John Calvin Commentary Daniel 2:47

"The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret." — Daniel 2:47 (ASV)

This confession is quite devout and holy, and is full of uprightness and sincerity; it may even be taken as a proof of true conversion and repentance. But, as I have recently reminded you, ungodly men are sometimes seized by an admiration for God, and then they profess extensively and abundantly whatever may be expected from God’s true worshipers.

Still, this is only momentary, for all the while they remain wrapped up in their own superstitions. God, therefore, compels this language from them when they speak so devoutly; but they inwardly retain their faults and afterward easily fall back into their accustomed habits—as a memorable example will soon prove to us.

Whichever interpretation is adopted, God wished His glory to be proclaimed by the mouth of the ungodly king, and desired him to be the herald of His own power and influence. But this was especially profitable to those Jews who still remained firm in their allegiance; for the greater part had rebelled—quite openly, and had degenerated with great ease from the pure worship of God.

When led into captivity, they became idolaters and apostates, and denied the living God; but a small number of the devout remained. God wished to further their benefit and to strengthen their minds when He drew this confession from the king of Babylon. But another purpose was achieved, since the king, as well as all the Chaldeans and Assyrians, were rendered more inexcusable.

For if the God of Israel was truly God, why did Bel meanwhile retain his rank? He is the God of gods—then it must be immediately added, He is the enemy of false gods. We observe how Nebuchadnezzar here mixes light with darkness, and black with white, while he confesses the God of Israel to be supreme among gods, and yet continues to worship other deities.

For if the God of Israel receives His due, all idols vanish. Hence, Nebuchadnezzar contends with himself in this language. But, as I have said, he is seized by a strong impulse and is not entirely in his right mind when he so freely declares the power of the one true God.

As far as words go, then, he says, truly your God is Himself a God of gods. The particle truly is by no means superfluous here; it is strongly affirmative. For if anyone had asked him whether Bel and other idols were to be worshiped as gods, he might answer, “yes;” but doubtfully, and according to preconceived opinion, since all superstitious worshipers are confused, and if ever they defend their superstitions, they do so with the recklessness that the devil suggests, but not according to their own judgment.

In truth, their minds are not settled when they dare to assert their own superstitions to be devout and holy. But Nebuchadnezzar seems here formally to renounce his own errors, as if he had said—Until now I acknowledged other gods, but I now change my mind; I have discovered your God to be the chief of all gods.

And truly, if he really spoke his own mind, he might perceive he was doing injustice to his own idols, if there were any divinity in them; Israel’s God was admittedly held in utter hatred and detestation by the ungodly nations. By praising Him above all gods, he demeans Bel and the whole company of false gods that the Babylonians worshiped.

But, as we have said, he was swayed by impulse and spoke without thinking. He was in a kind of fervor, since God astonished him and then led him to marvel at and declare His own power. He calls Him Lord of kings, by which praise he claims for Him the supreme dominion over the world; he means to assert that Israel’s God not only surpasses all others but holds the reins of government over the world.

For if He is the Lord of kings, all people are under His hand and dominion! And the multitude of humankind cannot be drawn away from His empire if He rules their very monarchs. We understand, therefore, the meaning of these words: namely, whatever deity is worshiped is inferior to the God of Israel, because He is high above all gods; then His providence rules over the world, while He is Lord of all peoples and kings, and governs all things by His will.

He adds, He is a revealer of secrets. This is our proof of Divinity, as we have said elsewhere. For Isaiah, when wanting to prove the existence of only one God, takes these two principles, namely: Nothing happens without His permission, and His foreseeing all things (Daniel 48:3-5). These two principles are inseparably united.

Although Nebuchadnezzar did not understand what was the true distinctive nature of Divinity, yet he is here driven by the secret prompting of God’s Spirit clearly to declare God’s power and wisdom. Therefore, he confesses the God of Israel to surpass all gods, since He holds power over the whole world, and nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him.

He adds the reason—Daniel could reveal that secret. This reason does not seem like a very good one, for he infers that the world is governed by one God because Daniel made this secret known.

But then, some might object, "this has no reference to His power." The answer to this comment is easy. We showed elsewhere how we should not imagine a god like Apollo who can only predict future events.

And truly, it is far too superficial to attribute to God mere foreknowledge, as if the events of the world depended on anything other than His power. For God is said to have prior knowledge of future events because He determined what He wished to be done.

Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar concluded that the dominion of the whole world is in God's hands because He could predict the future. For unless He had full power over the future, He could not predict anything with certainty. Since, therefore, He truly predicts future events, this clearly proves that all things are ordained by Him and disproves the existence of chance, while He fulfills whatever He has decreed.

Let us learn from this passage how insufficient it is to celebrate God’s wisdom and power with loud declarations, unless at the same time we reject all superstitions from our minds, and so cling to the one true God as to bid all others a heartfelt farewell. No fuller verbal confession can be required than what is presented to us here; and yet we observe how Nebuchadnezzar was always entangled in Satan’s deceptions, because he wanted to retain his false gods and thought it was enough to give first place to the God of Israel.

Let us learn again, to do our best in purging the mind from all superstitions, that the one true God may fill all our senses. Meanwhile, we must observe how severe and dreadful a judgment awaits Papists, and all like them, who at least should be imbued with the basic principles of piety, while they confess the existence of only one supreme God, and yet mingle together a great multitude of deities, and dishonor both His power and wisdom, and at the same time observe what is said here by an ungodly king.

For the Papists not only divide God’s power by distributing it in parts to each of their saints, but also when they speak of God Himself, they imagine Him as knowing all things beforehand and yet leaving all things dependent on man’s free will—first creating all things, and then leaving every event uncertain.

Hence heaven and earth, as they reflect either men’s merits or crimes, at one time become beneficial, and at another harmful to humankind. Truly enough, neither rain, nor heat, nor cloudy nor clear weather, nor anything else happens without God’s permission; and whatever is harmful is a sign of His curse, while whatever is prosperous and desirable is the sign of His favor.

This, indeed, is true, but when the Papists build their foundation on the will of man, we see how they deprive God of His rights. Let us learn, then, from this passage, not to attribute to God less than what was conceded by this ungodly king.