Daniel 4:4-10–“Running Into Our Future”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁴I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at east in my house and happy in my palace. ⁵I saw a dream and it made me afraid and [the] mental pictures upon my bed and [the] visions of my head alarmed me. ⁶And from me was made a decree to bring in before me the all of the wise men of Babel which the meaning of the dream they should inform me. ⁷Then came in the horoscopists, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the gazers and I told before them and the meaning of it not ones informing to me. ⁸And at last came in before me Daniel which Belteshazzar by the name of my god and a spirit of holy gods [is] in him and the dream before him I told. ⁹Belteshazzar, the chief of the horoscopists, because I know that a spirit of holy gods [is] in you and all of a secret not baffling to you. The visions of my dream which I saw and the meaning of it, tell [me]. ¹⁰And the visions of my head upon my bed, I was looking…

Before us again is a passage ripe for the pondering. If we would but slow down and patiently consider the scene presented to us, there is much to observe and learn. I’ll try to record what I think are the high points.

There are of course many similarities between this situation and what we saw in chapter 2, the king’s previous dream. We’re reminded again how vulnerable we all are. Here is perhaps the most powerful man in all history, who personally commanded an enormous and powerful army, possessed essentially unlimited wealth, and would seem to have no reason to fear anything. And yet, what happens? He has a dream, a simple dream, and now we find this rich, powerful man fearful and troubled. Behind all of that power and all of that wealth the man himself is still just that—a man. He is, in the end, still a man who cannot control the world in which he lives. He is a man surrounded by circumstances and forces beyond his control. And that same man lives knowing those forces may be good or evil.

None of us are rich or powerful, so, if anything, we are only more aware of this vulnerability. I realize now, in a sense, I’ve spent my whole life living in the present but fearing the future. And for good reason, I would suggest: None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. I cannot stop this world from hurting me. I can’t stop people I love from getting sick and dying. From Nebuchadnezzar we are reminded that all the wealth and all the power in the world will not ultimately shelter us from the fears and troubles and uncertainties of this world.

And so, what do we do? Nebuchadnezzar summons “all the wise men of Babylon…the horoscopists, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the gazers.” Here is a whole profession of men who earn their living offering to aid us in our plight. Surely someone can help me, yes? Surely someone can tell me what to do. Any thinking person can probably see that these guys are a bunch of charlatans. But why do they exist? Is it not because of this very vulnerability we all feel? Sometimes we do find someone who can help in some way, perhaps our doctor or a mechanic. Yet ultimately we all end up exactly where it all gets Nebuchadnezzar—“I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.”

“They could not.”

I cannot.

No one can.

What you and I need is a superhero. We need someone who can. We need someone more powerful than this world. We need someone who will exercise that power to in fact protect us and do us good. Thankfully, there is such a someone. He of course is God, the Father. He does exist. He possesses infinite power and He loves us so much, He would actually sacrifice His own Son when that is what it takes to rescue us.

He is the God who says, “Fear not, for I am with you.” He says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to do you good and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.” David could say, “I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.” Ruth could trust the God of Israel and follow Naomi home. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could trust the Lord and be men of integrity in spite of a blazing furnace. And so can you and I.

I realized through Ruth and Daniel’s three friends that you and I can not only trust God with our future, we can actually run into that future, knowing that He is already there, already planning to do us good, that even if that future comes with pain and trouble, it will all be very carefully limited and controlled entirely for our good.

You and I will face the same world as Nebuchadnezzar, a world of uncontrollable fears and uncertainties. We can turn to whatever or we can learn to trust our God. Whatever our future holds, we can run into it!