I'm going to let you remain seated. I'm going to read, it's quite a long passage. It's not many verses, it's only 30 verses of chapter 2, but they're long verses, so it makes it a long passage. So I'm going to let you stay seated this morning as I read chapter 2 of Daniel, verses 1 through 3. You really need to read the whole chapter, really in one setting, to get the flavor, but we're going to break it up to where Daniel eventually comes and says he can tell the dream and interpret it, but then next week we'll look at the interpretation of the dream. So, follow along in your Bibles. That's one thing I was thinking about this morning. Sometimes putting it up here on the screen, you don't open your Bibles. I'd rather you open your Bibles and read along with me. So have your Bibles open if you have them. And we're going to read verses 1 through 30. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 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, and by the way, right here in chapter two, beginning of verse four, all the way to chapter seven, the end of chapter seven, Daniel's written in Aramaic. I'll talk about that in a minute, a little bit, but that section of Daniel is all in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. O King, live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we will show you the interpretation. The King Ashton 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 rim, 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 in great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation." They answered a second time and said, Let the king tell the servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation. The king answered and said, I know a 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 demands, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asked is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, little g 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. 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 king's wise men of Babylon. He declared to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree of the king so urgent? Then Ariak 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 a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and 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 made known to me what we ask of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter. Therefore Daniel went into Ariok, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation that Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in Hades and said thus to him, I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation. The king said to Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen in its interpretation? Daniel answered the king and said, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these. To you, O king, as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what will be after this. And he reveals mysteries, made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have, more than any, more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king, that you may know the thoughts of your mind. Aren't you glad I let you stay seated? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you, Father, for who you are. You are the God of heaven, and there's no one else beside you. You're the one who reveals your wisdom, your plan, your purposes to men. Father, by your discretion, by your purpose, Father, we thank you that we're such men, such as Daniel, and Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah. and men like Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, and Isaiah, Moses, and David. But most of all, Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus, who has made known to us who you are, who has revealed to us the way of salvation. Because, Father, that's your purpose of redemption. So, Father, may we grow in your word this morning for your glory and our blessing. In Jesus' name, amen. So again, in narratives, we have to be careful just to try to... find what's in the text and examine it and learn from it. It's not as didactic as Paul's epistles of Romans or Ephesians, particularly the first three chapters of Ephesians and the first 11 chapters of Romans or Colossians chapters 1 through 3 and even Philippians. So as we read these narratives, the historical narratives, we want to See what God is saying and learn from them. In our introduction several weeks ago, the main character in Daniel is God himself. And we're going to see it as we get into the interpretation of this dream that Nebuchadnezzar has. that God is the one, and Daniel alludes to it in his song of praise to the Lord, that he removes kings and set kings up. And so as we get into the vision, into the dream, it's a vision of kingdoms rising and kingdoms falling. And in verse 44, there's gonna come that kingdom that's gonna crush all their kingdoms, and that's the kingdom of Christ. That's the kingdom that we belong to. And so we have victory there, we have assurance there. And even these exiles, if they would hear what God is saying through Daniel, the name of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, particularly with this new covenant in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, they would take assurance and hope in this God who reigns on high. So we have Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Our text seems to imply he forgot what it is. You ever had a dream, can't remember it? But you know it was weird, you know? It was strange, right? We have those dreams all the time. And a recurring thing in my dreams is if I'm trying to run, I can't run. You ever had that experience? I'm not fast anymore at my old age, but when I was younger, I was pretty fast. But in my dreams, I can't outrun anybody. And that frustrates me, because I know I'm going, what's wrong? Am I in mud or something? But we have dreams, and we wake up, and we say, man, that was weird. And we try to remember it. We can't. It's foggy. So that seems to be what happened to Nebuchadnezzar here. He has this dream. And it was believed, and I think so, a true statement or a true understanding, It was believed that dreams were given to indicate what's going to happen in the future. And we have Nebuchadnezzar's dream here that fits that scenario, but also back in Genesis, we have the same reality with Pharaoh, and he had a dream, and he didn't understand what the dream was, but in chapter 41 of Genesis, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. And behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump. And they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them and stood by the other cows on the bank. