God is not only Sovereign but He is Wise. Many human dictators have been sovereign and powerful but not wise. Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, and present day president of China, Xi Jinping.
The Guardian in London reports, "China has released new morality guidelines for its citizens on everything from how parents should teach their children, to sorting their garbage, and the appropriate etiquette for raising the national flag." This is called a totalitarian regime, where the government or in this case Xi Jinping totally controls your life, even how you raise a flag in your front yard, and even more importantly what you believe.
The Chinese governments uses modern, hyper-modern surveillance, including facial recognition technologies, to enforce these rules and crush churches and underground believers. Citizens of China are now told that it is morally right to honor Xi Jinping, to believe in him, and to have faith in him, and it is morally wrong not to. These citizens are not allowed to believe in God.
Sovereignty and Godly Wisdom do not always go together in humans but they do perfectly come together in our great God. Here is how Daniel developed the theme of the sovereignty of God:
1. Our Sovereign God Blesses Godly Character (chapter 1)
2. Our Sovereign God Controls the Nations (chapters 2-7)
3. Our Sovereign God Reveals the Future (chapters 8-12)
Under Our Sovereign God Controls the Nations, we first learn that
1. Our Sovereign God is also our God of Wisdom (2:1-49)
A. The unsaved lack wisdom (2:1-13)
Nebuchadnezzar lacked wisdom to understand his God given dreams in 2:1-3. Wiersbe asked: “Does God still use dreams to communicate His will? Certainly He can do so if He pleases, but this isn’t His usual approach. God guides His children today by His Holy Spirit as they pray, seek His face, meditate on His Word, and consult with their spiritual leaders. The danger is that our dreams may not come from the Lord. The human subconscious is capable of producing dreams, and Jeremiah 23:25-32 indicates that demonic forces can cause dreams that are Satan’s lies and God’s truth. It’s dangerous to accept dreams as messengers from the Lord” (page 24). God in Jeremiah 23:9-40 is rebuking false prophets who were pronouncing their dreams but not God’s Word.
God sovereignly gave the king this dream so Daniel could interpret it and give us God’s plan for the future.
The wise men lacked wisdom (2:4-14). To understand the dreams (These are called “wise men” in 2:13, 14, 24, 27). 1) The magicians ((Heb. hartummim) were evidently scholars who could divine the future by using various means, Leupold, p. 75). 2) The astrologers (The conjurers or enchanters (assapim) could evidently communicate with the DEAD, Leupold, p. 76). 3) The sorcerers (The sorcerers (mekassepim) practiced sorcery and cast spells. See Thomas Constable). 4) The Chaldeans (The astrologers (kasdim) here refer to the priestly caste that studied the HEAVENS to determine the future in 2:2. See Thomas Constable).
The king demanded they reveal his past dream before they interpret its future meaning in 2:4-6. These experts in dreams worked on the principle that dreams and their sequel followed an empirical law which, given sufficient data, could be established. The DREAM MANUALS, of which several examples have come to light, consist accordingly of historical dreams and the events that followed them, arranged systematically for easy reference. Since these books had to try to cover every possible eventuality they became inordinately long; only the expert could find his way through them, and even he had to know the dream to begin with before he could search for the nearest possible parallel. The unreasonable demands of the king and the protests of the interpreters in verses 3–11 are in keeping with his character and the known facts concerning dream books.[1]
The demand by the king repeated in 2:7-9. The wise men’s gods could not give them wisdom (2:10-13). You may remember that Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer for advice on the travel schedule for her husband, president Ronald Reagan.
B. The saved are given wisdom (2:14-23)
Daniel prayers for wisdom in 2:14-18. Daniel was given audience to the human king (2:14-16). Daniel “desired” for more time. His request is granted because of his work ethic, godly character, and respect for those in authority over him as seen before in 1:8. Daniel prays the “the God of the heavens” (2:18, 19, 28, 37, 44) and not the starry heaven which was worshiped by the Babylonians. God is sovereign over the heavens. “There is no other record of God having given anyone knowledge of a dream that another person had without the dreamer telling him about it. Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh and his servants when they told him what they were.” (Constable). The answer to the prayer came in 2:19a. James 1:5 promises, “If any man lack wisdom, let him pray.”
Daniel gave praise for the answer is in 2:19b-23. Daniel praises God for His wisdom and might (2:20-21).
Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II led Great Britain and the United States to defeat Nazism and Fascism. Both men near lost their lives before the war began. In December 1931, Churchill was struck by a car as he crossed Fifth Avenue in New York City. In Miami in December 1933, an assassin’s bullet barely missed Roosevelt and killed the man standing beside him. Both leaders could have died, but they survived. Why? Haddon Robinson answers in Daily Bread. I believe God wanted these two men alive to lead their respective nations to victory over the enemy.
Daniel praises God for giving him wisdom and might (2:22-23). God is not selfish with His attributes. “God is Love” and He pours His love into our hearts as salvation according to Romans 5:5.
C. The saved share their wisdom for God’s glory (2:24-30)
The unsaved want self-glory (2:24-25). Arioch claimed, “I have found a man” (2:25). Actually, Daniel found Arioch. Someone wisely said, “A lot can be accomplished for the Lord if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit as long as the Lord gets the glory.”
The saved give God the glory (2:26-30). Joseph did similarly in Gen. 41:16. Daniel gives all glory to God (2:28). The phrase “the latter days” is what Jesus called “the times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21:24. Daniel takes no glory for himself but shares the wisdom given to him by God (2:30). God is not selfish with His power and wisdom. He shares His wisdom with us so we can share it with others. We are privileged to have even greater wisdom to share than Daniel according to 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
The saved share their God given wisdom (2:31-49). Chapter two is the “Comprehensive picture given of world history as it stretched from the time of Daniel, 600 years before Christ, to the consummation at the second advent of Christ” (Walvoord).
Head of Gold (2:36-38) --- The First World Empire: Babylon (636-539 B.C.).
Chest & Arms of Silver (2:39a) --- The Second World Empire: The Medo-Persian kingdom (539-330 B.C.). Darius the Mede defeated Babylon (Daniel 5:30-31).
Abdomen & thighs (2:39b) --- The Third World Empire: Greece (330-63 B.C.) under Alexander the Great.
Lower legs (2:40) --- The Fourth World Empire: Rome (63 B.C.-A.D. 475) which included the Eastern and Western areas conquered by Rome.
Feet & toes (2:41-45) ---The Final Form of the Roman Empire (Daniel 7:24; Rev. 17:12) in the Tribulation Period which is destroyed by Christ at His Second Coming in Revelation 19 resulting in a Final World Empire or the Millennial Kingdom of God in Revelation 20:1-6.
The saved are rewarded (2:46-49). Daniel is exalted (2:46-48) because Daniel first humbled himself in chapter one. Why did Daniel not stop Nebuchadnezzar from worshiping him like Peter (Acts 10:25), Paul (Acts 14:8-18), and the angel (Revelation 22:8-9)? Because Nebuchadnezzar was actually worshiping Daniel’s God (2:47). Daniel had already acknowledged who would reveal the dream in 2:28. Nebuchadnezzar would experience the opposite in 4:28-33 because of his pride. Daniel exalts others (2:49) because his friends had helped him pray in 2:17-18, 23. Daniel saw the importance of prayer in the success of the Lord’s work.
[1] Baldwin, J. G. (1978). Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 23, p. 97). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.