One of the things I like to watch on YouTube are funny fails, videos of people trying to do something, sometimes routine, sometimes daring, but in every case they fail. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cringe.
One of the recurring themes of the book of Daniel is the failure of the king’s wise men and enchanters to be able to successfully guide the king because they cannot interpret the dreams or signs (Daniel 2:10-11, 4:7, 5:8-9). However, in each case Daniel can. Why? Because he has a personal relationship with the God who not only sovereignly sends these dreams and signs, but that God then enables Daniel to correctly interpret them.
Today we’re going to be looking at vv. 4-7 of Daniel chapter 4.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. 6 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.
First, we see that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream greatly troubled him. He was “afraid” and “alarmed” by the dream.
Gleason Archer Jr. believes that this dream occurred in 583 B.C., allowing for a seven-year period in which there were no major military operations (582-575 B.C.) (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 60).
Before Nebuchadnezzar relates the judgments brought upon him because of his pride, he gives an account of the fair warning he had of them before they came.
While Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his private life and prosperous in his royal life, he discovered that security in his kingdom did not bring peace, and personal prosperity did not enable him to sleep. Whereas Nebuchadnezzar was “troubled” by his first dream (Dan. 2:3), this one “alarmed” or “terrified” him (Dan. 4:5).
When the king describes himself as “thriving” in his palace, the adjective used, raʽnan, corresponds to a Hebrew word used to denote the luxuriant foliage of a tree (e.g. Deut. 12:2, ‘under every green tree’; Jer. 11:16, ‘a green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit’). It is used metaphorically when the image of a flourishing tree is used to denote human prosperity (e.g. Ps. 37:35; 92:13–15 [evv 92:12–14]). Here its use no doubt looks forward to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Ernest Lucas, Daniel, ed. David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, vol. 20, Apollos Old Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2002), 108)
It may also be significant that about half its occurrences in the HB are in the phrase ‘under every green tree’, referring to the sites where the Israelites indulged in pagan idolatrous practices, of the sort with which the young men in the preceding story refused to have anything to do (Ernest Lucas, Daniel, ed. David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, vol. 20, Apollos Old Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2002), 108–109).
Truly the king had every reason to feel safe and secure and satisfied. There was no one to challenge him; he had anything he wanted. Ease and prosperity characterized Nebuchadnezzar’s life at the zenith of his empire. He was at peace because everyone was afraid to oppose him. He had thousands of Jews in his kingdom who were virtually slaves, doing all the work the Babylonian people did not want to do.
He was content. He had plenty of money in Babylonian Trust and Savings, even after building a golden statue. He had just completed a new palace and built a new capital in southern Babylon, a place called Tema, later renamed Babylon. Life just does not get any better than this. It is possible that during this time he had built the famed Hanging Gardens.
His wife had sired him a son who would be the heir to his throne. As he was getting older, nearing retirement, he was considering giving his son co-regency.
The man was content and prosperous and proud. In his pride he concluded that he did not need God. His contentedness and prosperity were obstacles to the work of God in his life that had to be addressed if his heart was to be changed.
Iain Duguid has this insight: “Discontent and disaster, or at the least profound personal discomfort, are very often the necessary precursors of spiritual growth and change. As long as we are comfortable and at ease in this world, we are not normally ready to examine our hearts and institute deep change. On the other hand, when God disturbs the calm waters of our lives we begin to be ready to seek different paths to pursue….These shattering experiences should prompt within us the expectation and hope that God is going to do something important in our lives. It is precisely through the storms of life that God will show us who we really are and, even more importantly, who He really is” (Daniel in Reformed Expository Commentary, p. 64).
There is no rest for the wicked, however (Isaiah 57:21) and God was about to disturb that rest. God soon shook him from his false security. God began to stir up his heart. The transformation would require stripping away of everything in which Nebuchadnezzar had formerly gloried.
At this point we see Nebuchadnezzar’s admission, “I saw a dream that made me afraid” (v. 5), and this reminds us of another time when he had been troubled about a dream (2:1).
Once again, for a second time, he saw a vision from God while sleeping. What he saw—“fancies” and “visions”—alarmed him because without understanding their meaning he could not discern how they applied to him or his kingdom.
This dream was quite different from the dream in chapter 2, where Nebuchadnezzar was pictured as the head of gold, a very prominent and enviable position.
