The Dream and Death Decree

In chapter one, there was a test for Daniel and his friends. In chapter two, there was a test for Daniel and his friends. In chapter three, there's just a test of Daniel's friends because Daniel's not mentioned in chapter three. It's the only chapter in the book of Daniel he's not mentioned in, just the three friends are. And that's because they want to show you, God wants to show you the influence of one man in the life of these other three men, and so therefore Daniel's not a part of the conversation in Daniel chapter three.

And then after Daniel chapter three, those three men are not mentioned again. So chapter one, chapter two, and chapter three, they are. After that, they are not. It goes back to focusing in on Daniel. But you know, have you ever wondered how it is we understand that God is faithful and true to his word, that God keeps his promises, that God protects his people, and that God always wants to take care of his own. Through one man's dream, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, we begin to see so many truths about God unfold for us.

You need to remember that Daniel chapter two is not about Nebuchadnezzar's dream as it is about God working in Daniel and in Nebuchadnezzar and in all of our hearts about the future of the world. Everything in Scripture is about God. You don't want to miss that because if you do, then you're reading the Scriptures wrong. You want to be able to see the character and nature of God portrayed all throughout the Scriptures. And you see that in the book of Daniel. But in this man's dream, Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar, you begin to see how God is so faithful to his people, how God is going to preserve Daniel and his friends, how God is faithful to his promises.

We get to a point in life where we wonder, you know, God, what are you going to do? We don't have to worry because if we understand how God works in this chapter, we begin to see how God works in your life and in my life because our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our God doesn't change. His attributes are the same. And so he functions in your life and in my life like he did in Daniel's life, like he did in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, like he does in all the characters in the Old Testament because our God is a true and faithful God.

But we told you in chapter 1 there was a test, in chapter 2 there is a test, in chapter 3 there is a test, three specific tests that come to Daniel and his friends. In chapter 1, we see the development of Daniel and his friends. In chapter 2, we see the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and what God has for us and how it unfolds for us as we study God's Word together. But the principle will always be true, and that is, he who honors me, I will honor. How many times have we quoted that throughout the years that we've been together?

First Samuel 2.30, he who honors me, I will honor, God says. We need to remember that that was given in the context of Eli and his sons, where Eli chose to honor his sons above God, and it cost him the life of his sons and even his own life and even the Ark of the Covenant because he was more concerned about maintaining a good relationship with his sons instead of maintaining a right relationship with the living God. So God makes it very clear that he who honors me, I will honor. But if you dishonor me, it will be disgrace and shame toward you.

That principle runs all throughout the scriptures, and so we see it come to fruition again in Daniel's life as he begins to honor God in every aspect of his life. He chose not to defile himself. He made that conscious choice, and that was a choice he would make throughout his entire life. He was 15 in chapter 2. He is 18 in chapter 3. I would love to have known Daniel's parents. I would have loved to have known how it is they invested into him in those short years that he was with them before he was swooped off into captivity all by himself to be able to handle the test that came his way.

What did his parents teach them? How did they teach him? Evidently, he knew a lot about the Lord God of Israel, and that made him stand strong on his convictions. He was a man a lot like Joseph. If you go back to Genesis chapter 39, God was with Daniel as God was with Joseph, like God is with you and me today. The Bible says way back in Genesis 39, now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.

The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. How did Potiphar know that Joseph's Lord was with him? When God is with you and you're trusting in him and dependent upon him, it is very evident that God is ruling your life. You read further in Genesis chapter 39, it says this in verse number 19, Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him saying, this is what your slave did to me, his anger burned.

So Joseph's master took him and put him into jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the jail, but the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in jail. So that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.

Genesis 39 is all about how the Lord was with Joseph and because he was, he was successful. He was prosperous. Others saw and knew there was something unique about him because he would depend upon the Lord. He knew that what happened in him was more important than what happened to him. And Joseph, like Daniel, had a lot of things happening to them, but they recognized what was happening in them was far superior than what happened to them. And that was Daniel. So let me read to you Daniel 2, Daniel 2 verses 1 to 18.

Now, in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

Let me stop right there because you're going to ask the question, wait a minute, the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, I thought that the boys were in training for three years and Nebuchadnezzar brought them as king to Babylon and they were in training for three years.

