Daniel chapter 2. I will be reading verses 1 through 23. Here, for this is the word of the Lord. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. And then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said to them, I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will show you the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the word from me is firm. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation. They answered a second time and said, let the king tell his servants the dream and we will show its interpretation. The king answered and said, I know with certainty that you're trying to gain time because you see that the word from me is firm. If you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation." The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "'There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.'" The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He declared to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree of the king so urgent? Then Ariok made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in the vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the King's matter. Thanks be to God for His holy word this morning. One of the greatest distinctions between the God of the Scriptures and all the other gods of false religion is the intimate relationship that God has with His people. It is a covenant bond. And this is foreign to many other ancient religions. God is with His people and for His people, even in the most difficult times. In our text today, Daniel finds himself in a time of trouble and stress, but God is there. He is intimately close and he never leaves nor forsakes Daniel. In fact, God would answer Daniel's prayers. Nebuchadnezzar and others around him would be witnesses to Daniel's faith and to Daniel's God. Now, can we say this about ourselves? Can we say that we are a light to the world around us? Imagine the difference it would make if people saw how Christians react when the stresses of life caught up to us and how we sought God first in all things. Not that we never grow weary, not that we never grow fearful, but when we do, do we take it directly to the throne of grace Do we seek the mercy and the wisdom of God? Peter said that you go through various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the purpose of our faith being on display for the world to see is not so that we can boast in ourselves, but so that the world may have hope. Because it is God's way of displaying that He is here. He is in our midst. and He is the revealer of all wisdom, especially in our time of need. So it is to Him that belongs all thanks and praise, and it is to Him that belongs all glory and honor. And this is what we see in chapter two of the book of Daniel. The main point of this chapter is how Daniel's wisdom is triumphant over the wisdom of the Babylonians. But it is not just about Daniel's wisdom. But ultimately, we see the stark contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. There is a contrast between our God and their gods. So first, let us consider the folly of men and their distant gods. In our text today, we begin with Nebuchadnezzar and his dream. In ancient pagan societies, there was a lot of stock placed on dreams and visions. They were often interpreted as foretelling future events. So the interpretation of the dream would be important to Nebuchadnezzar so that he could either prepare for it or take the proper precautions to avoid something bad from happening. Here, he is woken up by this dream and he is troubled. He lost sleep over this dream. So what does he do? What was his response to the dream? Well, he called on the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, wise men of the East, whom we will call the diviners going forward, to tell him his dreams. As they came before him, they lifted up a prayer to their gods for the king in Aramaic. Oh, king, live forever. But they requested that the king tell him his dream so that they could interpret the dream for him. That's not what the king demanded. Rather, the king wanted them to both tell him his dream and interpret his dream. Talk about asking for a little bit too much. And if they couldn't deliver, the consequences would be extreme. They would be torn limb from limb, and their houses would be laid in ruins. But if they delivered, they would receive rewards and gifts and great honor from the king. Knowing that they couldn't deliver on the king's demands, they insisted again that the king tell them his dream so they could interpret it. But once again, the king would reject their request. His word was firm and it wasn't looking good for these so-called wise men. Now, I believe Nebuchadnezzar already had his doubts about their interpretive abilities. I think he believed that they were phonies and imposters. There was doubt about their motives. He believed that they were trying to trick him, that they knew that they couldn't fulfill his demands and that they were just trying to buy time. According to him, they were waiting for him to die. He said to them, I know with certainty that you're trying to gain time. because you see that the word from me is firm. If you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. In other words, until the dream is fulfilled, I die and someone else replace me. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation. See, this was a test. The Chaldeans answered the king and said, there is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demands, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. Here we begin to see the difference between Nebuchadnezzar, these diviners, and Daniel and his friends. Nebuchadnezzar, in his panic, went to these diviners who could not reveal his dream and its interpretation. These diviners can only discern patterns. Patterns in nature, such as patterns in the stars, or patterns of events, whether historical or dreamt up in someone's mind. They did not have direct access to the minds of their gods. Their gods did not reveal their secrets to them. In fact, as they said, their gods do not dwell with flesh. They are far off and they are distant. Now this is unlike the God of the Bible. Our God is high and exalted, yet he condescends and dwells with man. Throughout the Bible, God seeks a dwelling place with man and he is intimately involved in all of man's affairs. He walked with man in the Garden of Eden. He was present with his people in the tabernacle and he indwelled the temple. He so dwelled with his people that the second person of the Trinity took on flesh and dwelt among us. And it is proclaimed in Revelation 21 at the arrival of the new heavens and the new earth, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. Our God is distinct and unique as we compare him to these false gods of false religions. These gods do not communicate directly to these diviners because they do not exist. And if they did exist, They are nothing but demonic angels who are under the jurisdiction of the one Almighty God. They are so unlike our God because throughout history, our God has revealed his secrets to his people. Listen to Amos chapter three, verse seven. For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the prophets. Their gods could not reveal their secrets because their gods had no control over time or history. They couldn't foreordain or preordain anything. Nothing was certain for the false gods of these diviners, and their worldly wisdom could not accomplish what our God can accomplish. And Daniel chapter two is a demonstration of what our God can accomplish. And so, in a rash response, From King Nebuchadnezzar, he lays out his command, and he makes a sweeping condemnation of all wise men in the land, which would include Daniel and his friends. The diviners couldn't deliver, so it says, because of this, the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. Notice that this was a bit of an overreaction. But overreaction is the usual response of the unbelieving world. This is the common folly of man. He didn't get what he wanted, so his reaction was to blow everyone away, including the innocent. If I suffer, everyone else suffers. This is the narcissistic, depraved mindset of a tyrant, and it can easily be identified. But now, let us notice the difference between Nebuchadnezzar's response and Daniel's response. Daniel responds with faith. He didn't overreact. Rather, he replied with prudence and discretion to Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel and his friends. To reply with prudence and discretion is to be cautious and to speak in such a way as to avoid causing offense. This is how Daniel spoke to the guard. He knew that there was trouble brewing, even though he probably didn't even know that he and his friends were on a kill list. Yet he remained respectful and cautious. Now, this is very different from the ways that faith has been described by others. Many people describe faith as being impulsive, without giving a thought about the consequences of your actions. Take a leap of faith, just go for it, without caring what other people think. Question authority at all costs. Here, Daniel is being as cautious with his words without offending those in authority over him, being wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove. Yet, this doesn't mean he was a coward. He stepped up to the challenge with faith. He declared to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree of the king so urgent? Then Ariok made the matter known to Daniel, and Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time that he might show the interpretation to the king. So we see here a combination of caution, discretion, and confidence in Daniel. But his confidence was not a self-confidence, like, yeah, they couldn't do what I can do. Let me have a go at it. No, that was not his response. His confidence was in his God, because unlike the gods of the diviners, his God dwelt with him and revealed his mysteries to him. Remember, in God's providence, God gave Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams and visions for this very purpose. We see his purpose being unfolded in this dramatic narrative. He believed that his God would show up in his time of need because his God is intimately involved with his people and with their affairs. This is the grounds of his confidence and should be the grounds of our confidence as well. And here is where we see the difference between Daniel's faith and the faith of the diviners. Daniel and his friends were all included among the wise men, but they never became diviners. They remained wise men whose wisdom came from somewhere else. Their wisdom came from above, and they remained devoted to the Lord God of the Bible. It says that Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions. Now, this is significant. Here, their Hebrew names are used instead of their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I think this is because they were about to seek Hananiah, the Lord who's gracious, Mishael, the Lord who is who he is, and Ezariah, the Lord who is our helper. So Daniel