24 “Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, 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; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.’ 25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, ‘I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.’ 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ‘Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?’ 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ‘The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.’”
2:24
Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, 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; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”
Daniel went to the executioner, Arioch of the State Department, and told him that he was ready to reveal the dream to Nebuchadnezzar.
2:25
Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
The words “I have found” are emphatic. Arioch clearly takes credit for finding Daniel.
2:26
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation? ”
Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know two things from Daniel: 1) the dream’s content, and 2) the interpretation of the dream.
2:27
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.”
Daniel wanted to make it abundantly clear that otherwise, men could not make known both the content and interpretation of the dream. Their gods could not reveal it to them. There is a radical difference between supernatural revelation and human wisdom. In effect, Daniel is saying, “I am not here representing the academia of the Chaldean Empire.” God brings to nothing the wisdom of the wise.
1 Co 1:26-29, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
2:28
“But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
God, in contrast to the philosophers of the age, can know the future. Superstition cannot give what God can give.
God made known to Nebuchadnezzar what will happen “in the latter days.” The book of Daniel is about prophecy. The “latter days” of the Gentiles and Jews both come to a conclusion in the Tribulation.
2:29
“As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
Daniel’s vision is about the future, both near and far.
2:30
“But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”
Again, Daniel made it clear to Nebuchadnezzar that it was not his sagacity but God’s wisdom that made this dream known. Daniel divested any credit to himself: “It isn’t because I am better than anyone else that God gave me this revelation.”
PRINCIPLE:
Believers should give credit where credit is due.
APPLICATION:
Note the striking contrast between Arioch and Daniel. Arioch quickly took the credit for Daniel’s revelation. Daniel gave glory to God; he did not try to grab glory for himself.
Some of us feed on approbation lust. The more praise we receive, the more we desire it. It is like dope. We become addicted to praise very quickly. If people do not continually make noises about what we do, we go into approbation deficit. If others do not tell us how wonderful we are, we sulk. This is immaturity.
With regard to vs. 24.
Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon …
At this point had any of the wise men been destroyed and Daniel was asking that the executions not begin; or, was Daniel asking for a halt to something that had already began?
Thank you for your website.
Don Taylor
Don, thanks for your comment. I do not believe any wise men had been destroyed to this point. The decision was made to do it but had not executed the command on the condition that someone might interpret and tell the dream. Grant