Please read Daniel Ch 2 prior to reading the post, and read post one and two in this series first.

Summary:

In Daniel Chapter Two, we see King Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream, which he demands his magicians and sorcerers interpret, without telling them the dream, under the punishment of death if they don’t. They protest, saying no one is able to do this except the gods, “whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Prior to them all getting killed, Daniel entreats the king to give him time, and he and his friends appeal to God for mercy, and God grants Daniel understanding of the mystery, which outlines Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and subsequent Kingdoms. King Nebuchadnezzar is forced to acknowledge Daniel’s God, and he appoints Daniel as chief over all the wise men, and Daniel requested his three friends be appointed as leaders in the kingdom as well, which King Nebuchadnezzar did.

Political Economic Commentary:

In the continuing drama of Kingdoms of God vs the Kingdoms of Men, we see how humans use and seek power. We will see in a moment (with Daniel’s interpretation) that King Nebuchadnezzar is troubled in sleep because he is thinking about his power and his kingdom, and what will be his legacy. What he is not thinking about is how he can use his high position for God’s glory and serving as God’s agent in service to humanity. No, it’s all about King Nebuchadnezzar. This relates to how he approaches his magicians (effectively the list of “the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans” were the religious leaders of his day): they are merely tools at his disposal. if useful, great, if not, they might as well be dead (and better so to instill fear into those that live). The kingdoms of men pursue power and don’t care who they trample over to get it. Perhaps you can reflect on a few of the world’s current leaders (including in our country) and see who they are willing to step on to gain and maintain power. What would Donald Trump do? What did the Democratic party just do to Joe Biden? The name of the game is power.

But in the Kingdoms of Men, it is not just the Kings who play the game to scheme and gain/maintain status. King Nebuchadnezzar rightly accuses his religious leaders of intending to deceive him on the dream. They have no ability to interpret the dream, but are gladly willing to play the game and act as if they do if he’ll tell them the dream. Do people lie and do almost anything to get close to the throne and be part of the ruling elites? What will they sacrifice? Their integrity is almost the first thing to go. It was in Daniel’s day and it is in ours. How many will say what the leader wants them to say? Who will stand on principle?* Was there any principle that Joe Biden would not jettison if the progressive wing demanded it? How quickly did Republicans abandon small government, support for freedom abroad and economic freedom? We are no different than the coteries surrounding King Nebuchadnezzar.

When the religious leaders are forced to admit only gods can do what he asked, King Nebuchadnezzar became very furious and ordered them killed. He has to know they are right that no one can meet his demand, but he knew they were playing the game, so if they said they had miraculous powers and didn’t, they deserved death anyway. But we should question why King Nebuchadnezzar went to them in the first place for something that obviously can only be done by God. The kingdoms of men always see power on the horizontal dimension–they will never in humility lift their eyes to heaven unless forced. Part of this is they have control over the people around them, and so imagine they can solve the problem (whatever it is, not just interpreting dreams). When you achieve the pinnacle of earthly success, you think you can do anything, and, like a small child, throw tantrums when you don’t get your way. How did Joe Biden respond when the Supreme Court slapped down many of his executive orders? What is Kamala Harris now threatening to do to the court if elected? How many people did Donald Trump fire? How many people has Putin had assassinated? Why do so many presidents choose to live by executive order when they can’t get legislation passed (and the president is the head of the executive branch of our government, charged to execute faithfully the laws of our nation). It is all a reflection of their lack of humility and willingness to submit to any authority above them if they can help it. This is contrasted starkly by the Kingdom of God, represented by Daniel. He boldly went to the King and asked for time, and he and his friends (Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah) immediately sought the God of heaven for mercy. And when God answered his prayer, Daniel responded with praise, “for you have given me wisdom and might”. And when he explains the dream to the king, Daniel begins by saying that no man can do this, but there is a God in heaven who can. Daniel knows that what position he has, and what power he has, comes only from the God who sovereignly reigns. He didn’t need to be reminded, as we (or at least I) often do, of “what do you have that you did not receive?”.

Daniel describes four kingdoms, with the first being Nebuchadnezzar’s, and subsequent kingdoms emerging to replace him (and each other) over time. The Kingdoms of Men are at best fleeting. But he contrasts this with the king’s vision of “a stone was cut out by no human hand,” which is the Kingdom of God, which “shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.” This is a reminder to both King Nebuchadnezzar and us to set our eyes on things above, not of this world. If King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to be part of a kingdom that would last, he should seek after God’s glory and not his own. Interestingly, King Nebuchadnezzar starts to get it, by saying to Daniel “your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries.” We’ll see in Ch 3 & 4 that he gets increasingly aware of Daniel’s God (and may ultimately have become a believer–there is a debate). So how many of our leaders refuse (like we’ll see with Belshazzar in Chapter 5) to acknowledge the God of heaven? When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris give full-throated endorsements of killing unborn children, with no apparent fear of God, they are pursuing a Kingdom of Man which will not last. They are showing themselves fools in God’s sight. When Donald Trump tells us that he will Make America Great Again, is he not focusing on the Kingdom of Men? When he compromises on abortion, is he not much more concerned about gaining/maintaining power than pursuing the things of the Lord?

Finally, we see Daniel being raised to power, and elevating his friends. Don’t miss this. Daniel is arguably the most godly man we see in scripture (apart from Jesus) and yet he is willing to serve in a wicked government and sought to have his friends elevated to positions of influence as well. Christians should be willing to be actively involved in government, including wicked governments. For example, I should be willing (and even potentially seek) to serve as an economic advisor to a President Trump or Harris (not that they’d be interested in me! 🙂 ). The point is that we can only expect wicked governments to become more godly when godly people get in the middle of a messy world and live in integrity. We will see how that works with King Nebuchadnezzar more in Chapter’s three and four, as he increasingly becomes aware of who the one true God is. That knowledge would not be there without godly young men being willing to serve wicked people and act with integrity. Let each of us aspire to be Daniels in our day.

* A personal question for one of our readers who hates Liz Cheney. I understand your anger that she is now endorsing Ms. Harris, but you were not happy with her long before this recent decision of hers. Does she not merit some respect for being willing to fall on her sword for something she believes in (even if you disagree)? I greatly respect her personal integrity even while I disagree with some of her decisions. Certainly her position of choosing country over party is very commendable to me (even if I don’t necessarily agree with how she sees the country’s best interest). This is a very rare thing to see in politics, and we should praise it even if we condemn the application.