More dreams and visions. God doesn’t seem to communicate this way so much in our Western world, “but in the Middle East and other parts of the world, such things are not uncommon. Many Muslims who live in countries where the gospel is prohibited, like Iran, have come to faith in Jesus Christ through dreams and visions. A common story told among new believers is of a man coming to the foot of the bed and telling them about the hope that can be found in Yasu, the name for Jesus used by many Arabic Christians. When people do not have the Word of God available to them, the Lord still finds ways to make Himself known to those who desire to discover the truth of the Creator God” (Amir Tsarfati, Discovering Daniel, pp. 78-79).
So Nebuchadnezzar had this dream. He was “afraid” and “alarmed.” So he did what kings normally do, and that is that he called his advisors, his wise men and enchanters, to his throne.
Just like before, Nebuchadnezzar called “all the wise men of Babylon” in an effort to understand what this disturbing dream meant.
6 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.
Why did Nebuchadnezzar need their help in interpreting this dream? Maybe Nebuchadnezzar had a sneaking suspicion that he knew that this dream was not so complimentary as his former dream and that it portended a much more negative event in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. Maybe he hoped that in interpreting the dream they would tell him that this had nothing to do with him or that it wasn’t nearly as bad as he might have feared.
As in chapter 2, this dream troubled Nebuchadnezzar, but in this case, unlike in chapter 2, he “told them the dream” but even with that advantage they still could not interpret it for him. They couldn’t even make something up! Even though the dream was adverse and might present a problem in telling Nebuchadnezzar, they probably would have made some attempt to explain it to him, if they had understood it.
The same group of advisors were there who had been surpassed by Daniel and his friends in chapter 1, then who were unable to recount and interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. These men were only still alive because Daniel had been able to recount and interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. Yet here they are again, this hapless and helpless bunch of frauds.
So Nebuchadnezzar calls in Daniel, the one who “had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Dan. 1:17), whom Nebuchadnezzar consistently found “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom” (Dan. 1:20). Nebuchadnezzar knew from experience that Daniel’s God was “a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery” (Dan. 2:47).
Matthew Henry reminds us, “Many make God’s word their last refuge, and never have recourse to it till they are driven off from all other succors” (Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1089).
Why is it that we typically save going to God for the answers until we have exhausted all other recourses? We plan and scheme and do and talk, but we fail to go to the source of wisdom and knowledge, to God Himself. Daniel was God’s man and could tell the king what God was trying to communicate to him in this dream.
So in verse 8 Nebuchadnezzar calls in Daniel. “At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods…”
Daniel is the only wise man who wasn’t afraid of the king. He didn’t live in fear of the king because he feared God.
Nebuchadnezzar reminds himself that Daniel’s “real” name was Belteshazzar “after the name of my God” Bel, possibly to prop up his flagging belief in the power of his own gods, and then notes that in Daniel “is the spirit of the holy gods” (a true plural here), to be able to interpret his dream. At this point Nebuchadnezzar was still married to his gods.
He will also, in verse 9, say that “no mystery is too difficult for you.” Whereas his other psychic advisors had failed him again and again, Daniel had come through every time he was needed. So the king appeals to him once again, acknowledging that he needed Daniel’s help.
In the OT the presence of God’s Spirit often implies the activity of God in his dynamic power, giving life and freedom to his people and to the world; the effect of this on human beings is to make them behave in remarkable ways and perform extraordinary deeds. A person who receives out-of-the-ordinary insights or revelations does so by the work of the divine spirit (Gen 41:38; Num 24:2; 2 Sam 23:2; 2 Chr 15:1; 20:14; 24:20) (John Goldingay, Daniel, vol. 30, Word Biblical Commentary, p. 87).
The same is true for Christ followers under the New Covenant. We have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, sometimes miraculous in nature, but always enabling us to be able to perform ministry beyond our natural abilities, wisdom or strength. We are dependent upon the Holy Spirit not only for fruitbearing ministry but also for flourishing in our Christian growth.
