SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/4/2013 8:29 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God
Distresses a King
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 2:1
Message of the
verses: 1 Now in the second year of
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was
troubled and his sleep left him.”
17 As for these
four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of
literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.” This verse is Daniel 1:17 and it is a verse
that we should remember throughout the entire book of Daniel, for it tells us
of the special gift that was given to Daniel by the Lord, a gift that he would
use all of his life to bring honor and glory to the Lord.
Dr. Wiersbe entitles chapter two of his commentary on the
book of Daniel “The God of Dreams and Destinies” We will see in this chapter of Daniel that
God is in complete control of things that were going on in this gentile nation
of Babylon. There is a verse in the book
of Luke that Jesus speaks of in His Olivet discourse that tells about the times
of the gentiles. I have heard or read
that there are some who believe that the times of the gentiles began in 586 B.
C. when Israel was taken out of her land, and even though they did return to
the land some seventy years later they never had sovereign control of the land
like they had before they were taken out of it in 586 B. C. God was still in complete control of all the
things that went on in the world, and for that matter He still is even though
we are living in the times of the gentiles.
When we get to the fourth verse in chapter two of Daniel
we will find out that it was written in the Aramaic language from there until
chapter seven and verse twenty-eight.
Dr. Wiersbe has an endnote that speaks about this: “From 2:4 to 7:28, the book is written in
Aramaic, the language of Babylon, rather than in Hebrew. These prophecies deal primarily with the
future of Gentile kingdoms, so Aramaic is more suitable. No doubt Daniel’s writings were circulated
among the Gentiles as well as the Jews.”
We will see in chapter two that although Nebuchadnezzar’s
name is used many times because he is the man in charge of Babylon, it is God
who is the main character in this chapter and throughout this book of
Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar says the
following in verse 22 speaking of God, “who reveals the deep and secret
things.” We will see, as we read between
the lines of this book that Daniel was making a witness of God to the king, and
eventually we will see that God would open Nebuchadnezzar’s heart to realize
that he too needed a Savior.
Verse on of chapter two speaks of the second year of the
reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, and we talked about this earlier, but it bears
repeating that the Babylonians did not begin numbering the reign of their king
until after he served one year while the Jews began right from the first year
and therefore it may seem like there is a mistake in Daniels numbering of the
Gentile kings.
We learned as we studied the first chapter of Daniel that
it was the father of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar who played a key role in the
demise of the Assyrian Empire following the death of the last powerful Assyrian
king, Ashurbanipal. He ruled over Babylon for twenty years. Nabopolassar died in 605 B. C. which was the
year that Daniel was taken out of Israel and sent to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was probably worried about how
long he would live and how long his kingdom would last and therefore was having
trouble sleeping, having restless nights, “The sleep of the working man is
pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man
does not allow him to sleep (Ecc. 5:12).”
Shakespeare said “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” It seems that this was true of Nebuchadnezzar
and so he had trouble sleeping.
I wrote earlier that there were some similar things that
are seen in the lives of Daniel and Joseph, for God sent both of them to a
Gentile nation in order to protect His people Israel. Not only was that true of them both but in
both of their lives the kings of these nations were given dreams by the Lord
that disturbed them both. Pharaoh and
Joseph’s accounts are seen in Genesis 41 and Daniel’s and Nebuchadnezzar’s
account are seen here in Daniel chapter two.
Again we see how God is in charge of all nations from these two men whom
He put in the right place at the right time.
We see in the verse that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and
this could mean that he continued to have the same dream over and over again,
and it disturbed him. Because he was
disturbed we will see a different side of his personality that we saw at the
end of chapter one.
God used dreams in the lives of different people at
different times in the OT times and even the magi who came to worship Jesus had
dreams to know about His birth as seen in Matthew 2:12. However since the completion of the Bible
there are many Bible scholars who do not believe that God uses dreams like
those He used earlier in history.
The Lord had given this dream to Nebuchadnezzar, a
gentile king to communicate with him about the future of Gentile nations, but
he did not realize what his dreams were about, but God would soon use Daniel to
tell him about his dreams and this would bring honor to the God of Israel.
Speaking of whether or not God uses dreams today Dr.
Wiersbe says that God uses the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and of course
prayer to guide His children today.
There is a danger that dreams can come from demotic sources “25 "I have heard what the prophets have
said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ’I had a dream, I had a dream!’
26 "How long? Is there anything in
the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the
deception of their own heart, 27 who
intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to
one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? 28 “The
prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak
My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?" declares the
LORD. 29 “Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a
hammer which shatters a rock? 30 “Therefore behold, I am against the
prophets," declares the LORD, "who steal My words from each other. 31
"Behold, I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who use
their tongues and declare, ’The Lord declares.’ 32 "Behold, I am against those who have
prophesied false dreams," declares the LORD, "and related them and
led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not
send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest
benefit," declares the LORD (Jer. 23:25-32).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I want to answer
a question that I think that I need to answer each time that I read the Word of
God and that is how I saw the God of the Word in what I have read. I see God demonstrating His sovereignty, His
grace, His wisdom, and His power.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to see God in His Word so that I can
better know Him.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 32:7-9
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah. 8 I will instruct you and
teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon
you. Do not be as the horse or as the
mule which has no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hole
them in check, otherwise they will not come near you.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Life” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Whom did Jesus say were His
mother and His brothers?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
4/4/2013 10:05 AM
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