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke, and he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears thin, and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh woke, and behold, it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the magicians, sound familiar, of Egypt, and all the wise men. And Pharaoh, he told them his dream. But none was able to interpret it for Pharaoh. Until, as you continue reading, a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. This is the captain of the guard telling Pharaoh this. And he interpreted our dreams to give us an interpretation. So Pharaoh called Joseph. Joseph interprets the dream by God's power. And it was the seven years of abundance and then the seven years of famine. And Joseph proposed a plan to store grain during those seven years of abundance to be ready for the seventh. So this was not uncommon, particularly in the biblical record, for dreams to be given about something that was going to happen in the future or the near future. And so that seems to be what happens to Nebuchadnezzar. But he goes a step further than Pharaoh. He doesn't remember the dream. And so when he calls the musicians, now let me back up just a second. He was troubled in spirit. That's kind of an understatement. And he lost sleep. Literally, the language there says his sleep left him He had mega insomnia. He just could not sleep with this burden on his heart and mind, and he was troubled. Now, there's another instance in the gospel account when we talk about the birth of Jesus, and the wise men came and said, where is he that is called the king of the Jews? They came to Jerusalem. They came to Herod the Great's palace. And it says something like Herod was troubled or upset. That's a mild statement. Herod was a madman. And when Herod was upset, everybody else was what? Not just upset, but they were terrified because he would go into a rage. And it seems to be that this troubled spirit of Nebuchadnezzar was similar to that. Because his ultimatum, as we saw, to these enchanters and magicians was quite heavy. And so Nebuchadnezzar makes this demand. He wants to know, tell me my dream. And so part of the reason that this section is so long is this dialogue going back and forth between these magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers, and Chaldeans. And by the way, it's Chaldeans with a capital C. It's not talking about an ethnic group, so to speak, but it's talking about a class of people. We would know them in the New Testament, most likely, as the Magi. These were really, historically, they were kingmakers. You could not become king unless you were approved by these Chaldeans, generally. And David ends up being the head of this group. Now that's personally, I think I read it maybe in a commentary or heard some other preacher mention this, but I kind of agree with them, that the reason the Magi came looking for this Messiah is because I think David implanted that seed while he was the head of the Magi during his lifetime and probably had Jeremiah's maybe Isaiah's scroll, most likely Daniel had the scriptures before him, and possibly he was teaching that to this group of Chaldeans or Magi, and planted the seed of this coming Messiah. And so we have almost 400 years later, These magi come looking for this Messiah. I think it has its roots in David's influence through those centuries. That was all free. Okay. And he says, what does it mean? He's tell me what it is and then tell me what it means. Now, um, Generally, the way these guys operated, they were false prophets. They were false musicians. They really had no power, other than by deception. But they had their sorcery books. They had their books that they would go, and someone would tell them something, and they'd open those books up and look up things, and then just bring an interpretation. Basically, however they felt. A lot of times, they would tell the person what they wanted to hear, And that's what Herod alludes to. He says, you're wasting time. You're trying to gain time so that you can tell me what I want to hear. But what I want to hear is you tell me what the dream is, and then tell me its interpretation. So he makes this demand of them that is really impossible. It's impossible for them to fulfill. And Nebuchadnezzar's deal. This is it, boys. It's a firm deal. There's no negotiations. This, it's black and white. You tell me to dream, I'm going to reward you. You don't tell me to dream, I'm going to tear you limb from limb. What an option. I'm going to tear you limb from limb, and I'm going to just level your houses, and I'm going to destroy your family. So punishment threatened, reward promised. So this is the scene. And so as we go to Nebuchadnezzar's court, we have the king's confusion. He's confused. He doesn't remember the dream. He knows it's significant. And it's trouble him. He can't sleep. He wants it resolved. We have his confusion of the dream and his meaning. The court's confounded. They don't know what to do. They said, this is how it works. Time out, king. This is how it works. You tell us a dream, and then we tell you what it means. You're asking us to do something that not even, there's no person on earth that can do this. And their thought was only their little gee gods could do that. At least they understood it was beyond them. There had to be something beyond them to tell them what this dream was. But they said the gods don't. Now this is interesting. The gods don't dwell in flesh. Who came and dwelt in flesh? Lord Jesus. And he came to make the Father known to us. He was God incarnate. he took upon humanity and human flesh. So they're confounded by their limitations. That isn't necessarily a bad place to be. We need to come, in a sense, to the end of ourself and realize, I cannot solve this by myself or in my own power. I must turn somewhere else. The world turns to all kinds of places to solve the deep need of their heart. The only one that can solve that is a true and living God, just like the only one that could reveal this dream and its interpretation is a true and living God. And the only one that can meet the very deep need of your heart is a true and living God revealed in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they understood their limitations. And in many ways, they were con men. they were sleight of hand. Now the Chaldeans did, now there's a difference between astrology and what? Astronomy. Astronomy is is examining the physical heavens and the planets and the stars and learning certain things from them. You know, the mariners, that's