At the centre of this passage is
the wonderful truth of vs 28 – there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
Daniel was caught up in the middle of something that had nothing to do with
him. The astrologers and sorcerers had failed the King’s challenge, and even
they admit that what the King was asking was only possible via the divine (vs
11). As a result Daniel gets lumped in with the rest for execution. It is a
mark of the respect that Daniel commanded that he was able to persuade the King
to give him time. When faced with hard times, Daniel gathers with his ‘small
group’ and together they seek the Lord and plead for mercy. Daniel’s plan of
action is a great example to us. Being in a small group can be so helpful in
our walk with God! When God reveals the King’s dream to Daniel, I find his
response so heartening – the wonderful prayer of praise in verses 20-23.
The second half of the chapter can
be quite confusing, what are these kingdoms of gold, silver, bronze, iron and
clay? Most commentaries see these kingdoms as the Chaldean empire, the Medes
and Persians, the Grecian empire, and the Roman
empire respectively. These were all mighty kingdoms, and
yet the dream speaks of one to come, set up by God that will never be
destroyed. An empire like rock, which is not cut by human hands. The glorious
heart of this vision is that it points to the coming of Jesus, the capstone
rejected by builders, who came preaching that the Kingdom of God
(member of the congregation)