Right. Excellent. It's good to be back again to see you all. You will be glad to know that I missed you all. As we bumped along through the Atlantic, I thought, I wish every one of you could be here with me. I almost joked, because I felt sorry for the people 2,499 other people that were on the boat with me. I had so many people to talk to. It was fun. It was so much fun. Anyway, many stories that we could share about even what God was doing on the boat. It was a phenomenal, beautiful ship, but it's great to be home with you all. Shall we just pray as we turn to Daniel? Lord, we want to thank you that we're here. We want to thank you that you're the same God Yesterday, today, and forever, you never change. Lord, we want to thank you that your word is still living, active. It has something to teach us this day. And so we just ask that you would open up our hearts, open up our minds, that we may hear and understand what you're saying. And most of all, that we will apply your word to our hearts. Amen. Right, we're still in part 2 of chapter 2. Don't worry, I know we've been doing chapter 1 in 3 parts, we'll be doing chapter 2 in 3 parts. Don't worry, we're not doing all 12 chapters. taking three parts for each chapter some of them we will go quite quick but I wanted to slow down because I think we miss so much in chapter two because we're so used to it we fly through it at a fast rate and we miss it but a quick recap um we started last time we started chapter two which I had entitled I have a dream you remember that and it's all about Nebuchadnezzar Having a dream we looked at the first 13 verses we We seen that it was the beginning if you can remember the the sheets that were given out. It's the start of the Aramaic section Within Daniel, so God is speaking to and dealing with the the gentile nations it's not just about him speaking to the Jews or to his people and It's what God is doing in the Gentile world, through the Gentile world, and also how our God is sovereign. We were introduced to a recurring dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, which caused him deep worry, concern and even fear. this recurring dream we were told sleep left him. He didn't really want to go to sleep if you keep getting the same dream every night. Our vision as it was also called. We were also seeing that it was the king commanded the dream and the interpretation in order to know that the interpretation was true. He's very aware that the wise men that he had they were a bit of con artists. You know what I mean? They spun a yarn or two. And so he went, no, no, no. Then make sure your interpretation is true, because I know you lied to my dad. Then make sure you're telling me the truth. I want you to tell me the dream and the interpretation. And then I'll know your interpretation is true. So this was a direct command. This wasn't just, I want to know. This was a clear, out, out command that he had given with consequences. It had benefits and it had consequences if you got it wrong. Generally, cut up into little bits and your house is burnt if you got it wrong. Not a good. Not a good outcome if you get that question wrong in your test, is it really? Not really. So anyway, we've also seen that this was an unusual request. It sort of broke with convention, it broke with culture. In fact, the wise men said, no king in our history has ever asked for such a thing. So Nebuchadnezzar broke convention. He did something that was completely unheard of. And I believe it was for a purpose. And we're going towards the purpose. We've also seen that the wise men declared, they declared the truth. They said that no man on earth could tell the king's request. That's true. There is no man on earth that could do what the king, what he commanded, what he requested. And in fact, they also said the truth. They said that the answer lies, well, I would say with God, but they said with the gods, their gods. They believed the answer came from the gods, but the tricky bit for them was the gods don't dwell with man. So in essence, you're not getting your answer. So we've seen that they told the truth, but the truth in many ways was based in a false reality, that they believed they worshipped the gods, they worshipped the stars, they were very much into occultism and, you know, reading the stars, and yet they couldn't get the answer from the gods that they worshipped. And this, as we've seen last time, this set the scene for our sovereign god to step in. And this is why we shouldn't always be worried about what's happening around us because sometimes I always believe Satan will always overstep his bounds and he sets the scene for the wonder of our God. And so here we have the result was that because he couldn't get the answer that the king in Nebuchadnezzar, he said, right, offer their heads and every other bit as we cut them up into bits and burn their houses. And that included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, even though they weren't there. All the wise men, be they present or absent, were to be killed because the wise men who were speaking to the king couldn't give the interpretation, couldn't give the dream and the interpretation. And that's where we left it. So the scene is set now for God to step in and reveal his sovereignty, to reveal his greatness, to reveal how awesome our God is. So we're going to read from verses 14 through to verse 23. This is very much we know about is the prayer of Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. But we're going to read from verse 14 through to verse 23. And then next week we will finish off the chapter. So it says this. Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree from the king so urgent? Then Ariok made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret. so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and might are his. and he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, for you have given me wisdom and might and have made known to me what we asked of you. For you have made known to us the king's demand. I'm going to end there. at the end of the prayer. And I hope you picked up certain things, certain clues in there that I hadn't. Again, I hadn't picked up. It's always nice to go back over stuff you've studied before. You always see something new. And it's great for me to be going back over this. So we're going to start. It's fascinating to know as we begin the outworking of the ability God gave Daniel, Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah. We see this in chapter 1 verse 17 and chapter 1 verse 20 that God granted to them knowledge and understanding and especially to Daniel in all visions and wisdom and understanding. So God has given Daniel the ability to interpret visions and dreams but he's given to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah such wisdom and knowledge and understanding. So here we're going to see the outworking of this. This, if you want to say, is the first test of that ability. OK, this is like, this is not the end of the year because they've already, I believe they've already finished by this point. But this is the first test. Can Daniel interpret Can he seek, can he understand, can he hear, and will he interpret this dream that God will give him or God will reveal to him, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah? So this is the first test of the gifts that they were given. Verses 14 and 15 set the scene. We have that, there's certain words in here we'll pick up on, because it says, then with counsel and wisdom, David answered, Arioch. And this is very important, with counsel and with wisdom. OK? I mean, after all, Daniel was given the gift of wisdom, him and his three friends. So he's going to use it as he talks. And he wants to know. But can you picture the scene? There's three of them, or four of them. They're having their dinner. And all of a sudden, you hear this. He opens the door. And Arioch's there with the sword drawn. And he goes, yeah, what do you want? He goes, I'm here to kill you. He goes, what for? He said, didn't you get the memo? The guys went to see the king. They failed. I'm out to kill you all. So I found you four. And Daniel speaks with wisdom at this point, which is quite good, really, when you come to think about it. Because Ariok was there to kill them. He wasn't there to talk with them. He was there sent with a purpose to end their life. That was the command of the king. So we have this. great picture that at that point Daniel learned from Ariok because he didn't know Daniel wasn't there so he had to say what was the issue what did why are you here to kill us and this is when he said well actually the king's been having this dream called the wise men up he said tell me the the dream and the interpretation they couldn't do it so the king says you all have to die So apparently at this point here, Daniel finds out why they've come to kill him and his three friends. This is when it all becomes clear to them. But here we have certain things I want to bring out. First of all, there's clarity. Daniel wants to work not from fear or from hearsay. He wants to work from clarity. What is clear about this? And so Ariok will explain not just the king's demand, but the king's command. Okay. That the king really wanted to know this dream. Wasn't getting it. Didn't get the interpretation. And therefore the result is what we've said. But Daniel also speaks with calmness, with calm, not just out of clarity, but with calm, we're told, because he speaks with wisdom and counsel. And I don't know about you, but you can't really speak with wisdom and counsel if you're worked up and excited. You just can't. So he had to be calm. Which I think is fascinating under that circumstances. That guy stood there waiting to kill you at the front door and he's speaking with very calm, counselling with wisdom to this guy who probably didn't want to kill him but he's following the King's command. Okay, so he's speaking with clarity, he's speaking with calmness, with calm. And the phrase here, when we say that he, in how he responds, it literally means he answered with good taste. In essence, character. He spoke with a very good character. He didn't slag off the king. I mean, after all, he's a Babylonian and they're Jews. He didn't slag off his enemy. He didn't shout at poor Ariok, because the Ariok's just carrying out his orders. He's not going to ridicule him and talk him down and shout at him. He speaks with