how they were able to navigate by the stars. They learned to navigate by the stars until the sextant came, was developed, and then they were able to use that, but they also used the stars for that. But astronomy is different than astrology. Astrology gets into the occult, it gets into the little G-godless world, and it's false, it's phony, and you read your horoscope, all you're reading is baloney, that Greek word baloney. Doesn't matter what sign you were born under. I think my sign is cancer, but who cares? I don't care. Because it means nothing. It is nothing. It's just false religion and false gods. They understand the limitations. We have Daniel's confidence. And his confidence is in the Lord of Hosts. And as we read this section where Daniel's brought into it. Now, if you read any commentary, even if you have a study Bible, it probably talks about it. The beginning of that chapter says, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar. Well, we just finished chapter one that says after three years, Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah came before Nebuchadnezzar because they went through this three years of training. So which is it? Three years or two years? Well, it depends how you calculate. If you go by Hebrew calculation, it could be considered three years. If you go by the Babylonian calculation, it's basically two years. The first year of Nebuchadnezzar taking the throne, he took the throne basically on the battlefield because his father, Nebuchadnezzar, died. in 605. And so when he died, Nebuchadnezzar took the throne. And so that first year from 605 into 604 was his ascension to the throne. And then from 604 to 603 and 603 to 602, which where we're at now about 602 BC, is his second year of being officially the king. Okay, clear as mud? Okay. So It doesn't seem that Daniel and his three companions were in this first group that came before the king. Some wonder if they were still in training, or if they just weren't included yet. But they weren't in that first group, it seems. Because the text seems like that they went looking for Daniel and his three companions. And so these guys couldn't come through. Verse 12, because of this, the king was angry and furious, and commanded 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. Now it seems like this is kind of the secret police of Babylon, okay? Kind of the Gestapo. Kind of the KGB of Russia. Ariok is a head of this group. And so he's leading the charge. They're seeking after Daniel. He comes to Daniel. And so Daniel replied, there's two words here, with prudence and discretion. Now, ultimately, Daniel was a prophet, but he also was a diplomat. That was his function. in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and subsequently in Darius's court and subsequently into Cyrus's court because Daniel's, the 70 years of exile span from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus, Darius and Cyrus of the Medo-Persian Empire. And Daniel lived that entire time in exile, those 70 years. He was probably about 15 when he was taken into exile. So he is Probably 85 years old when the exile ends. And during that whole 70 years, he basically functioned as a diplomat. Sometimes our power strip, some of the connections don't work. There it is. Isn't it amazing when you have power? So here's Daniel's reaction. No panic. You ever panic? We panic a lot, don't we? Doesn't seem Daniel panicked. Here comes Arioch with his men, and they're going to tear Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what? limb from limb. Whether they're going to use wild horses, tie them up and let horses take them, or whatever they were going to do it, the word's out. They come to get Daniel and his companions with no panic. It's of necessity that we would learn and grow in this. A lot of times we learn it and forget it, learn it and forget it, learn it and forgive it, right? That we can trust God. No matter what the circumstance is, we can trust the true and living God. Daniel knew he could trust the true and living God. Again, we get further down the road here. These three guys, when they wouldn't bow before the image, they said, our God is able to deliver us, but if he doesn't deliver us, we're still not bowing down before you. But Daniel knew that he could trust God, no matter what the circumstance was, no matter what the situation was. And so he doesn't panic. He responds to Aaron with prudence and discretion. He says, what's the hurry? Ask the king to give me time to seek an answer. And so there's no panic in David's life. Daniel's humble request before this captain of the guard. And then Daniel's reaction is much prayer. First thing he does is go to his friends and says, let's pray. As I was thinking about this this morning, going over this This is probably like a small church there in Babylon. At least these four guys made up a church. There's probably more, maybe. We don't know who they are. There are more companions that were taken and were trained and were around Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah. So it could have been more, but at least these four are named. And they enter into prayer together, into corporate prayer. That's why it's important for us to be a people of God together, and that we pray for one another together, and we pray for the will of God together. I see this as just a congregation here in exile, under the threat of death, but they turn to the Lord in prayer. And Daniel gives some guidance. What are we praying for? We're praying for mercy. We're praying for God's mercy upon us. Again, mercy is God withholding what we deserve. And I think we can pray for that twin sister, Grace, God give us what we don't deserve. I don't think we can just be exclusive here, just say he prayed for mercy. I think mercy and grace are wrapped up together. They're twin sisters. They're two sides of the same coin. They're praying for God's grace and God's mercy to be upon them. And maybe not just upon them too, but these other pagans praying for God's mercy to be upon them. They pray for God's mercy. That's what the publican prayed, wasn't it? The Pharisee stood in his arrogance and his pride. And by the way, that's what sends people to hell, is their pride. I will not bow my knee before the true and living God. I will not bow my knee before the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the theme song of hell is what? I did it, what? My way. Pray for mercy. Pray for God's grace. And they also prayed for wisdom. I had a third thought. This is amazing. Maybe James was thinking about this story when he says there in James 1, I think verse 5, if any man lack wisdom, let him do what? Let him ask of God. David said, pray for mercy, but pray for wisdom. Pray that God will reveal this dream to us. And that's what we should pray for. