Deeper Reflection
Serving Nebuchadnezzar, first as a servant of God, Daniel served as answering God’s calling for him and with commitment to the king, whether he was being looked for or overlooked.Daniel served the king with concern. Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel about his dream, and by divine revelation (cf. Dan 2:27-30), Daniel immediately knew the interpretation of the dream. And his immediate reaction was he was “appalled” and Nebuchadnezzar could see through his facial expression that he was “alarmed” (v.19a). Then, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he wished that the dream applies to the king’s adversaries and those who hated him, and not to him (v.19b). It would be natural, reasonable and fair, for Daniel to rejoice and celebrate that the dream applies to Nebuchadnezzar, that he deserved it, because he had destroyed his homeland and deported his people. He did not. Daniel was practising in Old Testament style “Love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44).³⁴ It is likely that Daniel knew about Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles, instructing them to “seek the welfare of the city [Babylon]…pray to the LORD on its behalf ” (Jer 29:1, 7a). What a strange divine design: “In its welfare you will have welfare” (Jer 29:7b)! And being a man of prayer (Dan 2:17-18; 6:10), we can be certain that Daniel prayed for Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon regularly.Daniel served the king with courage – “prophetic courage”³⁵ – and interpreted the dream faithfully and truly to the world’s most powerful man: “It is you, O king…” (v.22). Daniel risked losing his head. But he was secure in God.

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³⁴ Christopher J. H. Wright, Hearing the Message of Daniel: Sustaining Faith in Today’s World (Zondervan, 2017), 97 ³⁵ Christopher J. H. Wright, 99