Daniel, a Master Dream Interpretor

Daniel is one of only two characters in the entire Bible known as a dream interpreter (Joseph being the other.) Both were promoted from obscurity to prominence by interpreting dreams. In your study of dreams, it is beneficial to study Daniel’s life and how God’s gift operated in his life.

Daniel glorified God and acknowledged Him as the only source for interpretations of dreams: (Daniel 2:20–23) "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king." 

Daniel regularly interpreted dreams. Even early in life, he was known by others to have a keen mind in knowledge and understanding and to have the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems (Daniel 5:12). 

The book of Daniel records three dreams: Nebuchadnezzar’s two dreams and one of Daniel’s. These three dreams and interpretations are significant, powerful, prophetic, and wonderful examples for us today.

Although Daniel was a highly gifted dream interpretor, he relied on prayer and time to receive the interpretation of dreams (Daniel 2:17–19).  

What prompted God to give Nebuchadnezzar those two prophetic dreams and why did God give the interpretation to Daniel? Daniel had an intercessor’s heart (Daniel 2:24) so he most likely prayed regularly for the king. Daniel always gave God the glory for the interpretations He gave him (Daniel 2:19–23, 28, 4:24). (God will do things on our behalf and on behalf of those we pray for so that men will give Him glory.) And this resulted in the dreamer, Nebuchadnezzar, giving God glory when the dream came to pass (Daniel 2:46–47, 4:34–37).  

Daniel knew the voice of God. He lived a spiritually disciplined life, praying three times a day (Daniel 6:10) and fasting often (Daniel 9:3, 10:3).  

In Daniel’s approach to dreams, he:

• Wrote down the substance of his dreams (Daniel 7:1)
• Relied on God for the interpretation (Daniel 2:16–23)
• Could keep dreams to himself (Daniel 7:28)
• Was not given to pride and was gracious even to a heathen king (Daniel 4:19)
• Gave God the glory for the interpretation (Daniel 2:20–23) 

The manner in which Daniel conducted himself when relaying his understanding of visions and dreams of all kinds (Daniel 1:17) is worth mentioning here. The doors opened for Daniel to speak to each of the kings that ruled during Daniel’s lifetime. With each king, Daniel rose from obscurity to prominence because he spoke with wisdom and with a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others (Daniel 2:14). We should conduct ourselves in the same manner and especially when interpreting other’s dreams.

(This topic is discussed further in the Ears-2-Hear Teachings.)