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, pray for God's mercy. And pray for God's wisdom. You know, we readily say, why God? Why God? Why God? Why God? And we should be saying, maybe in the next breath or the first breath, what God? What God, what do you want to teach me in this circumstance in my life right now? What are you saying to me that you want to work in me and through me to transform me in this circumstance? Give me wisdom, Lord, for what's going on in my life. Help me understand what I need to do. Now, the last part of this section that we read, that you may know the thoughts of your mind." Daniel said, God's given me the answer, God's revealed to me the dream, so that you can understand the thoughts of your mind. Now that, immediately when I read that, I thought of Hebrews chapter 4, where God says something about His Word. that his word, the word of God, is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the vision of the soul and spirit of the joints and the marrow, basically he's just describing, goes to the very core of our being, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him, to whom we must give an account. Daniel says, Nebuchadnezzar, God, give me the answer so you can understand the thoughts of your heart. God has given us his word so that we can understand the thoughts of our heart, whether it be thoughts of faith or fear or panic or repose, resting in Christ. The word of God helps us understand that. And the Lord's provision. God answered their prayer. By the way, God always answers our prayer, right? What, three answers? Yes, no, and what? Wait. God always answers our prayers. In His time, His way. We can trust Him for that. And it results in worship. In the face of death, in the midst of intercession and prayer, in the blessing of God's mercy and wisdom upon Daniel and his friends. They break out in worship. That's what Daniel does there in verse 20. In verse 19, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the Lord of heaven. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever. Not just in this moment, not just because he came through for me this time, If it doesn't come through for me next time, well, that might be different, no. Let's bless the name of the Lord forever and ever. To whom belongs wisdom and might. I think 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 describes the Lord Jesus for us in some terms. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus. Whom God made our wisdom. Our wisdom is Christ. Whom God made our righteousness. Our righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. Whom God made our sanctification. The Lord Jesus Christ is our sanctification. Whom God made our redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. So Daniel breaks out in worship. He recognizes who God is. He changes times and seasons. We're glad for the mountaintops, aren't we? Sometimes we're not so happy about the valleys, but God's the one that changes those. God's the one that directs us. From the mountaintop to the valley and every place in between, God's presence is with us. He's on that journey with us. He takes us into the valley. Now, with David, we understand Psalm 23. Sometimes that valley is the valley of shadow death. But what does David say? I shall what? Fear no what? Evil. Why? Because thou art with me. He's the God of the valleys, the God of the mountaintop and everywhere in between. And so Daniel says, he changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. Again, allusion to what we'll see in the next section. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. There's a correlation here. The more we seek wisdom, the more God gives us wisdom. The more we act wisely, the more God gives us wisdom. The more we grow an understanding of God's Word, which really comes from obedience to His Word, the more He gives us understanding of His Word. If we want to go deeper in the Word of God, we must know it and obey it. If we want to become wiser in the things of God, we must seek it and Apply it in our life. He gives wisdom to the wise, not the fools. He gives understanding, or knowledge to those who have understanding, not those that ignore his word. There's a process there. He reveals the deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness. You know, you read in Jonah, Jonah's prayer from the belly of that fish. He talks about how he was basically in darkness. But he realized something, God was present. Even in the depths of the sea, even in the depths of a fish's belly, God was present. Men try, we try to hide our sin by darkness, don't we? Honky-tonks have the lights down low. Terrorists have the lights down low. We hide in our homes and turn the lights out and we think God doesn't see. The scripture says darkness is his light to God. That's what this says. He knows what's in the darkness. The light dwells with him. To you, O God of our fathers, I give thanks and praise. You have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we ask of you. For you've made known to us the king's manner. So I think what I don't need to panic. I can trust God. I can rest in Him. And as we'll see, a very significant ingredient in Daniel's life was prayer, was prayer. And that was his first option, not his last option. And he learned more and more who God is and God's faithful. Father, thank you for you. Are you the same God today as you were in Daniel's day? You have the same power, the same wisdom, the same purposes. You're still raising up nations and putting them down. You're still, Father, working in the times and seasons. Father, it seems like we're living in a very dark place in our world today, particularly in Western civilization. But Father, we thank you for the light of the gospel that shines brightest in those darkest places. So Father, help us to walk in that light as he is in the light. Help us to rest in you and trust in you, not to trust in man. As the Psalmist said, some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we're gonna trust in the name of the Lord our God. So Father, help us to, to walk in faith, faith done by hearing and hearing by your word, and Father, exercising that faith, being obedient in that faith, that Father, we might gain in wisdom, that we might gain in knowledge and understanding, mostly of who you are, of who the Lord Jesus is, and what we've received in him. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.