Daniel 2:1-11
"1 And in the second year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit
was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians,
and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew
the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed
a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king
in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we
will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans,
The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream,
with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses
shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation
thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore
shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the
king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of
it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of
certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone
from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me
the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying
and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore
tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation
thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king,
and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter:
therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at
any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king
requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except
the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
Today, I'd like to give a message entitled, "Wise Men In Babylon." The main story of the book of Daniel is that a dream or a revelation is given to the king, but their interpretation is next to impossible. The major point of this book is "how these dreams or revelations are interpreted." In addition, these dreams have something to do with the end time.
In this text, the king saw a dream. This dream is important and it tells about the history of the world until the end times. However, there is no wise man in Babylon who can interpret this dream.
God hid parables in the book of Daniel. The old land of Babylon is the figure of the harlot Babylon, which is the church in the end time that will not obey Christ. Daniel and his fellow Jews are figurative of God's people who are faithful to God even in the tribulation at the end time. In particular, Daniel is a model of God's servants who will interpret end time prophecies by God's wisdom.
The wise men, the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans in Babylon occupy a similar position compared to Daniel's. They are the ones who ought to have been able to interpret the dream for the sake of the king and the people of Babylon. Concerning the word "wise men," they text does not say it is a wisdom from God, so they are relying on human wisdom.
When we see the original meaning of "the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans," some of them are related to astrology. They consult the sun, moon, and hosts of heaven. The sun, moon, and stars are figurative of God's workers. So, the hidden meaning of these words is that they are those who interpret end time prophecies with the ability of God's workers. They are the ones who try to interpret dreams by the ability, power, and wisdom of a Babylonian commentator of the Bible. There is a common character among them. They are the people of Babylon.
They will never be like Daniel and his friends, who are basically Jews and are captured and live in Babylon as foreigners. They belong to Babylon and their race is different from the Jews. I think they are figurative of Christians completely babylonized in the end time. In the end time, the harlot church will be called "Babylon." Likewise, there will be those who belong to Babylon. Though they are many in number, they can not render correct interpretations. Please note the fact that the wise men of Babylon can not offer the interpretation to this dream.
Even though there will be many Bible scholars and commentators in the end time, they are unable to reach the right conclusions. Why were the wise men of Babylon unable to interpret these dreams? Why was this dream revealed only to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah? These differences are important.
Daniel 2:17, 18
"17 Then Daniel went to his house, and
made the thing known to Hananiah (God pleased), Mishael (God exists), and
Azariah (God helps), his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the
God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should
not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."
Please consult these verses. This is a problem about Daniel. But, the Bible also writes down the names of Hananiah (God pleased), Mishael (God exists), and Azariah (God helps).
It does not seem they helped very much in interpreting the dream. But, anyway, their names are written here. What is the Bible saying to us through this fact? I think God wants us to see a comparison here. There are two kinds of people. Both exist in the land of Babylon. One of the peoples are true Jews. They are the people of whom those called God pleased, God exists, and God helps.
On the other hand, there are the wise men of Babylon. God compared these two kinds of peoples and makes us see which people can render an interpretation of the dream.
Please pay attention to this fact. Whenever there is an interpretation of a dream or a mystery in the Bible, there will always be two kinds of people.
Please also note this fact that for the one people, the wise men of Babylon, there has never been given any kind of interpretation of God's revelation. The races of Daniel and his friends and wise men of Babylon are different. And this is the most critical difference among them. When someone seeks for the interpretation of end time prophecy, God sees the race he or she belongs to. This is not a problem of whether he is clever or has studied enough. When we interpret the Bible, the most important factor is our race. It is important for us to judge ourselves whether we belong to Jews or Babylon. Depending on this, what God reveals to us will be completely different.
God desires two things in the end time. One is the "interpretation of end time prophecy." The other is "to destroy all the wise men in Babylon."
Why are the end time prophecies so difficult to interpret? If they had been written in a more comprehensible way, we might be able to understand them more easily, and no one would ever misunderstand them. Wouldn't you agree? I think most people would. But, I was told by God somewhat differently. God does not desire all of us to understand these prophecies. In Japan, the entrance examinations to some of the more famous colleges are so difficult. Some people complain about how hard they are and say it is "abnormal." Yes, it really seems a bit too much. But, these examination have their purpose. Their purpose is not to accept every applicant. Instead, they want to "select" chosen applicants through this examination. Therefore, they use "difficult" problems. It's the same way with end time prophecies. These prophecies were not intended to be interpreted correctly by all of the people. Instead, they were intended to be understood only by "selected servants of God." In other words, they are like a "trap."
It is written in Luke 21:35, "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." This text can be applied to the end time scene. God gathers every wise man in Babylon and asks them the dream of the end time and its interpretation. The same thing will happen in the end time. God will ask the wise men of the babylonized church, i.e. Bible scholars and teachers this question: "Tell me the end time prophecies of the Bible and their interpretations." The fate of the wise men will differ depending on whether they can render the interpretation or not. If they give a correct interpretation, they will receive "gifts and rewards and great honour." But, if they can not, they will receive great punishment and lose their lives.
