HOMILETICS
SECT. VII.—THE TESTIMONY (Chap. Daniel 2:24-30)
Daniel’s thanksgiving to God immediately followed by his testimony to men. Life being at stake, the business required haste. Daniel repairs, therefore, at once to the captain of the guard, informing him he was able to meet the king’s wish, and desiring to be admitted to his presence. In answering the king’s question, “Art thou able,” &c. (Daniel 2:26), Daniel verifies the words of the Psalmist, perhaps his own,—“I will speak of thy testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed” (Psalms 119:46). His testimony includes reference to—
1. The wise men and soothsayers [41] of Babylon, and, by implication, the gods they worshipped. Daniel declares what they had already confessed, their utter inability to show the king’s dream (Daniel 2:27). The gods they served were equally unable to help them. Were they worthy of the name of gods and of the worship of men, they must know the secret of the king’s dream, and both for the sake of the king, their priests, and themselves, be willing to communicate it to their servants, now in danger of their lives. The pretensions of these priests were vain. They were either deceived themselves or sought to deceive others, or rather both [42].
[41] “Soothsayers.” An old English word literally denoting “truth-tellers,” strangely applied to those who, as a matter of fact, were generally the reverse. Isaiah (Isaiah 44:25) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 50:36) both refer to the same class under the express term “liars,” בַּדִּים (baddim). The term in the text, גָּזְרִין (gozrin), denotes, according to Hengstenberg, “definers of fate.” This name is supposed by some to be derived from גְּזַר (gezar) to “divide,” “cut off;” the knowledge of fate being supposed to be gained from the observation of the stars, which were for that purpose divided into certain fields. Dr. Rule gives a different derivation, and observes: “If the word may be explained according to its literal meaning, they delivered the conclusion in doubtful questions, arrived at after the usual methods of divination had been employed without result. They were the deciders.”
[42] Their fortune-telling, however, it appears, did sometimes happen to prove true. Plutarch relates of Otho, before he became emperor, that the Chaldeans and other diviners whom he had always about him, would not suffer him entirely to give up his hopes or abandon his design of assuming the purple. In particular, he relied on Ptolemy, because he had formerly predicted that he should not fall by the hand of Nero, but should survive him and ascend the imperial throne; for as the former part of the prophecy had proved true, he thought he had no reason to despair of the latter.
2. The true God. “But there is a God in heaven,” &c. (Daniel 2:28). Daniel neither ashamed nor afraid to confess God before kings. He declares not merely His superiority to all the gods of Babylon, but His exclusive claim to deity. The wise men spoke of “the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh;” Daniel declares there is but one. The “gods many” of the heathen he tacitly intimates were mere figments, shadows, and worthless dumb idols, neither able to help their worshippers nor themselves. He declares, further, the spirituality and invisibility of the true God, in opposition to those idols that stood in their temples. The God who is able to reveal the king’s dream is the God of heaven, the invisible Being whose throne and abode is in heaven, and who fills it with His presence. The proof of His sole and exclusive claim to Godhead about to be given, Elijah’s challenge: “The God that answereth by fire, he is the God.” Daniel’s,—The God that revealeth the king’s dream, he and he only is the God.
3. Daniel himself. “As for me,” &c. (Daniel 2:30). Daniel disclaims any superior wisdom or merit in himself as the ground of his ability to show the king’s dream. Ascribes the revelation entirely to God and His good pleasure. God wished to reveal to the king what should hereafter happen to His kingdom and to the world. True excellence always lowly. Apparent room and a strong temptation in the circumstances for Daniel to glory. Daniel’s lowliness of mind the very ground of the distinction given him. God “giveth grace to the lowly; the proud He knoweth afar off.” Daniel, though young, taught the lesson so difficult to fallen humanity. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” No glory due to the best of creatures. “Who maketh thee to differ? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received?” Quite natural that Ezekiel should refer to Daniel as an example of piety as well as wisdom.
DANIEL A NOBLE EXAMPLE OF FAITHFUL WITNESS-BEARING
The high vocation of God’s servants and people to bear witness for Him in the world. “Ye are my witnesses” (Isaiah 43:10). This repeated by Christ to His disciples: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem,” &c. (Acts 1:8). This witness to be borne before all classes as occasion may offer and require. “Ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony” (Mark 13:9). To bear testimony to and for Christ in the world often the cross given a disciple to carry. Sometimes hard enough to do so before friends and neighbours, in the workshop, the market, or the drawing-room. The sneer of the unbelieving its frequent consequence. Sometimes something more than a sneer. “Martyr” literally a “witness,” or a witness-bearer. A cruel death in days past the frequent result of faithful witness-bearing. Hence courage necessary to make a consistent Christian. Such courage the offspring of the faith that makes a believer. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). “Virtue” or courage to be added to “faith” (2 Peter 1:5). Hence faith’s noble roll of witness-bearers (Hebrews 11.) The “cloud of witnesses” not mere spectators but witness-bearers, who on earth bore faithful testimony for God and His truth. Christ Himself the great witness-bearer,—“who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.” The world to be won to Christ and to God by faithful witness-bearing. The testimony to be borne as well by our life as our lips. Future glory the reward of faithful witness-bearing. “Whoso shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).