Part 1 "The Source"
Notes
Transcript
God has us on a journey right now.
He is doing things in us, to us, and (we are trusting and believing) through us for his Glory!
We are in this series “Breaking the Law”
Today we are suppose to be looking at “Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah!” Many of you might know them better as there Babylonian name ....
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”
The story is one where God breaks the law of nature to reveal himself.
We find this story in Daniel 3.
What I like to do is go back and read a few verses, or sometimes a few chapters, to get the context of the passage.
So I went back and started in Chapter 1.
Once I read the first 18 verses of chapter 2 I knew that the Spirit was telling me this it part one of this message.
Daniel 2:1-18
2:1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
“Dreams” - Plural
Vs 1-3 Means “Dream”
“Troubled” - be disturbed, i.e., be in a mental state of distress and worry relating to a situation
2 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.
3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
“Dream” - Vs 4 and on means “A dream which often functions as a vehicle of divine revelation.”
SOURCE OF THE DREAM (Tell us what the dream is!!!!)
5 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.
“Firm” - Emphatic / Speaking with certainty.
“torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid to ruins” (Go to Punishment: 3:29)
6 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.”
“Show the dream and its interpretation” - Not just the interpretation but which dream and the interpretation.
7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.”
8 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—
These guys are trying to convince the King (Wear him down) over time, to get him to reveal the dream.
Same word Firm found in Vs 5.
9 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 King is saying .... “Tell me the dream so I can trust the interpretation of the dream.”
10 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.
Look at what the Chaldean says ..... “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand”
READ ON ....
11 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.”
The Chaldeans go on to say, “.... no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS ..... the King is ...... Looking for a divine answer to a human problem, from a human source. (10-11)
HOLD ON TO THAT THOUGHT!
12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
14 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.
prudence - Careful
discretion - good sense
15 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.
Urgent - compelled to act in a certain way (Extreme/Severe)
16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 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.
“Seek Mercy” I found this strange for Daniel to state ask this of his friends.
Why not ask for God to reveal “Which dream” and the interpretation???????
When you look at the phrase “Seek mercy”
Seek - pray for, plead for, request of God or gods
Mercy - compassion, i.e., kindness or concern which results in a favorable action
When you put the two together you get this “Intensity of seeking through prayer the kindness and compassion of God.”
The story goes on to reveal Daniel was given what the dream was and the interpretation in a dream that very night.
How was Daniel able to do this?
Because unlike the King who was Looking for a divine answer to a human problem, from a human source.
..... Daniel went Looking for a divine answer to a human problem, from a Divine source.
Every person here this morning and who is listening on FB Live ......
You have had ..... have now .... or will have problems. (no getting around this)!
Some possibilities are ..... Physical