Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 1

• So Nebuchadnezzar awakes very troubled. Actually the word there in Hebrew is an odd word, it’s pa’am which literally means “to be beaten persistently!” So maybe it’s pronounced PAAAM! And so this was no roll over because one of his arms was asleep! This was a jump up, sweaty, gasping awakening! But there’s a problem…what we’ll see in just a moment is that he’s also very confused…

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 2

• You ever wake from a dream so crazy that you find yourself asking even yourself, “whaaaaat, was that?” I mean like unicorn-dragons flying through a field of floating lucky charms, barking at each other…?   And you’re just left, well disturbed? Well, as we’ll see in this chapter, what Nebuchadnezzar dreamt was like that! (Ok maybe not as bad as barking unicorn-dragons) But Daniel tells us here that he sent for these folks to tell him his dreams…
• And so it could be that he simply can’t remember them. He’s disturbed, anxious, persistently beaten up it says here in the Hebrew, and it could be that the dream itself…he simply can’t remember. Dreams have a habit of vanishing before we can get a firm grip on them, right?
• And so he calls for the astrologers. Those that read the stars and cast horror-scopes, I mean horoscopes and claim to know what the future holds…He calls for the sorcerers, magicians and Chaldeans also to help him out. Now the Chaldeans were basically an upper class of soothsayers to the king in the Babylonian empire. And what’s interesting is that critics will stick their finger on this word and they’ll say “there, Daniel couldn’t have been written around 600 BC because of this word right here…”
• Ok, let’s examine. It’s true that as a racial identifier, the word Chaldeans to describe the “master race” who ruled Nebuchadnezzar’s empire was not used linguistically introduced until the 2^nd century BC however very interesting, while Nebuchadnezzar was in power, around 600 BC, there were a class of “astrological priests” that we do find linguistically at that time and guess what they are called? Chaldeans. Are they the same as the “master race” spoken of beginning around the 2^nd century BC? Could be. Might not be. But at any rate, the objection is overruled by the facts man…just like they always are.

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 3

• Now beginning in verse 4, and taking us all the way through Chapter 7, the language used in the original text is Aramaic.   “Oh no! What does it mean!?” Nothing! Daniel lived most of his life where? Babylon, right! And the language of Babylon was? Aramaic! Right. So here Daniel begins to tell the account of the king of Babylon, using the king’s own words…and so his use of Aramaic here does not mess with me at all…

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 4

• They’re like, “no problem, we got this.”

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 5

• Yikes! Things just go bad for these guys in a hurry! Ever have something awesome just go bad quick? (Like my first date with April!) They’ve been summoned to the king thinking that they’ll just go and do their thing and probably be well rewarded but here they are hit with this and the cruelty of the king is revealed! You want to interpret? Nope. You either tell me the dream AND THEN interpret or you’re demoted…not quite…fired, not so much…man you’re going to get cut into pieces!
• Um, come again? That’s a declaration of the king. Now that he has said it, he must follow through with it…that’s the law man…so immediately these guys are thrust into a panic for sure.
• But why? Why so cruel here, so intense? It could be that the king is so distraught that he doesn’t even want to mess with a misinterpretation. He’s just got to know what it means man…or again, he may just be excessively messed up, beaten up, panicked himself…and not remember what it is…that may even be a little worse than the first possibility!
• But man this reaction, this guy, is such a clear picture of the flesh. All uncomfortable, persistently beaten, as life so often does to even us, and notice his reaction, “Please forgive me for calling for you at this late hour. Will you please talk with me?” NO! It’s “gimmie, serve me, do what I say OR I’ll keeeeeeeel you!” Man that is precisely how the flesh works. But what God provides for us is a foundation man. That even though we may be very troubled, persistently beaten, not only are we rock steady but we can go to Him for additional strength, additional wisdom and real, powerful comfort.
• King Nebuchadnezzar may be the king of the gentile world at this time but he is weaker than my seven year old right here…

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 6

• Again, a clear picture of the world. Do what I want or I’ll cut you up and discard you…but if you do what I want, I’ll give you a bunch of meaningless, unsatisfying, temporary trinkets and false honor. I mean in just a few chapters this same guy will be sleeping with the cows man…what’s his honor worth then?