told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. So they sought his help. They were stuck in a bind. They were trapped. They had nowhere else to turn. All human solutions have been exhausted, and they could not escape the decree put out by the king. Human wisdom would lead to panic and overreaction, Godly wisdom would be to seek the mercy of God so that they may not be destroyed. God would be the only one able to deliver them out of the spine. Actually, they were already stuck in a bind to begin with. They were captured from the land of Israel, the land of Judah, and brought over to Babylon. They were away from the promised land and the temple. This may be the reason why they didn't pray to the Lord God of Israel, but to the God of heaven, same God, but they were emphasizing the fact that their God was the only true God and He reigns over all human affairs, not just Israel's. Although they didn't have the earthly signs of God's promises, the promised land and the temple, they rested in God's promise that He would always be with them, no matter what, and that He would deliver them in their time of need. Again, that was the difference between the diviners and Daniel and friends. The diviners turned to earthly wisdom, and that didn't cut it, while Daniel and friends turned to the God of heaven in prayer. How can we learn from Daniel's response? How often have we failed to respond to situations the way Daniel responded? I'm not only talking about situations that seem hopeless, but to any and every situation. We tend to either panic or overreact rather than seek the mercy of God. Sometimes we rely on earthly wisdom rather than the wisdom of God, the God of heaven. And how often do we pull aside a friend who is in a dire circumstance and tell him, hey, let us turn to God right now and pray. Because in a situation like this one, Who else is there to turn to? And who is better than God to save them from their trouble? This doesn't mean He will always deliver us from this sort of trouble, but He is dependable to be there with us and bring us through the trouble, no matter what happens, to sustain us, to encourage us, to comfort us with the truth that all is under His control. And how did the Lord answer their prayer? God was merciful. God was merciful in his response by revealing this mystery to Daniel in a vision of the night. He blessed Daniel with the gift of understanding visions and dreams and then revealed the king's dream and interpretation in order to save their lives. But not only that, it was also to display his power and his wisdom before the king. Everything that God puts us through has a purpose. Nothing is for nothing. Nothing is meaningless and nothing comes to pass without God's complete knowledge. Every hair on your head is counted and not a hair will fall without the will of our God, our Father. And Daniel's faith here declares this truth because Daniel doesn't just receive an answer to prayer and go about his life. He doesn't go directly to Nebuchadnezzar and tell him the interpretation or tell him what he had received. Rather, he gives thanks and praise to God first. Whenever we receive an answer to prayer, how often do we forget to give thanks and praise to God for what He has done for us? Daniel moves directly to doxology, giving God the praise He so deserves. He praises Him for what the false gods of the diviners could never do. Here we see the difference between Daniel's God and the God of the diviners. Daniel's God delivered. where the diviner's gods could not. So Daniel praised God saying, blessed be the name of God forever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might. First he praises him for his might. God is sovereign over all things. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He has control over nature and all created things. And there is no one in power right now whom God did not place in power for his purposes. When your favorite candidate, if you have one, loses an election, your response shouldn't be, oh no, it's the end of our nation. I wonder if God knows what happened. No. The Christian response should be, it is God's will. It is God's will. If we deny that it's God's will, we are denying his power. Remember what he said to Pharaoh. For this very purpose, I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. He raised Pharaoh up to power, an evil pagan ruler, and an enemy of God and his people for his purposes, to proclaim his name and his power. This is something that Nebuchadnezzar needed to learn. He did not place himself in the position of king, God placed him there. God placed him there. And this is why we should never despair, even when his enemies are in power. Daniel also praises him for his wisdom. He said, he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him. Those who are wise and smart are not wise and smart because they tried hard. God gets the credit. While the rest of the world pats themselves on the back for a job well done, the Christian, is to praise and thank God for all the wisdom and knowledge he has revealed about himself and about his creation. So Daniel concludes in this way that we all ought to learn from. