Introduction to Daniel
Before we read from from that those verses in Daniel 2, I I'll just share a little bit about this book and a little bit about chapters 1 and two as we're building up to where we're going to read today. Um Daniel, his name means God is my judge. And he was taken captive at a young age from Jerusalem about 1,400 miles away to Babylon. Uh Babylon, if you remember, conquered Jerusalem. Now, they conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC. The king was King Nebuchadnezzar. God's people had been straying. God's people had been sinning. God's people had been worshiping false idols. And they were war warned by the prophet that they needed to repent. They did not repent. And and God punished Israel and many many were killed and some were taken captive. There were actually at least three stages of people being taken captive. one the first stage was when Daniel it's believed was taken captive in 606 BC. Now before or right after Daniel there was another time when people were taken captive in 597 BC and that was the prophet Ezekiel was taken captive in that one. Then in 586 BC was when Jerusalem was completely conquered. But Daniel is is one of the few people you will ever ever read about in the Bible where God only speaks good about. That's something. You must be a pretty righteous person, someone that tries to walk with God. Nobody's perfect. But clearly Daniel was one that was a cut above. Daniel was one that really walked with God. He's referred to three times as greatly beloved in the book of Daniel.
Daniel and His Friends
Now in chapter 1 uh verse 4, we get a little description of Daniel. It says that he was young, intelligent, and skillful in wisdom. That's in chapter 1:4. And we also read in chapter 1 that he was taken captive with three of his friends. Their names were Haniah, Mishael, and Azeriah. But what we often read about them is their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meach, and Abedneo. They were taken captive together. And in Daniel 1, we read, if we read through Daniel 1, go home and read it tonight if you haven't, and you'll read that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he told the master of his Unix, Ashpenaz, to choose young men who were taken captive, th those that came from from Jerusalem. Choose young men that were good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand. Smart, intelligent young men that were extremely smart. choose them so that they might serve in the king's palace. Well, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo were chosen. And in chapter 1, verse 17, again, we're building up to where we're going to read in chapter 2. Chapter 1 verse 17, we get a bit more understanding about Daniel and his friends. It says in chapter 1:1 17, "As for these young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." And then in chapter 1, 20, watch what it says. and in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and all the astrologers who were in all of his ri realm. So we see that Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo, those were their Babylonian names. They were some very God had given them a gift of knowledge. They were very brilliant. And Daniel could interpret dreams. And that's that's important because that's a passage that we're going to today about that.
The King's Dream
But building up to the passage we're going to read in chapter 2, if you go to chapter 2 and you read there, you'll see that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he had a dream. And and it it talks about how he had a dream in chapter 2. And it says that that dream really troubled him. It says in chapter 2 verse one, his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. You ever had a time where you've been troubled from a dream? Well, Nebuchadnezzar had such a dream that he couldn't sleep and and his spirit was very troubled. So, he calls for all the wise men of Babylon. We don't get the indication that Daniel and his friends came during that first call, but it says all the wise men of Babylon come. And he tells them in chapter two that he's anxious about that dream. And and and the wise men say, "Well, tell us the dream, king. and when you tell us the dream, we'll interpret it for you." Well, the king's like, "No, I'm not going to do that. I I think what possibly he was thinking was they could just say anything, and I don't I don't know if they'll really know if their interpretation will really be right." So, what does he tell them? Well, in chapter 2, we see the king says, "No, what you need to do is you need to tell me the dream I had and the interpretation." Now, he hasn't told anybody his dream. Only he knows his dream. me and God. He says, "You got to tell me the dream. Then I'll know that you really know the interpretation." And they they they look at him and I'm paraphrasing in chapter 2. They're like, "What do you mean no man can do this? No man can read your mind. You you're kidding me." And then he says, "You better or you'll all be killed." In the Bible, it actually says in chapter 2, he was going to cut them all in pieces. Nebuchadnezzar, he did some evil things. I mean, you think they had just conquered all of Jerusalem and killed a lot of people. So, he's telling all his wise men, "If you don't tell me what the dream is, you're going to all be killed." It says in chapter 2:12, "The king was angry and furious and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon." He gave that command because they said, "That's impossible." So, the decree went out and they began killing the wise men. And watch what it says in chapter 2:12. And they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. So, so that brings us to the passage we're about to read from today in in chapter 2 beginning in verse 14. The king's had this dream. He's told his wise men they need to interpret it or they need to tell them what the dream is and interpret it or they'll be killed. And then he's started killing some of the wise men because they say they can't. And he's trying to find Daniel, get Daniel, Shadrach, and Meshach, and Abedneo and kill them as well. Uh the title for our message today is hearing from God.
