12.03.2014 Old Testament: Dan 2.1–6

To read the Bible in a year, read Daniel 1–2 on December 3, In the year of our Lord 2014

By Don Ruhl

God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a dream as an answer to something that the king had been thinking. While the dream started out good, it did not end well, at least as far as he was concerned, and that woke him up. Let’s see what he did next,

Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation” (Daniel 2.1–6). 

The king knew that if he revealed the dream, these so-called wisemen of Babylon could create any interpretation, but if he kept back the dream, and they could tell him what he was dreaming, then he would know that their interpretation was the truth.

Sometimes we think we have to answer anyone’s questions, and most of the time, we should. However, there are times we should withhold information to discover something more about the one asking us the question.