Daniel
2 reminds me of the high diving board at Casino Pool as a young kid.
I had 5 older siblings and they all seemed fearless. While my
brothers jumped off, I was scared to even get on the ladder.
There was nothing more shameful than climbing up to the top only to
chicken-out, but I remember going back down the ladder to the
ridicule of my brothers. In life, there are things that paralyze us
with fear and it is not always so clear if the next step is one of
faith, or foolishness. In today’s chapter, Daniel and his
friends are now part of the Babylonian wise men, but they are still
young, low ranking members. We read, “Nebuchadnezzar
had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep“.
So the king summoned his head astrologers to give him an
interpretation. Unwilling to be scammed, the king demanded they
not only interpret his dream, but first tell him what he dreamed.
They insisted, “Tell your
servants the dream, and we will interpret it“.
The king had probably been conned before, so he declared, “If
you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You
have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things“.
They insisted, “There is no one
on earth who can do what the king asks!”
“This made the king
so angry and furious that he
ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.”
Sometimes we have no ladder to go back down.
This
included “Daniel and his
friends“. When the
commander of the king’s guard came to put them to death, “Daniel
spoke to him with wisdom and tact“.
This is a good tactic when facing an executioner, or an older brother
on the high dive. After hearing the story, “Daniel
returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends“.
He didn’t tell them to hide or cling to the railing, “He
urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this
mystery“. We read,
“During the night the mystery
was revealed to Daniel“.
It is always ok to pause before a plunge.
Daniel
approached the king with confidence, “No
wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the
mystery… but
there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King
Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come“.
Understand that Daniel had been studying non-stop for three years
learning all that Babylonian literature had to offer, but he
understood this moment was “not
because I have greater wisdom than anyone else
alive“.
His understanding came from God, for a purpose. Daniel first
described the dream, “Before
you stood a large statue…
The head of the statue was
made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs
of bronze… its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of
baked clay“. The dream
concludes, “A rock was cut out,
but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet… and
smashed them“.
Daniel gave the interpretation, “The
God of heaven has given you dominion… After you, another kingdom
will arise, inferior to yours. Next,
a third
kingdom…
a fourth… strong as iron“.
The last empire will be “a
divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in
it“. The last part is
the most important of all, “the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed“.
Daniel nailed it, a perfect dive
without any splash. The king made him “ruler
over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all
its wise men” along with his
three friends. Are your knees knocking, afraid to speak?
Has God given you His Word? “The
Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love
and self-discipline” (2
Timothy 1:7). A leap of faith can be scary, but that is why God
gives us big brothers!