So why does it say in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign that he had this dream? Simply because they didn't count the first year of the king's reign, they only counted beginning year two.

So in reality it says in the second year of his reign, which in reality is the third year. So just in case you read somebody who criticizes the book of Daniel, you need to understand why it's explained the way it is. Let's go on. Verse number two.

So it says, then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. The king said to them, I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream. Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever. Tell the dream to your servants and we will declare the interpretation. The king replied to the Chaldeans, the command from me is firm. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you'll be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and the reward and great honor. Therefore, declare to me the dream and its interpretation. They answered a second time and said, let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will declare the interpretation.

The king replied, I know for certain that you are bargaining for time in as much as you have seen the command from me is firm. That if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you for you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation has changed. Therefore tell me the dream that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation. The Chaldeans answered the king and said, there is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king in as much as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean.

Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh. Because of this, the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Ariok, the captain of the king's bodyguard who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

He said to Ariok, the king's commander, for what reason is the decree from the king so urgent? Then Ariok informed Daniel about the matter. So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah about the matter, said they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, said Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed and the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

We're going to stop right there simply because there is so much for us to grasp in these first 18 verses.

I want to give you six words that will outline this passage for us. They are the dream, the demand, the decree, the delay, the dependence and our duty. Six words that will take us through these first 18 verses.

First of all, the dream. The dream, you ever dreamed? Somebody asked me that one time, hey, do you ever dream? I said, I don't know, I'm asleep. I never know if I dream or not. They said, well, yeah, you got to have dream. They said, well, you know, I don't sleep two or three hours a night anyway, so I barely get to sleep before I'm up again anyway, so I guess I don't dream. I don't even remember dreaming, but I'm sure I do. I guess I'm told that everybody dreams, but I can't remember any time ever having a dream.

I'm 63 years old and never can I ever recall having a dream, but Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and it wasn't like any dream. It was a dream that God gave him. How do we know that? Well, we know it because of verse 38 and 39 of Daniel 2. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind. While on your bed, as for you, O King, while on your bed, your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future.

And he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. Very important. God was going to reveal the times of the Gentiles in its totality. Remember we told you in chapter 1 the times the Gentiles began when Judah was taken into captivity into Babylonian captivity. That's when it begins. It will not end until the king returns and sets up his kingdom. And so the king, Nebuchadnezzar, that first world empire ruler, has a dream about the times of the Gentiles that will take us all the way to the end till the ultimate king comes and reigns supreme.

And God will use this pagan king as he has already by bringing Judah to Babylon. The king thought he was in charge. He thought he could rule in Jerusalem and take those people captive because he was more equipped and stronger and better than they were. No, the Bible made it very clear in chapter 1, verse number 1, that the Lord gave Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. We saw in chapter 1 early later on that God gave to Daniel. God gave to Daniel the opportunity to have wisdom and knowledge and understanding.

God's in charge. This whole story is about how God orchestrates everything in life to show you how he uses the pagan king to be used for his purposes. He used Nebuchadnezzar to drive idolatry out of Israel. It would take 70 years for that to happen. They would seek him. And when they would seek him, they'd find him because they sought him with all their heart and never again did Israel engage in idolatrous worship. But it took 70 years to drive it out. God knew that. And God brought Daniel, this 15-year-old boy, brought him with some other Hebrew boys to Babylon and God was going to use him.

And God was going to use them in a mighty way. But God would use the king. He would use a nation. He would use a young boy. And he would begin to tell us everything about the future because God was orchestrating everything. So even though this king had a dream and then became unable to sleep because he was terrorized because of the dream, he had no idea what the dream meant. All he knew is that there was this huge image, but he could not remember the dream. Some would say, well, he could remember it, but he was testing his men of intellect and knowledge and wisdom to see if they could tell him what the dream was.

Others would say, no, he had the dream. God took it from him. He was unable to remember it, but he wanted them to tell him what it was and then interpret the dream for him. Whatever your view is, doesn't make any difference because the bottom line is it's what the dream was all about. And the dream is about what God is going to do in the times of the Gentiles from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until the King Jesus, King Messiah, comes and sets up his kingdom. And you're going to see that with one phrase mentioned four times in Daniel chapter two.

