Daniel 2:17 Commentary and Bible Study

‘He went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions’ that they would pray; verse 18, ‘they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret.’ That is a beautiful phrase. We remember that they were in the court where heaven, the sun, the moon and the stars were all treated as gods. And so they hold a prayer meeting to pray to the God of heaven, the true God, who is over all invented gods, those fictitious mythological gods. They pray to the God of heaven concerning this secret – what the king has withheld from the astrologers – ‘that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.’They were not just concerned for their own skins. They knew they were placed in the land for a purpose, so they prayed for their preservation and for the revelation of the secret. They put prayer to the test. Daniel did not say I will just go ahead and interpret this dream, even though he knew he had received a divine gift of interpretation. By faith he was persuaded that he would interpret the dream, but God required that they ask him for the interpretation. Without prayer Daniel won’t get this blessing. So they pray as if their lives depend upon it. Prayer is the essential link in God granting a blessing. Besides, although he was not present when the king spoke to the wise men, he would have heard from Arioch about the king’s demand that the astrologers tell the dream before interpreting it. He would have been told that they had been unable to do so, and this had led to the edict to have them all put to death (Daniel 2:15).