A Troubling Dream
Daniel 2:1-2 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
At the conclusion of chapter one, Daniel and friends, newly minted graduates of the University of Babylon, had passed their final exams with flying colors and had impressed Nebuchadnezzar, who had himself personally administered the exam, with their knowledge. But they were still the new kids on the block. In the greater scheme of things, they were at the bottom of the food chain, the low men on the totem-pole. Being new and inexperienced, and Hebrew on top of that (not a proper Chaldean as wise men should be), they most likely started their career as assistants to the assistant to some low-level functionary within the kingdom. When Nebuchadnezzar summoned the wise men to tell them his dream, they apparently were not considered important enough to appear before the king.
But God was about to change all of that. In an act of divine providence God was about to catapult Daniel and his three friends into national prominence. And so, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.
An Impossible Demand
Daniel 2:3-6 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
Now there is some question as to the interpretation of verse 5. Did or not the king had forgotten the dream? The phrase “The thing is gone from me” may also be translated “The matter is decided by me,” indicating that the king remembered the dream, but had decided to make the ability of the wise men to tell him what the dream was a test of their ability to also give him a correct interpretation of its meaning.
This is further indicated in verse 9 where Nebuchadnezzar says “tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.” A test that would hardly be possible if the king had truly forgotten the dream.
Also, it is apparent that the wise men believed that Nebuchadnezzar still remembered the dream, otherwise they could have simply made up a dream and given its interpretation – for they knew full well that Nebuchadnezzar meant exactly what he said when he said to them “if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.” But instead, what we find in the next few verses is a desperate life and death struggle on the part of the wise men to persuade Nebucahdnezzar to tell them the dream.
The Not so Wise Men
Daniel 2:7-9 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me [alt translation: ‘firmly decided by me.’] But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
One thing that becomes apparent as you progress through the first few chapters of Daniel is that God was working not only to promote Daniel and his friends to prominence within the kingdom, but also to save Nebuchadnezzar. God was reaching out to save the soul of this heathen king. And to do so, He first had to break the hold that the wise men of Babylon, with all their mystic arts, had over him.
And just as God had designed, the wise men were totally discredited. Even under the threat of death they were unable to reveal the dream to Nebuchadnezzar.
The Worthlessness of Human Wisdom
In the first few chapters of Daniel there is a progressive discrediting of the wise men of Babylon. Here in chapter 2, we find that they cannot reveal a dream, much less interpret it. But they had boasted that if they knew the dream, they could interpret it. So, God gives them their chance. In chapter 4 the king has another dream, and he plainly tells it to the wise men, yet they cannot interpret the dream even after it has been told them. And in finally chapter 5 God literally spelled it out for them, writes it on the wall, and they still do not get it.
Why did the wise men of Babylon fail so miserably? Because “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
In other words, human wisdom is worthless in understanding spiritual things. We must have wisdom from above, God’s Spirit in our hearts, if we are to understand His Word.
An Unfortunate Confession
Daniel 2:10-11 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
There was nothing unreasonable in Nebuchadnezzar’s demand that they should make known to him his dream. After all, these wise men claimed to be able to make known hidden mysteries. They claimed to have communion with the gods who reveled secrets to them. But when they declared that “there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh,” they in effect slit their own throats.
By these words they confessed before the king and all present that they were frauds, that they had no communication with these gods, and therefore knew nothing beyond what their own scheming minds could devise, and that all their doings were just so much mumbo jumbo. There was most probably a real “Oops” moment among the wise men when that little statement slipped out. Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction was immediate.
Death Decree
Daniel 2:12-18 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Although Daniel was not among the wise men who failed Nebuchadnezzar, the king’s decree apparently included all the wise men, whether they were present before the king or not. It would seem that the first Daniel and his friends knew about the matter was when the king’s men came knocking on their door.
Divine Providence in Action
Fortunately, (and here we see divine providence in action) the officer who came to take Daniel and his friends was not only willing to explain things to them but also willing to arrange for Daniel (a nobody, and a captive at that) an audience with the king. And miracle of miracles, the enraged king granted it, and more than that, granted Daniel all that he asked of the king – time. Time to pray.
Note how positive verse 16 is. Daniel was not going to “try” to show the king the interpretation, he “would” show the king the interpretation. A brave statement considering that Daniel did not yet have the slightest clue what the dream was.
As soon as his request for time was granted Daniel went straight to his friends – and together they did the one thing they could do. They prayed.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
And God was there with them.
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