king in faith without delay and said that if given time he would make known the interpretation. Then he went before God in faith and prayed together with his friends. He asked that God would have mercy and reveal his mystery so that Daniel and his friends would not be put to death along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

God has made those who believe in the Lord to be the salt and light of this world (Matt. 5:13). This world is fundamentally immoral and corrupt and is headed for destruction. Yet God desires that no one perish but that all receive salvation. So he has left believers in this world to reflect the light of his love and truth. Daniel, though a captive, was in reality placed there by God as an instrument to testify of God's saving love and mercy to Gentile people.

God is pleased to reveal his deep and secret things (Prov. 25:2). God has hidden and concealed the secrets of his kingdom so that they are invisible to the eye, yet he is pleased to teach them. To whom does he reveal them? To everyone. God revealed his deep and secret things to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, who were Gentile kings. Yet they needed the knowledge of what these things meant, and God is also pleased to give that knowledge. It was for this purpose that God prepared Joseph and Daniel before the ages.

Both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar were so troubled by not understanding what their visions meant that they could not sleep, longing to know. People are fundamentally thirsting after the eternal kingdom of God. For the things of this world will be here for a little while and then disappear. So they desire to know that secret. The problem is that a teacher is needed. The Ethiopian eunuch had visited Jerusalem and was reading Isaiah in his chariot on his way home. God sent Philip to him, and when Philip asked whether he understood what he was reading, the eunuch replied, "How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?" (Acts 8:26–40).

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Rom. 11:33)

Daniel Interprets the Dream

25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means." 26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" 27 Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: 29 As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind." (Dan. 2:25–30)

Daniel went before the king and introduced the Almighty Lord God. He said that this God had shown the king a vision, and that this was a showing in advance of what would take place in the future. God is not only pleased to reveal great and secret things — things that will be accomplished in the future — but he also sends a person who can interpret them.

The purpose is not to exalt Daniel or the king or any person, but because God desires that the invisible Almighty God be believed. God exists from everlasting to everlasting; his wisdom and power are beyond all measure; he establishes and deposes nations and kings and governs all things according to his will and purpose. God's will and purpose is to save people who have fallen into sin and give them eternal life. We each give the gift we have received according to our gift for building up the church, which is the body of Christ.

The Large Statue

31 "Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue — an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.

37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron — for iron breaks and smashes everything — and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others to pieces. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

44 In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy." (Dan. 2:31–45)

God establishes nations and deposes them, and he raises up kings and deposes them. The vision God showed to Nebuchadnezzar reveals the secret of how God establishes and deposes the kingdoms of this world. The four kingdoms refer to the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, Greece, and Rome — the great empires that dominated the world centered on the Mediterranean Sea in those days.

The empire depicted in the vision as a mixture of iron and clay is the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was broadly divided into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, and it was not so long ago that the age of emperors came to an end. The Western Roman Empire fell in AD 476 due to Germanic invasions and fiscal collapse, and the Eastern Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople, continued until 1453 when it was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire. The form of the imperial age carried on through the Holy Roman Empire and the Russian tsars. The era of the Russian tsars, however, came to an end in March 1917, during the First World War. Yet in the book of Revelation we see Rome, which appeared to have received a fatal wound and disappeared for a time, making its appearance again (Dan. 8:22; Rev. 13:3).

The kingdoms of this world are here for a little while and then they are gone. But in the vision shown to Nebuchadnezzar there appears an eternal kingdom that does not decline and is never destroyed — and that kingdom is the eternal kingdom of God. This world is heading toward that very end. After Christ returns to this earth and the heavens are shaken and disturbed, God will establish a new heaven and a new earth.

The King Honors Daniel

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." 48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49 Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court. (Dan. 2:46–49)

Daniel's status was that of the king's captive, yet God set him up as the chief of the wise men whom the king trusted. God humbles and exalts — and this is in order to accomplish his will. His will is to set people free from darkness and ignorance and lead them into the salvation of life. It is to reveal the Almighty God to kings and peoples who have no faith, and to turn their hearts away from idols and back to the Lord. To Daniel and the people of Israel who were in the midst of suffering, God teaches that he is still alive and the sovereign who governs all of heaven and earth, and he continues to lead them to believe in the faithful God and to fear and worship him alone.

Amen!

October 11, 2026

Buffalo Livingstone Church ©2026, David Lee Ministries ©2026 – All Rights Reserved.

Scripture quotes are from the NIV.

 

Daniel Resolved (Daniel 1:1–21)

 

Daniel Resolved (Daniel 1:1–21)

What can bring comfort in the midst of suffering after losing one's country? It is the unchanging love of the Lord God Almighty. It is the covenant of salvation through Christ, which was promised to Abraham. Nothing in this world — whatever it may be — is true comfort. Enduring and bearing up under suffering appears as evidence that God's just judgment is true (2 Thess. 1:5).

Daniel chapter 1 is the story of the young Jewish man Daniel and his three friends, who were taken captive to a foreign land far away at a young age. It clearly shows the hand of God's protecting power and glory. Even in circumstances of endless sorrow, grief, and lamentation where nothing could be done, God refined his people like pure gold through his holy love.

Daniel and His Friends Taken to Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility — 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. (Dan. 1:1–7)

God had spoken in advance through the prophet Jeremiah that Judah and Jerusalem would be destroyed at the hand of Babylon (Jer. 27:12; 32:28; 34:2). God had warned that they would live if they surrendered and submitted to Babylon. This was something they simply could not accept. As the people chosen by God, bowing the knee to Gentile nations was unthinkable.

