that they would desire mercies of the God of the heavens concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
A death sentence had gone out over every wise man in Babylon. Daniel had no dream to report and no interpretation to give. He went home and called three friends to pray. The verse names both what he asked for and who he asked: mercy, from "the God of heaven."
This name for God runs through the whole book of Daniel. One writer links it to a change in the way God ruled the earth.
God's throne on earth had come to an end when these times of the Gentiles began. That is why in Daniel you never read of the God of the earth, only of the God of heaven. He was no longer there with them.
The same title keeps coming back through this chapter. One writer explains why.
Notice this in Daniel 2. In verse 18 Daniel asks for "mercy from the God of heaven." In verse 19 he "blessed the God of heaven." In verse 28 he says, "there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." In verse 37 he tells Nebuchadnezzar that "the God of heaven has given you the kingdom." In verse 44 he foretells that "in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom." The reason is this. Daniel, by the Spirit of God, is teaching God's people a very solemn truth: for the time being, God's kingdom on earth is set aside.
The word translated "mystery" here is not just a hard puzzle. Older translations say "secret." It names something no amount of study can reach.
The Greek word mysterion, mystery, first appears in the chapter of Daniel we have been looking at (Dan. 2)... So a mystery is a hidden thing that would stay hidden unless God revealed it.
That is why the professionals failed while four exiles succeeded. The difference was not intelligence but position.
The twists, the mazes and the riddles of human affairs are all plain to God. He can and does make them plain to those who walk with Him... And how is this? How can they unravel the world's mysteries so easily? Because they are above the world's mists. They are apart from what defiles the world. They are in the place of separation, the place of dependence, the place of communion.
Daniel did not yet have the answer. What he asked for was mercy — a request, not a demand.
If faith is confident, it is never presumptuous. So Daniel, who acknowledges and believes God, turns to the very opposite of the spirit of independence that man's will set up at the start. Prayer is the happy expression of dependence, and it is the healthy mark of a soul right with God.
Daniel wanted others praying with him. He also gave them one clear thing to ask for.
He values the fellowship of his brothers and trusts their prayers, for he asks them to "seek mercy from the God of heaven." He also values definite prayer, for they are to ask for mercy "concerning this mystery." Here we discover that fellowship with his brothers and dependence on God is the secret of Daniel's calm assurance and confidence before men.
Another writer points out how much rests on this small scene.
Counting on God, Daniel joined his companions with himself in his prayers. It is the first instance of united prayer recorded in Scripture. These exiles turned to it, and that shows us the secret of their holy and separate walk. Dependence on God in secret is the source of all power in life and testimony. We may add that it is also the source of courage before man and before Satan's power.
God answered the prayer. But the effect on the three friends reached beyond the crisis itself.
He sought their fellowship in prayer, and their faith was surely strengthened when they saw God's good hand so clearly at work to preserve them, once the matter was revealed to Daniel in answer to their united prayers. Praying together did more than win Daniel the revelation he wanted. It also prepared them for the further testing of their faith.
Then the answer came.
He does not go straight to the king, nor even to his companions, to tell them that God has made the dream known to him. The first thing he does is go to God. The God who has made the secret known is the One Daniel acknowledges at once. He takes the place of a worshipper. And let me say that this is the great purpose of all God's revelations.
- The Name — Daniel prays to "the God of heaven." God's throne on earth had ceased, and the title fits that era.
- The Need — a "mystery" stays hidden unless God reveals it. That is why every expert in Babylon failed.
- The Asking — Daniel is confident, never presumptuous. He asks for mercy, and prayer expresses that dependence.
- The Sharing — he gathers three friends and gives them one definite thing to pray for. It is the first united prayer in Scripture.
- The Result — the answer came, it strengthened the three for later trials, and Daniel's first move was to worship.
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of the heavens.
Daniel and his three friends had asked God for mercy. The king had lost a dream that no one in Babylon could recover, and a death sentence hung on it. The answer arrives in the night, and what Daniel does next says as much as the revelation itself.
The vision did not come out of nowhere. Four young captives had just done something Scripture had not recorded before.
Counting on God, Daniel joined his companions with himself in his prayers. It is the first instance of united prayer recorded in Scripture. These children of the captivity turned to it, and that shows us the secret of their holy and separate walk. Dependence on God in private is the means of all power in life and testimony. We may add that it is also the means of courage before man and before Satan's power. These four, on their knees at such a moment before the God of heaven, are a wonderful sight. They were only foreigners in a strange land, exiled for the sins of their nation. Now a quick death awaited them, unless someone could recall and interpret the forgotten dream.
The word "mystery" here has a definite sense. It names something that stays hidden unless God speaks.
These examples are enough to show the nature of what Scripture calls a "mystery." It may be a dream, a vision, a parable or a spoken prophecy. The key feature is this. No one can understand what God says the first time until God speaks again to explain it. The Greek word mysterion, mystery, first occurs in the chapter of Daniel we have referred to... a mystery is a secret thing that would stay secret unless God reveals it.
Others in Scripture had explained dreams. What Daniel received that night went further.
He saw by night just what the king had seen by night some days before. God had enabled others to interpret dreams — Joseph, for instance. But this was to duplicate a dream. What one man saw in his mind by night appeared again, point for point, in the mind of another man a few nights later. No one but God can do that. And God works this miracle in no servant of His except one who is fully separated to Him from the defilements of the world around him.
Daniel blesses God under one particular title. That title runs right through the chapter, and there is a reason behind it.
In Daniel 2, notice the title. At verse 18 Daniel asks for "mercies of the God of heaven." At verse 19 he "blesses the God of heaven." At verse 28 he declares that "there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." At verse 37 he tells Nebuchadnezzar that "the God of heaven has given you the kingdom." At verse 44 he prophesies that "in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom." The reason is this. Daniel, by the Spirit of God, is bringing out for God's people a solemn and wonderful truth: for the time being, God's kingdom on earth is set aside.
Daniel now held the answer that could save his life and his friends' lives. He did not head for the palace.
"Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night." How cheering and beautiful are God's dealings! Daniel had taken the initiative in faith, and though all four joined in prayer, God singled out Daniel. What happens then? Does he at once rush off to the king? He turns to God in thanksgiving. "Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." As he had looked to Him alone, so he gives the glory to God only.
What Daniel did first tells us what was in his soul.
Thanksgiving filled Daniel's heart when God revealed the king's secret to him. His godliness, the state of his soul, shows itself in this: he turned at once to God with thanksgiving and praise. When God gives blessings, we often fall straight to enjoying them instead of tracing them back, as Daniel did, to the heart of God.
- Asked — Four exiles prayed together for mercy about this secret. Commentators call it the first recorded case of united prayer in Scripture, and the root of their courage before human power.
- Revealed — A "secret" here means something no one can reach without God speaking. God did more than help Daniel interpret. He replayed another man's dream inside Daniel's mind, and no one but God can do that.
- Heaven — Daniel blesses "the God of heaven." That title runs through this chapter, because God's kingdom on earth is set aside for the time being.
- Blessed — Holding the answer that would save his life, Daniel went to God before he went to the king. He had looked to God alone, so he gave the glory to God alone.
- Traced — The instinct with a blessing is to enjoy it; Daniel's instinct was to follow it back to the God who gave it.