A friend of mine was recently given a business card from a "minister" who came into his store. It read:
"Rev. ________, Associated Minister
_______________ Church
Rev. ________, a prophet of Jesus Christ, healer, and miracle worker: will bring marriages together, destroy devils, bring loved ones home from prison.
A good love offering required - $300 or more."
Call __________"
For all we know this man’s heart may be in the right place and his technique may just be unorthodox (to say the least), but I couldn’t help but think when I looked at the card, that some folks would actually be desperate and naive enough to give him a call.
Who do you call on when the dreams of your life seem to be slipping away?
Daniel chapter two provides insight on where to go (and where not to go) for help. Here are some guidelines to follow.
1. Beware godless counsel. (Daniel 2:1-9)
Daniel chapter two records the story of how the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar became a nightmare for his wise men. He called them all together and demanded they interpret his dream. Just once catch - they also had to reveal what the dream was about without any clues from the dreamer.
The king of ancient Babylonia sounds like a lot of people today who are fed up with the empty showmanship of the "experts". Many counselors are "clouds without rain" (Jude 12), who look impressive, but offer no lasting relief to the parched soul.
Babylon’s ancient psychological association was, for the most part, made up of members who did not know God. (Daniel and his friends excluded.) They could manipulate information - but in this classic case - they weren’t given any information to manipulate. They made a living deceiving the king and his court by coming up with impressive sounding interpretations of events that seemed to indicate they possessed special wisdom.
God’s Word warns us to stay clear of these types of counselors because, "In their greed these teachers will exploit you." (2 Peter 2:3 NIV)
Nebuchadnezzar was tired of being exploited. We can’t blame him for the way he put his advisors to the test. He was tired of people making up stuff to impress him. If they could produce the goods by telling him what he had dreamed, then he would know he could trust their counsel.
Jesus Himself warned us that in the last days there would be a proliferation of peddlers of pretense and that many would be deceived by them. (Mt. 24:11,24)
If you’re like the king in our scripture today you may be tired of the modern charlatans - those who dispense placebos like: parapsychology, psychic surgery and astrology. [According to one study done by the Roper Organization for Public Opinion magazine, 7% of Americans admit to changing their behavior or plans on the basis of an astrology report - 7% represents as many as 12 million adults!]
Josh McDowell and Don Stewart in their book, "Handbook of Today’s Religions", list many of the vain spiritual avenues people are traveling to find help. Among them are: new truth; new interpretation of scripture; a non-biblical source of authority; another Jesus; rejection of orthodox Christianity; double talk (people who talk about Jesus but not the same Jesus represented in the New Testament); and salvation by works.
Whatever the attraction of these snake oil salesmen, the thinking individual must realize that the message can be packaged any way we like, but if it’s not from God it will eventually fail us.
The majority of us wouldn’t fall prey to the salesmanship of the world’s magicians. We’re not superstitious. We don’t even believe in luck. So how do we come under the spell of these worldly counselors?
For one, we all hurt sometimes. And when we hurt the human tendency is to grab the fastest pain reliever advertised. Instead, we should exercise caution in swallowing all that Madison Avenue, Hollywood, and the "intellectual" scientists and historians tell us.
Madison Avenue tells us, "If you’re hurting, spend your way out of it. There’s nothing that money and material things can’t buy, including happiness."
Hollywood says, "When you hurt you need pleasure and amusement, just have fun and cast off all restraint."
The psuedo-intellectual says, "Reason your way out of trouble. Pay no attention to spiritual things as they are only the work of man’s imagination." Many of these folks believe the Bible is antiquated, incorrect, and irrelevant. It offers no help because it doesn’t coincide with their godless presuppositions. (See 2 Peter 3:3-5)
Learn from a man who had heard it all. King Nebuchadnezzar had experienced the trappings of materialism, pleasure, and intellectual pursuits. He had his fill of worldly philosphies and they left him empty. His heart ached and his head throbbed for someone to help him understand what life was all about and point him in a right direction for the future.
Nebuchadnezzar laid his head on his pillow one night and God gave him a dream that revealed his future and the implications - but he did not understand the dream and didn’t want to hear any more psycho-babble. All of his exploits had left him empty inside. He still lacked fulfillment after all he had accomplished as the most powerful man on earth at the time.
