2024-05-05 - Daniel 1:3-21 (4)

The Interview

Intro:

A recruiter asks a candidate for a job, “Why did you leave your last job?” The applicant replies, “It was something that my previous boss said.” “What did your boss say?” they asked. The candidate replied, “My previous boss said, ‘YOUR FIRED!’

A recruiter said to a candidate for a job, “In this job, we need someone who is responsible.” The job applicant replied, “I’m the one you want. In my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was respobsible.”

Link:

Interviews can be awkward, scary, etc. Today we will be talking about perhaps one of would could have been seen as the most worrisome interview of a lifetime.

Review:

17 As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

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Daniel 1:17-21

18 Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king.

We don’t know how many there were that went through the schooling for the past 3 years here but we do know the king was wise in being the one to test them, especially if they were to advise him.

What we do know also is that its interesting how many more times wiser Daniel and his 3 friends were. Again they honored God and God honored them.

20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

Ten Times is an idiom meaning many times. Also it could mean completeness, the number 10 meaning complete. Also its interesting to see that they did the special diet at the beginning for 10 days and now it says that the king found them 10 times wiser...

The Magicians - Were men who dealt in the occult

Enchanters - used incantations to accomplish their purposes

Sorcerers - Specialized in casting spells

Astrologers - Studied the movements of the stars and their influence on events

Diviners - Sought to see the future by using various methods.

AND ALL THESE WERE FORBIDDEN BY THE LAW OF MOSES (Deut. 18:9-13)

WHY? B/c these were all witchcraft, having conversations that left God out of things, this was conversation with Satan, the daemons, the principalities, etc.

Your parents back in the day may have said, “I don’t want you to go there, or I don’t want you talking to them.” God is saying the same thing.

Its quite interesting how strong Daniel and his 3 friends were. They were taught in all these ways, but yet they stuck it out and stayed true to God and HE BLESSED THEM. This shows just how much more powerful and the worth of trusting and following God over this world is.

21 Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.

Application 1: Daniel and his friends trusted God with their lives, they took where God put them and were faithful to Him in it. They went through scary things but they trusted God. Are you going through a scary and difficult time? God wants to see you through it just like He did Daniel and his friends.

Daniel 2:1–12 (NKJV)

1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.

The idea here is that Nebuchadnezzar, having had dreams, means that he had a repetitive dream over and over. That is why only one dream is interpreted later one.

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.

I want to pause to discuss this list of men and what they were about to do and why.

3 And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”

In the ancient Near East dreams were considered one of the ways in which the gods communicated with humans. Since kings were believed to stand in a special relationship to the gods, their dreams were of particular importance. Several reports of dreams are found in royal inscriptions from Egypt and Mesopotamia. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is an example of a symbolic dream, the meaning of which is not obvious and needs to be interpreted. Until this was done, he would not know whether it foretold good or ill. Dreams played only a secondary role in Mesopotamian divination. They were more important in the reigns of some kings than others, perhaps a reflection of the king’s personal piety. Dreams were thought to be messages from the gods brought by a spirit messenger whose Akkadian name was Zaqiqu. Basically two types of dream were recognized as communications from the gods. In message dreams a divine being spoke directly to the dreamer, so that interpretation was not needed. A symbolic dream involved the dreamer seeing or experiencing something, the meaning of which was not obvious; thus, interpretation was needed. All known records of this kind of dream come from Sumerian or Babylonian sources rather than from Assyrian ones. Interpretation could be done in one of two ways. Deductive interpretation relied on consultation of collections of dream omens (called “dream books”), which contained lists of things that might occur in dreams and assigned meanings to each one. Intuitive interpretation depended simply on the wisdom and insight of the interpreter. There is no evidence of a specific group of professionals who devoted themselves wholly to dream interpretation. Instead, this was done by priests, both male and female, who were competent in several types of divination. When a dream presaged something bad, there were rituals that could be performed to prevent the calamity from happening. This is one reason why it was important to discover the meaning of a dream as soon as possible. - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Daniel 2)

4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

Remember these guys, the Chaldeans are suppose to be the best of the best. But as Dr. Wiersbie so points out: “God disgraces the ‘WISE MEN’.” God was about to disgrace the WISE MEN of this world. God did it other times too.

Be Resolute 2. God Disgraces the “Wise Men” (Dan. 2:2–13)

Moses and Aaron defeated the magicians of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt (Ex. 7–12), and Elijah on Mount Carmel exposed the deception of Baal worship (1 Kings 18). Jeremiah confronted the false prophet Hananiah and revealed his wickedness (Jer. 28), and Paul exposed the deception of Bar Jesus the sorcerer (Acts 13:1–12). But it was Jesus who by His life, teaching, and sacrificial death declared the wisdom of this world “foolishness” with God, and that includes all its myths and false religions (1 Cor. 1:18ff). The statement of the advisers in Daniel 2:10 wipes out astrology and other forms of human prophecy! Out of their own mouths they condemned their own practices!

5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.

6 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

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

8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:

Back and forth with the king, but he would not budge.

He I believe was testing them to see if they really knew what they were doing.

He just tested Daniel and his 3 friends and found they were 10x’s wiser then all the other men that he had inherited from his father.

9 if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”

10 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.

11 It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Application 2: Daniel had gone through tough stuff but God proved Himself faithful to Daniel, that He would be there. God is there with you too in your difficulties. Weather its a family matter, health, financial issues, God is there for and with you, if you have a personal relationship with Him. When your going through these tough moments, remember the goodness of God in your past and in the past of others like Daniel.

Conclusion: Sometimes what we are up against in this world seems difficult. If we try to approach it with anything but God, you wont make it. Next time will see how the faithfulness of Daniel to God will answer the dream.

Saved: What are you going through that seems impossible? If you know Jesus, He is with you, He is the Alpha and Omega, He knows all and sees all. Turn to Him for your help as Daniel soon would.

Unsaved: Likewise to those who may not know Jesus as their Savior, you don’t have a personal relationship with God, He wants you to know that if you turn to Him, He not only will save and forgive you from your sins, but He will be there with you in all of life's difficulties and challenge, WHY? B/c He cares about you and loves you immensely.

Revelation 1:5 “...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,”

Acts 16:31 “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”