©Michael Player
Chapter 2:1-16 (ESV) - In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 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. And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 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. 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.” They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 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— 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.” 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.”
Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 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. He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
Question to consider: Why would Nebuchadnezzar require these counselors to describe the dream before offering their interpretation?
When we consider the thoughts and actions of those in a historical record, we should make every effort to understand them in light of the culture in which they lived rather than to project our own. Today’s passage is a good candidate for this because we live in a time in which the prevailing culture is anti-supernatural. Our tendency is to be skeptical about those who proclaim to have supernatural gifts, and we may take a more scientific or psychological approach to interpreting dreams. Thus, when Nebuchadnezzar demanded that someone describe the dream before interpreting it, our immediate thought would be that he created this impossible task out of unbelief to weed out all of the charlatans who would offer a false interpretation.
While Nebuchadnezzar may have thought he was like a god in his ability to conquer nations, he would not have denied the reality of the gods of those nations and of the sorcerers who represented them. He understood his dream well enough to know that it was significant. If this was a message from one of the many gods represented in his kingdom, surely that god would provide the dream to the sorcerer or magi who professed to speak for him.
Their preference was to say something to distract or appease the king until he moved on to something else. A mortal couldn’t force the hand of a god to reveal such things, and the gods did not concern themselves with mortals. Daniel, however, worshiped the one true God who made the heavens and the earth and promised He would never leave His people nor forsake them. Daniel knew the LORD would meet the king’s request, not because of Daniel's own importance, but because the LORD commanded them to pray for the Babylonians and seek their welfare while they were in exile.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for keeping Your promises. You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. You have been pleased to dwell among us and know each one of us by name. Amen.