Daniel 2:1-16

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.” 10 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. 11 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.”

12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 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. 15 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. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

(ESV)

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King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him so much it left him sleepless. The use of the plural “dreams” here probably means the same dream was repeated indicating its significance. He ordered that the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans be summoned to give him an interpretation of his dream. At this point, the book of Daniel is written in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7. It seems that Daniel’s message primarily to the Gentiles is in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the day, while his message primarily to Israel is in Hebrew. The wise men asked the king to tell them his dream and then they promised him an interpretation. But the king was wise. He knew that if he told them the dream, they could devise a plausible interpretation, but if they could tell him both his dream and its interpretation, then he would know they spoke the truth. He promised riches and reward for an interpretation but if they could not tell him his dream and its interpretation, then they were to be torn limb from limb and their houses destroyed. The wise men rightly answered that it was not possible for any man on earth to meet the king’s requirements. Only a god could know both a dream and its meaning. This was an implicit admission that any past interpretations or wisdom they had provided was void of divine revelation.

The king was angry with their failure to provide him with the insight he needed and ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. The decree was wider than those who were currently serving in the king’s court so they looked for Daniel and his friends who were also destined to be killed. Daniel asked Arioch, the king’s captain what had caused this urgent decree and Arioch told him what had transpired. Then Daniel made an appointment with the king to show him the interpretation of his dream (Dan 1:17).

Much of what passes as prophesy or interpretation today is a vague prediction of common truths based on known information. The only one who knows the future is God Himself. What are you basing your decisions on? Are you looking to the bible for God’s truth, or are you relying on the wisdom of men? While God has revealed all He will about the future, He has given us solid principles in His word for us to make every decision we need to make.


Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan

Joseph and His Brothers: Genesis 42