November 15, 2024
Daily Devotion:
"Seeking Divine Revelation"
Daniel 2:17-19
New Living Translation
17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He urged
them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. 19 That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.
King Nebuchadnezzar was suffering with insomnia. His sleep was disturbed by a dream, so he called in some of his wise men. However, he wouldn’t tell them the dream. He was worried they would simply make something up to make him feel better, so he decided to test them. The wise men deemed that what the king was asking was too difficult.
They said no man could disclose his dream.
Nebuchadnezzar became furious! What was the point of having wise men who tell you nothing? Out of his anger, he sent out a decree – kill ALL the wise men of Babylon, even those who weren’t in the meeting.
Daniel and his friends were considered to be part of the wise men of Babylon. When the king’s servant, Arioch, arrived, Daniel asked him what this was about. Bravely, Daniel went to the king and asked for time to give him an answer.
Amazingly, he was granted more time. In Daniel 1:17, we were told God gave Daniel a special gift – insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. Daniel was going to use the gifts God gave him to bring glory to God.
Daniel gathered his friends and told them what was going on. They started a prayer meeting under the threat of death. In times of crisis, do you panic or pray? Maybe both! Prayer is such a great gift. We can bring everything to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). When we remember who God is, often our hearts are calmed as our perspective is changed.
