Dreams and Prophecies
The Bible is an amazing book. It is more than the latest collection of nonsense and crazy ramblings. The Bible claims to be the very word of God. Because it is God’s message to the human race, it claims to have authority. It is this claim of preeminence that disturbs people. When God sends His message to mankind, when He says that He has the authority to say what is right and wrong, mankind bristles and pushes back. People do not like being told they are not in control. We are a stubborn lot.
We are foolish to shake our fist at the all-powerful creator of the universe, yet we often do. Thankfully God is patient with mankind in this regard. He could destroy us with a simple thought, yet He does not. God is a compassionate Lord. He knows we are prone to ridiculous thinking. We need to understand though, that God is sovereign. He is master of all and His patience does have limits. I am often awed by the unique ways God calls us back to Himself and works to get our attention. One of these ways is seen when God makes amazing and miraculous predictions in the Bible - prophecies of coming events and happenings. Let me share one of these astounding prophecies with you from the Book of Daniel.
In the Book of Daniel, we read about King Nebuchadnezzar having a peculiar dream. In ancient times there was much speculation regarding the value and importance of dreams. Ancient kings often thought their dreams were messages from their god or gods. Nebuchadnezzar felt his dream was important and that he needed to know what the dream meant. King Neb (we’ll shorten his name) had men in his employment who specialized in dream interpretation. These men were called Magi (wise men). They claimed to have wisdom from the gods. For reasons that are not explained by Daniel, King Neb was suspicious about their dream-interpretation abilities. Could these men really interpret dreams? Were they con-artists? Were they reliable? King Neb gave the Magi a test. He ordered the Magi to tell him what he had dreamt. His theory was that if they had the power to tell him what he dreamt, they would also be able to interpret his dreams. To this command, the Magi said that King Neb was being unfair. He was asking too much. In response to the Magi’s protests, King Neb said that if they did not tell him what his dreams were, they would be executed.
It is here that the prophet Daniel comes into the story. Daniel had been abducted as a young man when King Neb waged war on Daniel’s people, Israel. Daniel and other Hebrew young men were trained in Babylonian ways and Babylonian religion. While Daniel resisted the Babylonian indoctrination he was forced to endure, he learned Babylonian doctrine. Throughout this ordeal, Daniel remained faithful to God while he served as one of King Neb’s Magi. When King Neb gave the order: Tell me my dream or die, Daniel stepped forward and spoke to the king. Daniel proclaimed that only his God (Yahweh, the God of Israel) had the power to do what King Neb required. Daniel asked for time to go and pray to his God for an answer. Daniel was confident God would give the explanation that King Neb demanded.
King Neb agreed to Daniel’s request. Daniel 2 records this story. When Daniel prayed to God, he was given the information he needed. Daniel told King Neb what he had dreamed and its interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream spoke about his empire and the three empires that would follow him. King Neb’s dream spoke of the greatness of the four famous empires of ancient times. These empires were the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires.
Can you imagine what would happen if archaeologists found an ancient scroll that predicted such things? How excited would our world be to discover a lost book that made such detailed predictions hundreds, even thousands, of years ahead of time? We do have such a book, the Bible. God knows the skeptical mind of mankind. He knows people have questions. None of these issues are a problem to God. God says, “Test me and see if I am God!” While God makes great claims about being our Master, Creator, and King, He also provides evidence that He deserves these titles. God wants us to give Him glory and honor. He also gives us reason to do so. Join me next week as I share an interesting development to King Neb’s amazing dream. Keep looking up!