Todays Thoughts...Book of Daniel 2 Part 1

 The King's Troubling Dream

Imagine if you can, falling asleep and everything is well until somewhere your dream goes terribly sideways with images that are not only terrifying but unexplained. Now imagine waking up and trying to explain that to someone else.  

Now imagine you're in a position of authority and everyone looks to you for all the answers and for strength. You are feared and practically worshipped. No one dares to defy you or they fear death by your direct command.

That's where King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon comes in.

He was definitely feared and he was the one, after all ,who took the captives from King Jehoiakim of Judah after Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. 

   Defining the precedent to all the people under his rule that he was not to be defied or disobeyed and always at his beck and call, so it is of no surprise that he demanded that all his royal officials would be called to answer this for him.

The interesting twist is that King Nebuchadnezzar never reveals the details of the dream but he wants them to tell him the details and what it means.

Daniel 2:1-12https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+2&version=NIV

Of course as you would expect they were reluctant so they implored the King to tell them the details. 

 I believe the King was testing them of their loyalty and respect of his authority and also whether they were around him because of his position and the perks that came with it. 

Kind of like groupies that surround a celebrity or someone of great wealth and status. 

Every single one had a near identical response and this only resulted in his rage against them which a decree was made to kill them all.

"Isn't that typical, you don't get what you want so you throw a tantrum but I digress."

Enter Daniel, after hearing this he implores the King's guard Arioch as to what this decree is about. Arioch had built some trust with Daniel, I believe this began after Daniel and his friends proved themselves with their vegetable and water diet and of Course God was influencing him so he was more willing to listen to Daniel.

Daniel 2: 13b-49  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+2%3A13-49&version=NIV

Daniel went and asked for time to interpret the dream for the king and he also went home to implore that Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah along with himself to plead for mercy from God.

Also the motivation was that all of them were facing certain death probably lit a fire in them to get this resolved as soon as possible.

NOTE: Pleading is much different than begging.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pleading

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/begging

In a spiritual sense this is a different context:

To plead to God: you are going to Him with a sincere heart and intention knowing and believing that God has heard you and will deliver on his promise. And you follow up with faith in continuing your obedience to Him.

Begging : is asking with the attitude of fulfilling a need at that time without any heart change or trust that God is hearing you or any true relationship to God with whom you are making this request. 

I like to refer to this as the "Santa Claus" request or those of us of the older crowd the "Wimpy Complex- I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" Those of you who watched the earlier Popeye cartoons.

Fortunately that wasn't the case for Daniel and his friends and God did reveal the answer to Daniel in a vision. 

 Daniel praised God, acknowledging God's willingness to not only answer his and his friend's prayer but that "He always keeps His promises to those He loves and loves Him."

Isn't that what we should remember is to take the time as Daniel did in verses 20-23 to acknowledge God and to rejoice over His willingness to hear and response while still aware of His authority over us and this world we inhabit.

God bless 🙏✟