List evidences of the dream’s impact on Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:1-12)
“His mind was troubled, he could not sleep, he was demanding and distrustful of his astrologers, and then he was murderously angry.”
Reflect again on our text. What do you think caused Nebuchadnezzar to feel this wasn’t an ordinary nightmare?
“Verse 1 says ‘dreams’; maybe he kept having the same bizarre dream night after night or several times within one night.”
Can you remember your last spirit-striking dream? If so, what was it about?
“I remember one where Randy and I were both furious with each other, but I think my most recent was some natural disaster with destruction and devastation.”
How were you able to calm down?
“In both cases, I, as usual, needed the bathroom. That couple minutes awake let me walk them off. (Sometimes I prefer a nightmare to a dream so good I’m disappointed to return to reality after it.)”
What kinds of people were summoned to interpret the dream (v. 2)?
“magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers”
Note ‘the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic’ (v. 4). What unique feature about the book of Daniel did we learn at the very beginning of week 1, day 2? (By all means, glance back if necessary.)
“1:1-2:4(a) are in Hebrew, 2:4(b)-7:28 are in Aramaic, 7:29-12:13 are in Hebrew again.”
If you participated in session 2, just how pertinent did the dream turn out to be for the Gentile world? Briefly explain.
“It was a prophetic roadmap for the future empires for many future centuries.”
Fill in the blank, according to verse 5: ‘This is what I have firmly decided: if you do not tell me “what my dream was” and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces.’
How do Isaiah’s words [47:12-15] apply to Nebuchadnezzar’s predicament in Daniel 2?
“Their ‘magic’ wasn’t powerful enough to satisfy the king’s demands, and thereby protect their own lives.”
Meditate on the astrologers’s final words in verse 11, and fill in the blank: ‘What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they “do not live among men.”’
Look up each of the following scriptures as your benediction, and briefly describe how our God differs from the false gods of heathen nations. Celebrate Him while you’re at it.
Exodus 25:8 – “He dwells among us.”
John 1:14 – “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”
Dearest Rachel –
To be honest, until I went through your study on this passage, it didn’t occur to me that this might have been a recurring dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. It would certainly explain why he was so bothered about it, and how he managed to remember it so well when Daniel re-told it to him. I would have to go back to my letter to you from even just yesterday to recall the specifics of what I saw, and I only remember even having the dream because I spent the time writing it down for you (and for future reference). In Nebuchadnezzar’s case, if he had written it down, there might well have been some palace intrigue (and probably some hilarious shenanigans, if the consequences weren’t so life-and-death serious) by his team of wise men and palace guards in trying to find what he wrote down (and preventing them from finding it, respectively), in order to answer his demands.
On the other hand, you seemed to be able to call up several dreams of recent memory, right off the top of your head when prompted to do so. It may well be that some of us are just better at recalling such stuff than others; you were of the former group, and I’m in the latter.
As for the king’s “murderous anger,” well, you have to bear in mind that these alleged magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers were essentially defrauding the government in general, and the king personally, by claiming to be capable of something they weren’t. In that day and age, people were sentenced to death for much less than that on a regular basis. Consider it a case of his majesty enacting a one-man department of government efficiency; while he may have been the earliest documented case, he was likely not the first person to question the sagacity of mediums and their lot. Nor was he the last; many a contemporary joke has been made about why psychics aren’t cleaning up with the lottery. What with the MegaMillions jackpot currently sitting at some $740 million, you’d think they’d be all over it. Are they just waiting for it to reach a billion before getting involved? What if some random schmuck wins it by pure chance before that? And shouldn’t they know when that could happen, so they can step in before some non-psychic takes the pot?
Finally, there’s their assertion that “the gods do not live among man,” which is refuted in both Testaments about our God. Then again, it’s often difficult to recognize His presence when it’s not tangible – or, if He can be seen in His children, it’s hard to separate Him from them; when a Christian speaks, we tend only to see and hear the person, and not the Spirit within them. Which is understandable, as we’re as human as the next person, and aren’t channeling our God anywhere near as often as we should be. I know that’s the case with me, and so I assume that’s common among our brothers and sisters. Jesus may have spoken about having the faith to move mountains, but the only way I could claim to have that is if I had an army of Cat excavators behind me. It doesn’t speak well of me, but at least I’m in the company of His disciples, I suppose.
In any event, until such time as that meager faith becomes sight, honey, keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 