Scripture Reading
We're going to read there in chapter 2 beginning in verse 14. I do invite anybody that would like and is able to stand up with me in honor of the reading of the word of God. Daniel chapter 2 beginning in verse 14. The word of God says, "Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Arch, the captain of the king's guard who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon." He answered and said to Aroch, the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Haniah, Mishael, and Aariah, Shadrach, Mach, and Abedneo, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Thank you. You may be seated.
When You Need an Answer
You know, uh, something that I I I thought about as I read this is a question we should ask ourselves, a question I should ask myself. When you don't have the answer, what do you do? When you've got a problem in your life and you're not sure about the solution, what do you do? Who do you go to? You know, here in this passage, Daniel has a problem that he doesn't know the answer to. And we see what he does. But I don't know. I I don't know where each person here is at tonight, but I I know you got to be like me, cuz we're all human. I know you've got to have times when there's something going on in life and you're you're struggling for an answer, where you you don't know what to do. You know, sometimes, and this isn't just with younger people, this could be with someone older, too. A lot of times though with someone younger, they're getting done with school or high school maybe and they're trying to figure out if they're going to go to college or not. And if so, which college? And sometimes that can be overwhelming. You're at that point and you're at a crossroads trying to figure out which direction you'll go. What do I do? Or sometimes a person might think, you know, what career or what work path is right for me? And and and we can struggle with what that might be. And that might be while you're young going to college or in high school or that might be when you're old and you just feel like you've you you're not where you need to be. What and and and we can struggle. What is the work that I'm called to do? What is the type of work that I want to do? Maybe sometimes in life somebody that we love and that we care about is really struggling, really having a hard time. It might be a our spouse. It might be our children, our grandchildren, our family, a good friend, and they're struggling. And we want to help them, but we don't quite know how to help them. We don't quite know what to do. When you have a situation that you need an answer for and you don't know the answer, what do you do? I I think and I heard some people take saying take it to the Lord. Pray. Amen. I I think we could learn from Daniel what Daniel does. Daniel had a humanly impossible thing to do. There was no way in his own strength he could read a man's mind and know what that man had dreamed. There's no way. He knew he needed a word from God. He knew he needed to hear from God. and we see that's just what he does. Um, but I I tell you when I think about that, I think about us and our human nature. And too often we don't make an effort to hear from God. Have you ever been guilty of that where there there's something in your life going on. It might be related to what you're going to do for work. It might be related to health issues. It might be related to finances. All kinds of things. It could be related to some decision for yourself or for your kid. And you don't know what to do. Have you ever been guilty where you go to everybody but God? You know, I I believe a lot of times we can be guilty of that. A lot of times we can ask this person and we can ask that person and we can ask this doctor and we can ask that doctor and we can ask just about everybody but God for, hey, here's my situation. What do I do? And you know what can happen? We start to get overwhelmed. Why do we get overwhelmed? Because one person says do this, one person says do this, another person says do this, another person says do that. And before you know it, our our minds are swirling. The enemy is having a field day with our mind. Have you ever been there where you felt overwhelmed and you're asking everybody except not asking God? I hope today we're reminded when we need an answer, take time to hear from God. Now, I wouldn't I believe we should take time to hear from God even when we don't need an answer. I believe daily we should be seeking after God and just hearing from God even if life is going great cuz cuz man, God could tell you to go witness to somebody and if you're not listening, you might never even that might not come across your heart. We should always take time to hear from God. But certainly today, if you've got some something hard in your life, some decision, maybe it's a big decision you need to make, maybe it's direction you need, maybe it's guidance you need. Are you taking time to hear from God? I I hope we're all encouraged today when we need an answer. Take time to hear from God. You know, this we can be doing great and in a moment we can be overwhelmed. Amen.