good character, as the word implies, with good taste in that sense. It was a very diplomatic response that flows from Daniel's God-given ability, wisdom, driven by the gift of discernment. Okay, these are all gifts that God has given. We have seen in chapter 1 verses 17 and verse 20 and Daniel begins to employ them. I don't believe purely just to save his life and his friend's life, but because there's this opportunity, there's a dream that has been had, there's an interpretation that the king wants, and he's going to try and answer that call, I believe. So here he speaks with diplomacy. out of wisdom and discernment. It's one thing to note here, because sometimes we fly straight past this. As with Aspinaz in chapter 1, verse 3, so it is with Ariok, the commander here of the Kingsguard. God grants Daniel favor and compassion. Have you noticed that? He didn't have to Ariok didn't have to talk to him, he could have just killed him. But again, God granted, God gave this favour and compassion and I believe it's for a purpose. God does not do anything without a purpose. God's going to reveal himself to this gentile king, this so-called emperor. He's going to reveal our history, his present and future. God's going to reveal all that but But to do that, he has to get his servant to the king. So God grants him favor and compassion in front of his enemy. He desired to understand why such a law was given, and he didn't just run. Please notice that as well. He didn't say, OK, thanks very much. I'll just go in and get something, and I'll be with you in a minute. And he didn't run out the back door and leg it. You know what I mean? He didn't run. This was a guy who responded out of true character. He wanted to go and minister to the king, give this answer that he believed God would give. And I say that because of how the text goes. He believed God was going to give an answer. And so he acted in such a way. We have council, refers to wise, prudent and discreet advice. That's what council is, it's very wise, it's very prudent and it's very discreet advice. He didn't want Ariok to get into trouble, but he was very wise in his words. Verse 16 goes on to say, and it never struck me until recently, until a couple of weeks ago this, it says that It says here in verse 16, according to the new King James, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Do you notice what's left out there? The dream. He said, I'm going to go and tell the interpretation. He didn't say, I'm going to go and say the dream and the interpretation. But that's the assumed point. He knows to be able to say the interpretation, he has to say the dream. And the dream is a very secret personal thing. He doesn't know what the dream is. He hasn't dreamt the dream. He hasn't had the vision. But he knows that he's going to be able to give the interpretation because of God. And we'll see this as we go through. You see that it says here that the difference is, well let me put it this way, the difference is time is requested so that he can, he can tell the king. That's what the passage says. It's not that I might tell the king, or I hope to tell the king, or I'm sure I will be able to get the answer, but I can't tell the interpretation. There's a certainty. There's a belief in God. There's an assurance in his voice. There's wisdom. Not because of who he is, but because of who God is. And again, we'll see this, especially as we get into the prayer, that it's not about them. It's not about the gifts that God has given them. It's about the gift giver. It's about God. It's all about God. And so here he speaks with clarity. It's very interesting as well to notice that he asks, Daniel asks of the king for the one thing that the wise men were criticized for. Time. You remember back at the beginning Nebuchadnezzar said to the wise men, you only want time so you can scheme, you can change things to your advantage. You're not getting time. And yet Daniel walks in and he goes, just give me time. And he gets it. So again, we see a God granting, a God providing, a God on the move to give favour to his people where the wise men of Babylon weren't getting it. So you get this great picture. There is a confidence in God that God is able to reveal this secret, this mystery, because God is the giver of the mystery or the secret. There's a confidence in God. There's a knowledge. There's an understanding. There's a knowledge about God. There's a relational understanding there. And I believe these young men, I think they're about 18, around 18 at this time, 18, 19. I believe that from the point we've seen them being taken into captivity at 15 years old, they knew their God. And they knew what it was to walk in obedience with their God. And they knew what their God can do. And we'll see this repeated again in chapter three. They knew what God can do. And so there's this confidence in God that God is able to reveal the secret. the hidden, the mystery, because nothing is hidden from God. and you begin to see this build up. Another comparison that we see here is that the wise men told the king that their gods may be able to fulfill the king's request, but they do not dwell among men. That's what they said, that's what they implied, that's where they