Relating Nebuchadnezzar's first dream

Daniel 2v24-35

18^th October 2019

We've been looking at the story of when the Babylonian government, in the person of King Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream. It frightened him, and he didn't fully understand it, so he called for his wise men - if you will, his special advisors and his cabinet - and said, "Tell me what I just dreamt, and then tell me what it means.". And they said, "We can't do that. No-one can. You tell us what you dreamt and we'll tell you what it means. We've got books on the interpretation of dreams. You give us the details, we'll look it up in the index and we'll tell you what the books says." And Nebuchadnezzar said, "Not good enough."

Nebuchadnezzar told them, "If you don't both tell me what the dream was and what it meant, I'll have you cut into pieces, and your houses reduced to piles of rubble." So he must have been frightened!

Governments really want their dreams implemented, even if they don't understand them. They want things to happen. They want everything to be better. They don't know what better looks like, and they don't know how to get there, but they want it. They want to be able to make a difference, and they want to be able to hold on to power.

The order went out to kill all the senior civil servants of the Babylonian Empire, which would have been a lot of people: all the educated ones, all the sophisticated ones, all the ones with PhDs in trendy subjects.

When Daniel heard about this, he spoke to the king's representatives with wisdom and tact, and asked for time. He prayed, and God showed him Nebucadnezzar's dream.

Daniel 2v24-25
Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

It was showtime. This seventeen-year-old foreigner was called before the king. It must have been terrifying. I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar was seated on a very impressive throne, surrounded by guards with very sharp swords, with very nasty dungeons underground. He and his counsellors were steeped in very unhealthy wisdom, including astrology, divination and sorcery. They savagely punished those who displeased the king. The man of God - or rather the teenager of God - spoke up anyway.

Daniel 2v24-28a
The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.

Babylon's wisest men couldn't solve the government's problems, but God can. Isn't that a message for this country? The politicians and the university professors and the civil servants cannot fix this country. But God can!

And it only takes one godly seventeen-year-old, with courage, tact and diplomacy to talk his way into the corridors of power, and say "God has an answer." Let us pray that Godly wisdom and Godly counsel reach those with the most authority in our land, because they need it. They don't admit they need it yet, but the day may come when even our ministers, shadow minsters, and would-be ministers will listen. Countries do turn around. Revivals do come.

This country's in a mess. Maybe we'll be the next society to experience revival. May God send us some Daniels, and may God give us politicians who are prepared to acknowledge that they don't know how to fix things, and come to God and say, "Can you explain what I'm thinking, and tell me what to do about it?"

Daniel was one man of God with the character to get to speak to the king and tell him God's answer. What a moment in the history of Babylon, and the history of Judah, and the history of the world, that interview was!

Suppose it was you. Imagine you were standing in front of the Prime Minister (far less frightening than King Nebuchadnezzar) and he asked you, "Do you know the answer to my problems?" Daniel told the king that he couldn't help, but God can. He didn't want glory for himself. He wanted glory for God. If we do know any answers, it's only because God's told us. It's not our wisdom; it's His wisdom.

I remember an extraordinary interview on the BBC between Terry Wogan and Billy Graham, years ago. Terry Wogan asked Billy Graham a question, and he said, "Well, the Bible says ..."Terry Wogan asked another question, and he said, "Well, the Bible says..." And this went on for several minutes, until Terry Wogan said to Billy Graham, "Look, every time I ask you a question, you tell me what the Bible says. What do you think?" And Billy Graham said, "Who cares what I think?"

It doesn't matter what we think. What matters is what God thinks. And if we get a chance to influence our headmaster, or our matron, or our head of department, or our manager, or our chargehand, or our prime minister, what we think doesn't matter. What God thinks matters. We're his servants. I hope we've learnt that our wisdom doesn't amount to much. It's God's wisdom that solves problems.

Before describing the dream, Daniel says again that it's God's wisdom and power, not his own, that enabled him to do this. It's not about the messenger; it's about the message. It's not about us; it's about God and His holy word.

Daniel 2v28b-30
"Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: As you were lying there, O King, your mind turned to things to come. And the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O King, may know the interpretation, and that you may understand what went through your mind".

And then Daniel told the king what he had dreamt:

Daniel 2v31-35
"You looked before you, O King, and there before you stood a large statue, an enormous dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly iron and partly baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time, and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without a trace, but the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth."

What faith Daniel showed in that moment! He trusted God that the dream he'd seen was exactly the same as the dream Nebuchadnezzar had seen. He trusted God so completely that he was willing to stand in front of the king and describe it.

When God speaks to us, how much do we trust Him that He is able to help us to hear Him clearly?

We'll study the interpretation of the dream next time. This week, let us believe that God can speak to us as clearly as He spoke to Daniel, and He can give us faith to speak truth to power, as Daniel did. And let us resolve that we will speak only the words that God gives us, and not our own ideas.