When Sheep Livers Fail (Daniel 2:1-30)

Scripture Introduction:

You ever have a nightmare? I bet all of us have. Some of them aren’t incredibly impactful—they might just be something like being chased by Godzilla or something. When you wake up, you can shake that one a little easier because there isn’t a Godzilla around.

But there are other dreams—dreams that seem a little bit more like reality—that you just can’t seem to shake. Ever have those? Where you just kind of carry around the emotion of that dream.

Sometimes those nightmares are actually our brain’s way of dealing with what we’re actually feeling. What we’re really wrestling with. They touch the real world.

That’s what we’re going to see this morning. A powerful king, most powerful man in the world, is crippled by his lack of sleep. He’s startled. He can’t get any rest.

As we read this text, I want you to notice a couple of contrasts. We’re going to see a few characters here—and there’s kind of a question overarching here—what do you do when you get to the end of your rope. When you’re unsettled and you just HAVE to have an answer.

Daniel 2:1–30 ESV

In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 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. And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 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 be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 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— 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.” 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. 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.” Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 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. 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. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Sermon Introduction:

There is a really big question that is hanging over the book of Daniel. It’s a question that would have plagued those, like Daniel, who were exiled.

What does it mean theologically? Is God still there for them? Is God able to help outside of Jerusalem as well? Can He be worshipped in the pit? Can He be worshipped from the grave of Babylon? Is God still all-powerful? How do you they interact with God now?

Daniel will be confronted with that question. But so also will Babylon. Let’s see how God will bring this question out today:

I. Nebby’s Problem

Nebby has a dream that has unsettled him. Or perhaps a few dreams. The Babylonians would have put quite a bit of stock in these dreams. It was one way they believed the gods communicated with them.

There is something about this dream that just entirely unsettles Nebby. So notice his distress here..verse 1…his spirit was troubled…and his sleep left him. Afraid to go to sleep, doesn’t want to dream again perhaps.

Now a few things to notice here...

First, God got Him here. That is something we see in Esther (that’s also during this time period—or a bit after, with the Persian Empire) and it’s something that we see here in Daniel.

God exercises His sovereignty even in Babylon. He controls the king’s sleep. He leads Nebby to this point—leads Him to this point of distress.

Now that might seem a little cruel. Why would God do that? But I think here of what Randy Alcorn has said in his book If God is Good:

Believing God exists is not the same as trusting the God who exists. A nominal Christian often discovers in suffering that his faith has been in his church, denomination, or family tradition, but not Christ. As he faces evil and suffering, he may lose his faith. But that’s actually a good thing. I have sympathy for people who lose their faith, but any faith lost in suffering wasn’t a faith worth keeping. (Genuine faith will be tested; false faith will be lost.)

It’s a good thing to lose your faith, if that faith is faulty. And so God is bringing Nebby to that place...

Notice also how Nebby responds to this. He does what we tend to do as well. He turns to what he knows. He goes to the places that have always helped him in the past, the places where he has found security. He goes to his “wise men”.

Now what they would do is they would read sheep livers. They believed the gods would dictate certain things about this organ and there were whole books written…like if a sheep’s liver looks this way, if it’s curved like this, etc. etc. then it means “yes” or “good” and if it’s twisted like that, or has this dot over here, or a cut here then that’s bad news, that’s a “no”.

It was a little like our magic 8-ball. Will I eat Taco Bell for lunch today? Am I going to get my tooth extracted tomorrow? Will the Royals win over 50 games?

But there is something here that Nebby does…now there is some debate as to whether or not he had just flat out forgot his dream but still carried the emotion with him, or if he was testing his dudes to see if they really could tell the future. I think it’s the latter…that’s often what God does, he causes us to ask some questions—things aren’t lining up. Sometimes we run from them—sometimes we are brave enough to ask them.

But he’s saying… “tell me my dream”. Ugh, it doesn’t work that way, bro. Try it with the magic 8-ball....

You know we have another device, you’re going to see this stuff more and more, that’s a bit like those astrologers. Chat GPT. It compiles all human wisdom into one place really…It’s artificial intelligence.

I asked it that same question. “Make known to me my dream and it’s interpretation”

And this is what it said...

I apologize, but as an artificial intelligence language model, I cannot know your dream without you describing it to me. However, if you would like to share details about your dream, I can try my best to provide an interpretation based on common dream symbols and themes. Please keep in mind that dream interpretation is subjective and can vary based on personal experiences and cultural background.

