Authentic Kingdom Culture: Power!Sample

Expert Power

Next, God grants expert power to Daniel and his friends. Expert power comes from having extensive knowledge or experience in some field. God gave Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom and gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of dreams and visions. Wow! Unusual aptitude! Every aspect! Special ability! God gave these young men hyper-superior expertise.

Due to this gift from God, the Jewish young men proved themselves ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in the entire Babylonian kingdom. This is serious power. What will Daniel do with it? Once again, what is most notable is what he doesn’t do.

One night, King Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream and calls all his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers and demands they tell him the dream and its interpretation. No one could do it, so the king ordered the execution of all the wise men in Babylon. Daniel moves swiftly to get some more time from the king, mobilize his friends in prayer, go before God, and receive God’s answers in a vision. This is the moment Daniel can use insight (his expert power) to enlarge himself in the eyes of the king and indeed all of Babylon. But hear what Daniel says, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.”

Daniel seized the opportunity to glorify God, not himself. It was in his heart to reveal the wisdom of Yahweh to the world! In chapter 4, Daniel interpreted another dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. The dream was not good news for the king. As Daniel prepared to give his interpretation, he said, “I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you!” and he ended with “King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.” Again we see the beautiful heart of Daniel shining through here. He genuinely loved and served the king (remember, this is the pagan king that took his people captive).

God will make some of us shine above our peers and become sought-after experts, but He will also be watching to see what we do with that influence. Will we glorify Him? Will we become puffed up with knowledge, sickeningly over-impressed with ourselves? Will we use our power to serve society or to make ourselves rich? Will we only help ‘Christian people’ or serve all men?