Heavenly Living in Hostage Times (4)

Chapter 1 reminds us that God is still at work offering heavenly living in hostage times. We see the victory scoped out for the four Hebrew boys that were trusting the Lord and walking honorably with God in the turmoil.

Chapter 2 reveals the picture of public affairs at the time and what happened behind doors with the high and mighty, King Nebuchadnezzar. What we will discover tonight is that what we perceive of others and what is reality can be quite different.

Life has Troubling Times vv. 1-3

Daniel 2:1-3 “1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.””

Listen dearly beloved, life has troubling times. Isn’t it interesting that people that have more going for them than we can imagine seem to lose sleep over the fear of loss?

I believe we can learn from this that no matter how large your bank account, no matter what great health or status you have. Regardless of your family support and the list goes on, there will be times we will be troubled by life.

Time Period “2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign Mar-April 603 BC

Only after completing one year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar began to have fears under his leadership. At this point in time, King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the known world.

Woe and anxiety create bad dreams.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 “3 For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.”

Tonight we will not address the dream yet. We will gain great insight about our world, the world we find ourselves in and we see a universal need in this chapter. We all need God. Amen.

Looking at Daniel 1:5 “5 And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.”

So, in Verse 1 we quickly realize that the three years of training had not been completed. Note two matters:

Daniel and his friends were not initially called out by King Nebuchadnezzar due to the fact they had not completed their training.

Chapter 1 at the end is a synopsis statement of their performance over the entirety of their leadership through King Cyrus.

We note that this story has many similarities to the story of Joseph in Genesis 41.

Genesis 40:5-8 “5 Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. 6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.””

Genesis 40-41 are a stark reminder that God is working in the midst of our fears.

You will remember the fear that came over Pharoah as to the dream he had about the vision of the seven poor cows and the seven healthy cows. Again, no counselors could interpret the dream except a young Hebrew lad that had come to save the day. The wisdom of the Jews were far superior to anyone else. Why? The wisdom was not inherent to the Jews but to the God they served that offered revelation.

This story reminds us that regardless how we appear to the outside world or how others appear to us in the outside world we all will encounter difficult troubled times. None of us know what is happening with others behind closed doors.

From that quickly two thoughts come to mind.

We must have compassion for each other because all of us will have difficulties and struggles at one point or the other.

And, many times we do not know what each one is dealing with. We tend to hide it and carry our burdens. How do we combat that? Reach out to each other. Keep check with one another. To have friends we must be a friend.

This story reminds us for those that are non-believers and there are times we are actually jealous of others and the life they lead with what appears to have no regard for God that they have their problems too. Like Daniel, we need to find those opportunities that God will place in our lap to minister to those. God can use those times as transformational times.

I ran into a friend the other day by all measures was financially sound. By all appearances had good health. Every measure you would look at in this friend would state they had their act together. At some point in the conversation when the Holy Spirit decided to intervene as I asked if I could pray for them they broke down and stated they were struggling with the feeling of being alone.

Oh dearly beloved, this is a day to be a friend to sinners.

Answers will not come from Obvious Sources vv. 4-12

by the way, Daniel would of only been 17-18 years of age at this time. He was not the old white headed prophet. He was still young and immature by man’s standards.

Nebuchadnezzar had a rapid beat of the heart due to the agitation of the dream. He could not sleep. Have you had some sleepless nights?

Well, as you read there, Nebuchadnezzar did as many of us do if we are not careful. We seek out the normal channel of answers.

Daniel 2:2 “2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.”

magicians, sorcerers, astrologers, and Chaldeans. These groups used pagan ways through the stars, sorcery, and no magic as e know today, but a calling to the spirits and gods of the Babylonians.

2 Chronicles 33:1-6 “1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.”

Engraver, writer-magician-counselors, advisors

Astrologers-occultist group

Sorcery-use of witchcraft

Chaldeans-S. Babylon -again, witchcraft-new Persian influence

Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary a. The Forgotten Dream (2:1–11)

These experts in dreams worked on the principle that dreams and their sequel followed an empirical law which, given sufficient data, could be established. The dream manuals, of which several examples have come to light, consist accordingly of historical dreams and the events that followed them, arranged systematically for easy reference. Since these books had to try to cover every possible eventuality they became inordinately long; only the expert could find his way through them, and even he had to know the dream to begin with before he could search for the nearest possible parallel

This may all sound quite strange to you but this would have been the normal group that Nebuchadnezzar would have reached out to for answers.

Do we not practice some of the same practices? Have a legal issue, reach out to a lawyer. Have a financial issue and reach out to an Accountant. Have a marriage issue and reach out to a counselor. Have medical issues and we reach out to a doctor.

And we go to the doctor and the treatment is not working. We go to the counseling for marriage and the process does not seem to make any difference. We seek financial guidance from an accountant, but I just can’t seem to fight the debt monster. What then?

Isaiah 47:12-13 “12 “Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth— Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you.”

Oh dearly beloved, who should be the first we reach out to when we are troubled?

Where do you look for Answers when things are not from the Obvious? vv. 13-19

Daniel 2:7 “7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.””

The advisors says this is normal. This is how matters are handled. You are not conforming to the normal ways are dealt with.

Nebuchadnezzar knew in his heart of hearts that something was going to come about in his life that he was not prepared for. He knew he was dealing with something out of his control. He had a sense that he was going to encounter a matter he had no control over.

Where do you look when answers are not coming or the obvious responses are not working?

Ill. Man drowning at home.

I did not have any form of capacity to bring that man back. I did not have any way of changing the manner in which my home felt following the incident. I had no way of overcoming this tragedy.

Nothing had changed about the home? Nothing had changed from the vantage point that we were emptynesters and the home was paid for and had just been remodeled. Nothing had changed the beauty of the home to the outside world. Nothing had changed the beauty of the home with Jane.

This was an inner turmoil I was experiencing because I was close and personal to the situation.

a. Trust God in His Timing

Daniel 2:16 “16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.”

Philippians 4:7 “7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

b. Enlist Pray Warriors

Daniel 2:17-18 “17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”

Notice that they did not pray for answers, they prayed for mercies.

Daniel 2:23 “23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; 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 demand.””

2 Corinthians 1:11 “11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”

Ephesians 2:4-7 “4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 3:20-21 “20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

c. God will fulfill His promises

Daniel 2:19 “19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

Job 33:15-16 “15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, 16 Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.”