Nebuchadnezzar's Test: Daniel 2:1-5
If I claim God lives within me, how do the people around me experience God revealed through me? If we are crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, how do the people around me know? Where am I opening myself up to God to be used by Him?
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar has a series of troubling dreams. He was losing sleep at night. We’ve all been there. We all know how it feels to wake up from a horrible dream only to realize it was just a dream. There is a sense of relief; there is a sense of foreboding.
Nebuchadnezzar calls his wise men to understand what is going on. There’s a catch. Nebuchadnezzar refuses to tell the wise men what the dream was. Nebuchadnezzar declares the wise men need to tell him the dream before they tell the interpretation.
At first blush, this doesn’t seem fair. How could these wise men possibly know Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? Dreams follow whatever rules our mind makes up as we dream, who knows what Nebuchadnezzar dreamt! Even though these wise men were incredibly steeped in mathematics, astrology, and the Chaldean religious writings, how could they be expected to know Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? What human could possibly rise to Nebuchadnezzar’s challenge and be victorious?
That’s the point. Nebuchadnezzar’s challenge isn’t issued to people he considers simple human beings. These are wise men. These are spiritual men. These are men in connection to some higher divine power.
Nebuchadnezzar’s test isn’t against humanity; it is a test against the divine. Nebuchadnezzar’s true challenge is to whatever deity is tormenting his sleep. Nebuchadnezzar expects the higher power afflicting his sleep to respond through his wise men.
From this perspective, the challenge is completely fair. These wise men have been granted great latitude in life. They live luxurious lives. They are popular. Their voice carries weight because they claim to be mouthpieces of their gods. It is completely fair for Nebuchadnezzar to hold an expectation for the divine being tormenting him to share the dream with his mouthpiece and then give the interpretation at the same time.
Over the next few days, we’ll see how this story shakes out. For today, though, it is enough to consider Nebuchadnezzar’s challenge. If he is willing to listen to people who claim to get their wisdom from the divine, doesn’t he have a right to see demonstrations of what the divine can do?
Perhaps more importantly, isn’t this true for anyone? If we claim to be from God and we want people around us to come into relationship with God, isn’t it fair for them to see a demonstration of God in us? Nebuchadnezzar’s challenge to his wise men is a challenge to us all. If I claim God lives within me, how do the people around me experience God revealed through me?
