The Book of Daniel - part 2
Once Upon a Dream
I have always been fascinated by dreams. Some of my favorite stories and movies center around the idea of visions and dreams intersecting and affecting reality. Some of us are still trying to figure out just how many dreams within a dream were happening in the movie Inception. As I studied this week, I was reminded of a painting I will share you:
“The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” is an 18th century etching created in a series of prints by Francisco Goya. I first encountered this etching in an Art History class, and I was enthralled with the monsters coming out of the man’s dream-state. Goya wanted to illustrate the thin line between artistry and madness. He wrote, “Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her (reason), she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels.” In other words, pure fantasy without any hint of logic or reason will produce a myriad of monsters and insanity. But, if fantasy and imagination are coupled with reason, then they will produce all sorts of beauty and art.
“The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” by Francisco Goya
In the modern world, many have resolved that dreams are simply the brain working out some problem or experience while the rest of the body is asleep. But for the ancient world, dreams were connections to the spiritual realm. The Bible is filled with stories of people who had a vision or dream which pointed them to a spiritual truth. The Ancient Near East had similar stories throughout many different cultures. Today, there are still many parts of the world where dreams are considered significantly spiritual. In some areas dreams are still viewed as spiritual experiences such as in Native American Vision Quest.
Today, we are looking at the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. We will discuss the substance of his dream next week, because we will focus on how this dream became interpreted for him. It is a battle between two sources of wisdom. On one side are the pagan enchanters and magicians who fail to offer the king peace for his nightmares. On the other side is Daniel, who does not take credit for his abilities, but instead relies on the wisdom of God to give Daniel the interpretation.
The Failure of Worldly Wisdom
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 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. 11 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.”
Daniel 2:1-11
The setting begins with the great king troubled in his spirit. He has had terrible dreams, and now he cannot return to sleep. He summons his “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans” to ease his mind and interpret this dream. Now, who are these people?
“Magician” is the English rendering of hartōm which refers quite literally to “writing”. We typically think of magicians as the guy who can pull a rabbit from a hat, but these men held important functions similar to scribes. The difference is that they not only wrote historical narratives, but actually communicated with the spiritual realm through their writing. When one magician was hired for a job, typically this involved writing out the blessing or curse to use in their enchantments.
“Enchanter” is a similar term, but centers on the vocal aspect of the spell-casting. The Hebrew ‘assāp has to do with “conjuring”, so the difference is their power comes through vocalizing the spell rather than writing it down.
“Sorcerer” is the Hebrew kasapu which is an Akkadian loan word. The significance there is simply that ‘sorcery’ was a widespread phenomenon. The term is fairly generic, so this may be a particular guild of magicians within Babylon.
“Astrologers” is fairly straightforward, however we should note that ‘astrology’ of ancient Babylon is not the same as the 21st century iPad app. These astrologers painstakingly mapped and tracked the movement of the stars and planets, because they truly thought theses astronomical bodies controlled human destinies. It was not meant to be a scientific exercise, but their calculations did have scientific significance. One particular astronomer, Naburimannu, calculated the length of the year to be 365 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes, 41 seconds—only 26 minutes and 55 seconds too long (Miller, Daniel, 79). Far from the modern charlatan who simply writes some generic message that could work for anyone, these astrologers studied and meticulously recorded their findings.
So, back to the original question—who are these people? These are the best and brightest minds in Babylon. If anyone could provide peace and give understanding to Nebuchadnezzar’s problem, it should have been them.
And yet they failed.
How many of us have been in similar circumstances? We have trouble in our spirit. We have gone to doctors, lawyers, therapists, gypsies on street corners, life coaches, hippies hocking crystals, and all manner of experts. Some of us even went so far as to talk to our pastors, and nothing and no one helped. We were in a spot where we needed a miracle, and church, there is only One miracle worker. Until we look to Jesus Christ for our miracles, we will not find it.
Charlatans cannot conjure miracles, because Jesus is the source of all miracles.
As we read further, we see the king is used to these charlatans and their ways. He doesn’t give the dream for them to interpret, they must tell him the dream. Some commentators believe the king may have forgotten the dream, and he needs them to tell the dream first. Whether he remembers it or not, the point here is the king has placed an impossible task in their lap. They must be able to peek into his mind, see the dream, and then interpret it.
