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You ever have a really weird dream?

Two Dreams

The statue

Around a year after Daniel arrived in Babylon.

Remember Daniel was given the ability to understand and interpret dreams. 1:17

The king has a dream and he wants the magicians, etc. to not only tell him the dreams meaning, but also tell him what the dream was. They can’t so he decides to kill them all.

They come to get Daniel and he says, “Hold up!”

God reveals the dream and its meaning to Daniel and he tells the king and the king praises God.

The tree

We don’t really know when this happened exactly, somewhere in a forty year span that Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar.

He dreams about a huge tree that provides for animals around it, then it gets chopped down and a band is put around it. A voice declares that he will become like an animal.

Daniel tells the king that this is a judgement from God against him because of his pride. He does not humble himself and a year later it happens.

After “seven periods of time”, the king is humbled and praises God and the kingdom is restored to him. 4:33

Theres a lot of information in these chapters and these dreams, but we’re just going to focus on the character of Daniel and it points us to God.

Daniel is not Jesus. He was not perfect or sinless, but he is an example for us!

We should show love with truth to people and humble faith to God.

How Daniel Interacts With Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel goes to Neb in love with truth.

This is how we should relate to others.

I think one of the most awkward social situations is when someone, especially someone you don’t know very well, has something about their appearance that needs attention. Their hair is messed up, they’ve got something on their face, something stuck on their teeth, they’ve dropped food on their clothes.

The worst is an undone fly. “Uh, I noticed that uh… well I mean I wasn’t looking or anything but you’re… the trap door is open!”

You don’t want to embarrass them, but they’ll be even more embarrassed if you don’t tell them and they go even longer without realizing it! Sometimes it’s hard to tell someone the truth, but it’s always loving.

Daniel displays love by telling the truth.

2:30 & 36 -45

This would be a difficult thing to tell the most powerful person in the world! But Daniel tells him because God’s people are to be honest people.

Ephesians 4:15 HCSB

But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head —Christ.

Truth helps us grow.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Wait, he just told him the dream. He doesn’t necessarily do it from love.” Let’s look in chapter 4.

Daniel 4:19

And then again he tells him the difficult truth. And he doesn’t stop there.

Daniel 4:27

Our world tells us that telling someone they’re wrong is wrong (please notice how that statement defeats itself). Telling someone they are wrong is loving. Helping someone correct a wrong belief or action is a good thing.

If someone was headed down the wrong direction of the highway it wouldn’t be unloving to tell them would it?

But when doing this, we can not be harsh. We must remember that we too are sinful and therefore we may be wrong. So our standard for truth is God’s Word!

2 Timothy 2:24–25 HCSB

The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth.

There’s so much more that we could discuss with this topic, but it would take more time that we have now. If you would like to talk with me more about this, please reach out to me and I’d be happy to talk more with you about it!

If there’s time, Edwin’s Corner

For now, we turn to

How Daniel Interacts With God

He humbly points to God in everything.

We must remember that God is God and we are his creation. That puts us beneath him in the order of things.

This is a lesson we all learn in a different way growing up with our parents. Students, you’re at an age where you may have a little of the pride that Neb shows and you’re parents have to remind you to be more like Daniel in knowing where you stand in the order of things by taking away your phone or only letting you leave the house for school.

Younger kids learn it a little bit of a different way. My boys love to wrestle and play fight. Sometimes they get a little too rough, think a little too much of themselves and I’ll have to remind them not to get out of control. One of them might kick at me too hard, so the next time I’m going to catch that foot and put him on his back! Or when they punch I side step and push them onto the couch. Just to remind them that they’re playing in my world and not the other way around.

Nebuchadnezzar is too proud and God gives him the mind of a cow for a little while. Literally, it’s in chapter four. I think it’s hilarious! That’s set against Daniel’s humility and acknowledgment that God is in control.

Daniel 2:12-18

Daniel acknowledges that God is in control and responds in two ways.

He takes a step of faith and asks for an audience with the king before he knows the dream or its interpretation.

He shows his dependence on God by going to his friends and calling on them to take this situation to God in prayer.

Good or bad, we ought to respond like this to everything. With faith and prayer. Faith affirms that God is in control and He is good. Prayer recognizes our dependence on him. Whatever the situation, great or terrible, respond with faith that God is on his throne and He is good, and call out to him in prayer.

Romans 14:23 ESV

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

God reveals the dream and its meaning to Daniel, and in verses 20-23 Daniel praises God because he knows that only God could have shown this to him and this makes God worthy to be praised, specifically for his power and his mercy.

In the statue dream and the tree dream in chapter four, Daniel gives the interpretation to the king.

Daniel 4:24-25

Daniel is more worried about not sharing God’s Word than the consequences that may come from the king after giving him really bad news.

We too should be more concerned with telling others God’s truth than with their reaction.

But remember Eph 4:15, we speak the truth from love! Not from pride. And Daniel does that!

The next thing to see about how Daniel interacts with God is his understanding that God is sovereign over our world.

Sovereign means in total control of.

God rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them to whoever He wants!

Jeremiah 27:5 ESV

“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

That’s big if true! Especially in an election year!

Whether you’re into politics or not, put these things we’ve talked about to work as you consider the upcoming election.

Faith in God and his work and good plan.

Prayer for our country and leaders and candidates.

Understanding that God rules over the kingdoms of humanity.

Combine these things and you won’t get too stressed out over it all!

Last, Daniel relates to God and Nebuchadnezzar as a mediator. He delivers the message to repent from God to the King.

Daniel is foreshadowing another mediator to come later. Another King to come later. The one represented by the rock that crushed the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream. Who will have a Kingdom that never ends. Our Savior King Jesus!

He came to earth with the message that we must place our faith in Him, resulting in humble repentance, or we will face God’s judgement for eternity.

If you have never placed your faith in Jesus…