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 7

• This probably surprised Nebuchadnezzar for a minute because if these folks were the real deal, no problem. They made their living telling the future and speaking with the spirits to describe the unseen. What’s the problem? Oh, when it’s for real, when your neck is on the line…the truth comes out, eh?

Daniel Chapter 2 Verses 8 – 10

• Check out their answer! They say, “There is not a MAN on earth!” Isn’t that an interesting phrase? Why? Because even the evil spirits and their slaves, their tools, these magicians acknowledge that true power alone lies with God! They admit that “no man” can do what the king has commanded THUS assigning true power and true authority to God alone!
• This they get right! And many of us get that right don’t we? Much of the world gets that right! They believe in a God, maybe even you…maybe you believe in God but without commitment to Him, resolution to serve Him, submission and surrender to Him…all you’re capable of doing, is what they do here…produce an excuse…
• Man God has made Himself known. He came down, identified Himself in the person of Jesus Christ and then proved Himself when He got up out of that tomb. No excuse man…that is why Paul says in Romans 1:20 that even as we survey nature, the human eye, the beauty of the sunset and sunrise, the balance of the celestial planets, there becomes no excuse for any man…for as they knew God, which all do whether they fess up or not, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• So no excuse Nebuchadnezzar says…and no excuse I say to you tonight…if you lack strength, pray. If you lack wisdom, pray. If you lack love man…pray…because in the very act of praying in the spirit, is submission to the Spirit…

Daniel Chapter 2 Verse 11

• “The gods,” eh? Right concept, wrong object.

Daniel Chapter 2 Verses 12 – 13

• This guy is just ruled by his emotions. This is foolishness on display man…weakness demonstrated…He’s gone from being troubled and anxious in verses 1 and 3 to now he is angry and furious and what does being ruled by emotions lead to? Utter stupidity! Not only does he give the command to kill the wise…”hey leave me all the idiots!” (what a numb-skull) but notice, his issue with himself has become his issue with his homies and now it’s an issue with his entire nation. And what is it really? An issue with God, man.
• Man that speaks volumes to me as I attempt to navigate this life on my own. Decisions, delay, discouragements…they’re everywhere and none of us are exempt from having these same emotions as Nebuchadnezzar has had…anxiety, anger, fury…but in how we handle them it is revealed where we place our hope. In the world, in ourselves like Nebuchadnezzar here?   And it’s made clear that we are weaker than a child in heart, soul, mind and strength…and we harm and we harm and we harm and we rage…or is our hope in the Lord, man...
• Well I don’t want to hope in the Lord, Matt…yes you do! You just don’t understand and unfortunately…tragically your homies, your family, your friends, your co-workers…you’ll maybe have to command their execution and even carry it out before you’ll come to your senses…but you don’t have to…you could open your heart now to truth and avoid all that…
• And what if tonight is it man…what if your time has come and God is so long suffering that He gave you this one last opportunity to open your heart to Him. You are an eternal being. You know it. You feel it. But it just doesn’t matter maybe because you feel like you have years and years left here on this earth…well it could be that you have minutes and seconds…then what? Your hard heart and in many ways your hard head could take your eternal soul to eternal hell…oh yes, you very much want to place your hope in Jesus…because He has made a way.
• Your sin remains with your hope on you…you can’t take it away…The wise men here said, “there is not a man on earth” and they were right and you and I happen to fall into that category…not a man on earth can make you well and take away your sins…but there is a Man in heaven who can. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, pleading for you now…you feel Him…you hear Him…respond lest you live like this foolish king, ruled by the winds of a dream and the pull of passing emotions…