This is almost exactly what Nebby’s wise men said. Look at verses 10-11. Nobody can do this! Nobody could do this except the gods…and they do not dwell with flesh.

Hold onto that statement. Stick that in your pocket. We’re going to come back to this.

Now look at what has happened. Nebby and his wise men have hit their bottom. Their sheep livers have failed. And now notice how he responds. He’s angry. He is going to kill them, they are worthless, burn it to the ground.

That’s great Nebby…but what is that going to solve. You’re just empty. And that’s where many people are…they are just in this place of a quiet rage…the worldview has collapsed but they don’t have anything yet to fill it.

And so Nebby’s rage now comes after Daniel and his friends, remember they too are now the wisemen of Babylon. Let’s tease this out for a moment. Nebby had a dream…great distress..he thinks his life is threatened…it causes him a panic...

Now his situation, his panic, become Daniel’s situation. His problem not becomes Daniel’s and now Daniel’s life is threatened. But notice what happens...

First, notice that God gives Daniel this opportunity. This is where he is going to be able to show the greatness of God. Daniel could look at it like it’s a curse…or he could see it as an opportunity...

And so Daniel did what Nebby did…he goes to what He knows. In Daniel’s case, it’s YHWH…the God of the universe…but I think we need to make an important point here…WHAT Daniel knows is just as empty as the Babylonians. He may have real facts about God, He may have good theology, He may understand the world better than Nebby…but if he approaches Him like a much more powerful 8-ball, then His faith isn’t any different than Nebby’s.

Daniel’s WHAT is just as impotent as Nebby’s. But not his WHO. Daniel knows the LIVING GOD. The God who DOES dwell with humanity. The God who DOES condescend and make known His ways to humanity.

Ans so Daniel prays to God. This is key here. We can’t miss what is happening here…Daniel is in exile. God is displeased with the Israelites. They are there because of God’s wrath. He’s already told them through Jeremiah—I’m not listening to you, turn to me and cry, I’m not going to respond....you’re going off into exile.

But now what? What happens now that they are in exile? Will God answer? Will he show mercy? Does He care? Is he there in Babylon as well?

You bet…He gives Daniel the dream. He shows Daniel Nebby’s dream. And now notice also what happens…Daniel responds with compassion.

Daniel and all the wise men of Babylon—these are idolaters, these are god-hating atheists, these are people who trust in sheep livers instead of YHWH, these are the same people who a chapter or so later are going to try to execute Daniel and his friends...

Daniel has compassion. Oh, contrast this with Nebby. They don’t do what he wants and he is going to have them executed. That’s what the world system always does. Any worldly system is going to keep turning in on itself. It’s all like a snake that eats it own tail. It’s self-consuming. EVERY world system is self-consuming.

But not the gospel. The gospel is self-giving. And so, that’s a good question for us to ask. Am I swallowing the world system of Babylon U? Am I in a self-consuming movement…constantly narrowing and narrowing…what do I do with those that disagree with me? What do we do with those who don’t “work” anymore? How do I respond to someone who might “switch sides”? Are we able to have prophets within who can critique us? Or do we consume them?

If you can’t, you might be calling it Christianity, but it isn’t the way of Christ. No, the way of Christ is to love our enemies. It’s not self-consuming. It’s self-giving.

It looks like Daniel here. Daniel not only saves his own skin, he saves that of these other Babylonian wise men. And when he goes into the king notice what Daniel does.

Arioch, that dude who was supposed to slay everybody....he tries to take credit. He says, “I found a guy who can do it...” Look at me, I did it…my quest is complete. Honor me, O King.

But not Daniel. Daniel doesn’t take credit. He doesn’t seek the gifts from the kings table. He seeks the pleasure of a Higher King. He says, “Nah, I didn’t do this. This isn’t my skill. This doesn’t come from Babylon. This isn’t something you trained. This is the God of heaven who revealed this.”

English Standard Version Chapter 2

30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

God revealed this because He is good and compassionate. Next week we will see the dream and it’s meaning. But for now let’s look at how to apply this story.

What do we do with this?

First, maybe God is bringing you to a place similar to Nebby. Things are coming up empty. Maybe it’s even a faith you call Christianity. All your answers are coming up blank. You need the living God.

Desperate. Plead. Camp out here. God show up. If you don’t show up, I got nothing. I’ve got no answers. Don’t go chasing sheep livers.

All your gods aren’t close enough. They aren’t living. Jesus is.

Secondly, maybe God is bringing a neighbor to this point.

Christ is the one who becomes man.

Verse 11. Accessible.