The exchange finishes with a poignant statement: “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.”
The Chaldeans unknowingly have revealed their weakness. They do not know the God who does live with men. The Babylonian gods had no power, because they were false gods made of clay and metal. The reason so many ‘experts’ fail to truly help their patients and clients is because they fail to recognize the God who gives wisdom and knowledge to those who seek Him.
True wisdom does not come from false gods, it comes from the Creator of wisdom.
This exchange also reminds me of what Jesus says in Matthew 7:16, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” Here, the Chaldeans were offering spiritual wisdom from the gods, and yet, they could not get their gods to give a simple telling of the king’s dream.
In contrast, let’s continue our story as we see Daniel who seeks the wisdom of God who gives knowledge and wisdom to those who seek Him.
Daniel Intervenes
Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.
Daniel 2:12-19a
The decree goes out. Every wise man of Babylon is to be destroyed, because the king no longer wants these charlatans in the kingdom. Daniel is among those who will be killed. But look how he responds.
Daniel responds to the captain of the king’s guard with prudence and discretion. He asks why the matter is so urgent, and then requests a time to interpret the dream. There are two principles that we can glean here.
First, Proverbs 15:1 is proven true, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Daniel could have reacted in all sorts of ways, but he chooses to speak with prudence and discretion. He seeks an answer demonstrating patience and wisdom.
When faced with persecution, the wise react with prudence and discretion.
Second, Daniel allows the king to choose a time for Daniel to give the interpretation. Now, as the king, he of course had all right to deny Daniel an audience altogether. But, again, Daniel does not barge into the king’s chamber and yell and moan about what is happening. He doesn’t get on the Babylonian Facebook page and use capital letters about how horrible the king is, and how stupid his decision is. He offers an answer for the king, when the king is ready to hear it.
Be ready to share God’s saving message, because you never know when a person will be ready to hear it.
The principle for us is simply this: those who are antagonistic to the Gospel may one day be ready to hear the Gospel, and we must be ready to share it.
Last, Daniel goes to his friends, and they begin a major prayer session. They seek the face of God so that God will provide a miracle. I said before the reason the Chaldeans could not conjure a miracle is because they were hanging out with the wrong gods. The opposite is true as well.
If you want a miracle in your life, then go straight to the miracle worker, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Daniel Gives Thanks for God' Blessing : 19b-23
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king's matter.”
Daniel takes no credit for this inspiration. He knows the dream Nebuchadnezzar dreamt, and he knows who gave him the interpretation. We should note that Daniel’s interpretation comes to him through a vision of his own. I stated last week that parts of Daniel are written in Aramaic which points to the fact that these portions are meant for both the Jews and the Babylonians. The interpretation of the dream could come from God, because Nebuchadnezzar’s dream came from God. The Lord of Heaven wants Nebuchadnezzar to know what will happen to his kingdom, because the Lord is doing something amazing with Gentile nations. He is going to bring the Messiah into the world, and even the Gentile nations will have a part to play in humanity’s salvation.
But, before we discuss the dream itself, let us look at what Daniel says in his blessing. Because in the blessing, we are reminded of God’s greatness.
God is source of wisdom and might (v. 20).
God is the final authority over the kings of the earth (v. 21).
God reveals the hidden things, because He is the light that pierces the darkness (v. 22).
The experts of Babylon share the same weakness as some the experts today. They rely on their own understanding rather than seek the One who gives wisdom and authority. Daniel reminds us that true wisdom and power come from the Lord, because He is the source of wisdom and power.
But, he also teaches us a lesson in gratitude.
When the Lord blesses us, we should bless the Lord.
After we seek the face of God, and after God gives us that miracle we prayed for, don’t forget to thank Him.
Likewise, we should also remember how much God has already done for us. Next week we will read about the dream and how it points to the coming Messiah. The Messiah did come. Jesus Christ came to us to establish an eternal kingdom. And today, you too can be a part of that kingdom, if you will repent of your sins and look to Him for forgiveness.