The first few chapters of the book of Daniel, tell a great deal about God and a proper relationship with him. We find the story of Daniel pleasing King Nebuchadnezzar with his supernatural ability to understand dreams and visions (Chapter 2); Shadrack Meshack and Abednego would not bend or bow so they did not burn; King Nebuchadnezzar tells a story about the time he is driven mad by his own pompous ambition dishonoring God (Chapter 4); King Nebuchadnezzar’s son dies after seeing the handwriting on the wall (Chapter 5). 

Each of these stories teaches any number of lessons about God and his relationship to man, but I want to highlight a common theme in each

– God is God and, we are not –

Let me explain:

Daniel is called on not only to tell the interpretation of a dream but to tell the king the dream itself.

Chapter 2 –None of the King’s magicians and astrologers were able to tell the King his dream AND interpret it for him. So, he decided to execute all of them. When Daniel heard about all these guys about to be put to death, he prayed and asked God to reveal the dream to him. I am sure Daniel had an opinion about the King and it would have made his life better if all the magicians and astrologers were eliminated. Remember these are the same guys that get him thrown to the lions a little while later. But, Daniel spoke only what he had heard from God. He then used his favor with the King to ask him to not kill off the magicians and astrologers.

Chapter 3 –Three guys were sentenced to death for worshipping the way God had told them to. They meant the King and his kingdom here on Earth no harm but they place more importance on their relationship with God than their own lives. At no point did they know that the fiery furnace which had been heated up to seven-times normal would not kill them, they only knew that God was on their side and would deliver them. They would only bow to God in heaven and only act as God would have them act.

Chapter 4 – King Nebuchadnezzar was living the good life. He had a wonderful house, which he had built. He had a wonderful life, which he had built. All in all, he was really quite pleased with himself. He began to think that he was the maker of all things.  God sent him a dream that troubled him, Daniel interpreted it. The dream predicted that the king would go mad and live like an animal for seven seasons… and that is exactly what happened. When he returned to his senses about seven seasons, he decreed that Daniel’s God was the almighty.

Chapter 5 – King Nebuchadnezzar’s son had taken over the kingdom and liked to party with his friends.  One night he was feeling particularly merry and decided to defile some of the artifacts from the house of God.  Specifically, the gold goblets that were taken when his Dad conquered Jerusalem. While he was enjoying a toast to his own greatness, even greatness over the living God, a disembodied hand wrote of his demise in the plaster on the wall.  They had to call Daniel to interpret it: “You have been measured by God’s standard and have been found lacking” was what it said. He had seen his father go through the disobedience of God but ignored that generational lesson.  He died that night.

The lesson: 

God is bigger than. He is bigger than all the things we worry about, he is bigger than and destruction we think we are seeing, he is bigger than any problem we think is brewing.  God is not surprised by what is going on or what will happen tomorrow. God did not take away the furnace from Shadrack Meshack and Abednego and they did not know from where their deliverance would come. They just knew it would come. Daniel did not hesitate to speak what God was telling him to say to the king, even if he was just a prisoner of war. The Nebuchadnezzar family went through the pain of disobedience not at the hand of any man but through God’s spoken and written word. 

As we humble ourselves and seek God, let us remember it is Him that has the plan for our healing. It is only God that has the authority to bring that plan to fruition.  He will send help in our time of trouble – help from his sacred tent, and we will shout for the victory (Psalm 20).  Father hears us from Heaven and Heal our land.