were going. Now, here's what Daniel intimates, that God can reveal the secret, And therefore, it implies that God dwells among men. God will interact with mankind. A clear distinction between the God of heaven and the so-called gods of Babylon. God gets in among his people. God dwells with his people. God walks with his people. He interacts with his people. With these other gods, they're off somewhere. They're off having a picnic somewhere. They just don't interact with people. And that's it. Here you get this great comparison and this great, this great picture building up that God is here with the people, his people, and he can do these things because we know what God is like. Arm was such an understanding. He goes and he speaks to the king. Daniel was given access, not an easy feat in those days. He just didn't barge into the king's court. You had to be invited in. And I believe because Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, they were found to be 10 times smarter than the rest of them, I think he got a bit of favor. But you'll notice that Arioch tries to get a bit of glory for himself. He goes, king, I found someone who can give you the answer. He didn't find him. Daniel told him, bring me to the king. I will give him the interpretation. God can do it. But Ariok tries to get a bit of fame for himself. And you always get that when God moves, we have to be careful that man doesn't get in the way and no man tries to get the glory and the honor that should only be to God's glory, God's honor, God's fame. Man should stay out of the way in all of that and let God do what he's doing. So we see God's favor here that he gets in and he has an audience with the king. Daniel made his request. His request was for time. As I said, God's provision. He got time. 24 hours, but it was still time. In fact, we don't know how much time he had because all we were told is they went home and they prayed. And in the morning. But he was still given time. So God's provision in here. And then, of course, we see the confidence with which Daniel spoke. Daniel really knew God, God's ability. He said, I know my God can do it. I know that there's nothing in your head or what you think or what you dream that God doesn't know. Think about the stuff. I mean, I remember when I was growing up and rolling around Sunday school and the boys Bible club and Jim Cameron would teach us that God knew our very thoughts. I remember hearing, like, Sam Workman and the Reverend Shaw, it was always, God knows what you're thinking. God knows your very thoughts. And as a young lad, I found that very hard to get the hold of, because sometimes I didn't even know my own thoughts. But God knows what was in our heads. And here, Daniel speaks, and he goes, I know what God can do. I know God's ability. God can reveal the hidden, the secret. The question challenges me then, and again I'll be very honest here, do I know God's ability? Am I open to understand and go deeper into knowing what God's ability is or am I too busy telling God what he can't do? I don't think Daniel did. I believe Daniel, knowing his history, knowing the people of Israel's history, knowing the prophecies that had come from Jeremiah, knowing all of this, he was versed in a lot of stuff. He knew what God could do. And I use those words carefully. He knew what God could do, okay? what he was able to do. And we'll see. And again, this will be built on as we go through in the chapter 3 verses 17 and 18. I sort of picture myself here. You have a chat with the king. You run home and go, OK, boys, let's pray quick. Forget what you're doing. Let's just pray. That's the sort of urge we're having here. OK. It says Daniel urged his friends to pray. And I think we have to be honest here. Daniel knew he couldn't do it. Daniel knew his friends couldn't do it. Only one person could reveal that mystery, and that is God. And so the only way to get it is if you pray to God. And so he goes home and he says, guys, let's pray. There's a call for, in one sense, a united prayer. They wanted to pray together. It wasn't go off into your own wee rooms. It wasn't a case of having you go out in your personal quiet time and have a pray, go out for a walk. It was a case of let's get together and do business here. Let's pray together. Let's, you know, bring coffee, you bring a cup of coffee if you have to, but we're going to stay here and we're going to pray until God reveals the dream and the interpretation. There was this oneness in prayer, this unity in prayer. There was earnest, there was an earnest in prayer, an earnesty. The word conveys a sense, this urge will convey a sense that prayer is in a crisis. Now that's a bit of an understatement because what would happen if they couldn't give the dream in the interpretation? Chomplot. Now that's a bit of a crisis, isn't it? A prayer in a crisis. So that, it was a real earnest prayer here. They're going, God, if you don't move, we're dead. But you know that. So God, we need you to move. We need you to act. We know you can. We need you to do it. So there's this earnest prayer. There's a dependence on God. They plead for mercy. And I love that word, that they say they plead for mercy. Mercy is God giving. God doesn't give