As I was reading the first two chapters of the book of Daniel the other day I was struck by four separate verses that displayed how God sovereignly moved in the affairs of mankind. While man is free to exercise his own will, and God will never force us to choose to love Him or obey His commands, He is still sovereign over the affairs in this world. And while there is still a mystery between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, I choose to leave this difficult doctrine in the hands of our almighty God as to how to fully reconcile the two.
The four verses that shows how God is in control of all situations are:
(Daniel 1:2): “And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.”
(Daniel 1:9): “Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.”
(Daniel 1:17): “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.”
(Daniel 2:21): “…He removes kings and raises up kings…”
In these four verses notice my underlined words: delivered, caused, gave, removes, and raises.
Let’s briefly take a look at these four verses:
In (Daniel 1:2) we see that the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. In God’s sovereignty He chose to allow Nebuchadnezzar to capture Jehoiakim king of Judah apparently as punishment against the wickedness of the people of Judah and their evil ruler. Here we see that God is the sovereign agent in control of deposing Jehoiakim, the king of Judah as a prophetic fulfillment of His warning against Judah’s disobedience to the Mosaic law. While Nebuchadnezzar gains the victory here, God is acting in the background to fulfill His plans.
In (Daniel 1:8) we see that Daniel was expected to eat and drink the delicacies that King Nebuchadnezzar placed before him. One problem – this food and drink was dedicated to the Babylonian gods, and therefore was defiled. Daniel because He reverenced His God refused to eat and drink this food and asked permission not to have to consume the kings menu. I believe that because of Daniel’s love for His God, and the fact that the Lord was planning to use him in many special ways, God moved in the heart of the king’s official, and thus we read in (Daniel 1:9): “Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.” Again, we see God in sovereign control over the affairs of man, by causing the official to grant Daniel his request to not have to defile himself with the king’s choice food and drink.
In (Daniel 1:17) we read: “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.” Here we see that it was God in His sovereignty that chose to give Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego supernatural ability to grasp and learn the immense amount of new knowledge they would need to know in their new surroundings. Again, God had great plans for these four young men and thus sovereignly chose to give them this supernatural learning ability.
Finally, we read in (Daniel 2:21): “…He removes kings and raises up kings…” While man may vote in elected leaders, and dictators may seize power, in the end God sovereignly oversees and allows the setting up and removal of all earthly kings and leaders for His divine purposes.
My friends one of the main attributes of our God is that He is indeed sovereign over everything that takes place in our universe, and these reflections from the book of Daniel clearly demonstrate some of His many acts of sovereignty. And in closing, I leave you with something to ponder from the late theologian R.C. Sproul: “If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, He is not God.”1
1 R.C. Sproul Quote: “If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, He is…”
Lion Food: Daniel and the God Who Actually Reigns,
From the Apologist…
This commentary is lion-worthy because it actually feeds you something solid: four plain verses in Daniel, hanging the whole point on the action words Scripture itself uses, “delivered… caused… gave… removes… raises” showing God’s hand in history, in hearts, and in leadership without turning it into abstract fog.
Curt also keeps the tension honest, admitting the mystery between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility instead of pretending it’s easy.
Then Curt lands the plane with a clean, memorable gut-punch (Sproul’s “maverick molecule” line) that forces the reader to decide whether “God is sovereign” is a real confession or just religious wallpaper.
Thanks Curt!