but there is a God in the heavens, who revealeth secrets, and maketh known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be at the end of days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these
Daniel stands before a king who has just condemned every wise man in Babylon to death. His first move is not to show off the answer he holds, but to name its source: a God in heaven who reveals what no expert in the empire could reach.
Before Daniel says anything about God, he says something about the men around him: the secret is beyond them. Commentators read this opening as a verdict, not a polite introduction.
Daniel begins in clear communion with the mind of God. He declares that human wisdom is powerless. This matches the words of another prophet: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Writing this way, led by the Holy Spirit, Daniel passes the sentence of death on the wisdom of the world. He then declares the source of the vision. "There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets" — and this was Daniel's God. He delighted to exalt Him in front of this absolute and idol-worshipping king.
Daniel does not call Him the God of the earth. One writer ties this title to a change in history: God's throne in Israel's midst had ended.
The throne of God had ceased on the earth at the beginning of these times of the Gentiles. So in Daniel you never get the God of the earth, but the God of heaven, because He was not there with them. God once governed the earth directly, with Israel at the centre and His throne in their midst, sitting between the cherubim, as it is said. His departure from that government, and His return to it, are of immense importance.
The word behind "secrets" — "mysteries" in the ESV — has a precise sense.
A mystery may be a dream, a vision, a parable or a spoken prophecy. The key feature is that you cannot understand the divine communication without a further divine communication to explain the first. The Greek word for mystery first occurs in this chapter of Daniel. In the Greek Old Testament the term appears again and again for Nebuchadnezzar's forgotten dream and its interpretation… A mystery is a secret thing that would stay secret apart from divine revelation. You must be let into it before you can know and understand it.
Daniel does not say that God made the secret known to him. He says God made it known to Nebuchadnezzar. One writer stops on that wording.
Daniel shows how impossible it was for "the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers" to show the dream to the king. "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and makes known [he does not even say to Daniel, but] to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days." He wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know the interest God took in him.
The phrase sets how far the dream reaches. It runs on to the point where God's purpose becomes plain to everyone.
Yet, as the God of the heavens, He was pleased to make known to the pagan king "what should be at the end of the days" (Dan. 2:28). Only then will God's purpose be plain to every eye. That purpose appears in the judgment of the Gentile empires, and then in the setting up of His kingdom, which will fill the whole earth and stand for ever.
Man has his own version of how the story ends, and it is the exact opposite.
He is determined to reach what he likes to call "The Millennium" by his own efforts — though without God and without Christ. He is sure he will succeed. In his judgment, "the end of the days" will be the end of all his toil, the fulfilment of his high ambition, and the peace and contentment of the human race.
Daniel had every reason to take the credit. He took none.
As for Daniel himself, he is not lifted up by the great revelations he has received, nor does he, like Arioch, use the occasion for his own glory. He hides himself behind the glory of God, and because he does so, God is glorified.
- Wisdom fails. Daniel first rules out the astrologers and magicians. The sentence of death on human wisdom clears the ground for God to speak.
- Heaven speaks. Daniel calls Him "a God in heaven" because God's throne in Israel's midst had ended. He now governs from above.
- Secrets open. A mystery stays hidden until God gives a second word to explain the first.
- The king is reached. Daniel says God made the secret known to Nebuchadnezzar, not to him — God took a personal interest in this pagan ruler.
- The end is His. "The latter days" run past every empire to the kingdom that fills the earth and stands for ever — not the future the world is building without God.
-- as for thee, O king, thy thoughts arose upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
Daniel stands before the king of Babylon. He explains not only what the dream meant, but where it came from — the king's own wondering, late at night, about what would follow him. A private thought met a divine reply. That raises two questions. How did God know the thought? And how far ahead does the answer reach?
Before the dream came, something was already troubling Nebuchadnezzar. One writer describes what was on his mind as he lay down.
It seems he had been pondering what might become of his great kingdom in the hands of those who would follow him. In his view his gods had shown him great favour. Even the God of Israel had to admit their power and the strength of his armies. But the future held mysteries. Who could shed light on things still to come? Was it not possible that this mighty power might yet crumble to pieces and pass away like a dream in the night?
The dream was God's answer to what the king had been turning over at night. And it had a purpose beyond curiosity.
God graciously answered the poor pagan's thoughts. He showed him in a vision the whole of Gentile imperial power, and its final destruction by the greater power of the Kingdom of God. This was meant to work on his conscience for his blessing, but it had no such effect at that time. He was blessed later (Dan. 4).
Daniel's words told the king that God had read his inner life. That was part of the reason God sent the dream.
He pointed the king to the God of heaven, who reveals secrets. This God intends to make known to him the future course of Gentile rule, which had begun with his overthrow of Jerusalem and its king. Nebuchadnezzar was plainly told why God had acted this way. It was for the sake of Daniel himself and his companions. It was also so that the king might realise he was dealing with a God who knew the most secret thoughts of his heart and mind.
Being known like this is not only a comfort. It is also a warning.
What a humbling experience to stand before a God who knows everything! How frightening, how overwhelming, just to find yourself before One who knows all about everything, and all about you — your "thoughts afar off." He even counts the hairs of your head! Well may the sinner tremble and the believer rejoice! And notice, He is not only a "revealer of secrets," but, as Romans 2 tells us, the judge of them too. God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.
The verse calls God the One who reveals mysteries. Older translations say "secrets." One writer sets out what such a mystery is.