Personal Experience
This past Wednesday, I tell you what, all of a sudden, the enemy just jumped on me. Have you ever had that where the enemy will just get you overwhelmed? And ever had that where just a cloud of a depression will just come over you just like that? Well, that's what happened Wednesday. And and it and it came down to some decisions and trying to know what's the best decision for this and for this and for that and for that. And before you know, the enemy was just getting me overwhelmed. Thursday morning, I was driving out to Bladen County. I go there usually on Thursdays. There's a few few businesses I go to as a chaplain. And um as I was going out there, I called this guy and and it's a guy that I'll his family. I'm I'm a chaplain for their family. And I and I don't so much see them. We more talk by the phone. And I was calling him up and this guy's got a preacher's heart. He's always sharing a little fiveminute mini message every time I talk to him. And he starts talking about, "Man, I love hearing from God." and and he starts talking about this and he starts talking about I tell people all the time I turn my radio off. I don't listen to the radio because I want to hear from God. Anyway, we got done with the call. I hung up and I had about 30 minutes left to drive. And he had no idea about this, but I thought, you know what? I need to hear from God on some things right now. So, I went ahead and tried that. I I what God's led me to usually is I love listening to worship music. Um so, that's what I'll usually listen to. But, you know what? I said, "Right now, I'm just going to turn the radio off." And for the next 30 minutes, I tried not to talk much. I tried to just listen, which can be hard for a preacher. But but but anyway, you know what happened as I took time? I heard from God. And and actually, at first, it wasn't even hearing from God about some of the decisions. At first, it was just God was I was just hearing from God about the message for today. and and I can't explain it. Even though those other things weren't solved yet, per se, I just had a peace. You know, when you hear from God, it gives you a peace. Then I heard from God on several things that kind of I'm trying to make decisions on. And I tell you again what God did for me in addition to hearing from him and give me direction and give me guidance. Isaiah 58:11 says, "The Lord shall guide thee continually." When you we when we hear from God, he he'll guide us. He'll give us direction. And when we hear from him, it gives us peace. Do you need to hear from God about something in your life today? If so, I I hope and I pray that something you take away today is to take time to hear from God.
Making Time for God
Because listen, if we want to hear from God, one thing that can be very helpful is you need to take time for God. You know, uh I think a lot of times why we don't hear from God is we don't really make God a priority. A lot of times we we don't hear from God because we don't make time for God. We make time for all kinds of things, don't we? We make time for work. We make time for food. We make time for fun. But are you making time to hear from God? We live in such hustle and bustle. Many of us, not everybody, but a lot of us. Do you ever feel like you're just going, going, going going going? A lot of us are full of hustle and bustle. But if we if we want to hear from God, I I tell you, it's such a blessing if we take time to get distractionfree, just us and God. I don't know about y'all, but like iPhones and phones are a blessing and there's a lot of great things, but man, if I really want to hear from God, you know what I want to do with that phone? I want to get it get it gone. You know, yes, there's a lot of good things on TV we can listen to, but if we really want to make time for God, we got to block out distractions. Get rid of the phone. Get get rid of the social media. Get rid of of the TV. Take some time. And I I'm a believer in taking time every day. Take some time where it's just you and God and you're just trying to hear from God.
