Notes and Questions for February 1, 2009

Sorry for the late post.

Notes and Questions for February 1, 2009


Last week the plea from Neb came out loud and clear. If you want a REAL answer when things are really serious you aren’t willing to play games. Neb finished his orders to kill all these ‘wise’ men and didn’t have an answer.

This week we will review verse 14 through 23 of Chapter 2. We started into 14 and 15 last week as we began the review of Daniel’s response.

Please read the entire section – Daniel 2:1-23

What happened last week through verse 13?
Did the ‘wise men’ consult their gods or ask for more time? What was their response?
What is about ready to happen to Daniel?
What is our response when we are confronted with requests? Why?

Read verse 14 to 23

What is significant to you in these verses? What stands out?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Concentrate on verse 14 to 16 –

Speculate on the relationship Daniel has with Arioch…

How did Daniel respond to the news that he would be killed? How do we respond to significant bad news? Why?

Who was Daniel concerned with in verse 15? Contrast this with who the wise men were concerned with in verses 4, 7, 10 and 11… Is this what we are concerned with in a situation?

Do we ever think that God has abandoned us or left us even though His promise in scripture says He will not?

What is a recent example where you forgot, doubted, or were concerned enough that it would show you didn’t see God in control of a situation? What did you do with that situation?

The captain of the royal bodyguard was Arioch (v 14). This name had been born in Abraham’s time by a king of Ellasar, an ally of Kedorlaomer (Gen 14:1); it also appears as Arriwuk in the Mari correspondence and as Ariuki in the Nuzi documents. When Arioch came to Daniel’s quarters to take him to death row; he told Daniel why all the wise men had been condemned (v 15). Then, at Daniel’s request, the captain took him before Nebuchadnezzar himself, so as to secure a stay of execution till Daniel had an opportunity to consult his God about the mysterious dream (v 16). The stage was now set to show the reality, wisdom, and power of the one true God – Yahweh – as over against the inarticulate and impotent imaginary gods the magicians worshipped. It is the same general theme that dominates the remainder of the book and serves to remind the Hebrew nation that despite their own failure, collapse, and banishment into exile, the God of Israel remains as omnipotent as He ever was in the days of Moses and that His covenantal love remains as steadfast toward the seed of Abraham as it ever had been.

As for Daniel, he knew beyond doubt that in this deadly emergency he was to trust himself to the faithfulness of his God, the one who could do the impossible. Never before had an interpreter of dreams – not even Joseph of Egypt – been required to reconstruct the dream itself. But Daniel had confidence that Yahweh could even do this unprecedented miracle and do it for His own glory. The pagan wise men had confessed that only deity could comply with the king’s request. Neb and all of Babylon were therefore to be confronted with unanswerable proof that only Israel’s God was real, sovereign, and limitless in His power.

What seems impossible for you right now?

What is the one thing that holds you back from completely surrendering to God?

Read verse 17 to 19 aloud

What did Daniel do first?

Do you have fellowship with those that you would confront with the greatest problem in your life?

What did Daniel ask for his friend to do? Was he concerned with his life and theirs? What were they to plead for?

How long did they have to interpret Neb’s dream?

What was the response to God from Daniel? Specifically recount the last two times you praised God for what He gave you?
Read verses 20 to 23 ALOUD –

What part of this praise do you identify most with RIGHT NOW?

What part of this praise section do you struggle with?

Note that because for Daniel the demonstration of God’s glory took precedence over his own safety, Daniel confident that God would answer His prayer. But he also realized that the effectiveness of prayer may be heightened when believers unite in common supplication. So he gathered his three companions in a concert of prayer (v 17), that they might “plead for mercy [rahmin] from the God of heave concerning this mystery [raz] (v 18). There is no account given of Daniel’s actual prayer nor of how the Lord answered him, though the latter is implied in Daniel’s word (v 27-35) to the king. But verse 20-23, voicing Daniel’s gratitude, serve as a ringing manifesto of bibilical faith against the pretensions of pagan pride. Though the Babylonians may have vanquished God’s people and dragged them into bondage after burning their temple, yet it was the God of Israel who was absolute sovereign in heaven AND ON EARTH.

Observe the emphasis on two of God’s attributes (v 20): “power” (gburta, which originally meant manly strength, from geber, “man”) and “wisdom” (hokmta). His power is then illustrated by His complete control over the events of history, particularly in bringing about the reversals of fortune that give history its unpredictability (v 21a). “He changes [mehasne, from sena, ‘be different’; hence, ‘make different,’ ‘alter’] the time [iddanayya, from the same iddan in v. 9] and seasons [zimnayya, from zeman, a length or interval of time].” In other words, God determine when in history events are to take place and how long each process or phase in history is to endure (sound familiar these days?). Thus Yahweh not only decreed the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 b.c. – an even future for Daniel in 602 b.c. – but also the exact number of years the captivity would last. The rulers of earth may imagine they have attained power by their own might, but it is only by God’s choice that they permitted their transient authority. At any time He may remove them from their thrones and set up others in their place (v 21a).

Next (v 21b) Daniel turned to another divine attribute – God’s wisdom. Whatever wisdom the wise of this world have attained has come from God, whether or not they recognize this. Humans are prone to swell with pride over their growing understanding of nature and its laws, when only by God’s gifts do they achieve anything. Moreover (v 22), even the cleverest minds will never understand certain areas of mystery and foreknowledge – namely, “the deep hidden things” and what which “lies in darkness”. The bafflement of the pagan wise men in Neb’s court illustrates this. All their knowledge could not deliver them from imminent death. So the great existential questions of life and death continue to be insoluble to the worldly rise. Without divine revelation, where is only conjecture and subjective opinion. Only in Yahweh, the God of Scripture, is ultimate truth to be found: “Light dwells with Him.”

In v 23 Daniel closes his thanksgiving on a joyous note. In a remarkable display of faith, he assumed in advance that the knowledge he had received was absolutely accurate, even before he told it to Neb. Most believers seldom have the faith to thank God in advance for his answers to prayer. Daniel gladly gave God all the glory for the superhuman ‘wisdom’ and ‘power’ he was about to display as the interpreter of the king’s dream. He also acknowledged that this revelation had been granted in response to the collective prayers in which is four companions had joined him: “You have made known to me what we asked of you”.

Give a specific example when you thanked those praying for wisdom when you received it.

How do you specifically acknowledge to others that all you have is from God?