A mystery may be a dream, a vision, a parable or a spoken prophecy. The key feature is this: you cannot understand the first message from God without a later message from God that explains it… A mystery is therefore a secret thing which would stay secret apart from divine revelation.
Daniel kept the focus off himself, and on the king God was addressing.
Real, deep knowledge of God's ways always comes with humility… Daniel says there is "a God in heaven who reveals secrets." And notice: he does not even say God made it known to Daniel, but "to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." He wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know the interest God took in him.
The king wondered about his successors. The answer ran far past them.
So the dream is the answer to those thoughts. Nebuchadnezzar gets a complete survey of the character and career of the enormous empire that was the pride of his vain and foolish heart. And he has to watch it broken to pieces in its last and strongest form, by a power greater than itself. That power scatters it like chaff from a summer threshing-floor.
One writer reads verses 28, 29 and 45 together, and finds that the "stone" in the vision is still to come.
The three verses, 28, 29 and 45, assure us that the appearance of this "stone" lies in the future… all three references clearly point to the end times. In our day many momentous events have taken place and we cannot ignore their impact. They make us feel we are living in closing days. But the focus of prophecy is on the end times. Those days will not begin to be fulfilled until the church has been removed from earth to heaven.
- Secret thought. The king lay awake wondering what would become of his empire after him — a private question no one else had heard.
- Secret known. The dream showed him he was dealing with a God who knew the most hidden thoughts of his heart and mind.
- Secret revealed. A mystery is something that stays unknown unless God explains it. He reveals secrets — and He judges them too.
- Secret told. Daniel refused the credit. He told the king that God sent the answer for him, so that he would know the interest God took in him.
- Secret ahead. The reply outran the king's question. It runs on to the latter days, and to the kingdom that breaks all others.
And as for me, this secret is revealed to me, not by [any] wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation should be made known to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Daniel stands before the most powerful man on earth. The order to execute Babylon's wise men has already gone out, and he alone holds the secret the king wants. Yet he opens his explanation by taking himself out of the picture. The verse raises two questions: why God gives a revelation to one man and not another, and who the revelation is really for.
The word translated "mystery" or "secret" is not vague religious language. It carries a precise sense:
A mystery may consist of a dream, a vision, a parable or a spoken prophecy. The essential feature is this: the message from God cannot be understood without a later message from God that explains the first… A mystery is a secret thing which would stay secret apart from divine revelation. You must be let into it before you can know and understand it.
Daniel had every reason to take the honour. He alone had the answer, and the king was waiting. Yet his first move points away from himself.
How beautiful he is in the presence of the mighty monarch! What an opportunity to glorify himself. But he hides himself completely and gives God all the glory.
This was not false modesty. Daniel was the outstanding man of his generation, and he still would not let his own ability explain what had happened.
He denies that any wisdom of his own explains it; yet he was the wisest man then on earth. But God was in all his thoughts, to Whom be the glory.
Many assume that the more a person grasps of God's ways, the prouder they become. Daniel's answer cuts against that.
Daniel's answer is beautiful. Real, deep knowledge of the ways of God is always accompanied by humility. Nothing is more mistaken, or less true to the facts, than the idea that spiritual intelligence puffs a man up. Knowledge may — mere knowledge. But I am speaking of that spiritual understanding in the word which flows from a sense of God's love. It seeks to spread itself, if I may put it that way, simply because it is divine love.
Daniel's words are also a public verdict on the experts who had just failed. By tracing the revelation to God alone, he writes off human ability as a route to God's mind.
Daniel begins in clear communion with the mind of God. He declares how powerless human wisdom is, in line with the words of another prophet: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart"… Finally, he disclaims any credit for himself; he was nothing but the vessel.
The verse gives two purposes, and neither is Daniel's advancement. An older translation renders the middle clause "for their sakes," and one commentator builds on that:
He admits that any knowledge he has came to him by revelation. Even then, God did not give him that revelation because of any wisdom he has beyond anyone else. Nor does it come first of all for the king's sake, still less to save the lives of the wise men of Babylon. It is "for the sake of those who will make known the interpretation." He links his companions with himself. He reminds the king that God is caring for His people, captives though they are… One has said, "It is when we understand how to humble ourselves thoroughly that we are truly exalted. If Daniel disappears, God Himself is manifested in him."
The second purpose reaches the king's own thoughts. Nebuchadnezzar is to learn who he is dealing with.
Nebuchadnezzar was told plainly that God had acted in this way for the sake of Daniel himself and his companions. He also acted so that the king might realise he was dealing with a God who knew the most secret thoughts of his heart and mind.
If the wisdom is not his own, neither is its use. That principle reaches past Daniel to anyone God entrusts with anything.
What a lesson this is for us! To use rightly the gift given to him, the servant must depend on the Giver. There must be no confidence in self… God does not give His gift, whatever it may be, to make us independent of Him. We are to use it as He directs. Every servant has to learn this if he is to be a good and faithful workman.
- Secret — No skill could recover what Nebuchadnezzar had lost. A mystery stays hidden until God explains it Himself.
- Given — Daniel traces the answer to revelation, not to talent, though he was in fact the wisest man alive at the time.
- Emptied — He takes no credit and calls himself only the vessel. When Daniel disappears, God becomes visible in him.
- For others — The revelation was not for Daniel's promotion. It came for the sake of his companions, and to show the king that God reads his private thoughts.
- Held — God never gives a gift to make the servant independent of the Giver. Use it in dependence, or you misuse it.