Examples from Jesus
And let's not forget the example we get from our Lord. You know, in the Bible, we read about many times where Jesus himself on this earth knew he had to take time alone with the father. It it says there in Mark 1:35. This was right out. If you go to Mark 1, you'll read about a busy busy day of ministry that Jesus had where he uh cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue where after church they probably went to have lunch and he healed Peter's mother-in-law and then at the end of that day um many people that were sick and that were demonpossessed came came to that the home he was at in Capernium and he healed them all. He had had a long day, long day of ministry. And then you know what he did? The very next morning, the Bible says, "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place, and there he prayed." If Jesus needed to get distractionfree to a solitary place, don't you think I need to? Don't you think you need to? And I'm going to tell you what, when we get rid of all those distractions and just take time with the Lord, it's a blessing. It'll give you such peace. If you can take a way to do that daily in your life, to make the Lord the priority, time with the Lord, just you and God and nobody else daily, it'll it'll bless you and you'll get moments of hearing from God. Um, but I I think this is something we often struggle about. Again, you know, another time in the Bible in Luke chapter 6, right before Jesus chose the the disciples, it says, "Now it came to pass in in those days that he went to the mountain and he prayed and he continued all night in prayer to God." You know, we're talking about to hear from God. It helps to make time for God. Time. Jesus prayed all night on the mountain distraction-free and the next morning he chose his disciples. He had a big decision to make. So, so there's something to this idea of taking time. Can God answer and let us hear from him in a moment? Absolutely. But there's something special about giving God time where we hear from him.
Daniel's Example of Taking Time
And we see that in this passage. This passage that we read today, watch what it says. It says in verse 16 of chapter 2, Daniel's learned that he's going to be killed and his friends are going to be killed if this dream isn't told to the king. And in chapter 16, it says, "So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time." Daniel knew he needed time with God to hear from God. If we want to hear from God, it makes sense that we take time with God. Time distractionfree. Daniel did it. He He went to the king and he said, "Just give me some time." And he wasn't just saying some, "Give me some time to put off the inevitable." He was saying, "Give me some time." So he could get time with God to hear from God. Because he knew only God himself could reveal this dream to any man. It says in verse uh 17, then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Haniah, Mishael, and as Aariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret. And and when I thought about how Daniel went to his friends and and he said, "Let's seek mercies." I thought about how important it is to cry out to God when we want to hear from God. make time for God.
Crying Out to God
And also, if you want to hear from God, cry out to God. They he was telling his friends, in other words, seek mercies. He's telling them, let's cry out. Let's cry out to God so that God might choose to let us hear from him. You know in in Exodus 3:7 it says this, "And the Lord said,"I have heardly I I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry." And of course, we know most of us in Exodus, Israel had been in slavery for 400 years. And they cried out to God. And God in Exodus 3 said, "I've heard your cries." And he said, "So I have come to deliver them." There's something about if we if you want to hear from God today, if you got something you need to to hear from God on, there's something about making time distractionfree with God, getting alone with God, and and just taking time with him and crying out to him. And that's what Daniel did. And it says in verse 19, it says, "Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision." I I just think that's so cool. They had this impossible thing to have happen. Tell the the king the dream that he didn't tell anybody. And so Daniel has faith in God. Daniel goes to his friends and says, "Let's cry out to God. Let's take time to cry out to God and let's see if we can hear from God." And God rewards that obedience. And God in a vision shows the dream to Daniel. He shows the dream to Daniel in a night vision. As he's praying, as he's calling out, Daniel hears from God. You know, and I I don't know how long Daniel prayed. Uh but but we know from the book of Daniel, Daniel was a prayer warrior. Amen. And we know he was pleading with God and somewhere there in the night, somewhere in the middle of the night, all of a sudden like that, God just showed up and he heard from God. Have you ever had those moments where you cry out to God and you're trying to hear from God and then you hear from God? What a blessing when that happens? God is faithful. And God God spoke to him and God told him the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had had.