What about our future? What are some people going to do when they wake up one day and realize everything they’ve done up to now is meaningless without God?
What will our plan of action be when we face the inevitable knock of death on our door? Are we going to get out our science text book and console ourself with the laws of physics? Will we get all of our "things" together and bribe the death angel? Will memories of life’s pleasures sustain us then?
I went to the hospital recently to see a man dying of cancer. A friend of his asked me to go pray for him. I introduced myself and the deacon who was with me and told him we’d like to pray for him. He flatly refused. As a retired NASA scientist he just knew there wasn’t a God and there was no use to pray for him to a God who wasn’t there.
I felt sorry for him. Not in a condescending way. I knew he was sincere. He has been convinced, like many others, by godless counselors, that there is nothing beyond what we can investigate with our five physical senses.
Daniel and his associates were about to set a precedent that eradicates that idea.
Here’s the second guideline to follow when you sense you need help finding your dream.
2. Look to a resource higher than man. (Daniel 2:10-23)
When the king’s pyschiatrists heard his request to tell him what he had dreamed their reply was very telling.
"There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." (Daniel 2:10-11)
Unwittingly their words set the stage for God’s intervention remarkably well! Other than their polytheism, their response was really rather quite orthodox.
What they said was true. Man IS limited in his ability to help. We can fake a lot of things and fool a lot of people but as 17th Century scientist and philosopher Blaise Paschal said, "Within every man is a God-shaped vacuum that can only be filled by Jesus Christ." Until that God-shaped hole is filled we will go on searching for help and never be satisfied with what we receive.
The king was so furious at the empty response of his counselors that he decreed all the wise men of Babylon be put to death. This included Daniel and his friends even though they had not been given an opportunity to reveal the king’s dream.
When Daniel heard about it he he asked the king for more time. Then he returned to his house and gathered three close friends together to pray for God to penetrate this mystery. During the night the dream was revealed to Daniel in a vision of his own!
Daniel’s spirit broke out in a spontaneous acclamation of praise to God that is filled with references to the willingness and ability of God to help us discover and understand needed truth.
"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 2:20-23)
Daniel and his friends looked to a resource that the other wise men did not even consider. The wisdom and power needed for a seemingly impossible challenge comes from God. Prayer is the designated method and praise is the appropriate response when we need and receive help finding our dream.
Is this a really credible? Can we actually expect a supernatural source of help? Consider one final guideline from Daniel’s experience to see that this entire episode is not a fanciful fable.
Remember, when we need help finding our dream we must:
1. Beware godless counsel. (Daniel 2:1-9)
2. Look to a resource higher than man. (Daniel 2:10-23)
3. Trust in God’s Word. (Daniel 2:24-49)
How do we know God’s Word is reliable? Daniel’s reiteration and interpretation of the king’s dream is one of many classic prophetic passages that produce clear and credible evidence that the Bible is more than a man-made artifact!
You could conclude that this whole story is fictitious but for one thing - the interpretation of the dream by Daniel predicts world events centuries before they occur!
We’re not talking the gibber jabber of a Nostradamus here. We’re talking about God mapping out with accuracy the four dominant world kingdoms from Daniel’s day until the time of Christ.
The enormous statue of the king’s dream represents as follows:
The head of gold - Nebuchadnezzar’s rule as supreme monarch over ancient Babylon.
The chest and arms of silver - Medo-Persia.
The belly and thighs of bronze - Ancient Greece.
Legs of iron - Ancient Rome.
All of these kingdoms rose and fell just as the Word of God predicted. Many higher critics have tried to discredit the date and authorship of Daniel in order to explain away the amazing accuracy of the prophecy. But their every effort has met with failure. Time will not allow in this setting to explain these evidences in detail. Entire books have been written on the subject and the material is open for scrutiny to any interested inquirers.
[For instance; some critics say the book of Daniel wasn’t written until after the time of Christ, which is ridiculous because Jesus quoted from the book of Daniel!]
What we need to focus on right now is this - the help we need is found in God and His Word! Every worldly kingdom is going down, but Christ’s kingdom is going up.
As Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy." (Dan. 2:45b)
Everything God says or does is trustworthy. When we need help finding our dream - He is willing and able to help us - just as he helped Daniel help Nebuchadnezzar.
