Arioch Brings the Decree to Daniel at NightBible World
2:12Daniel 2:12
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
After his troubling dream had left his mind, the king demanded that the wise men of Babylon both recover the forgotten dream itself and give its meaning, and when in fear they declared the test unreasonable and beyond any man, he in anger and fury commanded that they all be put to death. Because Daniel and his companions were numbered among the wise men, they too came under that sentence and were condemned to die with the rest. In ordering them all destroyed in fury he showed what is to be expected from men of great power when controlled by unholy passion and uncontrollable feeling. Their failure exposed the limits of human wisdom and scientific power beside the wisdom God gives His worshipers, for God used the forgotten dream to silence them, then revealed both dream and interpretation to Daniel in answer to united prayer so that the great men of the realm were saved and minds were turned from human sources to divine truth.
The King's Furious Decree
The verse belongs to the scene after Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream, when he summoned the wise men and addressed them in his palace about the dream. Unable to obtain help from the trusted wise men of Babylon, he demanded both the dream itself and its interpretation as proof of their claim as magicians and astrologers. The dream had gone from his mind and been forgotten, yet he required them to recover it and make its meaning known. The magicians answered in fear and trembling that the demand was unreasonable and a test beyond what had ever been required of any man.
For this cause the king became angry and very furious and commanded to destroy and kill all the wise men of Babylon. When they could not tell him his dream and its meaning he threatened to have them all killed and ordered them all put to death. In ordering them all put to death in fury, he acted as men with great power and uncontrollable passions act, showing what is to be expected from men in high authority when controlled by unholy passion.
Because Daniel and his companions were numbered with the wise men, they also came under the same sentence to share their fate. They were among those condemned to die under the decree against all the wise men of Babylon.
Divine Revelation and Witness
The failure of the trusted wise men to recover the dream and give its interpretation exposed the limits of their claimed wisdom and their inability to reveal mysteries. Their knowledge and scientific power could not compare with the wisdom God gives to those who worship Him. God used the king's forgotten dream to silence Babylon's wise men and expose the limits of human wisdom.
Daniel met the decree of death by risking approaching the king to plead for time to bring the matter before the supreme court of the universe. He then laid the whole matter before his companions who worshipped the true God, and with them pleaded on bended knees with contrition of heart that God would give power and wisdom and mercy and so arrange matters that they need not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. God revealed the forgotten dream and its interpretation to Daniel, through an angel, so he could tell it to the people. Daniel and his companions prayed, and the secret was made known in answer to their seeking God's mercy.
Through God's revelation to Daniel the great men of the realm were saved from this death. The Hebrew captives, who depended on God in a strange land, received the revelation of heaven's glory. God used this to turn people from human sources of wisdom to divine truth. Yet the king and his counselors later forgot that deliverance and the meaning God had revealed through the image.
What Daniel did in making known the forgotten dream and its interpretation happened many years before Belshazzar's feast, and the queen-mother still remembered the deed when Belshazzar's wise men failed. The chapter to which the verse belongs is a prophecy whose fulfillment is shown with remarkable exactness in the historical record, making it a testimony to the inspiration of Scripture.
After his troubling dream had left his mind, the king demanded that the wise men of Babylon both recover the forgotten dream itself and give its meaning, and when in fear they declared the test unreasonable and beyond any man, he in anger and fury commanded that they all be put to death. Because Daniel and his companions were numbered among the wise men, they too came under that sentence and were condemned to die with the rest. In ordering them all destroyed in fury he showed what is to be expected from men of great power when controlled by unholy passion and uncontrollable feeling. Their failure exposed the limits of human wisdom and scientific power beside the wisdom God gives His worshipers, for God used the forgotten dream to silence them, then revealed both dream and interpretation to Daniel in answer to united prayer so that the great men of the realm were saved and minds were turned from human sources to divine truth.
The King's Furious Decree
The verse belongs to the scene after Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream, when he summoned the wise men and addressed them in his palace about the dream. Unable to obtain help from the trusted wise men of Babylon, he demanded both the dream itself and its interpretation as proof of their claim as magicians and astrologers. The dream had gone from his mind and been forgotten, yet he required them to recover it and make its meaning known. The magicians answered in fear and trembling that the demand was unreasonable and a test beyond what had ever been required of any man.
For this cause the king became angry and very furious and commanded to destroy and kill all the wise men of Babylon. When they could not tell him his dream and its meaning he threatened to have them all killed and ordered them all put to death. In ordering them all put to death in fury, he acted as men with great power and uncontrollable passions act, showing what is to be expected from men in high authority when controlled by unholy passion.
Because Daniel and his companions were numbered with the wise men, they also came under the same sentence to share their fate. They were among those condemned to die under the decree against all the wise men of Babylon.
Divine Revelation and Witness
The failure of the trusted wise men to recover the dream and give its interpretation exposed the limits of their claimed wisdom and their inability to reveal mysteries. Their knowledge and scientific power could not compare with the wisdom God gives to those who worship Him. God used the king's forgotten dream to silence Babylon's wise men and expose the limits of human wisdom.
Daniel met the decree of death by risking approaching the king to plead for time to bring the matter before the supreme court of the universe. He then laid the whole matter before his companions who worshipped the true God, and with them pleaded on bended knees with contrition of heart that God would give power and wisdom and mercy and so arrange matters that they need not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. God revealed the forgotten dream and its interpretation to Daniel, through an angel, so he could tell it to the people. Daniel and his companions prayed, and the secret was made known in answer to their seeking God's mercy.
Through God's revelation to Daniel the great men of the realm were saved from this death. The Hebrew captives, who depended on God in a strange land, received the revelation of heaven's glory. God used this to turn people from human sources of wisdom to divine truth. Yet the king and his counselors later forgot that deliverance and the meaning God had revealed through the image.
What Daniel did in making known the forgotten dream and its interpretation happened many years before Belshazzar's feast, and the queen-mother still remembered the deed when Belshazzar's wise men failed. The chapter to which the verse belongs is a prophecy whose fulfillment is shown with remarkable exactness in the historical record, making it a testimony to the inspiration of Scripture.