“He reveals deep and hidden things…”

His face showed the anger better than anything else.  That scrunched expression.  And those teeth!  Even the veins in his neck looked like they were going to pop!  He was in no mood to be satisfied other than to get what he wanted, which was impossible:  describe the dream he had had the night before and then tell him what it meant.  The second part of the order was the comparatively easy part.  You can always fudge an interpretation.  But tell him the dream he had?  No way!  Who does this king think he is, anyway?  Being a new king, it seemed all this power had gone to his head.  But Nebuchadnezzer would not change his mind.  He wanted an answer, and he wanted it now!

So he called in the “the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers” (Dan. 2:2).  This Babylonian version of the ‘psychic friends network’ had no answer for him except, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks!… What the king asks is too difficult.  No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men” (vs. 10-11).  Pretty telling, that comment—“no gods live among men.”  They got both parts right:  Revelation requires a divine source, and God is not earthbound like men.  That was when Nebuchadnezzer lost his cool and “ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon” (v. 12).  When Daniel got the news he asked the king for time.  With the possibility of proving him, the king granted his request.  So he and his 3 friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah prayed to God for help.  That night—that night!—God answered their prayer spectacularly.  In his prayer of thanksgiving Daniel says that God “reveals the deep and hidden things…” (v. 22).  The context should help us appreciate this description of God.

Nebuchadnezzer’s dream was of “an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance” (v. 31).  It had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of both iron and clay.  Then a “rock was cut out, but not by human hands.  It struck the statue on its feet…” (v. 34).  The whole statue broke into pieces and collapsed.  The wind  blew all its pieces away like dust “without leaving a trace” (v. 35).  Then this rock “became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth” (v. 35).  Strange…even frightening.

Daniel told the king that the different elements of the statue represented global kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzer’s kingdom was the head of gold.  Other kingdoms would follow.  Eventually there would be no more earthly record or memory of them all.  Replacing them would be an eternal kingdom that God sets up.  If you know the story of Daniel in Babylon, you know that this was God’s first step in humbling the proud king.  Other steps were coming because he did not yet ‘get it.’

God “reveals deep and hidden things.”  The word deep means “unsearchable.”  What does it say about God who knows all the kingdoms of earth history before they exist?  What does it say about these kingdoms, all of which one day will have no trace or history left of them?  What does it say about God that he would even reveal this to anyone, let alone the arrogant Nebuchadnezzer?

The word hidden means “secret, unknown.”  A similar thought can be found in Romans 3.  Verse 21 says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known…”  Let’s get the context.  God first revealed His power through creation.  Later he revealed his righteousness through the Law, pictured in the 10 Commandments.  To Daniel he revealed the geo-political history of the earth culminating with his kingdom.  But now he reveals his righteousness “apart from the law … This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (v. 22).  This was a hidden thing.  Even with all the Old Testament predictions, no one expected that God would become a man, live a perfect life, die on a cross and return from the dead to ascend to heaven—all for us and our salvation.  No one knew the plan; it was hidden.  And yet God not only reveals cosmic things, he also reveals personal things.  The revelation of Jesus was both—cosmic and personal.  His kingdom is coming, but he also is revealing himself to people every day.

Nebuchadnezzer essentially had challenged God to reveal himself by putting all his psychic friends to a test.  He was declaring himself to be open to revelation from God.  Why else would he have fallen “prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor” (v. 46)?  He said, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries…” (v. 47).  Exactly.  Although he hadn’t connected all the dots, the king got the message loud and clear:  There is One over you to whom you must give an account.  It is this revealing God who has revealed himself to you.  Since he has, are you revealing yourself to him? Are you revealing him to others?