us everything we deserve. It's a gift of God. It's a free gift of God. It's something that comes given to you. And they plead for mercy. God to be gracious in that sense and to give them something that they don't fully deserve. They walk with God. They talk with God. They're in a relationship with God. But do they deserve that? They may not. And so they're pleading with God for mercy. Yes, it's to save their lives, but it's also to make clear, to reveal who God is before this Gentile king. Their prayers were prayers of desperation, cries for mercy, prayers so they will not be executed, cries concerning this mystery. It was everything mixed into one. Boy, it must have been interesting to be in that prayer meeting, wouldn't you think? It must have been, I don't think anybody would be going, I mean it's that time already, I think, you know, I'm a bit tired. It'd be none of that. It'd be like, if you know, if you don't get the dream, if you don't get the interpretation, you're for the chopping block. There's a bit of a motivation to pray here. And so here they pray. And God heard and answered. This wonderful simple phrase, God heard and answered. That must have been some night. I can't paint this in any other way, but that must have been some night, some wonderful night when they all are praying. And during the night, we're told that Daniel received the dream and the vision. But I also believe because of his wording, and we'll get there in a minute, that all of them did in some fashion or in some way to confirm that this is what God had done. Many lives depend on these four men getting through to God and God getting through to these four men. Many lives. Now you may say, whose lives? The wise men. Notice Daniel said, don't kill anyone. Let us go and talk to the king first. So he actually stopped the killing. He stopped the wise men from being killed. And so all these lives depended on these four men hearing from God and God speaking to these men. And once you get this wonderful picture, you see the greatness of God and the mercy of God and how God interacts and will engage even with Gentile nations. Verses 19 to 23, we get the prayer. Now, well before we jump into something about the prayer, I'm afraid I went into a bit of a rabbit hole on this one, so hopefully I'll not send you to sleep, but we'll see. This prayer is a wonderful thing. We see God's sovereignty. If you read through the prayer from 19 to 23, and I would encourage you to do it at home, you'll see God's sovereignty. It says he changes, he reveals, and he knows. It's all about God. God's sovereignty. It's not about Daniel. It's not about Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. It's all about God. He knows. He is the one that's going to be doing this. And I believe their prayer here, and I'll explain this in a minute, I believe their prayer here is fueled by the interpretation that they've just received. Okay, I'll explain that in a minute. There's also divine revelation here, not just God's sovereignty, but divine revelation. It says that he gives and he reveals. Again, it's all about God. He, he gives, and he reveals. He reveals the secret, the dark, the mystery. It's Him who does all this. And again, all the focus is towards God. If you notice His sovereignty, He changes, He reveals, He knows, His divine revelation, He gives, He reveals. Then there's thanksgiving in this prayer. You have, you have given, you have made known. I hope you see that. It's all about God. Everything is all God. They're just the messengers. They're just the spoke people. They have received what God has said. They have heard what God has said. God has interacted. And now they're just giving God all the praise again. Because you've done this, not us. It's a wonderful picture of how prayer is so God-centered in all ways. Now, On receiving the dream and the interpretation, notice one thing that they didn't do. They didn't rush out and give the king the interpretation and the dream. Didn't. They prayed and gave God thanks. They prayed again. And I think too many times, and as a lesson for me, as I do hope it's for us, too many times we pray, we see an answer, and we rush on, and we don't stop to say, thank you, and praise God. We don't stop just to give God all the praise and all the honor. We don't stop to, again, have Him as the center of the praise and the glory, because it's all from Him. We just happen to be The recipients of that are part and parcel of what he's doing. So again, they don't rush off, but they stay and they pray and give thanks to God. Now, here's the thing I want us to see about this prayer. And again, when I seen it, it just like blew, it just opened up my eyes. And it's not just here, but it's in different parts of the scriptures. You see it in the Psalms, you see it in a lot of other places. This prayer has been known in two ways. One is a theocentric or God-centered prayer. OK, as I pointed out, it's all about he did this and he did this and you have given. It's all God-centered, theocentric as the scholars would say. Or something else that would excite me, and I'm going to point this out to you tonight. There's what's known as a chiastic structure to this prayer. Are you impressed? I am too. Chiastic