God's Got This Series

Daniel: God’s Got This (3)

Text: Daniel 2:1-18

Let’s go ahead and open our Bibles to Daniel chapter two.

And while you’re turning there, let me just say this. This book is so helpful for us who desire to follow and serve God in this fallen world. The whole world system, and all that’s in it are trying to get us off track and to compromise, but Daniel shows us that its possible – by God’s grace, to follow Jesus throughout life. It doesn’t have to be a life of following and falling, but we – as believers can live lives of consistent faithfulness to God. We can persevere.

And again, I want to encourage you, as we go through this book, to pay careful attention to what God is actually saying, not what the prophecy commentators have said, or the internet theologians have said, but what God says in this book. Ok?

So… Daniel 2:1-18 (READ).

Now this is one of those instances where the Bible switches from Hebrew to Aramaic. Aramaic was kind of like Greek in the sense that Aramaic was the international language… Kind of like English is today. And the reason for that is because of the vast area controlled by the Babylonian Empire.

And for historians, this adds credibility to the Book of Daniel. You don’t expect the Babylonian wise men to be speaking in Greek or Hebrew. So starting in verse 4 here in chapter two, and running all the way to chapter 7, verse 28 – this portion of Scripture is written in Aramaic. And part of the reason for that, is because that’s what the wise men spoke, but another – BIG PART – is so that everyone could read what is said here. This isn’t just concerning Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon, or Israel… but many nations and peoples.

God wants people to know that HE is sovereign! And that HE is the One who is orchestrating the events of human history. Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Mede, Alexander the Great, and every ruler in every time and age are under His sovereign rule and reign.

So let’s break it down and see what God is saying here.

Nebuchadnezzar has some strange dreams. And apparently they were the kind that stick with you, not the kind you forget shortly after you wake up. And it wasn’t just one dream… verse 1 says “dreams” – a series of dreams. And they were so troubling that it got to the point where he couldn’t sleep. So he calls in the magicians and enchanters, and sorcerers, and the Chaldeans – We would call them the “wise men”.

Now catch this: Nebuchadnezzar is at this time, the most powerful man on earth. He has the strongest army. The most wealth. He has everything a person could physically want. But he’s laid low by a dream. So he calls his counselors – his “wise men”.

And it’s interesting because apparently he doesn’t even trust them.

He’s the most powerful man on the planet, but he doesn’t even trust his own advisors. He doesn’t tell them the dream itself. Now some commentators have said that may be because he didn’t remember it. But I don’t see that here. He’s testing them. These wise men were claiming that they had power – supernatural powers of magic and sorcery, and that they could interpret dreams and things, so Nebuchadnezzar calls them out, and says, “Ok boys! You’re going to interpret my dream, but I’m not going to tell you what it is… just give me the interpretation – tell me the dream and what it means, and I’ll make you famous.”

That would be like calling Dion Warwick’s psychic hotline back in the 80’s and saying, “Ok, tell me why I’m calling.”

And the “wise men” are terrified when they hear this. They realize that the king is asking for the impossible. They can’t actually predict the future or explain these things. They are false prophets.

We know from actual archaeological and historical records, what the Chaldeans did when it came to interpreting dreams was that they had a massive library of “Dream Manuals”. They would keep track of dreams and what happened in dreams, and then they would write down what happened after those dreams. It was kind of a database for interpreting dreams. And what they would do is look for something in the dream that corresponded with something they had already written down and interpret the dream based on that.

So let me give you a couple of examples. If in your dream you ate an apple, you were supposed to get a blessing. If you ate a pear in your dream – you would go through a season of need. If you meet a dog in your dream, you will have a pleasant future. If you find a hammer in your dream, you’ll get a new house… but if you find an anvil in your dream – the king is going to take away your possessions.