I'm going to show that to you and you're going to be so glad you came. You're going to be so glad you fought traffic to get here, that you sit here when it's freezing cold in here and we're getting ready for winter. You're going to be so glad you came because you're going to understand one phrase that will explain to you how it is everything about the times of the Gentiles ends with the arrival of the Messiah. And this dream plays a huge part in all of that. Nebuchadnezzar was troubled in spirit and yet God had a purpose.

God had a person, God had a plan, and God was going to make sure it all came to fruition at the right time. Now, you need to understand this, God does not do this anymore. I know there are people today who said, well, you know, God spoke to me in a dream. My answer is, no, you had indigestion, you had too much chili, but God did not speak to you in a dream. People always have these dreams, and God spoke to me in a dream. No, He didn't. Now, how do we know that? Well, if you're with us in our study of the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter one, verse number one, you have that answer.

For there it reads this way, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, answer, yes, He did. He spoke face-to-face with Moses, right? He spoke in dreams to Pharaoh, remember? Pharaoh had the dreams about seven years of famine, the seven years of plenty. Well, who interpreted that dream? Joseph did. Abimelech had a dream because God came to him in the middle of the night, because Sarah was there. It was the second time that Abraham lied about Sarah, and God warned him in a dream.

Yes, God used dreams in all kinds of ways throughout the Old Testament. He even did it with Mary and Joseph, appeared to Joseph in a dream about Mary and her situation being great with Chaim, appeared to them again when they had to escape and come back from Egypt after Herod died to come back to Nazareth. So God spoke in many ways, in different forms to the fathers and the prophets of old. He did do that. But then it says this, in these days, or in these last days, or literally in the last of these days, what days?

The days in which God is speaking. So God spoke in many ways, in many forms to the fathers, but in the last of the days in which He was speaking, that's the literal translation, okay? In the last of these days, He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things to whom also He made the world. So we know in Hebrews chapter one, verse number one, that in the last of the days in which God was speaking, He spoke to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Messiah.

That's how we know that God is no longer doing that. Why does He have to do that anymore? Because we have the written revealed Word of God. We don't have to know about the end times because we know about the end times. How do we know? We got Daniel. We have Ezekiel. We have Zechariah. We have Revelation. We have the Olivet Discourse. So we know about the end times. We know everything that's going to happen till the King comes again and takes us into the eternal state. We know everything to the end.

Everything that God wants us to know, we know. We don't know anything else. For us to say that God is speaking outside of His Word through dreams would deny the sufficiency of Scripture, would devalue the authority of Scripture. God's Word is our authority. God's Word is His final Word on everything. That's why in Jude 3 it says that there is the once for all delivered to the saints faith. The faith that was once for all delivered. So it's been delivered. We have received the faith. We have received the body of material, everything that we need to know that pertains to life and godliness according to what Peter's epistle says.

Everything about the sufficiency of God is given to us in the sufficiency of Scripture. For me to say that God is speaking to me outside of His Word would just devalue and diminish the authority of Scripture and it would truly debase the sufficiency of Scripture. I mean Psalm 19 is very clear in terms of what the Bible says when you begin to understand the beauty of God's Holy Word and the importance of it.

Psalm 19 it says these words, the law of the Lord is perfect. It restores the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. It makes wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right. They rejoice the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure. It enlightens the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold. Yes, they're much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them your servant is worn. In keeping them there is great reward. In other words, everything about being enlightened comes because of the purity of the Word of God. Everything that comes about rejoicing the heart comes because God's Word is right. Everything stems from the Word of God. God, yes, did speak to individuals in dreams, spoke to Moses face to face. Yes, God did do that, but he doesn't do that anymore. Could he do it? Sure he could, but he doesn't need to. Why? Because everything you need is right here.

