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Daniel 2:1-30, the Impossible Dream BaptistWay Press® Premium Commentary By Dr. Howard Batson Pastor, First Baptist Church Amarillo, Texas Studies in Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel) Lesson Two The Impossible Dream Focal Text Daniel 2:1-30 Background Genesis 40:1-23 Main Idea Difficult situations force us to rely on God alone. Question to Explore Is there anything impossible for God? Teaching Aim To lead adults to understand that there is power in their prayers even in difficult situations. Quick Read No one was able to interpret the king’s dream, but Daniel was quick to point out that there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Introduction He shot straight up out of the bed, his forehead wet with sweat and his pulse pounding. The bed linens were tangled like a well-worn fishing net. Nebuchadnezzar had been haunted by a horrible dream, a nightmare. Page 1 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Two. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in Premium Commentary are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org Daniel 2:1-30, The Impossible Dream For just such unsettling situations, he kept a whole cadre of Chaldean diviners— magicians, conjurers, sorcerers, and the like. Surely, now that Nebuchadnezzar needed them more than ever before, the Babylonian wise men would be able to comfort their king by giving him the keys to unlock the meaning of his never-ending nightmare. We have all tossed and turned on the relentless bed of restlessness. At night, the demons of the day take advantage of our anxieties, fears, uncertainties, and deepest doubts. Those of us who might appear to reign as Chaldean kings during the day find ourselves tortured about tomorrow’s worries as night falls. Darkness always has its demons and troubling dreams. In our second lesson, we take a look at Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare and Daniel’s God- given gift to be able to interpret the dream. Commentary Reconciling the Dates (2:1) Ancient storytellers and recorders of history were not nearly as preoccupied by precise dating as we are in the Western world. Comparing the opening chapters of Daniel, even a casual reader might quickly object, “There is a conflict in the Chaldean calendar between chapter 1 and chapter 2.” In 1:1, we are told that “in the third year” of the reign of King Jehoaikim, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. In 2:1, the date is described as “the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.” Since dating and details are likely to concern modern interpreters, let us explore three plausible solutions to the difficulty posed by the conflicting dates. First, some ancient copies of Daniel, like the old Greek translation as presented by Papyrus 967, read “twelfth” instead of “second.”1 These manuscripts remove any possible conflict between the 605 B.C. beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (Jehoiakim’s third year, 1:1) and the subsequent “three year” (1:5) training period of the Jewish lads with the “second year” of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign found in 2:1. Accepting this solution, we could conclude that the events described in chapter 2 happened in the twelfth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, giving plenty of time for Daniel and his friends to be deported to Babylon and educated for the three-year period. This is probably not the solution, however, as the best and most ancient texts read “second” year in this passage. Most likely, a scribe, seeking to deal with the same conflict that readers face today, adjusted “two” to “twelve” to harmonize the stories’ timelines. Second, other interpreters assert that the Babylonian ancients kept accounts of kingly reigns in a different way, meaning the events recorded in 1:1-3 (605 B.C.) occurred during Nebuchadnezzar’s year of accession to the throne rather than the first year of his reign. The chart below captures “The ascension solution”:2 Page 2 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Two. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Daniel 2:1-30, The Impossible Dream Years of Daniel’s Year of Nebuchadnezzar’s Date Training Reign First Accession year 605-604 B.C. Second First year 604-603 B.C. Third Second year 603-602 B.C. A third possibility is plausible when harmonizing the dates of events in Daniel 1 and 2: accept the dating at face value and conclude that the events of chapters 1 and 2 overlap. This solution has considerable strength in that it follows a natural reading of the text. Read thusly, the events in chapter 2 occur during the second year of Daniel’s training (1:5; 2:1). Therefore, Daniel and his friends had not yet graduated from the “Chaldean college” and were still in the process of being trained to serve in the king’s court when Nebuchadnezzar had his dream. This seems to fit the most straightforward reading of both stories, as the king would have surely consulted with Daniel and his friends had they already graduated at the “top of the class” of advisors. Remember, at the end of chapter 1, the king found Daniel and his friends to be “ten times better” than all the magicians and conjurors who were in all of his kingdom. Read this way, therefore, the events of chapter 2 occur during Daniel’s second year of training in Babylonian literature. This type of “overlap” is not uncommon in the Bible and, in fact, is found in the very first book. Genesis 1 gives us the entire account of creation, including the creation of humanity (Genesis 1:26-27). Almost immediately, however, the writer of the Creation story rewinds the narrative in chapter 2, explaining in more detail the unique creation of humanity. In similar fashion, the events in Daniel 2 happen during (not following) the events of Daniel 1. Calling the Chaldean Conjurers (2:2-3) Seeking answers to the questions raised by his restless night of dramatic dreams, the king called all his soothsayers together to solve his puzzling nightmare. The crux of the problem becomes clear in verse 3 as Nebuchadnezzar seeks to know the meaning of his dream. Ancient Jewish historian Josepheus concluded that Nebuchadnezzar had, in fact, forgotten his own dream, thus explaining his forthcoming request that his advisors recall it for him.3 Nothing in the verse itself, however, indicates that the monarch had a memory loss. Calling on the King with Confidence (2:4) The diviners were trained in solving the mystery of dreams. Manuals were carefully kept that described common elements found in dreams and the interpretations of various dream symbols. Surprisingly enough, actual samples of those Akkadian interpretive Page 3 of 8 Premium Commentary. Faith Under Fire (A Study of Daniel)--Lesson Two. Copyright © 2020 BAPTISTWAY PRESS©. A MINISTRY OF THE Baptist General Convention of Texas. Go to www.baptistway press.org or call 1-866-249-1799 toll-free for additional Bible study materials for all ages. This lesson is not to be sold or distributed beyond the subscription agreement. The copyright notice and identifying information in this note must be included on any copies made. Daniel 2:1-30, The Impossible Dream dream manuals have been discovered.4 Having memorized the manuals, the diviners were ready to relieve the king’s anxiety by interpreting his dream. On a side note, beginning with the response of the soothsayers who “spoke to the king in Aramaic,” the text of Daniel switches from the Hebrew language to the Aramaic language until the end of chapter 7. While this is not the only section of the Old Testament written in Aramaic (instead of Hebrew, see Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; and Jeremiah 10:11), it is by far the longest. Interestingly enough, the language of the ancient world, Aramaic, is employed in the portions of Daniel which outline the future history of the worldly empires and their relation to the people of God. The Hebrew language, in contrast, is used in the portions of Daniel that interpret for God’s people (the Hebrews) the meaning of the vision and the world empires.5 Demanding an Account of the Dream (2:5) The king’s words are rendered literally as “the command from me is firm.” If they did not catch the tone of the king’s command, he followed up with the vow to tear his wise men from limb to limb and turn their houses into rubbish should they fail to recall and interpret the dream. While many megalomaniacal potentates might bluff with empty threats, Nebuchadnezzar’s history demonstrates that he was to be taken seriously. For example, his harsh treatments of King Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7), two Jewish rebels named Ahab and Zedekiah (not the king above, Jeremiah 29:22), and Daniel’s three friends (Daniel 3) prove that he would have no qualm about carrying out his cruel threat on his counselors.6 The reason for the king’s ridiculous demand that the diviners tell him his own dream was clear: He wanted to be able to verify their interpretation of his nightmare based upon their ability to also reveal the contents of his dream.
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