38. Nebuchadnezzar's Troubled Dream

Time: 604 BC
Place:  King's Bedroom
Event:  Nebuchadnezzar's Troubled Dream
Scripture: Daniel 2:1-16

Read Daniel 2:1-16 - I highlighted some wordings in "red" so that you can visually see the significant points as you read the passage:

"In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 

2 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. 

3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 

4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live for ever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 

5 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 betorn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 

6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 

7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 

8 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— 

9 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. 

We will note a few points here and you can watch the video:

• Nebuchadnezzar had several 'dreams'.
• These dreams were so alarming and disturbing that he was unable to sleep for nights.
• He was devastated and called in the magicians and enchanters to tell him his dreams.
• He could not even 'verbalize' his dreams.  
• In his anxiety, he isolated to one dream that he wanted the interpretation.
• He was strickened with panic as he could not remember much of the details.
• He wanted his dream to be made known.
• No one could tell him what his dream was and its interpretation
• In his fury, Nebuchadnezzar commanded all the wise men to be killed.

This was how 'desperate' and 'deeply troubled' Nebuchadnezzar was with his dream:

Tomorrow we will look into the content of his dream.

Daniel 2:14-16

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."

:)

37. 604 BC - Daniel 2 Times of the Gentiles

Time:  604 BC
Place:  Nebuchadnezzar's palace
Event:  Nebuchadnezzar's First Dream

The Book of Daniel records Nebuchadnezzar's two big dreams.

Daniel Chapter 2 talks about his first dream.

Daniel 2:1 "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.  His spirit was troubled and his sleep left him."

Homework:

Take out your Timeline Graph and let's fill in Chapter 2.

Let's note down a few insights here:

• This event happened while Daniel was still in his 3 years of training program

• As you can see God's judgement came upon the Israelites because they had spiritually degenerated into gross idolatry.   The Israelites had already begun in captivity in Babylon (605 BC)  with the second group coming in 7 years time (597 BC)  and then the impending destruction of Jerusalem only 18 years away (586 BC).

• Now God chooses a new path to reveal his revelation. This is the beginning of the "Times of Gentiles", a term that our Lord Jesus uses in the Gospel.

• This prophetic revelation is given through this Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar.

• The prophecy is not just for the Gentiles but for everyone including the Israelites, and God chooses Daniel to be the instrument to interpret these dreams.

Tomorrow we will talk about his first dream.

:)

36. King Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel Chapter 2 begins with these words:  "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.  His spirit was troubled and his sleep left him."

The entire chapter talks about his troubled dream and how Daniel finally told him his dream and interpreted it for him with God's wisdom.  At that time Daniel was still in the middle of his training. In our next few articles, we will expound on Nebuchadnezzar's  troubled dream.


Today, we will talk about the man Nebuchadnezzar.


Nebuchadnezzar was a tremendous soldier, a statesman, a politician and an amazing architect.

Nebuchadnezzar had a great military mind.  He was the one who took his army and overthrew the Assyrian Empire at the Battle of Carchemish.  Assyria was finished. He even chased the Egyptians all the way back to Egypt and engulfed Israel taking the first group of captives with him in 605 BC.

He designed many gigantic buildings and all the wonders of Babylon that we know today.  Even the great hanging garden was air conditioned, something that is unbelievable in a primitive society.  As you can see, Nebuchadnezzar built  an incredibly modern city of  Babylon as he developed his great Empire.

Nebuchadnezzar worshiped the god of  Marduk in Babylon. 

He was the patron deity of the city of Babylon.  

Nebuchadnezzar built a Marduk Temple for people to worship his god.

Nebuchadnezzar ruled for 43 years.

Book of Daniel teaches us that ultimately God is the one who rules in human history.


:)

35. Daniel living in 'extraordinary times'

Daniel's days were marked with 'extraordinary' times witnessing many 'great historical events'.  

• He experienced the great spiritual revival years when the Book of the Law was discovered in the Temple in Josiah's reign in 622 BC.

• He was nurtured under the preaching of Jeremiah.

• As a lad, he saw the collapse of Nineveh, the mighty and capital city of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC.  

• Daniel's life encompassed the entire era of the Babylonian kingdom.  He was born possibly around 620 BC - 625 BC, the time when the Babylonian nation was born.  He lived all the way to the reign of Cyrus, who destroyed the  Babylonian kingdom forever and brought in the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. 

• Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar during the golden kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar that lasted for 43 years.

• Daniel being a foreigner served in the highest official capacity in the governments of two successive world empires - from Babylon to Media-Persia.

God raises up his man in times of crisis.

