Daniel 2: 1-13
(1) Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.
Remember, Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar's first year of his reign, and their schooling was for three years. So this dream story actually happened while they were still doing their studies.
(2) Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.
So Daniel was not among those who were called to counsel the king, he was still a student.
(3) The king said to them, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream."
(4) Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: "O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation."
This looks like a reasonable request: tell them the dream and they'll interpret it for him.
(5) The king replied to the Chaldeans, "The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.
(6) "But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation."
Obviously the king has forgotten what the dream was. He just was left with the uneasy feeling that it had to be important. But he's a king, and he doesn't want to look weak or forgetful, so he puts onto these advisers to come up with the dream itself, then tell him what it means.
(7) They answered a second time and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation."
So they again asked the King to tell them the dream.
(8) The king replied, "I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm,
(9) "that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation."
This king doesn't want to admit that he forgot the dream, so he states that if they are so smart, then they should be able to tell him what he dreamed. Then he would know that they can interpret it accurately.
But if they don't already "know" what he dreamed, then they must suffer consequences. It looks like in his pride he's digging himself a hole that he will push them into.
(10) The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on Earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer, or Chaldean.
(11) "Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh."
Now these "wise men" are calling him out on this foolishness. No person can know what another person has dreamed or is thinking inside his head. Only some spirit being who doesn't have a mortal body would be able to get inside his head to know this.
(12) Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
They pushed him, and he's not going to relent. He has to maintain his own royal pride, even if it means depriving himself of all the wise counsel he will need in the future. He's a rock up against a hard place, and he will suffer if this goes on.
(13) So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
Even youths being educated to be "wise men" have fallen under this order. So what's going to happen to Daniel and his friends?
O my Father, please show us how giving in to pride will cause us to harm ourselves, as well as others. Teach us to be humble before You and to put others' needs and importance before our own. Even if we're kings and presidents and prime ministers. Which most of us aren't!
But, Father, we still tend to think our own importance demands recognition by others. Just as Satan convinced Eve that she could be her own god, and not need to bother God any more; so he uses the same tactic with every one of her children. He hasn't changed his methods, he just uses all the new stuff Mankind invents to present it in different ways. And we still fall for it.
My Father, teach us to be like Your Son, Jesus. He did not consider His being Your Son, just as much God as You are; but He humbled Himself even to death on a cross. Show us how to humble ourselves as He did. Strengthen us to be firm in our trust in You to do what You know is good for us, even when it appears that we will be taken down a peg.
O Father, pride is one of those things You hate (Proverbs 8:13; 6:16-17; 16:5). Help us to divest all pridefulness from our hearts, and see ourselves and one another as You see us. We are the work of Your hands, now we are Your hands doing Your work for the Kingdom.
Jesus is Your Son, and He shows us what You, the Father, are like. And He was humble. Teach us to be humble like Jesus.
Help us, Father, to show the world who You are, and how much You love all of us so much! Lead us to Your chosen ones, to draw them to the birth into Your own family, and let no one have any excuse for not choosing You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
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