You don't need anything else. Yes, God's Word is sufficient. God's Word is complete. God's Word is inerrant. God's Word is inspired. God's Word is authoritative. God's Word is everything that we need to know and have this side of eternity. Man comes to faith because of God's Word being spoken. Man grows because we're built up by the grace of God's Holy Word. And so everything that we need is in the Word of the Lord. But in this day, in Daniel 2, God was going to unveil to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the times of the Gentiles from Nebuchadnezzar's day all the way to the very end, and therefore it would be complete.

So let's read on. Let's go from the dream to the demand. Makes a demand. God, tell me what my dream is. He gathers together the magicians. They're the fortune tellers. They're the ones who are the scholars. Then he gathers together the astrologers. They're the stargazers. They're the guys who, like modern-day people who do your horoscope. That's what the astrologers were. The sorcerers, they were mediums, okay? They were the ones who could supposedly talk with the dead. Then there were the Chaldeans.

They were the wisest of the wise. They were the ones who were experts in the arts and sciences. This was the brain trust of Babylon, okay? And Daniel and his three friends were a part of this regime, although they were not invited. They did not come to the king's place. Why is that? Well, remember last time, they were 10 times smarter, 10 times wiser than everybody else. And maybe it was a jealousy thing. We don't know. They left them out. But that's okay, because their absence proved to be to their advantage.

Just because you're not invited someplace, don't get offended, right? You never know what God's going to be doing. Daniel, his three friends, they were invited. They didn't even know there was a party at the king's palace. They had no idea. They didn't know the king had a dream. They were completely left out of the loop. They just weren't a part of the in-group, right? But God was going to orchestrate all of those things to bring about His purposes. And that's exactly what God was going to do. Remember Jeremiah chapter 23, by the way, I wanted to read this to you because I think so many times that we miss this.

God is condemning the false prophets through the prophet Jeremiah. Listen to what he says. He says in verse 25 of Jeremiah 20, 23, I have heard that the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in my name, saying, I had a dream, I had a dream. How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams, which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal?

In other words, their dreams became more important than God. And they would come and tell them they had a dream. And they would speak to them the dream that they had. But all it did was devalue the name of God. And God knows that. So he says, the prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has my word speak my word in truth. In other words, the false prophets would relay their dreams, but they would not relay the truth. But the prophet who has my word, he's going to speak forth my truth.

And in these powerful words, he says, is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer, which shatters a rock. We forget the power of the word of God. My word is like a fire. It's going to purify the soul. It's going to refine the soul. My word is like a hammer. It shatters the rock. You see, God's word is so powerful. It does those things. That's why we don't need dreams. We don't need visions. We don't need to hear voices. Why? Because the true voice, God's voice, has already spoken to us in his word.

So Jeremiah goes on and says, therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from each other. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, the Lord declares, behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams, declares the Lord, and related them and led my people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting. Yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit. These people who dream dreams are of no benefit to my people.

My word is what benefits them. I need prophets who are going to speak forth the word to them because my word is like a My word is like a hammer. And therefore, because it shatters the soul, it's the only thing that can mend that soul. That's the power of the word of God. So Nebuchadnezzar has his dream. He makes this demand because he needs the intellectual prowess of his day to come and tell him his dream. Someone's got to do that. And listen, these people, these intellects serve their purpose, but like Paul would say in 2nd Timothy 3, ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

The natural man can never understand the things of the Spirit of God. We forget that no matter how smart somebody is, how intelligent they are, how wise they may be in the ways of the world, it will never help them with understanding the essence of what brings life to people. They can't heal broken hearts. They can't heal anxious souls. Only God can do that. Only God through His word can do that. The natural man has no understanding of the things of the Spirit of God because they're foolishness to them.

And yet God uses the foolishness of the cross to confound the wise because He wants to use that which is absolutely paramount to transform people's lives. So Shadrach and his three friends are not here. But the magicians, the astrologers, the wise men, the sorcerers, they're here. And they say to him, tell us what your dream was. Tell us your dream and we'll give you the interpretation. And the king says, it doesn't work that way. You've got to tell me what my dream is. You can't fool me. Tell me my dream and then interpret it for me.

They said, nobody can do that. Nobody can do that. Nobody can read your mind. It would take someone supernatural. It would take someone who's not of the flesh to do that. They got that part right. It would take a higher supernatural being to be able to do that. They had no way of knowing what the dream the king dreamt was. And if they do, they probably could not interpret it anyway. But God knew that. God made sure he forgot it. God made sure he didn't know what it was. God made sure that no one else knew.

