Have you had one of those moments recently that was all too real, when that dreadful moment was about to happen you wake up in a cold sweat your heart pounding and realise it was all a dream. We dream all the time, and sometimes we can even recall our dreams, mostly we can’t and so the question is how much stock do you put in your dreams? What if you had dream about the future and you wanted to know what it meant what would we do then? This is where we find ourselves today looking at the vision of the man in King Nebuchadnezzar dream, as we read in verses 1-2 Daniel 2
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed.
In Nebuchadnezzar’s world dreams were respected as communication from the world of the gods. This explains why he had such a large contingent of astrologers and wise men & scientists around him, and this is what Daniel & Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah were all trained as Babylonian wise men. Nebuchdnezzar wants the answers to his dream. It was time these astrologers who were so keen to eat the food from his table to earn their pay, except his request came with a twist.
The fortunetellers, speaking in the Aramaic language, said, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream and we will interpret it. The king answered the fortunetellers, “This is my decree: If you can’t tell me both the dream itself and its interpretation, I’ll have you ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and your homes torn down. But if you tell me both the dream and its interpretation, I’ll lavish you with gifts and honors. So go to it: Tell me the dream and its interpretation.” Verses 4-6 (The Message)
The usual arrangement was the king would tell his astrologers the dream
and then by looking through their book of dreams they’d give the meaning. Nebuchadnezzar changes all of that on its head. Now they had to tell him not only the interpretation but what he dreamed as well. This was an impossible request. There was even worse news and that was Nebuchadnezzar was prepared to kill off his wise men if they couldn’t do it, Verse 10
There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks!
Here we get a behind the scenes look at what’s happening. We don’t always get to the why of why is this happening to me, here God makes himself plain. It is Arioch the commander of the King’s guard is forced to carry out the order of finding and executing all the wise men in Babylon, and coming to Daniel he is met with someone with wisdom and tact even when there was this threat to his life. Daniel knows that when he doesn’t know what to do he prays. These 4 faithful Israelites pray for God to reveal the mystery to them. If Daniel and his mates are to survive God will need to supply the dream & its meaning. This is a prayer that shows the wisdom and might of God, as we read in verses 20-23
That night the answer to the mystery was given to Daniel in a vision. Daniel blessed the God of heaven, saying, “Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever. He knows all, does all: He changes the seasons and guides history, He raises up kings and also brings them down, he provides both intelligence and discernment, He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark—light spills out of him! God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise! You made me wise and strong. And now you’ve shown us what we asked for. You’ve solved the king’s mystery.” Daniels prayer is about the wisdom of God only God is wise only God sets up and removes kings (The Message)
Daniel wasn’t thanking God for giving him common sense
he was thanking him for the wonder of his love, and so when he comes before King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel puts the focus where it should be verse 27-28
Daniel answered the king, “No mere human can solve the king’s mystery, I don’t care who it is—no wise man, enchanter, magician, diviner. But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries, and he has solved this one. He is letting King Nebuchadnezzar in on what is going to happen in the days ahead. This is the dream you had when you were lying on your bed, the vision that filled your mind: (The Message)
What Nebuchadnezzar saw was the vision of a statue made of mixed metals: a head of gold, arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron. The next thing a rock that is cut out not by human hands that strikes the feet and the entire statue crumbles and shatters, verses 44-45
“But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold. “The great God has let the king know what will happen in the years to come. This is an accurate telling of the dream, and the interpretation is also accurate.” (The Message)
To Daniel this head of gold is representative of King Nebuchadnezzar. All the following parts of the statue represent nations to follow, with Nebuchadnezzar identified as the head of gold. Many scholars name the rest as: the Medo-Persian Empire as the arms and chest of silver;
the Greek Empire as the belly and thigh of bronze; and the Roman Empire as the legs of iron. The focus isn’t so much here on what empire is what part, the highlight of that dream King Nebuchadnezzar had is of how God is the judge of history. As this statue is destroyed from the bottom up with a rock that strikes it shatters it and then the kingdom of the world are replaced by the kingship of God. This image challenges the very assumptions of history, as we have the feeling that as time and history progresses we say that somehow we’re getting stronger and better, Daniel shows us how much folly this is. What we are shown is that even though God’s people may be oppressed, and even though we may experience evil now it is not the end of the story. In spite of its present appearances God will defeat the forces that rule over them, he will do all this through Jesus. God had given King Nebuchadnezzar a vision of how God’s power and might and glory will be seen again and again. It is only after Daniel first tells and then interprets his dream
does Nebuchadnezzar respond in a way that is the only way at these times, he falls prostrate on his face
"Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."verse 47
Just as we should be on our hands and knees before God, in praise and adoration, when we have had the response of answered prayer, as we stand on holy ground, as we see how we are God’s children. Like Jesus said in his parable of the vineyard hired out to men, who murder and treat shamefully the servant sent to collect the rent in Matthew 21. We are told in the story how these men when they see the owners son coming conspire to kill him thinking that they would get his inheritance , Matthew 21:38-41 (The Message)
38-39 “But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him. 40 “Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands? 41 “He’ll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance,” they answered. “Then he’ll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it’s time.”
At this point the owner returns himself kills the tenants and gives the vineyard to others. It is a clear attempt of Jesus to identify himself as the son and his listeners as the doomed tenants, as Jesus finishes off the parable
42-44 Jesus said, “Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God’s work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it! “This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed.” (The Message)
Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone” and then immediately associates this stone with the stone of Daniel 2 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed” (Luke 20:18). As Daniel learnt only God knows the future, God doesn’t turn away from the afflictions of the afflicted. He is the one who is present with mercy and who gives hope only God’s wisdom can reveal the mystery of life
God is up to something good for his glory.
Let’s pray…
David Hassan @ Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church 11-6-17