structure. Chiastic structure comes from the Greek word chi, meaning axe. OK? So if you take a note, I want you to draw an axe. OK? Because a chiastic structure, it'll go something like this. A, B, C, C, B, A. OK? So it funnels down. A, B, C, C, B, A. OK? So you get an axe. OK, and we want to see this structure in play here. The main point of this is, and I want to repeat this, that the structure creates, as I say, an X shape with the second half of the passage will reverse what was said in the first half. It's very similar, but it will reverse it, bringing out the same feeling. This indicates that the ideas are mirrored or reversed, but they're not necessarily identical. What's interesting here is that most people will put, where it goes A, B, C, they'll put the main point in the middle and then C, B, A. So the main point is right at the very point before it reverses everything out. And you're going to see this in this prayer. It's a wonderful bit when you see it. And I hope I haven't lost you all so far because this is, it thrills my heart. So we're going to see it. So the three things about this structure is it will emphasize the central element. It helps in memorization. That's why a lot of the Psalms are very chiastic, very in this shape. It helps with memorization. And it's very highlighting sort of poetic beauty and cohesion. OK, so a lot of scriptures are written in this form. We don't often see it, but I'm going to point out the way the way it is in this prayer, just to show you what the main point is and how they just it's all God centered. OK, so if you take a note, verse is second half of 19. So 19b and 20 verse 23 be the second half of verse 23, it says there, so it says, Daniel will bless the Lord, the God of heaven, who reveals the mystery to Daniel. Okay, that's what 19 says. 23 says, God has made known that which Daniel has asked, the king's dream. So God has made known, that's 19 and 23. Okay, that's the most extreme bit, okay? Then you have, The word bless in verse 19, here is very important to understand. It means to kneel with gratitude, honor, and recognition of God. To humble yourself, to kneel. It's not just, oh Lord, we bless you. You know, we throw out that word bless. It's a real, there's a physical element to it, there's a kneeling, there's a humbling, there's a recognition, because God has given. Okay, so that's the attitude of verse 19 and 23, the first half. Then, and here's what I mean by verse 20, I believe God gave all four people the dream. In verse 23, as we see how God has made known, in verse 23, Daniel says, you have made known to us, Not just to me, but to us. There's a plural there. So God was at work, not just speaking through Daniel, but through Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah. God had communicated the dream, or parts of the dream, or conferred it among all four that they could go, yeah, that's it. I remember one time I was doing this and I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if they dropped off to sleep during prayer, which I've done once or twice I will confess, especially when you get to about 2 o'clock in the morning. And all four had the same dream and they got up and go, they had a weird dream. well what was your dream? Of course Daniel says it and goes oh that was my my dream. Yeah no we've got my dream as well. Before long you're going well perhaps God gave that dream. Somehow God spoke to all four to confirm what the dream was. Remember this dream is a mystery. It's a secret. So how are they going to know? So God has used all four bringing this understanding to Daniel because Daniel's the spokesperson and he's going to give the interpretation but all four make make clear the dream okay I believe so again you get this great word us verses 20 and the beginning of verse 23 you have Daniel in verse 20, blesses the name of God who possesses wisdom and power. He blesses the name of God who possesses wisdom and power. Verse 23, the first part of it, 23, God praises God of his fathers or his ancestors who gives wisdom and Again, the same theme, slight difference. It's the same God, wisdom and power all through the generations. Same idea. The wisdom and power comes from God. So now you're beginning to come closer and closer to the middle point. So here you not only get this understanding that it's God who reveals, but it is God who gives wisdom and power. The divine name Yahweh comes only in chapter 9 and the phrase name of God in verse 20 is a relevant substitute. Ok? Because most people when they look at the name God they think of Elohim or Yahweh or the like. But that's not in Daniel up until chapter 9. Verse 23, God of our fathers, our ancestors, brings out this idea that God is at work. God's name is the one where wisdom and power is. We see this in the covenant God made with the covenants we have. You know, with With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Exodus chapter 3, the twofold mention of wisdom and power speaks to that which God possesses and that which he may give to those to whom he will choose to have mercy. So the wisdom is his. It's not Daniel's. He gives Daniel wisdom. The insight is God's, it's not Daniel's. He gives it to Daniel. And so that's, this