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.
That’s how they did it.
So when Nebuchadnezzar won’t even tell them his dream it puts them in a hard spot. They probably dreamed about an anvil or something.
But let me go back to what I was saying a second ago…
Here you have Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king alive at the time. He has all his wealth, and power, and authority… and he’s got this group of so called counselors and magicians and wise men. And yet he – with all his resources and might, is powerless and confused. None of those worldly things can help him in his predicament.
And the problem here is that Nebuchadnezzar can’t find the answer, and he can’t find peace. He is troubled, and has no way of fixing what is troubling him.
And this is exactly what trusting in the world, and the worlds systems, and worldly philosophy will get you. The world will try to offer solutions and alternatives, and answers, but they can never fully explain everything.
They never ever get to the root problem or issue. They can only take you so far. The world says, “Here’s a band-aid and some Tylenol, hope that helps with your stomach cancer.”
So God has brought the mighty low. God has shown Nebuchadnezzar “You ain’t all that. You ain’t even the bag of chips.” “You’re a fallen man, in a fallen world, and you’re nothing compared to God.” And so, Nebuchadnezzar is in an impossible spot, so he makes an impossible demand – at least for man… and when he’s shown to be a fool, he gets angry.
And really that’s kind of what happens here.
Verses 10 & 11, “The Chaldeans answered the king and said, ‘There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Now you may not catch it here… but this is the “wise men” using a bit of “diplomatic language” here to actually insult the king.
They’re basically saying, “Uh… Nebuchadnezzar… you’re a lunatic. Nobody has ever done or asked this before, because normal, rational people, they know it’s impossible.”
Really what has happened here is that God has used Nebuchadnezzar to show that the so called “wise men” and magicians, and sorcerers aren’t actually so wise after all. He’s used Nebuchadnezzars irrational demand to show the inability and incapability of the worlds solutions.
And Nebuchadnezzar picks up on the insult – Verse 12, “BECAUSE OF THIS, the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.”
If you’re a fraud, what use are you? Right?
But look what happens… Verse 14 – “Then Daniel replied with prudence…”
We’ve seen this before with Daniel. In chapter one, where he convinces the keeper of the eunuchs to give him a 10 day trial…
The Bible says (Prov. 15:1) “A soft answer turns away wrath.”
God commands us to be wise.
And God is going to use this in several ways.
So first of all, understand that it was God who gave Nebuchadnezzar the dream – Daniel says as much in verses 28 and 29… It was God who did that… And it was God who did that, so that He could have Daniel – His man in Babylon – give the interpretation.
And so that Daniel could write down the interpretation for God’s people down through history.
And this isn’t the first time in history that God has given a pagan ruler dreams in order to preserve and bless His people, and to keep His promises. Remember Pharaoh and Joseph in Genesis? Same sort of thing.
So, Daniel hears the bad news – “The king is going to put you all to death.” And he doesn’t freak out. He doesn’t panic. He is wise. He’s not troubled like Nebuchadnezzar is… Daniel knows his God. He’s got a relationship with Him.
There’s a great parallel here between Daniel and the king – Daniel shows us how God keeps us steady and grounded, even when terrible things might happen. Daniel isn’t panicking, he’s at peace, and has full faith and assurance in God. Now that doesn’t mean that Daniel doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t just sit back and be passive at all. We’ll look at that more next time, but just to give you a preview… Daniel goes to his friends and asks them to be in prayer.
He's like, “This is something that only God can fix, so let’s go to God in prayer, and seek His mercy and grace, and the answer to this problem.”
And understand this – Nebuchadnezzar isn’t right with God. The devil wants him to kill God’s people. The devil was probably rubbing his hands, thinking to himself, I’ve got them now… I’ll use this dream that God gave to get God’s people killed. But God is already a billion steps ahead. There’s nothing that God does or allows, or permits, or ordains without Him already knowing the outcome.
He's God!
He’s omniscient! All – Knowing!
He’s Sovereign!
He’s omnipotent, all powerful, and all mighty!
So let me bring this to a close by asking you this – Church… do you understand the God you love and serve? The fiery trials in our lives serve a purpose. His purpose for you. It’s not like the devil attacks you and God goes, “Uh Oh! We better move quick to counteract this.” No… It’s more like God sitting on His throne, saying to the angels, “Hey watch this, the devil is going to attack my child, and I’ve already made a way of escape for them. I’ve already made it so that all things work together for good to those who love Me and are called, according to My purpose.”
So when we say things like, “God’s got this!” We mean it.
It doesn’t mean we sit on our hands passively hoping things turn out, we go to Him, knowing He is sovereign and good, and merciful and all-mighty. We do what we know we should, acting in faith, moved by faith, knowing our God does all things well.
Let’s Pray.
