Good Morning!
This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O
Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the
wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the
interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in
thee. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for
one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spoke, and said,
Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar
answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof
to thine enemies (Dan 4:18-19).
This is one of my favorite Bible chapters. I love to read chapters 1-3 because I know what's coming in chapter 4.
Part of the fascination of this is that Nebuchadnezzar was such a tough hombre presiding over the most powerful nation in the world and God took him on.
If you want to defy the Lord, or ignore Him, or outsmart Him, just keep this in mind: He has all the time in the world and all the energy and resources and you don't. I am amazed at how dumb bank robbers can be and I am amazed at how we mortals do not want to think it through in dealing with an all-powerful God. I see all of us in Nebuchadnezzar.
In recounting his personal story in chapter 4, he is again talking to Daniel his chief wise man that he may not have seen in years. "Here's the dream Belteshazzar (Daniel). I'm telling you because I'm really in a fix and my official wizards are useless to me. They're all clowns. But you are different." "The spirit of the holy gods is in thee." Nebuchadnezzar was not a Bible scholar. He only knew about the religious trappings he had seen all of his life. He didn't know about the real Spirit of God or how to address Him. So let's give him a break as he stumbles toward finding the one true God.
He reminds me of a man who attended a Right to Life banquet I was speaking at in Raleigh, NC. As I moved from the speaker's podium to take my seat, a man grabbed my hand like a dock worker and said loud enough for everyone around him to hear: "That was a d___ good sermon, Reverend!" What do you say to a man like that? He was not mocking and meant no harm. I said "Thank you sir!" and shook his hand as hard as he gave and sat down and smiled into my tea.
Daniel's thoughts troubled him. I'm speculating here but I believe Daniel knew right away what the message meant but he dreaded telling the monarch what he had to say to him from God. Daniel had been working for him since he was a teenager and he may have been fond of him personally. He had a servant's heart and he wished him no tragedy, certainly nothing like he was about to tell him.
Nebuchadnezzar urged him on, impatient to know the riddle in the dream. Daniel hedged his opening remarks with "I sure wish this was about your enemies instead of you. I'm really sad in heart to have to tell you what's coming." Surely that's the way we have to approach people God is judging. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: (Pro 24:17).
We have read the testimony of people who insisted on watching the execution of someone who had murdered a family member. How often they tell how unsatisfying it was to watch the execution. They were disappointed that it did not fix their rage. The prophet Daniel was a smart man in this regard. He knew better than to rejoice when this wicked man was being judged of the Lord. If that is a problem, we would do well to work on it because it's as bad as a cancer.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord (Rom 12:19). It's awful easy to want to help God judge and bash those wretched sinners "who are not as righteous as I." Hmmmmm.
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