God made sure only one person knew. And that person would be able to interpret that dream. And then God would promote that person along with his three friends to the highest place possible. And then chapter three, from the promotion comes the persecution of those three friends. That's just how it works, isn't it? But that's another story for later on down the road. So you have the dream. Then you have the demand of the king. He wants him to know, listen, tell me the dream. Daniel knows that knowing God is more important than knowing anything or anyone else.

Daniel knows that. Because those who know their God will display strength and take action. Daniel 11, verse number 32, Daniel knows that. He knows God. Remember, he's 18 at this point. He's not 38, 48, 58, 68. He's 18. He arrived when he was 15. He has been pushed into a pagan culture. He's been taught by pagan people for three years. But he has his time alone with the Lord. He's had 15 years of training that have kept him true to the Word. He's a man of the book. He knows what the prophets of old have said.

He knows what David had said. He knows what Moses said. And so he knows these things because he knows the true and living God. So from that demand comes the decree. And what's the decree? If you can't tell me, you're going to die. I'm going to rip you limb from limb. I'm going to destroy your families. Everything about you is going to be wiped away. What kind of reasoning is that? That's the way Nebuchadnezzar was. It was all or nothing with him. And if they could not tell him the dream and then interpret the dream, they were going to be destroyed.

And that was the decree that would go out because he wanted to make sure that he understood what was happening in his life. But remember, this was what God was doing. God was orchestrating the events of all of this to bring forth exactly what he wanted in Daniel's life. Because what happened in Daniel was more important than what happened to Daniel. So he makes this decree. There's this dream. There's this demand that these men come in and tell him what the dream was. They can't tell him. So he makes this decree and says, okay, you can't tell me you're going to die.

And every wise man in the kingdom will die. Well that's Daniel and his three friends. They're not even there. But they're a part of the wise men constituency. So they, therefore, will die as well. And so Arioch, the commander of the king, goes to Daniel's house. And look what it says. It says these words. Verse 12, because of this, the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. That's everybody. That's Daniel and his friends. So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain.

And they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. They were going to kill them. They had to. The king made a decree. There was nothing else they could do. So they show up at Daniel's door. And Daniel replied with discretion and discernment. You've got to love the way Daniel handles a crisis. He doesn't wring his hands, doesn't become all nervous and tense, doesn't become, oh, what are we going to do now? Oh, everything's crumbling around about us. He handles the crisis as if it was just another day with wisdom and discretion.

He says to Ariok, the captain of the king's bodyguard who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon, he says to Ariok, the king's commander, for what reason is the decree from the king so urgent? What's the big deal? Why are we going to be killed? What happened? So Ariok gives to him about the dream that the king had. He called all these brain trusts from Babylon to come in and tell him the dream and interpret the dream. But they couldn't. The king was furious. The servant's got to die. So watch this.

So Daniel went in and requested of the king they would give him time in order that he might declare the interpretation of the king. Now note this, he's 18. He requests an audience with the king. He's not afraid of the king. He didn't fear the king. He doesn't even fear dying. He just requests an audience with the king. Now remember, in verse 8, the king accused all of his sorcerers and all of his magicians of trying to buy time. You're delaying. Tell me my dream, interpret my dream, stop delaying, stop bargaining for more time.

Tell me now or you die. But Daniel goes in and he asks for time. And the king grants it to him. Why is that? Why is that? He who honors me, I will honor. Right? When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Daniel doesn't go in and get all upset at the king with wisdom, discernment, and discretion. He just quietly goes into the king and says, I heard you had a dream. If you give me just a little bit of time, I'll be able to tell you what that dream is and interpret it for you.

And the king grants him that opportunity. That's just amazing. Now, the other guys, they got to be thankful for Daniel because they're about to die. But Daniel's buying them time. See, this is great. Now, whether he knows what he's doing or not, they don't know. But Daniel's buying them time. They owe Daniel big time and boy, they're going to owe him because they are able to live because of Daniel. But that's the way the man is. And that's exactly what's about to happen. And so, with that decree comes the delay.

