“Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. ” Daniel 2:17-20
Daniel asked the king for time and it is granted. Here we see a major
distinction between the Chaldeans and Daniel. The Chaldeans would have used this time to try and determine how to get around the king’s
request. Daniel and his three friends use the time to seek God’s face for an answer to the king’s question. Second, Daniel makes an unbelievable request to God. This rivals the request of Elijah to raise the widow’s dead son for God. God had never revealed such a thing to Daniel before. Daniel asks for something that he has no evidence God has ever done. That does not deter his request.
Then Daniel went to his house After meeting with the king Daniel hurries back to his house.
Made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions Once there he shares the issue with his three friends. Daniel practices Matthew 18:20 before it is written. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven Daniel shares the need with his friends and asks them to seek God’s face to provide an answer. Note his appeal – he pleads for mercy. The boys know they do not deserve his answer, they ask for God to provide it out of His mercy.
Concerning this mystery The boys ask God to reveal to them a mystery (secret) something no one but God knows. (This is further proof that the king forgot the dream – God had not!)
So that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed The request to God is based on the boys being able to continue to live and serve God. There is no selfishness involved.
With the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Daniel knows God’s word about false prophets. They are to be destroyed. Yet Daniel prays that God would protect them – he knows the false prophets deserve death but he knows this request from the king cannot be answered by anyone but the true and living God.. Thus he asks God to show him the truth.
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel We are not told how but the indication is the boys spent the night in fervent prayer seeking God’s direction and will. They had faced a serious situation once before and had seen God work in their behalf. Now, facing certain death, they fervently seek God’s face once again. Never forget the power of fervent prayer.
In a vision of the night During the night God in a vision shows Daniel the dream He had sent to the king. The boys’ request is answered and God, in yet another miracle, overrules the king’s death penalty on the boys and all the wise men of Babylon.
What can we learn? Over and over God shows us in the lives of his faithful servants some common features of living by faith. First we see the emphasis on prayer. This shows us the dependence these humble servants felt as they served Almighty God. Daniel asks for mercy as he prays showing he knows he deserves nothing from God. Second we see these men and women asks for the impossible from God – in fact they ask for what has never been done before because that is what is necessary to achieve God’s will. Because their desire is to see God glorified in sight of all men, they are not hesitant to ask God to perform miracles – they do not ask for their own benefit but that others might know there is a living God in heaven. God is pleased!