Listening to God
But but notice what Daniel did. Uh he didn't try to ask everybody else what to do. He went to God so he could hear from God. And and again, I I would just challenge you and I'm challenging myself in this too today. If there's something you need to hear from God on, take some time to slow down. Find a way to get distraction free. Cry out to God and and and take time from him. And I'll tell you what else. To hear from God, you need to listen to God. Sometimes we can be guilty of talking, talking, talking, talking. If we want to hear from God, when we cry out to him, when we make time for him, take time to listen. I I love what John's gospel says, "My sheep hear my voice." Sometimes we can think, "I I can't hear from God. I I don't know how to hear from God. If you're a believer, a true believer, and you've trusted in Jesus, you are a part of his flock. And the Bible says, "My sheep hear my voice." But sometimes we're not taking time to listen. We got to take time to listen because there's all kinds of other voices in this world. Amen. There's all kinds of other ways that I if we're trying to cry out to God and our minds on this or our minds on that, we're not going to hear the voice of God. There's all kinds of other voices that the enemy will try to get in our head. There's all these opinions we'll get from people. There's all these things that social media might say or the news might say. If we want to hear from God, we need to get out of the world and take time to hear from the Lord. Get distraction free. Slow down. Be still. The the Bible says the psalmist says, "Be still and know that I am God." Slow down and just listen for the voice of God. Block out the other voices and say, "God, what do you want to say to me?" Think about this. Think how much of a blessing it'll be for you if you get to hear from God on those decisions you got to make. If you get to hear from God on that direction you're looking for in your life, take time to hear from God. Cry out to God and listen. Listen for his voice. My sheep hear my voice. And you know when you hear from God, I don't know anybody ever had moments they've heard from God. When you hear from God, it could be in a loud in a mighty way. It could be in a vision like Daniel had or it could just be that sweet peaceful feeling you feel on your heart where you know you heard from God.
Praising and Trusting God
Um and I and I want to say this when God blesses you to allow yourself to hear from him when you hear from God trust God and give God the praise. I I love what if we go to Daniel 2, I love what immediately Daniel praises God. He knows he's just heard. He's gotten this vision and he knows he just heard from God. It says in chapter 2 verse 19, "Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision." The secret being the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. Then watch what Daniel does. It says, "So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his, and he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, oh God of my fathers. You have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you. For you have made known to us the king's demand. Immediately Daniel gives God the praise. When when God reveals the dream to him, immediately he praises God. And then watch what happens. Talk about someone that has faith in God. When when you when you hear from God, trust God. The enemy will try to get you to doubt what you just heard. Trust God when you know you heard from God. That's what Daniel does. He has such faith and such trust that he's willing to face the king and and and share the dream and the interpretation. Now remember, if he's wrong, he's going to be killed, right? Then watch what Daniel says beginning in verse 27. Um the secret which the king has demanded the wise men, the astrologers, the m and I love what he says when when the king says, "Well, tell me, do you know it?" He says the secret which the magicians and the astrologers and the soussayers cannot declare to the king but there is a god in heaven who reveals secrets. the the king is asking Daniel, "So, do you know this dream?" And and Daniel's saying, "Not not me. He I mean, Daniel knew the dream." God gave it to him. But even when he's standing before the king, he doesn't try to take the credit. He says, you know, none of us can get this dream, but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. And he goes on to say that God revealed it to him. Daniel gives an awesome example of calling out to God and making time to God to hear from God. And then when he hears from God, trusting that God spoke to him and giving God the praise.
Impact on Nebuchadnezzar
And watch what even happens. The king Nebuchadnezzar when he when he hears Daniel, as you go on in chapter 2, Daniel tells the dream and Nebuchadnezzar's amazed. How did this happen? And Daniel says, "Cuz God told it to me." Watch what Nebuchadnezzar says. He says, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings." This is a man that had all kinds of false gods, believed in all kinds of false gods, and he knows this is the one true God.
Conclusion
When he realizes that God gave Daniel that to close today, I I just want to challenge you, challenge our church, challenge myself. Let's take time to hear from God. We get a great example in Daniel of when we've got problems and we've got something we don't know the answer to. Don't don't forget about going to God. We we can often go to everybody else. Take time to hear from God. And I again I'll say this. We ought to take time to hear from God. Even if we don't feel like we've got some decision every single day. But if you got something on your heart today, something maybe you're struggling with, some decision you've got to make, some direction for your life, I'm sure, is there anybody that's got anything on their heart today that they don't know the answer to and they're looking for guidance? I I would think there's a lot of people. Take time to hear from God. Whether that's a decision, whether that's a problem you need an answer to, whether that's some direction you need, take time to hear from God.