Just a brief delay, give me time. Give me time. And he goes in with wisdom. He goes in calmly. He goes in collectively. He doesn't go in anxiously. He doesn't go in fearfully because he only fears God. He knows the words of Isaiah, Isaiah the prophet. When Isaiah said these words in Isaiah 8 verse number 13, it is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, whom you should regard as holy. He should be your fear and He shall be your dread. Then He should become a sanctuary for you. If you fear God, if you dread the Holy One of Israel, if you fear no one else but God, He then becomes that holy place.

He becomes that place of rest, that place of solitude, that place, that sanctuary place. Daniel knows that because he knows about the prophet Isaiah. And so, he knows not to fear King Nebuchadnezzar, but to only fear the King of Israel, the Lord of hosts. So, he can walk into the king's chambers, not afraid, at 18. He's a teenage boy. But because he could see clearly the future, he could stand courageously in the present. He could stand confidently in the present. He could stand cleanly in the present because he could see clearly the future.

How do we know that? Because he hasn't interpreted the dream yet. He doesn't even know the dream yet. God hasn't revealed it to him yet. That's because he knows the God of heaven. And I'll explain that to you in a second.

So, you move then from the delay to the dependence. This is so rich. Look what it says. It says, "'Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.'" Look at their dependency.

He was a man in chapter 1 who had already been granted 10 times greater understanding of visions and dreams. But even though he understood visions and dreams, he still needed to rely completely upon the Lord. You see, even though God has gifted you, you must depend completely upon him. He does this. How? By going to prayer, gathering these three friends together with him, and beginning to beseech the God of mercy to show compassion upon them, that they might be spared. He gathers them together. They begin to pray.

Trust the Lord. Daniel was a man of prayer. He communed with his God. He knew what it meant to commune with God. He knew what it meant to depend upon the Lord. And maybe he would pray something as is recorded in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 22, like David prayed. When David prayed, "'The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.'" Maybe he prayed that prayer.

He would probably know what David said, so he would go to prayer and begin to beseech the God who is his refuge, who is his savior, who is his fortress, who is his deliverer. Because he only feared the God of glory. So he went to him and began to pray and ask the Lord to do great and mighty things. Psalm 17, Psalm 34, all of them were prayers that he probably had read and known and began to beseech his God. But I want you to notice what it says.

It says, these words, Daniel 2, verse number 18, so that he might request compassion from the God of heaven. That is a great, great title of God, the God of heaven. It's used on several occasions in the book of Daniel. It's used nine times in the book of Ezra. It's used four times in the book of Nehemiah. It's called an exilic term. In other words, it's the exilic name for God. It's the name for God that Israel used while they were in exile. The God of heaven. It's the name they called their God while they were in captivity.

Why? Why do they call him the God of heaven while they were in captivity? Ezekiel had a vision, remember the vision? Where the glory of the Lord over the mercy seat began to make its way out of the temple, out and up and over the Mount of Olives, and the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel, right? And what is the glory of the Lord? It is the presence of God manifested in light, brilliant, shining light. It's the presence of God manifested in all of its beauty. And the glory of the Lord would depart.

And then Ezekiel would have another vision later on in the book of Ezekiel about how the glory of the Lord would come back to Israel, come back to Jerusalem, but only in the messianic age, only during the time in which the king was back on his throne. So while the glory of the Lord departed, where did the glory of the Lord go? The glory of the Lord departed and went to heaven. So He was called the God of heaven. They would look at it in the plural form, the plural form of God.

That's why He's called El Hashemayim, the God of the heavens. It's plural because they saw God as the God of the atmosphere. They saw God as the God of the stellar atmosphere. And they saw God as the God beyond that, the universe. So He called Him in a plural way, the God of the heavens. He was the God of everything that wasn't solid, everything in the air and everything in space. He was the God of the heavens. It was first used in Genesis 24 by Abraham.

When it says, Abraham was old, advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to a servant, the oldest of his household, who had charged of...in charge of all that he owned, please place your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth. And then he says in verse number seven, the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me saying to your descendants, I will give this land.

