Daniel 2:11
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
In Daniel's account the king lays his troubling dream before the wise men in his palace, and they ask him to tell them the dream and promise to interpret it. The dream troubled him so deeply that its details slipped from his mind after waking while its troubling impression remained. The verse is their admission that his demand is a rare, exceptionally difficult thing beyond human ability, that no human being could reveal the forgotten dream, and that only the gods whose dwelling is not with people could disclose such a mystery. Their failure exposed the limits of the wisdom on which the king relied and the falseness of their claims to wisdom and knowledge of mysteries apart from God. Daniel and his companions instead sought the God of heaven in prayer and trusted Him to decide their case, and He revealed the secret dream and its meaning to Daniel through a night vision, showing that the living God can make known what human wisdom cannot. The prophecy in Daniel 2 was then fulfilled with remarkable exactness, as confirmed by the record of history, testifying to the inspiration of Scripture.
Setting and Admission
The verse belongs to the scene in which Nebuchadnezzar lays his troubling dream before the wise men in his palace, and it records their response to his demand. In that account he appeals to Babylon's wise men for help, and they ask him to tell them the dream and promise to interpret it, saying they could interpret it only if the king first told them what he had dreamed. The dream troubled the king so deeply that he could not recall its details after waking. Its details had been caused to slip from his mind while its troubling impression remained, and Daniel sought time to reveal both the dream and its interpretation. The events surrounding the dream revealed the power and faithfulness of the God of Israel to Babylon.
The verse records the Chaldeans' admission that no human being could reveal the king's forgotten dream and secret. They called the king's demand a rare thing and an exceptionally difficult, extraordinary demand beyond human ability and beyond their claimed wisdom. No one could reveal the king's matter, for such knowledge belonged to divine beings and only the gods could disclose such a mystery. They claimed this was because the gods did not dwell among human beings, whose dwelling was not with people and not with flesh. Their failure exposed their inability to reveal mysteries and the limits of the wisdom on which the king relied.
Human Failure and Revelation
The wise men of Babylon could not recover the forgotten dream from their own power nor declare its meaning by their claimed wisdom and knowledge of mysteries. The king's demand lay beyond human ability, and the magicians themselves regarded it as beyond what any man could do. Only divine power could reveal both the dream and its meaning.
Their failure exposed the limits of the wisdom on which the king relied, the falseness of their claims, and their dependence on knowledge apart from God. The dream had been taken from the king so that they could not attach a false interpretation to it. They themselves admitted that no human being could reveal the secret, but only the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.
Daniel and his companions instead sought the God of heaven in prayer, and Daniel sought time to meet the crisis, trusting the supreme Judge to decide their case. The details of the dream had been caused to slip from the king's mind while its troubling impression remained, and the wise men said they could interpret it only if the king first told them what he had dreamed. God then revealed the secret dream and its interpretation to Daniel through a night vision, showing that the living God can make known what human wisdom cannot. In this account an angel of God revealed the interpretation to Daniel so that he could make it known.
God thus exposed the inability of the wise men so that human wisdom would not receive the glory and the superior wisdom given to those who worship Him could be revealed. The Hebrew captives who depended on God in a strange land received the revelation, while those captivated by Babylon's splendor did not.
Prophecy and Understanding
Daniel 2 contains a prophecy whose particulars were fulfilled with remarkable exactness, as confirmed by the record of history and by what historians have recorded. That exact fulfillment testifies to the inspiration of Scripture and can strengthen faith amid later trials. It helped anchor Gaussen when confronted with skepticism.
The failure of the wise men to disclose the hidden mystery represents learned people who lack discernment and knowledge from God and therefore cannot rightly understand prophecy. True understanding of God's word requires listening to it and opening the heart to receive it and to share it.