Daniel 2:11,19-23,48-49, The Most High God

In Daniel 2 we have the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  The king demanded that the wise men (the Chaldeans) not only give him an interpretation but also reveal the dream itself.  This they could not do, of course.  The most cogent argument they gave for not knowing what the king dreamt was that only the gods could have that kind of information, and the gods do not dwell with flesh (v11). 

Daniel was able to satisfy the king’s unusual demand because Daniel served the true and living God, the God of heaven, the God of Israel.  Thus it became one of those “epic” confrontations of God with gods, as in the plagues on Egypt, or the contest on Mt. Carmel in the time of Elijah. 

In this post we want to provide a little background information on the gods of Babylon and the God of Daniel.  In the previous paragraph we put a term in quotes for a reason.  Some of the information about the Babylonian gods comes from various “epics,” stories about creation (Enuma elish) and the flood (Gilgamesh).  [By the way, we have no connection nor do we have agreement with “scholars” who deny that .  I mention this because they take the Bible stories of creation and the flood to be myth, even as the Babylonian and other stories.  We note these here because we believe they help see the foolishness of idolatry.]

·       The gods of Babylon.

o   Bel/Marduk.  He was the supreme god but the accumulation of other deities he usurped.  Here are a couple of quotes from the flood story (Epic of Gilgamesh) that describe Marduk:

§  “A firm lawgiver and judge who, when angered is not stoppable.”

§  “No one would be in control if he got off his throne to work up a flood.”

o   Ishtar: the goddess of love, procreation and war.  Again, from the flood story:

§  She asked Gilgamesh, the great warrior (the Noah figure in Babylonian mythology) to be her lover, which he rejected.

§  She visits the underworld, and is only released in exchange for Tammuz, another god who is her consort.

These are typical of the pantheons of Egypt, Greece and Rome and others in ancient times.  The gods are petty, nothing more than humans with exceptional powers.  Now, consider what we have learned from Daniel about the God of Israel.

·       2:20-22: God of wisdom, power, revealer of mysteries (from Daniel).

·       2:47: God of gods, Lord of kings, Revealer of mysteries (from Nebuchadnezzar).

·       And in addition: HE DWELLS WITH MEN!  Beginning with Adam and Eve, Enoch walked with God, the patriarchs (Gen. 12:7; 26:2; 35:7), Moses (Ex. 34), Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon and so forth until the greatest, in Christ, in whom God became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14)!