We really have to know this fact that the Bible commentators and teachers who interpret end time prophecies are in the exact same position as the wise men in Babylon. That is to say, if he can interpret and teach the people correctly, he will receive "gifts and rewards and great honour" from God. But, if he gives a wrong interpretation, and walks in error, he and his people will be judged and destroyed.
There are two ways in front of us, and their results differ greatly. There is God's command to destroy every wise man of Babylon because in these end times, there are every kind of false teaching and false interpretation of prophecy. They speak as though God had never said anything about false interpretations. But, in the end days, the wise men will be destroyed. It will be clear in the end time whether their words will be right or not.
The scripture talks about showing both the dream and its interpretation. It is very difficult for the wise men of Babylon to show both the dream and its interpretation.
"O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation."
This is their response. But, king says;
"If ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill."
Here God is talking about "to show the dream." What does that mean? What is the meaning of "not only show interpretation but also show the dream?" This is my idea. But, I think the dream means the end time revelations hidden in the Bible. This dream is a dream about the end time and it is given from God. But, for the wise men to show this dream is difficult. For them, to find this dream or revelation is difficult. For us true believers it might indicate that even though we really have the Bible, God's word, in front of us, it is still difficult to find out the parts that deal with the end time prophecies.
The king says "tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof." It is the same story for us. If you can really tell which part of the Bible pertains to the end time prophecies, then you should be able to show us its interpretation.
Daniel 2:27,28
"27 Daniel answered in the presence of
the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the
wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the
king.
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth
secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the
latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these."
Many people think if they study the Bible a lot, they can understand every Bible prophecy. But no, this is not so. We, humans can not understand prophecy, especially end time prophecies. Even in the age of Jesus, there were many men destroyed who did not understand the prophecy about the first coming of Jesus. A similar situation will probably occur during the end time.
The correct interpretation of any prophecy is in God. We know Daniel appeared in Babylon and solved a difficult puzzle which no one else could solve. Likewise, a few but correct interpreters will appear in the end time church, known as the harlot Babylon. But, during this time, what is important is that "God reveals" his interpretations and they are given by God's wisdom. In this end time, God wants to divide his people. God gives the same end time prophecy to them. But, the people will be divided by the fact of whether they interpret it or not. So, we need to seek the wisdom of Christ like the queen of the south did.
Daniel 5:12
"12 For as much as an excellent spirit, and knowledge,
and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences,
and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king
named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation."
Daniel is a model of the end time teacher who interprets God's revelation accurately. Please pay attention to the passages dealing with Daniel. These words were not written to worship Daniel himself. Instead, they were written to explain to us the character of this teacher. Let's take a look at his character, then.
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If we do not seek these characteristics and have enough training, we can not interpret end time prophecies properly.
Daniel 5:5
" 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a
man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of
the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that
wrote."
Daniel 5:16
"
And I have heard of thee, that thou canst
make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing,
and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed
with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the
third ruler in the kingdom."
In the former chapter, the text talks about a dream and its interpretation. In it, a large emphasis is on the dream and its interpretation. By the way, in this chapter, there arises a mysterious set of fingers. These fingers floating in the air write down letters which no one is able to understand. At this time, there is no one who can read and interpret this writing. But, Daniel steps up under the wisdom of God and the mysterious message is interpreted by Daniel who has the wisdom of God.
There is something what God is trying to tell us through this part of the story, like the story of the dream. This is the problem of whether we can read and interpret the writings written by God or not. What is this handwriting on the wall about in this case? The text says "the fingers of a man." But, at the same time, it says in the text that these fingers are sent from Him (God). What are these details talking about? This imagery of "fingers sent by God" is a parable of the Bible. The Bible was actually written by men's hands and fingers, but at the same time, it was sent from God. This is the wonderfulness of the Bible.
It is written, "if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation." Like Nebuchadnezzar, this king also requires him to show both the writing and its interpretation. The phrases, to show a dream and to read the writing, are indicative of a similar activity. Both indicate the same thing. When we read the Bible, it is difficult to read it. For example, there is the story of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac. If we were to read this story normally, we would just know the faithfulness of Abraham. Of course, this understanding is good. But, we need to "read" this scripture. In this story, there is hidden the figure of the Father in heaven, who sacrifices even His own child. If we can not "read" the spiritual analogy within it, we can not say we have correctly "read" it.
End time prophecies are written here and there through out the Bible. They are hidden in unexpected ways. It is difficult to "read" this encrypted style of writing and find it out. If we can "read" it correctly, the right interpretation will follow.
Many end time prophecies are hidden in scripture. But it is impossible to find and "read" them on human ability. Even though we think we read it, we actually have not "read" it correctly. But, when we are in the wisdom of God, we can read and understand it. These stories talk about this.
Let's pay attention to the facts which God has repeatedly emphasized. End time prophecies and parabolic puzzles will never be interpreted by human wisdom. We can not understand them by human ability. But, by God's wisdom we can find the correct interpretations of them.
Let's do the will of Lord in the end time.
end.