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you. For you have made known to us the king's matter. God answered their prayers. They recognize that all things and every good gift comes from Him. Daniel acknowledged that the wisdom and might that he possesses came from God and from God alone. So we ought to ask the question, where and how do we search for wisdom? See, the difference between the Babylonians and Daniel was that the Babylonians sought wisdom in men, men of wisdom. Now, when these men of wisdom could not deliver, where did the men of wisdom turn? They couldn't turn to their gods because their gods did not dwell with them. So they were stuck, trying to figure out things on their own. While Daniel went to the Lord our God, knowing that our God dwells with us. See, Daniel and friends were in a similar predicament as we are in today. We are also surrounded by false religions. One of the most common false religions is New Age religion, which is really just self-made religion, and it is found even in Christian churches. And it stresses the individual's freedom in interpreting the Bible for himself. You make yourself to be God, so you can make the Bible pretty much say anything you want it to say, and you don't have to answer to anyone. And in this false religion, there are all these secrets and hidden things that you need to uncover in order to be delivered or liberated from whatever or whoever you're being enslaved by. One popular one, especially in America, are the Freemasons. That's New Age religion. In the OPC, if you're a Freemason, you can't join. We call Freemasons to repent and believe the gospel. Because in Scripture, God is the one who reveals Himself, and God is the one who delivers. God is not an author of confusion, but He has clearly revealed Himself and His will in His Word. His Word is described in our confession as perspicuous, which means it is clearly expressed and easily understood. That is, what you need to know about God and your redemption is plain in the Scriptures. We read from Deuteronomy 29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, not to you, not to you. But the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. God reveals to us what He wants to reveal to us, and for us today, it is found in the Holy Scriptures. This helps us to address the problem today of people relying on dreams, visions, appearances, and other so-called supernatural experiences. Just because dreams and visions and supernatural experiences occurred in the Bible does not necessarily mean that that's the way God communicates today. Remember, in Daniel's time, there was a purpose for it. As we read the Bible in its context, we understand that there was a time and a place for every form of divine communication or revelation, which served God's plan for a certain time and purpose. At the time of Daniel, God chose to speak through visions and dreams and things of that nature for His purpose, and it would eventually be written down. Today, God chose to speak to us through His Son, as it has been recorded in the Scripture, Hebrews 1-2. His Son came to dwell with us and reveal the truth. And now that we have the Word of God, we have God's wisdom in a book. We should not rely on daily experiences, whether they're affections or leadings, because they can be deceiving. They can be deceiving. So where do we seek wisdom? We hear from God through His Word in the Bible. And how do we seek wisdom? See, we can go off into two extremes. We can neglect the Word of God and rely on human senses, intuitions, and quote-unquote leadings of the Spirit to make daily decisions, or we can go to His Word for wisdom without knowing God nor trusting in God. Because it is not just about reading the Word for ourselves. This is how most people read the Bible. They pick up the Bible and think it's just a manual or a guide for life. but we are to read the Word of God with the character of God in mind. In other words, we need to know who God is and believe that He exists, Hebrews 11, six. Proverbs 1, seven says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. So let us begin with the fear of the Lord. How can we fear the Lord if we do not know Him or seek to know Him? He is the all-powerful God who knows all things, sees all things, and is sovereign over all things. So in other words, we need to be brought to a place of humility in order to know God. See, the problem with the church today is that we have accepted the definition of humility as the less you know about God, the more humble you become. The less you know, the more humble. That's wrong. That's false. As we see in Romans, theology, the knowledge of God, leads to doxology. So it's not the less you know, the more humble you are, the more praise you give. Actually, it's the opposite. And we have a famous verse for this that many have used over the centuries. I'm saying centuries, we have used this verse for a long time in the wrong way. There's a famous verse, 1 Corinthians 8.1. 1 Corinthians 8.1 is probably one of the most misused Bible verses in all the Bible. 1 Corinthians 8.1, what is 1 Corinthians 8.1? Knowledge puffs up. Or if you want the King James Version, knowledge puffeth up. How many conversations have we had or debates with those of other traditions where we try to correct them in their errors and they turn around and say, well, knowledge puffs up. And they say it so proudly because the verse makes them sound so humble. Notice the contradiction. Knowledge puffs up. And so this has deterred many Christians in the church from seeking a knowledge of God. But is that what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 8.1? Was he saying that the knowledge of God would puff you up? No. No. Like I say, you gotta know the context. 