Dan 2:11, 27-28 - A God of Relationship

 Daniel 2:11 (ESV)

[11] 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.”

Daniel 2:27-28 (ESV)

[27] 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, [28] but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:

In Daniel 2 King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him. He called together all “the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans” (Dan 2:2). He was so disturbed by the dream that he made a request no king had ever made. In order to make sure that he had a correct interpretation of the dream, he requested that the interpreters not only tell him what the dream meant, but to first tell him what the dream was. Their response was, “No one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Dan 2:11).

Daniel’s response was quite different. In a non-anxious manner, he simply requested an appointment to tell the dream and its interpretation. Then he went to his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and asked them to pray. When he came back to the king with the interpretation he 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” (Dan 2:27-28). The word “God” that Daniel used is the same word the wise men used when they said that only the gods could answer the king’s request. The difference is that they had no way to hear from the gods. Daniel knew God as one who speaks to and interacts with men.

The name used in these verses is Elohim. It is the generic name for God that can either refer to the gods of the world or to God of Heaven whom the Jews served. For the world, the gods are inaccessible. If they speak at all, they speak in riddles that must be interpreted. Thus, the wise men said, “Tell us the dream and we will tell you what it means.” They were good at bluffing their way through an interpretation that may or may not be correct. For the Jews, God is accessible. He speaks to people. He answers prayers. He demonstrates power. He spoke to Moses. He demonstrated his power on Sinai. He spoke to Elijah, sent fire in response to his prayer, and answered his prayer for rain. He showed Daniel Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. God is the God who interacts with people.

God is a God of relationship. He is the God who became flesh, lived among us, died in our place and raised from the dead. God is not a distant, inaccessible god. As believers in Jesus Christ, he is with us, his Spirit dwells within us, and he has invited us to come confidently before his throne at any time. God is not a god who must be begged and pleaded with in order to hear us. He is not a god who must be cajoled, enticed, and flattered in order to answer our prayers. He is the God who took the initiative to restore relationship with us through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. We do not serve a god who is one of the gods of this world. We do not serve a god who is a truth among many truths. We serve the one who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). There are not many roads to God, nor many truths from which to choose. There is truth and there is lie. The truth is that Daniel was a non-anxious presence in an anxious time because he served a God of relationship who answers prayer.

God did not answer Daniel’s prayer because Daniel was somebody special. He heard Daniel’s prayer because God is a God of wisdom and might, as well as a God of mercy (Dan 2:18ff). That is the God we serve. In times of high anxiety, God is a God of peace. May these verses speak to us today as we face anxious times.

Philippians 4:4-7 (ESV)

[4] Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. [5] Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; [6] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.