The transformation in Nebuchadnezzar’s thinking that takes place in the course of this chapter is underlined by the names that Nebuchadnezzar uses for Daniel. In the narrative frame, written after his experience of humbling, Nebuchadnezzar calls Daniel by his Judean name (meaning, “God is my judge”), whereas in the reported conversations that took place earlier, he called him “Belteshazzar” (meaning, “Bel, guard his life”). In the same way, prior to his humbling, Nebuchadnezzar described Daniel in pagan terms as one “in whom is the spirit of the gods” (Dan. 4:8).
What is meant by this statement? John Walvoord notes:
It is debatable whether gods is singular or plural, as it could be translated either way. Young, with a wealth of evidence from Montgomery, considers it a singular noun and thus a recognition by the king “that the God of Dan. was different from his own gods.” This distinction is borne out by the adjective “holy” (4:8, 18; 5:11). The philological evidence supports the singular, although Leupold agrees with Driver that the noun and its adjective are plural and a reflection of the king’s polytheism.
The word holy, according to Young, refers to gods who are divine, rather than specifically having moral purity. The ultimate judgment of the expression depends on how well Nebuchadnezzar comprehended the nature of Daniel’s God. He obviously had high respect for the God of Daniel and may have had a true faith in the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar, having justified his singling out Daniel of all the wise men, now records in his decree his conversation with Daniel which includes a restatement of his dream.
I do believe that by the end of this experience Nebuchadnezzar has finally come to believe in the one true God, God Most High, the God of Daniel. However, it may be that at the beginning of this experience, before his humbling, he still thought of Daniel’s God as one among many gods to be worshiped.
Ligon Duncan points out: “Isn’t it interesting, in verses 8 and 9, how they record for us both Nebuchadnezzar’s trust in Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s fear of Daniel. Notice in verse 8, Nebuchadnezzar is careful to call Daniel Belteshazzar who was named after his own gods. It’s almost like he reminds himself that Daniel is Belteshazzar, who is named after his own gods, to protect him from any undue influence that this Hebrew prophet might have over him. You can almost see the king’s insecurity with the power of this man, with this man’s connection with heaven, with his evident godliness and character, and so he makes sure to call Daniel, not by his Hebrew name, but by his Babylonian name and remind himself that that name itself is the name of Nebuchadnezzar’s own god. He’s a little bit frightened of the kind of influence that Daniel may have over him. And at the same time, we see in verses 8 and 9 that Nebuchadnezzar knows that Daniel will tell him the truth. What a testimony to Daniel’s faithfulness. Of all the people in Nebuchadnezzar’s court, Daniel and those three witnesses were the most faithful friends that Nebuchadnezzar really had because they would tell him the truth no matter what. Even Nebuchadnezzar knew that. He knew that whatever the case was, Daniel was going to tell him the truth, he would tell him what that dream really meant.
There is a lot of pressure on Christians these days to express their love for others by agreeing with their sinful choices. But in reality the most loving thing we can do is to tell people the truth, to warn them that their choices will not give them true joy and satisfaction and fulfillment, that true freedom is found not in pursuing our own will and desires, but in pursuing the will and desires of God. We are to always “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) even when it may seem to rub people the wrong way.
In our current culture, friends who tell us what we want to hear are the ones we naturally value. People more likely prefer friends who flatter them. They want friends who will respond to a problem about a difficult decision in their life with, “You should do what makes you happy.” Friendship in our culture often involves mutual encouragement to sin.
Bur a true friend will point out spiritual things to us we can’t see, such as sin and idolatry. They will point out to us when we’ve wandered off the narrow path. They will show us areas in our life where we lack joy in God — relishing in the wonder of who he is and what he has done. A Christian friend won’t tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear. “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:5-6).
As C.H. Spurgeon said about such friendships,
True friends put enough trust in you to tell you openly of your faults. Give me for a friend the man who will speak honestly of me before my face; who will not tell first one neighbor, and then another, but who will come straight to my house, and say, “Sir, I feel there is such-and-such a thing in you, which, as my brother, I must tell you of.” That man is a true friend; he has proved himself to be so; for we never get any praise for telling people of their faults; we rather hazard their dislike; a man will sometimes thank you for it, but he does not often like you any the better.
Daniel was this type of friend to Nebuchadnezzar, and that is why Nebuchadnezzar turned to him time after time for help when he needed it. Let’s try to be a friend like Daniel, one who will tell the truth even when it is difficult because we truly love that person.
Grace Still Amazes 