1 Corinthians 8.1. What is 1 Corinthians 8.1? I recommend that you go home and read all of 1 Corinthians 8 within its context. What is the knowledge that puffs up? Here's the context. Two supposedly strong Christian men go to the marketplace, and they see a big slab of meat, nice fat steak, and they both know that that steak was offered to an idol the day before. One of them says, oh well, I'm gonna buy the steak and eat it. The other one makes a fuss about it. Knowledge puffs up, it's for that guy. It's for that guy. not for the one who buys the steak. See, the knowledge that pops up in 1 Corinthians 8.1 is a faulty knowledge. It's a false knowledge, a legalistic knowledge, not a true knowledge of God. Because right after that, he says, they don't know what they ought to know if they're making a big deal out of that. Why? Because that idol that they sacrifice that piece of steak to doesn't exist. There's only one God. There's only one God, so he can eat the meat. Leave him alone. That's the knowledge that puffs up. And right after that, he says, what they need to know is more about God. They're lacking in their knowledge of God. They don't know the love of God. And to know the love of God, there has to be a certain knowledge. Just ask yourself, your husband or wife, you can't love them without knowing anything about them, can you? The same it goes with God. So humility is not to say, I know all that I need to know about God to get me saved, and now I have retired from getting to know God. No, that is not humility. Humility. leads us to continue to seek, to learn, and to know more of who this God is, to grow in maturity, to hunger and thirst after Him. Because if we take the 1 Corinthians 8.1 route of saying knowledge puffs up, it would contradict what Peter calls us to do. He called us to grow in grace and in knowledge. Yeah, there are a lot of people who will grow in knowledge and not in grace. That's okay, give it time, let that knowledge sink in. But you will never grow in grace without knowledge. You will never grow in grace without knowledge. So what we need is to be brought to a place of humility, where like Daniel, who knew his God, will first seek God's mercy. Why does he seek God's mercy? Because he knows his God. He knows how much we are unlike him. For we know that we are just dust and sinful. But not only that, we also know that God is love, and he also loves us. What a paradox. Then secondly, we are to trust in his power, the one who will answer our prayers, who will deliver us and grant us wisdom. And thirdly, We are to give thanks and praise for who he is and what he has done for us. How will we praise him if we do not know him and what he has done for us? Because God's greatest act of wisdom and power was found at the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul calls Christ the wisdom and power of God. This is where Jesus is revealed in our text. Unlike the pagan gods of the diviners, Jesus came to dwell with his people. Because ultimately, seeking God's wisdom is not enough. Daniel didn't just need God's wisdom. He needed to be delivered. And something we forget is that through God's revelation to Daniel, not only is Daniel and his friends delivered, but also the pagan diviners are delivered as well. They were delivered from the death sentence sent out by Nebuchadnezzar because of what Daniel did as he was a mediator for sinners. He acted as a mediator here for sinners. So wisdom is not enough for us. We also need to be delivered. Because just like Daniel, his friends, and the diviners, we cannot escape the judgment that God has decreed on sinners. And the only way we are delivered is by the one who lived. a perfect life of wisdom relying on the Holy Spirit. He was the perfect example of someone who gave thanks and praise to God even in the most difficult times. When Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, He gave thanks for the cross and what it would mean for sinners when he gave thanks for the body and blood that was to be poured out for us. Yet he wasn't dismissive of the pain he would have to endure later that same evening. He wouldn't go to one of his disciples' homes to pray. He would go out alone to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray while his disciples were sleeping. There he would agonize over the pain that he would have to endure to the point he was sweating great big drops of blood. And he prayed for the father to show mercy and remove the cup of suffering from him. But unlike the way God answered Daniel's prayer and delivered him and his friends from death, Jesus was still sentenced to death. But there was a purpose. there was a reward on the other side of his death. He would gain victory over death and rise from the dead, all for us, including Daniel and his friends. He received the sentence of death so that we would not suffer the just judgment we deserve at our greatest hour of need, when we die. Not only is this the way of salvation, but it is also an encouragement when we face trials, and we take our petitions to God. We are to remember all that Jesus had to endure in our place and be reminded that every trial has a purpose and there is a reward in the end. And no matter how difficult the trial is, we know that God is there and he's there with us through it all. He is not a distant God who doesn't dwell with flesh. Rather, Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. So what is our response to such good news? Will it ought to be thanks and praise for this free gift of salvation and deliverance, praising Him for His wisdom and might? And it ought to be repentance as we forsake the false gods of this world, turn Look to and trust in Jesus as he will grant us peace, which surpasses all understanding. Amen.