He was the God of heaven. He was the God who was in charge of the domain of the atmosphere. We know in Genesis chapter 14, he is called El Elyon, right? The most high God, right? This is in the book of Daniel, the magnificence of the most high God. Not only is he the most high God, he is literally called El Hashayim, the God of the heavens because he has dominion over everything. And Abraham would refer to him as the God of the heavens simply because he knew that the God of the heavens controlled everything on the earth.

He would oversee everything on the earth. And that's why he tells the servant to place his hand under his right thigh because that was a symbol of procreation and that was a symbol of...listen, when you go and fetch a bride for Isaac, my son, you got to know that this is very important. Why? Because the seed, the seed must be carried on to the arrival of the Messiah. So the woman that you choose has to be literally chosen by the God of the heavens. Years ago, I did a sermon, a series of sermons on Genesis 24 called How to Find a Wife and Keep Her, okay?

Because the same principles used in finding a wife are the same principles you need to have in keeping your wife. And the very first principle was contemplate the ways of God.

Contemplate the ways of God. God has a way. God does things beyond anything we can ever imagine. God's in charge. He is the God of the heavens, and therefore, He's in charge of all that takes place. Now, here's the rich thing. Daniel knows He's the God of heaven because the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel. And the God of the heavens is a phrase used while Israel is in exile because until the Lord returns... Remember when Christ was born and the glory of the Lord would shine all around the shepherds, right?

And they would say, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill toward man. Why? Because the glory of the Lord had come back. The glory had shone down. The glory that had left Israel in Ezekiel's vision had now come back. He's here. And so when the Lord was on the Mount of Transfiguration, He unzipped His flesh and the glory of the Lord would shine forth. But what happened? First Corinthians chapter 2, you crucified the Lord of glory.

You crucified the Lord of glory. And so even though the glory of the Lord would shine down upon them, even though the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His what? Glory, right? The glory of the Lord had come back to Israel. The glory of the Lord was now here. The God of heaven had come down to earth. And that's why when the Lord said to Nathanael, when Nathanael was so overwhelmed that the Lord had seen him underneath the tree and that he was a man of defilement or in whom was no guile, the Lord said to him, Nathanael, you haven't seen anything yet because you're going to see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

But wouldn't Nathanael know? He would know Genesis 28, where the staircase would come down out of heaven in Jacob's dream and angels ascending and descending on the staircase to heaven. And when Jacob woke up, what did he say? I've seen the gateway to God. There's a way to God. And every rabbi will tell you that the staircase is the only way to God. But they can't tell you what that way is because they don't know. But we know for Christ that I am the way, the truth and the life. And so the Lord says, you haven't seen anything yet, Nathanael, because the glory of the Lord has come down to earth.

The glory of the Lord is here. He came to set up His kingdom, all right? So what did Jesus preach? He preached, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is the King's reign is now at hand. The King is the God of heaven. And so therefore, the God of heaven is the King who has come back down to set up His kingdom. He is here. But they crucified the Lord of glory, the God of glory. They wanted nothing to do with Him. And so the fulfillment of the King's vision in Daniel 2 with the messianic age, which would take place when Messiah comes back and sets up His throne and begins to rule and reign from Jerusalem, hasn't happened yet.

But it will, when the God of heaven comes down to earth. Interesting, the phrase God of heaven used two times in the New Testament, both times Book of Revelation. Book of Revelation when there's a great earthquake in Jerusalem and many people glorify the God of heaven. And then in Revelation 16, that's Revelation 11, Revelation 16, Revelation 16, they blaspheme Jonah, the God of the heavens. So it's used twice. All that to say is that Daniel appeals to the God of heaven because he knows the glory of the Lord had departed from His people Israel.

And so He's referred to now as the God of the heavens. Israel depended upon the presence of God being with them. What did Moses say? Lord unless Your presence goes with us, we're not leaving this place. We need Your presence. And the Lord, the glory of the Lord would move in and among Israel and move them from place to place. But when that glory departed from Israel, the presence of God had departed from Israel. And therefore they were without Him until Christmas, until the birth of the Messiah. But they didn't recognize Him as the glory of the Lord.

