Dream a Little Dream “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:20-22

Dreams Researchers have concluded that we dream somewhere between 4 and 6 times per night, each dream lasting anywhere from 5 to 35 minutes in length, yet we forget somewhere between 95 and 99% of our dreams …

Daniel 2:1-30 The passage begins with King Nebuchadnezzar being plagued by sleepless nights; a recurring, deeply troubling dream plagues him. King Nebuchadnezzar asks his religious brain trust for both the content and the interpretation of the dream. At this point, the narrative switches language from Hebrew to Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian court at the time: It’s almost like saying to the Babylonians: “Look, God is even at work in your world”!

Nebuchadnezzar’s Brain Trust The first group mentioned is the magicians: his scholar-psychics. Secondly, Nebuchadnezzar beckons for his astrologers - stargazers charted the stars to determine destinies. Thirdly, he calls in the sorcerers - spiritualists and enchanters who attempted to talk with the dead. Finally, Nebuchadnezzar signals for the Chaldeans, purportedly the wisest men in the world. Babylonians believed in the importance of dreams; they even kept records of all dreams and how the lives of people went after certain dreams and would go to these massive libraries for dream interpretations.

At this point, the advisors probably sensed their opportunity – dreams, we know all about dreams – and they most likely could not wait to rush off to their libraries for an interpretation to the dream; all they needed were the details, the elements of the dream. King Nebuchadnezzar challenges this group to come up with not only an interpretation to the dream, but the content – the elements - of the dream as well. Put in an impossible situation, the advisors begin to scramble and stall. The advisors basically admit to the phoniness of their gods and system of belief, and King Nebuchadnezzar orders all the advisors executed at that moment and their houses destroyed.

Daniel: A Breath of Fresh Air The king’s executioner, Arioch, arrives to round up Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but notice that Daniel approaches Arioch with tact and calm confidence – he pauses and asks for an extension. Nebuchadnezzar shows favour and grants some time. Daniel’s response is to simply go to prayer; he gathers to himself a community of fellow believers in God and they commit to prayer for the situation.

Interestingly, Babylonians worshipped the stars, but when presented with a difficult situation, they could not rely on each other or turn to their “gods”, they simply fell apart. Daniel and his friends , who have a personal relationship with the God of the universe, calmly went to the God of heaven and found an answer to their dilemma.

God answers the prayer and reveals to Daniel the content and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel’s response is to praise God: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.“ (Daniel 2:20-23) The confidence and faith Daniel has in God, because of his relationship with Him, allows him to rejoice over things yet unseen.

Notice Daniel’s humility as he approaches the King with the content and interpretation of the dream; he carefully and clearly deflects any personal credit for the words he is about to speak. All credit is given to the unforgettable God whom Daniel serves. "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 … 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.” It’s not about me, says Daniel, but it is about God and his desire to communicate with you, O king.

An Important Question Had Daniel and his friends not so effectively engaged Babylonian culture, as we saw in Daniel 1, would they have been around to respond to Nebuchadnezzar’s situation? My sense is that because they had engaged so effectively, there were right there when God began to break through in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. Because Daniel was willing to live on mission for God in a hostile culture, God not only “arranged” for his presence at a time of breakthrough for Nebuchadnezzar, but also “equipped” Daniel to specifically deal with the circumstances of the breakthrough.

An Application of Daniel 2:1-30 If we intentionally engage the culture around us by taking calculated risks based on the assumption that God is active in our world, then God will put us in the right places at the right time to participate in His activity in the lives of people. Not only will God position us in the right place at the right time, but He will uniquely equip us for that moment. When we find ourselves being used by God in engaging a hostile culture, a three “P” approach is our best course of action – we are to pause, pray to, and praise our Heavenly Father.