Daniel #3
C. Paul Willis
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream 1
Daniel 2:1 - 23 (NKJV) 1Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. 2Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.” 4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in £Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. 6However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.” 7They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.” 8The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: 9if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.” 10The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. 11It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. 16So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. 17Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. 23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; 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 demand.”
1. The Second Year of King Nebuchadnezzar
605 BC Babylonian victory at Carchemish
September 7, 605BC Nebuchadnezzar make king after death of father – Daniel taken captive, 1st year of Daniels training.
March/April 604BC 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign 2nd year of Daniel’s training.
March/April 603BC 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign 3rd year of Daniel’s training – Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
2. The Chaldeans
The Chaldeans were the spokesmen for the “wise men” They were from Southern Babylonia and had conquered the Assyrians for Nabopolassar (father of Nebuchadnezzar)
· The Chaldeans used the Syriac language which is closely connected to Hebrew as Aramaic. They may have been trying to hide their words from the other “wise men” and Daniel but Daniel would have learned Aramaic and Hebrew before he was taken.
· Daniel writes in Aramaic starting with the second chapter to the 7th Chapter because the reference is to Gentiles. He probably did not use Hebrew because it would be a holy language applying only to the Jews. (See Organization chart)
4-6. The lost dream
Nebuchadnezzar may not have forgotten the dream but only decreed it – the Chaldeans are in a problem. If they tell the king the wrong dream – and he knew the real one?
17-18 Daniel and his companions pray for wisdom
The Chaldeans worshiped the starry heavens – horoscopes
Daniel worshiped the God of the heavens
Genesis 24:5 - 9 (NKJV) 5And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your £descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
Ezra 1:2 - 5 (NKJV) 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. 5Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 6:8 - 10 (NKJV) 8 Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered. 9And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, 10that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
Ezra 7:12 (NKJV) 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Perfect peace, and so forth.
Ezra 7:21 - 23 (NKJV) 21 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently, 22up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit. 23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done for the house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Nehemiah 1:5 - 6 (NKJV) 5And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love £You and observe £Your commandments, 6please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
Psalms 136:26 (NKJV) 26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.
Daniel admitted that he did not have the answer but said in faith that God did!
He called the others in order to get a prayer of agreement!
Matthew 18:19 - 20 (NKJV) 19“Again£ I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
3. The Everlasting Mercies of God toward His People
Jerusalem is in ruins
The sacred vessels are now in the possession of a heathen king
The glory has departed from the Cherubim
God has ever given the greatest manifestations of His mind to the suffering
God brings to nothing the wisdom of the world
19-23 Daniel’s Prayer answered
Daniel 2:20 - 23 (NKJV) 20Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. 23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; 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 demand.”
God knows all things
God is in charge of all time – days & years
God puts people in their office
God will give wisdom
James 1:2 - 8 (NKJV) 2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
God can reveal the secret and hidden things
God knows the evil and the good
4. God saves the lost for the sake of the righteous
24-28 Daniel is in charge and he shows mercy to the “wise men”
Daniel 2:24 - 30 (NKJV) 24Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.” 25Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the £captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” 27Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
Do not destroy the wise men
The wise men could never have given the answer
God has declared – what would occur from Babylon to the “Latter Days” (term for the second coming of Jesus Christ).
