p. 10 | The Book of Daniel by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 2, 1908

The Book of Daniel

By Editor

The Revelation of the Secret

THE EDITOR

Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. And Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then 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 changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding; he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known unto me what we desired of thee; for thou hast made known unto us the king’s matter. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these: as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart. Dan. 2: 14-30.

The True Temple Service

By their deportation from Jerusalem to Babylon, Daniel and his companions were deprived of the outward forms of the worship of the temple. Perhaps their only reminder of the sanctuary and its services was a sight of “part of the vessels of the house of God” which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem “unto the treasure-house of his god.” And now in a far-off land, among those who know not the true God, these Hebrew youth, in company with the other wise men of Babylon, are under sentence of death because “the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans,” are unable to reveal to the king of Babylon the dream which he dreamed.

But although deprived of the service of the temple, these Christian captives have maintained that which is the very essence of all the outward forms—communion with God. Not now with the sacrifice of animals or the sprinkling of blood are they able to seek the fellowship of Heaven; but apart from these outward forms given as a channel for the expression of faith, these young Hebrews know how to worship God “in spirit and in truth.”

Communion With Heaven

Having maintained in the true temple the uninterrupted service of the true God, Daniel has the assurance that the channel of communication is open between the throne in heaven and his own soul, and therefore when he learned of the sentence of death which the king in his wrath had pronounced upon those who had failed to maintain their profession of ability to penetrate into secret things, he did not hesitate to ask an appointment with the king, with the assurance that “he would show the king the interpretation.” His hope is in united prayer, following the rule put into definite form by our Saviour in these words: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.” The case is an urgent one. It is a question of life or death. Without special help from heaven, they must perish, and therefore they plead for knowledge which shall be unto them salvation from death. Not in general terms, do they seek help. They have a specific request to prefer “concerning this secret,” and any failure to make known to King Nebuchadnezzar those thoughts of his which came unbidden and were taken away without his consent, will place Daniel and his companions in the same class with the Chaldeans, who have already declared that “there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

A Typical Experience

It is hardly necessary to point out that this experience of Daniel and his companions is a typical one in which is represented the case of every lost sinner. “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God,” and so “death passed unto all men, for that all sinned.” Not

in human philosophy, but in the revelation of the knowledge of the truth is there hope of deliverance. The wise men of the world are unable by their wisdom to save from death. Earth must be united to heaven by that knowledge which is life. “This is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.” “Grace to you, and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.” Such knowledge comes only by revelation. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!” “Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit.”

The Revelation of Salvation

Daniel and his companions were not disappointed. Without priest, without Urim, without Thummim, the answer came from the heavenly courts and the secret was “revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night.” In grateful acknowledgment of that mercy shown toward them, which meant deliverance from death, “Daniel blessed the God of heaven,” and the very forms of expression used have reference to that foreview of future events presented to him. He recognizes the God of heaven as the one “who removeth kings, and setteth up kings;” as the revealer of “the deep and secret things,” who can give light upon that which lies beyond mortal vision, since “the light dwelleth with him.” There is no doubt in the mind of Daniel that his specific request has been granted. He desired “mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret,” and now that the answer has come, he makes direct connection between the prayer and the vision, and is confident that the God of heaven has made known unto him the king’s matter. As evidence of this confidence, he urges Arioch, the chief executioner, to spare the wise men of Babylon, with the definite promise that he “will show unto the king the interpretation.”

The True Interpreter of History

The thoughtful reader will not overlook the suggestion contained in the statement of Arioch to the king, that he had “found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah,” who would furnish an interpretation of the king’s dream. The sequel shows that the interpretation of the dream was a description of the course of the world’s history from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until the setting up of the everlasting kingdom. But only “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book” of the world’s history. By his incarnation, by his death on the cross, by his resurrection, by his ascension, by his administering the divine government as priest upon the throne, the man Christ Jesus has changed the whole course of human history; and in him alone is found the philosophy of those changes in which the kingdom of this world is overturned, overturned, overturned, “till he come whose right it is,” and to whom it shall be given.

The Hebrew captive is brought before the king, and we need not be surprised that after his experience with the reputed wise men of Babylon, the monarch inquires of this youth of the conquered people, “Art thou able?” The answer of Daniel shows the nothingness of man and exalts the wisdom of the God of heaven. Not to himself is any credit to be given. Only through a direct revelation could such knowledge be attained. Into the king’s mind had come speculations concerning the future, and the Revealer of secrets had lifted the curtain, and had permitted him who was the founder of the world-power, to behold the future development of world-power, and the outcome “in the latter days.”

The Mystery of the Kingdom

An attentive reading of this record will make it clear that the revelation of a secret is the leading theme. It was “concerning this secret” that Daniel and his companions sought knowledge. In response to their united prayer, the secret was revealed. Daniel declared to the king that the secret which he demanded could not be shown by the wise men of the world, but he assured him that “there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets,” and it is “he that revealeth secrets” who had given the dream to the king; and further that this secret was not revealed to Daniel through his own wisdom.

A little consideration will make it evident that the secret found in the dream and its interpretation is the mystery of the kingdom of God. The objective point of the dream was “what shall be in the latter days.” And in the interpretation of the dream, Daniel declared that all world-kingdoms would be succeeded by the everlasting kingdom of the God of heaven. But what is the explanation of the fact that after four successive world-kingdoms had fallen, there could be a kingdom established on this same world, with subjects composed of the same frail human beings, and yet this kingdom could stand forever? The explanation is found in that mysterious union of divinity with humanity in the person of Jesus the Son of God and the Son of man, “who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Here is found “the mystery of the kingdom of God,” the mystery which was made known by revelation unto the apostle Paul, “even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is the mystery of the gospel concerning which Paul desired that utterance might be given to him that he might make it known with boldness. This is “the mystery of God” which should be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. Of this mystery we read: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; he who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” The very essence of this mystery is therefore the manifestation of God in the flesh. That which was denied in the creed of Babylon is the glory of Christianity. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” By taking our nature the eternal Word so united divinity and humanity in his own person as to establish communion between God and flesh, and made it possible that man should again become the temple of the living God.