phrase of wisdom and power is all God-centered, but he's bringing us closer and closer to the main point of this prayer. Okay, as we work up, work down and work up from both angles. The beginning of verse 21 and verse 22, you have God will change times, seasons, and kings. This is not the main point, I keep saying it is, but it's interesting. Again, I've noticed this. Verse 22 says, God reveals that which lies in the darkness and light dwells with him. We have this interesting picture of God's sovereignty, God's power. God will change the course of nature and he'll change the course of empires. And what was his dream and interpretation? The passage of empires. And here in Daniel's prayer, that's why I believe by this point, they already know what the stream is. We're not told what sequence, we're not told how it all works out, but we're told that the minute they get it, they praise. And part of the praise is you reveal, you set kings up, you remove kings, you change seasons, you're sovereign and powerful in all of this. And it's just this great picture of God in their prayer. So again, you get this wonderful picture that God is at work and they praise God because they know, I'm assuming at this point, they know that the Babylonian kingdom is not going to be around forever. Okay? God will set up kings. He will remove kings. No man and no empire is bigger than our God. and they praise God and they put him in his rightful place. Verse 20, the second half of verse 21 is the core element. This is the main point, okay? This is the main thrust. It says this, God gives wisdom and knowledge. This God gives wisdom and knowledge. Why do they say that this is the main point? Because this is what they needed. They needed wisdom and knowledge. They needed the hidden to be revealed. They needed to know what the secret was, wisdom and knowledge. And it only comes from God. And in knowing what God knows, they also knew that there was going to be a rise and fall of four empires. They knew it. Can you picture that sitting there? I often wonder if they all, if they pulled straws going, are you going to tell the king? Because I don't know if I want to. But Daniel did. We don't know. I mean, it's an interesting way to think. You know, if you're going to turn and say, are you going to go and tell the king he hasn't got long left? I don't, I mean, I don't think I want to. But Daniel did. And this wonderful picture, this wonderful thrust that God knows and God is in control and God sets up and God will depose and God gives and it's all from God. This is the prayer that is focused on God at its center, the giver of wisdom and knowledge. And that's how they finish. In fact, it says that in verse 21, the second half, that wisdom and, the wisdom are wise and discerning or knowledge will connote both this prophetic wisdom. This is a bit of a prophetic wisdom. They know the secret, they know the hidden. There's this element of propheticness in it. The emphasis, we must not forget, is on God as the giver and recalls the structure of the books prologue in chapter 1, verses 2, verses 9, and verse 17, where again, God's the center. God's at work. God is doing. It's all about God. It's all about the sovereignty of God. So this has been the prayer. And we can spin past it very, very quickly. And we miss out so much that their prayer is all about who God is, what God can do and their total dependence on God. They're not frightened to stand up to the king and say, give me a bit of time and we will. Notice God, I will give him the interpretation or I can give him the interpretation, meaning the dream and the interpretation. Why? Because my God is able. My God can do it. This again challenges me on how much do I know God? Am I getting to know Him deeper? Am I wanting to see Him in greater and deeper ways? And can I turn to some and go, God can do it, because I know Him. My God can. because of what scripture says. And I believe that's where Daniel was. So as we draw this prayer to a close, as we've tried to, as I've tried to take you a bit deeper into the structure and show you how it's all God-centered and what the main point of the prayer is, and as we conclude, we have seen from our passage that Daniel's calm character as he acts from a position of clarity. And that's what the church needs more and more. That's what we as Christians should be about. Too many people jump off a deep end. Too many people respond in an emotional sense or on a hearsay basis. But Daniel moved with clarity, from a position of clarity. He found out what the facts were. He found out what the purpose was. And he acted from there, spoke into it with clarity. We have had our focus during this time We've had our focus placed on God and that's a very broad statement but here we've seen his sovereignty, we've seen his provision, we've seen his ability, we've seen his might and his power and we have been left focusing on God. Hopefully you've been left focusing on God, not so much on Daniel, God as giver of wisdom and knowledge, and revealer of mysteries, and Sovereign of the universe. over the kingdoms of men as we will see next week how he's going to take that message to King Nebuchadnezzar how God is sovereign over the empires of men