Yet God had determined to refine his people through fire like a furnace. The reason was that they had abandoned God and gone after idols. Through Moses, God had warned them when they entered the promised land of Canaan to serve only the Lord God and not to worship idols (Deut. 28). But God had also promised that if they obeyed he would drive out all their enemies and set them high above all the nations on earth.

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth." (Deut. 28:1)

But he also promised that if they did not keep and obey the word of the Lord God and instead went after idols, he would swiftly bring punishment on them. Remarkably, history shows that the hand of the Lord's blessing and judgment comes swiftly upon his chosen people.

"The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. You will be destroyed and come to sudden ruin." (Deut. 28:20)

And the warnings about curses are three times more numerous than the words about blessings. Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will disappear from God's word until everything is accomplished. During the many years it took for the people of Israel to take possession of the land of Canaan — in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan itself — they experienced undeniable evidence of God, his signs and his wonders. They witnessed with their own eyes God's promised word being fulfilled.

Yet after they settled in the land of Canaan, instead of wholeheartedly serving the God who had led them out of Egypt, they went after detestable idols. They worshiped the agricultural deity Baal in order to farm the land successfully. People worship money, hoping to obtain a stable life. Nevertheless, in his patience and with the purpose of planting faith in people, God extends grace and mercy through suffering.

Through this, God taught them that he is a faithful God who faithfully keeps his promises of blessing and protection. At the same time, he warned them against abandoning the Lord God and worshiping false idols, and taught them in advance that corresponding punishment would come. Idol worship is a vain and futile thing, and ultimately it is the path to destruction. Idols are false — they are nothing but empty things with no power, no authority, and nothing at all.

Yet the purpose of God's judgment is not to punish and rebuke for its own sake, but through discipline and refinement to bring people to repentance and lead them to salvation. God is holy and just and cannot tolerate even a trace of evil. That is why the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all wickedness and injustice (Rom. 1:18). But the wrath of God is an expression of his holy love. If evil and injustice were done with no consequences to follow, that would be a lawless world.

Throughout the period of the Judges and the monarchy, God sent countless prophets and urged his people to repent. He earnestly longed for them to turn back to the Lord God and enjoy grace, peace, and rest. Yet they hated God's prophets, beat them, and even killed them, stubbornly refusing to return to the shelter of the Lord's embrace.

"'Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.' For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isa. 1:18–20)

So when God's time came, he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah that he would refine them in the fire of a furnace. He handed them over to Babylon to be destroyed and punished them by having them taken as captives to a distant land. Yet even in the midst of this refining, God protected and guided them. The case of Daniel and his three friends is evidence of this. God intended to use them to serve the king. Daniel later served as prime minister under Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire, advising four kings (1:21).

Daniel Refuses the Royal Food

8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you." 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. (Dan. 1:8–16)

Daniel had grown up from childhood observing the dietary laws prescribed in the Torah. But the food the king offered was contrary to the laws and regulations of Moses. And at that time, as a captive, refusing the king's food was as good as a death sentence. Yet God showed grace to him because he had made his resolve and decided not to eat the king's food in order to keep the purity regulations.

In truth, it is not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out of their mouth (Mark 7:15). However, Daniel had grown up according to the teaching of the law, and keeping the purity regulations was deeply ingrained in him. So even if it was the king's food, he could not eat what was contrary to the law. At this point, God softened the heart of the chief official so that he accepted Daniel's request. God blessed Daniel for resolving to refuse the food, and made him look more handsome and healthy even without eating the rich food.

Through this, Daniel's faith in the living God grew firmer even during the period of captivity. Even though he was a captive, God still faithfully watches over and protects those who believe. Even if one's head is cut off like John the Baptist, nothing can stop the protecting hand of God. This is because God, who raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, is able to break the power of death and raise the dead to life again.

The number of a person's days is not determined by that person. Human life is by no means an accident. Nor does it come from one's parents. God knows all things in advance and governs according to what he predetermined before the ages. God watched over and protected the descendants of Abraham even during the period of captivity. Furthermore, he refined them in the furnace fire into pure and spotless children like refined gold. Pure and spotless children like refined gold are those who believe and obey only the Lord God and his promised word.

God Gives Daniel Wisdom

17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. (Dan. 1:17–21)

The foundation of wisdom comes from God. God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. The fear of the Lord God the Creator is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). God is the Creator — all-knowing, all-powerful, the beginning and the end. The height, depth, breadth, and length of God's wisdom and knowledge are beyond all measure.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Rom. 11:33–36)

The power, wisdom, glory, majesty, and authority of God are beyond all comparison. The prophet Isaiah put into words the creative power and glory of the Lord God.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing." (Isa. 40:12–17)

The Lord God refines his chosen people in love and truth and prepares them to be the pure bride of the Lamb. God's refinement and discipline — even if it appears that way to our weak eyes — is never arbitrary suffering for its own sake. God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, nor is he himself tempted (1 Cor. 10:13). God knows us and loves us better than we know ourselves, and so he disciplines and refines us. He extends grace and love to every person with perfect fairness.

"And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, 'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined — and everyone undergoes discipline — then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb. 12:5–11)

Amen!

October 4, 2026

Buffalo Livingstone Church ©2026, David Lee Ministries ©2026 – All Rights Reserved.

Scripture quotes are from the NIV.