Study 7
by Charles Tan
Text: Daniel 2
Dear Young People,
FROM A DREAM TO A NIGHTMARE!
It was Nebuchadnezzar who came up with the idea of selecting promising and prospective young people to train up to take up service in the Babylonian kingdom. It was in this special educational scheme that Daniel and his friends were spotted and then selected to serve the King in an advisory capacity. Together with other successful candidates, they formed a sort of a “think-tank” for King Nebuchadnezzar. The people who made up this “think-tank” were “magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and the Chaldeans” (Daniel 2:2). These “stood before the king” (Daniel 2:2).
One night, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He said,
“I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the (meaning of the) dream” (Daniel 2:3).
This was not an unusual request, thus the Chaldeans, one of the groups that made up the “think-tank”, asked the King to tell them his dream. They would then interpret the dream for him (Daniel 2:4).
Nebuchadnezzar had other ideas. He shocked the wise men when he made known his wishes.
“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 an ash heap” (Daniel 2:5).
“However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards and great honour” (Daniel 2:6)
The wise men were stunned. They pleaded with the king to be reasonable. How could anybody know what another man was dreaming about? Their reply to the king was one of desperation and fear. They knew the consequences. They would lose their lives!
“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. It is a difficult (read, “impossible”) 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” (Daniel 2:10-11).
The king became “angry and furious and gave command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:12).
What would you have done if you belonged to the “think-tank” and you knew that your life was in danger?
DID YOU SAY, “PRAY”?
Daniel and his three friends must have prayed as never before (Daniel 2:17-18)! May we never need to face a crisis before we learn how to pray!