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Saturday 3 July 2021

Daniel 2:25-30 - There is a God who reveals mysteries

2:25-28

Arioch took Daniel to the king. He was probably relieved that there seemed to be an alternative to the slaughter of all the wise men. He may not have been particularly keen on the idea of doing it anyway, and possibly feared that he could be next. When tyrants become paranoid no one is safe. The king then enquires of Daniel. Daniel starts by making it clear that the revelation is down to God, he does not boast about himself at all. “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” The dreams are about what is to come, and so Daniel is about to tell Nebuchadnezzar what he saw and what the dreams meant.


2:29,30

The king may well have been rather insecure. This is a common feature of rulers. However, the Lord revealed a mystery to the king. Now, why did God do this? Why reveal mysteries to a heathen ruler? We aren’t told, but the nature of the dream does have similarities to the later visions that Daniel received, in particular with the four kingdoms.  We should also note the very fact that God does reveal things to heathen rulers. We are told to pray for our rulers. Now we may look at many of them and consider this a pointless and futile exercise, for most rulers are pretty godless types. However, we should still pray, for God can and does speak to anyone. It is God’s choice to speak, not the ruler's choice! Daniel puts himself in a humble position and stresses that the only reason God has revealed these things to him is because God wants Nebuchadnezzar to know them.


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