They didn't recognize Jesus as their Messiah. They crucified Him. And so there's coming a time beyond that in the future, where the Lord of glory will return, set up His kingdom and begin to rule. Now having said that, when the disciples asked the Lord, Lord teach us how to pray. What did He say? He said, when you pray, pray this way. Our Father who art where? In heaven. Our Father is the God of heaven. When you appeal to God, appeal to Him on the fact that He is the God of the heavens. Not only does it express, express His paternity as our Father.

But it accentuates His sovereignty overall. Oh, by the way, there are no personal pronouns in the disciples' prayer. You ever notice that?

Our Father who art in heaven, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Give us this day our daily bread. It's not give me my daily bread. It's not my Father. It's our Father. There's something about prayer that we miss today. Our prayers are so me-centered. We no longer see God in our prayers because all we can see is our needs, our desires. Instead of looking at the God who is the Father of all glory, the Father of the heavens, the God of the heavens, and appealing to Him based on all that God's doing with His people.

Remember that God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, Job 42. God didn't turn the captivity of Job when He prayed for his illness, for his boils, for his loss. That's what we would do. Lord remove the pain. The boils are severe. Lord give me a wife. I lost my... Well, He had a wife. He didn't lose his wife. Give me kids. I lost my kids. Make my wife more subject to me. Make my wife love me all the more. Lord, do this for me. The Lord turned the captivity of Job when He prayed for His friends, those miserable counselors who could not give Him any comfort.

God turned His captivity at that time because He learned the essence of prayer. Prayer was not praying for me. It knew as much as it was praying for you and asking our Father, not my Father, our Father who rules in the heavens, who rules over all to take care of His people, us. Daniel knew that. He appeals to the God of heaven, the God whose glory had departed from His people Israel. But yet Daniel knew Him intimately and knew how to appeal to Him based on His identity, who He was, the transcendent nature of God, that He is the God over everything.

It's the magnificence of the high God of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord. And so Daniel prays and God answers his prayer. And God had given him wisdom to understand and interpret visions and dreams, but not this one. He had to beseech His God. God answers him and then He blesses, in verse number 19, the God of heaven. And then when He gives the answer to Nebuchadnezzar, we will see later on that He reveals to Nebuchadnezzar the God of the heavens. So Nebuchadnezzar knows that He is subject to a superior God, the one true God, the God of Israel.

Fascinating story about God. Not a dream, not the man Daniel interprets a dream, but about God who orchestrated everything to bring about this day at this time. Notice he didn't dream in year one, he didn't dream in year two, he didn't dream until after the boys had graduated from the Babylonian Academy.

That's when he had the dream. It was all in perfect timing. It wasn't until Daniel and his friends had been elevated to a position of authority, because that's how he was able to get access into the presence of the King. Everything was perfectly timed in God's plan. Even though Daniel didn't know that, didn't understand that, he was just along for the ride, waiting to see what God was going to do next. With each passing day, he saw the hand of God moving in his life. And no more powerful than on this day in Daniel chapter 2.

How about you? Do you see the hand of God moving in your life, moving in the circumstances of all the things that are happening? Here's Daniel, dude, you're going to die? There's a decree of the King, you have to die. What does Daniel do? Can he just ask the King a question? Let me ask him a question.

And once he asks the question, the King gives him the answer, yes, you can have time. He drops to his knees and beseeches the God of heaven, and the God of heaven answers. And he goes back to the King, and next thing you know, the future of the entire world opens up. What happens when you pray? Let's pray. Father, we thank You, Lord, for tonight, the opportunity You give us to study Your Word and to realize that You are a magnificent God. And everything about Daniel is about the magnificence of the Holy One of Israel, the high and holy God of Israel.

Not only are You El Elyon, You are El Hashayim. You are the God of the heavens. And we thank You, Lord, that we know You, that You're not so far from us that we don't understand You. No, You have come and taken up Your abode in us, and we can serve You and honor You. Our prayer is that we would be like Daniel, men and women of prayer, that no matter what the crisis around us, no matter how bleak it might look because of what the laws are, we disappeal to our God, ask You to do great things and watch Your work.

Help us to do that, Lord, with great confidence, in Jesus' name, amen.