David Bahn – Reflections

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Today’s readings: Daniel 1-3, Psalm 95.

Daniel 2:25-30

[This is a summary of Daniel 2:1-24: King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that Babylon’s wise men tell him both his troubling dream and its interpretation, an impossible task that put their lives—including Daniel’s—in danger. Daniel and his friends sought God’s mercy, and God revealed the mystery to Daniel in a vision.]

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶ The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷ Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹ To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰ But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

“Our Father, who art in heaven…” As you pray the Lord’s Prayer, how much thought do you put into those words? Some will lean into the “Our Father” portion, and perhaps even more into the “Father,” pointing to the kind and caring nature of our God. But there is also the “who art in heaven” part of this introduction. As I read these chapters, the phrase, “there is a God in heaven,” caught my attention.

Not only does the phrase occur in the verses here, but as Daniel explains the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, he refers to the “God of heaven.” And when the three men are ready to be thrown into the fiery furnace, the king challenges them, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” They answer, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.” They were confident that there is a God in heaven – regardless of the king’s threat.

Seeing God’s miraculous intervention, Nebuchadnezzar says, “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way” (Daniel 3:29).

There is a God in heaven. He reigns on high. He is the one and only. Whatever threat, distress, illness, challenge, or trouble you may face, there is a God in heaven to whom we may turn with confidence and faith. It may be that we must give the witness of the three men that includes not only confidence in God’s delivering power, but also the faith to say, “Even if he does not rescue us, we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:18).

Daniel and these three men are giving witness to God’s grace and power. They are great examples for us today. We may never face a fiery furnace or be required to solve a mystery that only God can solve. But we do have the call to be witnesses of his love and might. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we call on the God in heaven who not only hears our prayers, but who forgives our sins, leads us not into temptation, and whose kingdom comes even without our prayer.

Our Father in heaven, let your will be done in and through us, for you live and reign with the Son and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.