Today we are also living in a time of crisis.  Sometimes we give excuse to ourselves that we live in difficult turbulent times, therefore it is difficult for us to stand up and live out our faith.  Look at Daniel.  He was a man of tremendous courage.  He was a man with fearless spiritual commitment to Yahweh God.  He could never be bought with money and power as Belshazzar attempted on him.  He was a man that was not corrupted by power and authority.  He was a man of prayer who knew how to pray and get through to God. He was a man who loved God and beloved by God.  He was a man of crisis and lived through the difficult times in history, and his life 'shone forth' like the stars in the sky.

Daniel 12:3 "But those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above."

Let us not make excuses for ourselves anymore.

Will you also become wise in this generation?
Will you make that choice for God today?

God help us to have many Daniels in these last days.

:)

34. Dan 1:21 Daniel remained until 1st year of King Cyrus

Daniel Chapter 1 ends with these words:  And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

2 Chronicle 36:22-23 ends the book of history with these words:  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, Yahweh moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may Yahweh their God be with them.’”

Daniel was there throughout the 70 years of captivity and was present even in the court of Cyrus when Cyrus liberated the people to return home to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. What a glorious moment that is!


It is obvious that Daniel plays a vital role during Cyrus' reign. 

• Daniel had read what Jeremiah had prophesied about the "70 years of captivity". 

• Daniel Chapter 1 begins with 605 BC when Daniel  was carried off as a slave by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

• By the time of Cyrus reign, Daniel realized that the 70 years of captivity was coming to an end.

• Daniel would have laid before Cyrus about the prophecy of Jeremiah that at the end of 70 years, the people would return to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 29:10, "For thus says Yahweh: When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

• Daniel would have laid before Cyrus about the prophecies spoken through Isaiah that the people would return to Jerusalem.  

Isaiah 44:28, "who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”  and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’

Can you  picture Daniel at an old age in his late 80's talking to Cyrus about these prophecies?

• Imagine - Isaiah was ministering in the 8th Century BC (740 BC - 701 BC).  157 years before Cyrus was born, Isaiah had  a prophecy containing this monarch's name.

• Surely, 157 years later, this heather ruler named Cyrus  came on the throne.

• Cyrus decree was issued in 536 BC to let the exiles return to Jerusalem.

Cyrus is mentioned 23X in the Old Testament.

Isaiah refers to Cyrus as Yahweh's “shepherd” (Isa 44:28) and Yahweh's “anointed,” (Isa 45:1) who was providentially appointed to facilitate the divine plan.

Read Isaiah 45.  God would lead this monarch to “subdue nations” and “open doors”.  He would make “rough places smooth" to help the Hebrews to return to their homeland.  

The fulfillment of these plain and specific predictions is set forth in 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23 and Ezra 1:1-4, 7, 8; 3:7; 4:3.

:)

33. Dan 1:18-20 "None were equal" & "10 Times Better" Part 3

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's Court
Scripture:  Daniel 1:18-20

Daniel 1:18-20

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.  In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

I cannot help but think of Daniel & his 3 friends as 'faithful remnants' all the way from Josiah's revival. 

While Josiah's spiritual revival of the recovery of the Book of the law made absolutely no impact on his sons and grandson  (Jehohaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin,  Zedekiah - the last 4 kings of Judah and they were bad kings), it made a 'lasting spiritual impact' on Daniel and his 3 friends.  

Think about this!  In every generation, God raises up a faithful remnant to carry on His mission.


How true this is! Many people go to church. Many Christians are religious. Many give up their faith along the way.  Many end up going back to he world.   Who is willing to remain true to the end?

Today, may God find in our church a Daniel,  a Hananiah,  a Mishael, and an Azariah.  

Ah my beloved, let us look up and pray for God to raise up this kind of faithful remnant in these last days for His glory and purpose.

:)

32. Dan 1:18-20 "None were equal" & "10 Times Better" Part 2

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's Court
Scripture:  Daniel 1:18-20

Daniel 1:18-20

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.  In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

Daniel and his 4 friends - none were equal to them & they were 10X Better


We must remember that Daniel and his 4 friends were outstanding  because God acted for them on their behalf.  

• Dan 1:9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the steward.
• Dan 1:17 God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom.  

They were 'found worthy' in the sight of God, so God acted for them.


God acted on their behalf so that the steward and even the King were  kind and gracious to Daniel.  

When we stand up uncompromisingly for the truth, God always takes up our defense and works out His purpose.  

Proverbs 16:7 says that "when a man's way please Yahweh,  he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."


From the life of Daniel and his 3 friends, they portray to us what God can do to people who are faithful to God. 

• They never make themselves to be the victims of unfavorable circumstances.  
• After all, Nebuchadnezzar was a fierce and angry king.  
• God performs miraculous work in their lives that even the heathen king is highly impressed with their quality of life.  

Yahweh God blesses people who are totally committed to Him. How precious this is indeed!

Where are these faithful people today?

:)