The book of Daniel is probably the only book of the Bible with the most supernatural elements. From dreams to visions, to manifestations of those, there is indeed quite a lot to grasp. If we are honest, much of the content on the visions and dreams laid out in the book of Daniel does not make sense to our finite mind. Some of us like to focus on the supernatural elements while others skip to the main stories. Regardless of where you fall in those groups, if there is anything that we learn from such supernatural stories is that God is above all powers. He reigns sovereignly in the heavens and in the earth. Just like the prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray reminds us say: “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Psalm 24 echoes this sentiment even better: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Psalm 24:1-2). There is nothing on the earth that does not fall under the purview of God, nor is there anything above the earth that does not submit to Him, whether visible or invisible, God is above everything. For this reason, when we approach His words, we ought to approach it reverently, knowing that His words carry much power, they carry life, they are the words of the almighty given to us for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Reading the book of Daniel this week, I was struck by the simplicity of the faith of the main characters and how God uses that to display His might. As you keep reading, my hope is that you see in the lives of Daniel and his companions something to spur you on to hold fast to your faith in Christ Jesus.
I have always been fascinated by Daniel and his companions. It is not just the fact that they were from royal blood or came from nobility which I translate to mean “highly influential families”, it is not even the fact that they were all physically “perfect” (Daniel 1:3-4), handsome, no defect found in them, the “crème de la crème” type but it is the fact that they stood out from the rest of their contemporaries in their intelligence, knowledge and understanding as they were outstanding in everything. Many today will say these men had an advantage since they were raised well, they had access to information, wealth, resources so it is only logical that they stood out but such thinking does not take into account the fact that everyone else among the pool of young men recruited for service in the royal courts had a similar upbringing which means, what would set them apart had to be more than their physical appearance or the lineage they came from. Daniel and his companions may have been privileged but that privilege was not going to be enough to allow them to be accepted and work for the king, God was. Indeed, if it was not for the favour of God, the wisdom and understanding of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah would not have impressed the king. As we learn that to Daniel and his friends “God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds” (Daniel 1:17). God is the one orchestrating everything in the book of Daniel. He is the one who gave these gifts to Daniel and his friends, He is the one to whom all glory should be given. That is a common theme we see repeatedly in the book of Daniel. God is the author of all things, it is not man. Daniel certainly made it clear when he was summoned to see the king to interpret a dream that no one else could in the entire kingdom. Unlike many of us if put in Daniel’s shoes, he spoke plainly to the king that the wisdom and ability to interpret the king’s dreams belonged to God, not him. He did what the Lord expects of us, that is to ascribe glory to His name, to give Him what belongs to Him:glory, honour, adoration, in fact, everything. A similar scene happened with Daniel’s friends when brought before the same king because of an act of disobedience. Prior to this summoning, the king had been impressed by Daniel and his companions because in all his kingdom, he found Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters” (Daniel 1:20). As a result, Daniel’s friends were given the position of administrators over the province of Babylon, in other words they oversaw a big territory. What led to their charge before the king? Essentially obedience to God. Indeed, this king had erected a massive golden image and ordered all the peoples of his kingdom to fall down and worship the image at the sound of instruments. The king’s order was followed by all except Daniel’s friends and fellow jewish brothers and this was brought to the king’s attention. The king was furious, rightly so because his orders were not followed and as such, he summoned Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He then ordered them to worship the image at the sound of the instruments otherwise they will be thrown into the fiery furnace but Daniel’s friends, unshaken by the king’s threat responded firmly and respectfully that “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18). This response is firm and shows that Daniel’s friends’ loyalty was to the King of kings and Lord of lords. They were willing to die instead of trampling the Lord’s name and committing idolatry. They were fully confident in the Lord’s power to save them if He so willed; they knew the God of their forefathers, that He never faltered on His promises. It is with such confidence that Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah upheld the authority of God over their lives instead of the king’s. Once again, we see that God is put in His rightful place, that is, above everything. Daniel’s friends also gave God the glory, ascribing glory to his name, power and majesty. They gave God what belonged to God and to the king what belonged to him. This is our portion as children of the living God.
In summary, Daniel and his friends teach us that we do not need to see the mighty acts of God with our eyes to believe in Him. They teach us that we can be confident in God’s words alone. They teach us that we can know the power of God just from learning about Him in His words and we can know God by taking Him at His word. It is that simple. For you and I today who did not grow up during Jesus’ time, we often feel like we missed out on many things, and we believe that if we had witness Jesus’s miracles, our faith would be stronger. Moreover, our witness of Christ to a dying world is not always effective because we think we need to show miraculous signs or do what the apostles did in the past. But, Daniel and his friends were very much in a similar predicament as us today. They too did not witness God’s mighty acts, they did not see how God took their people out of Egypt, how He established them, nor did they see the glory days during the times of David and Solomon. Yet, despite not witnessing the marvelous acts of God for His people, they read the word of God, studied the word of God and believed the word of God. They took the Lord at His word and they were not put to shame. The Lord decided to show His mighty power in the way He rescued Daniel’s friends from that blazing furnace, He covered them and did not let his servants die. In doing so, the Lord established His name through all the Babylonian kingdom, starting with its king Nebuchadnezzar. It is quite impressive what the Lord can do when He finds faithful vessels. God has always made it clear in His words that He is God and there is none like Him, that His glory is not to be shared with any and that He is a jealous God. He wants us to be fully devoted to Him. Everything else is secondary to Him. This truth, is something that the Lord wanted to teach king Nebuchadnezzar and one that He is still teaching us today. No one should elevate themselves before the Lord for the Lord hates the proud but He gives grace to the humble. When it comes to God, there is none like Him and our response is only to come before Him with humility. Anything else is unacceptable. Today, we are better than Daniel and his friends because we have the Holy Spirit living in us so we can be more than confident that God is with us. I pray we learn to cling to God’s words in all simplicity. Amen
A Word Aptly Spoken 