JESUS: THE GREATER DANIEL
God’s patience had expired on the nation of Judah. After years of warning them of their sin and rebellion against God and his law, God had sent King Nebuchadnezzar to invade and destroy Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar took many of the Jews as slaves to Babylon and the best of the best were selected to serve in his court. Daniel, a young man from Judah, was one of those who were selected as one of the best of the best. As we learn from the book of Daniel we see how God uses him in an enemy country and protects him and others through his sovereign will. Perhaps you remember the fiery furnace, the Lion’s Den, or even Daniel’s stand to pray even when it was illegal to do so. Daniel captures our interest and is a fascinating biblical character. However, if we walk away from Daniel without a vision of the greater Daniel who was to come, we have missed the point. There are many places in the book of Daniel in which I could show you Christ, however, I want to focus in on the second chapter of the book of Daniel for this article.
Nebuchadnezzar awoke from a dream and said this to people, "I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream." - (Daniel 2:3) His men are willing to help and say, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation." - (Daniel 2:4). However, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to ensure that nobody was going to fool him. He desperately wanted to know the true meaning of the dream. So in order to do this he refused to tell them anything about the dream. Not only did his people have to interpret the dream, they also had to tell him what the dream was! He also threatened them that if they could not tell him what he dreampt that he would tear them “limb for limb.” This perplexed the wisemen so much so that they responded, “"There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." (Daniel 2:10-11). Of course, what Nebuchadnezzar wanted was humanly impossible. They admitted to the king that the only one who could do what the king commanded were “the gods.” This angered the king so much so that he ordered their slaughter!
Daniel and his three Hebrew friends were not with the men who had failed Nebuchadnezzar’s demands for they were still in training. Nevertheless, the sentence to slaughter these men also included Daniel and his friends. What does Daniel do now? He prays to God and asks him for help and for the answer to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so that he and his friends would live. God answered Daniel’s prayer and provided him with everything Daniel needed to appease the king. Daniel requests to see the king, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation." (Daniel 2:24) Daniel then goes in and does what the other wise men could not do — he tells the dream and it’s meaning. The king falls on his face and gives Daniel great respect and gives Daniel’s God, the true God, praise. The King keeps his promise to give great rewards to the one who could fulfill his request. He gives Daniel high honors and made him a ruler of Babylon. Daniel makes one more request of the king and that was to make his three Hebrew friends also rule with him.
That is quite an amazing story, and as great as Daniel is in this chapter, the promise of the Bible is that there was still a greater Daniel to come. It was not just the wise men who needed a Daniel but it’s the Daniel that we all need. Jesus is the true hero of this story and Daniel is but a mere shadow of him. Daniel Chapter 2 shows us a glimmer of the gospel that is fulfilled in Jesus. The first thing we must realize is that we are not like Daniel in this story.
1. We are the wisemen
Nebuchadnezzar gave an impossible request: interpret my dream without knowing it. They acknowledged that this was an impossibility because they were mere humans. It was the kings law that had made this standard and because they could not meet it they fell short and were guilty. It was not only the wisemen who were guilty but also all those other younger wise men who were in training. They stood condemned and were ordered to be executed because the wisemen were their representatives. We see the truth applied to us as well. We are but mere humans — sinful humans. (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8) God has commanded us to keep his commands, however, we fall short. We cannot appease God by our efforts and in our sin it is impossible. (Hebrews 11:6) This is not only true because of our disobedience but also because we have, as the younger wisemen in training had, a representative who is Adam (Romans 5:12-21). We stand condemned not only because we fail to keep the kings commands, but because Adam failed in our place as well. As the wisemen acknowledged that only someone divine could meet the king’s request, the same is true with us as well. We need a new representative to stand before the king for us. This representative had to be Divine.
2. Jesus is the greater Daniel
God sent a willing Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar to be a mediator and redeemer of his people. God had also given to Daniel all that was needed to appease the wrath of the king. Jesus was sent by God the Father (John 3:16, Romans 8:3) to do for his people what his people could not do on their own (obey God’s commands and satisfy His wrath). Unlike Adam, Jesus fully obeyed God’s law and fulfilled all righteousness. He stood in his people’s place and satisfied the wrath of God the King perfectly. (1 John 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:21) He saves completely so that his people can go free and are no longer condemned. (Romans 8:1) Daniel was elevated to a high position of power and authority in Babylon and even made his friends rule and reign with him. However, in an even greater fashion, God has also highly exalted Jesus and given him all authority. (Matthew 28:18-20) And now King Jesus now sets his friends up to rule and reign with him in his kingdom. (2 Timothy 2:11-13, 1 Corinthians 6:3, Revelation 1:5-8)
The comparison between Daniel and Jesus are not coincidental; it is the divine plan of the Holy Spirit to show us our need of Jesus and his gospel in the Old Testament Scriptures.
