Many people want to have dreams explained (interpreted) and don’t mind who tells them what, as long as they get some sort of answer. Nebuchadnezzar wanted this but there was a twist!
(1) He calls for the accepted and recognized “professionals” for help. They were the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers who counselled the king and important officials in matters of this nature and the spirit world.
(2) He wanted to be told what he had dreamt. That was brilliant. He was shrewd and cunning. He would not fall for just answer or interpretation.
(3) He tested these people to see if they would tell the truth or to spin him a yarn to calm his frustration. Although he did not know God, he used a Biblical strategy to determine whether these men were genuine. Although very different, the following passage helps us to grasp that testing the one interpreting the dream is vital. If it does not lead to a deeper relationship with God, it is not from God.
Dt 13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
1) The king issues a command.
Da 2:2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed.
Once the king could not handle the effects of these dreams, including the sleep deprivation, he immediately calls for the four groups of men to
(1) Tell him what he dreamt and
(2) Interpret the dream.
We need to be very clear about the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers for these people still operate today. These four categories intend to cover all shapes and forms of people practicing satanic rituals to achieve some sort of answer. Many of them make huge sums of money. They hold people captive because often these are related to some form of religion. They might have different names and titles and also be accepted in modern countries like they were in the Babylonian Kingdom … but God does not approve of them because their operations are seen by Him to be satanic!
Dt 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
God is awfully holy and wants us, His people to be holy and blameless. He chose us for this purpose
Eph 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Deuteronomy speaks in the context of evil satanic influences in the life of the people of God that need to be avoided. Ephesians includes all rebelliousness against God … that is, sin, evil, wickedness … all generated from people rebelling against God. In our context, please see that as Christians, to meddle in getting answers to our dreams could lead us into the lion’s den!
2) The king’s interaction with these priests of satan must be seen as God in action. When they can’t help, Daniel will rise as God’s man.
Da 2:2 … When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.’” 4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” 5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
(1) These men arrive and assemble before the king. The king is an authoritarian. Should they misbehave or be sloppy they would be terminated immediately.
(2) The king states why they are there. He had a dream that worries him and needs to understand its meaning.
(3) Respectfully, yet filled with self-assurance they request to be told the dream and in return they would provide an interpretation.
(4) The king however is not prepared to reveal the dream. If they practice what they do, he feels they ought to be able to tell him the dream. This would be a start to getting the real meaning in the sense that they would be able to known the dream without being told and then they would have the meaning.
(5) These magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers were caught against a rock with nowhere to run.
(a) Tell the king what he wants to hear or face death and the destruction of your property. Get the picture … dismembered … one limb at a time until dead. Some commentators say the houses turned into piles of rubble means … into a dunghill. Apparently this was the normal method of dealing with failure from so called “wise men” in that region in those days. It would appear that many got it wrong. They plied their trade for gain.
(b) Get it right and the rewards and acknowledgement would be huge … even throughout the kingdom. By now you and I are likely convinced that the activities of people who perform acts and deeds that fall into the scope of these men’s profession is unbiblical, carrying God’s wrath because it induces and uses satanic methodology to achieve required results. Coming closer to home, and being provocative, you need to question whether you have any association with horoscopes, clairvoyants, Ouija boards, sangomas, witchdoctors or witch hunters.
Dear God, mercifully protect us from these evil sinister forces so that we don’t become seduced, for Jesus sake. Amen.