Calling Their Bluff

Feb. 2

Read: Daniel 2:1-16

Calling Their Bluff

“There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean…” (v.10)

The “the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the ‘wise men’” of the day DO NOT actually have the answer to what truly vexes our “spirit”. They CANNOT give us what we deeply need and long for. So why do we trust these pseudo-experts to do something they can’t do? Deep down these “magic men” know as much… and so do we; king Nebuchadnezzar knows it as well.

“In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.” (v.1) Nothing is worse than when you can’t sleep at night. My dear friend Senter has battled this for a long time…pain from an injury robs him of sleep. I have seen how it wears on him. I have been their as well, but my insomnia comes from anxiety rushing in when my head hits the pillow. No matter the cause… when we can’t sleep it is MISERABLE. Despite all the power, influence, riches and pleasure that the king of Babylon had… “his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.” All the riches in the world cannot isolate us or protect us from a troubled spirit and loss of rest. Who do we turn to when we can’t sleep at night? How do we respond when our “spirit is troubled”? Sometimes we don’t even know exactly WHY we are so unsettled. That is part of what stands out with king Nebuchadnezzar… He is anxious, troubled, tired, and yet needs someone to put their finger on why - “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” What “dreams” haunt your spirit? Can you identify them?

The king turns to the “experts” of the day. He turns to this group of people known as the “wise men of Babylon”. People in Babylon thought these guys could perform “magic”… they trusted them to discern and heal them of what ailed them. This time needed to be different than others though. The king knew it. His pain, fear, anxiety, and “troubled spirit” needed REAL MAGIC… TRUE HEALING. This was not a time for parlor tricks, pithy sayings, political double-speak, or word games… he (the king) was dealing with real deep hurt … he was desperate. Look at what the king says to this group of “wise men”: “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm…You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change.” (v.8,9) The king basically says, “this time is different… your normal BS will not cut it… I am calling your bluff! Quit being time hoping that this will just “blow over”… because it won’t!” I believe that in this moment, king Nebuchadnezzar realizes that these “wise men” are actually frauds and lack any true POWER or supernatural wisdom to cure what is actually at the HEART of his suffering and broken spirit. This is why he asked them to do something that would be IMPOSSIBLE without supernatural help. He forces them to not only describe correctly and in detail the dream itself, but also its interpretation. They deflect by asking him to just tell them the dream half… and then they had hoped they would “riff” on that… but NO. The king stands firm. He asks them to demonstrate REAL power. If they don’t do it? “The word from me (the king) is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.” Dang! That is serious.

I bet in that moment these guys wish they had not masqueraded as “magic men” or “wise men” as much as they had! I bet they wish they would never have pretended to know things they did not… or that they had spoken with a little more “transparency” and humility. Maybe this is the first time they are realizing that their “gods” are fake or that their “gods” are actually out to destroy them and lay their houses to ruin! They throw up their hands and admit what we already know deep down: “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand… The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (v.10,11) In short they admit, “we can’t actually help you discern or heal what troubles your spirit at the deepest levels and robs you of rest.”

The true answer to what vexes both Nebuchadnezzar and us has to come from someplace outside of us… it must come from not just any “god”… it actually can ONLY COME through the ONE true, powerful, living, and life giving God. This is the God of Abraham. Our God… who came down in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ. Our God whose SPIRIT dwells with our spirit. Our God does exactly what these “wise men” says will never happen. We serve a God who dwells with us… draws near to us… lives WIHTIN US!

We have to stop trusting the worlds “wise men” to do what they simply cannot do. The “magic men”, “wise men”, and “spiritual leaders” of this world are only as good and trustworthy as they are able to say what GOD is saying, and to do what GOD is doing.This is the “x-factor” that the wise men claim is impossible but we - as the children of God… as God’s people - know is true: the only hope comes from God dwelling within us, among us, in our midst. The wise men claim that “the gods dwelling is not with flesh” so there is no hope to do what needs to be done. (v.11) As Christians we know this is NOT TRUE. Daniel knows it is NOT TRUE as well… Daniel doubles down on the fact that God DOES draw near… God DOES bring supernatural wisdom, discerns truth, and gives MEANING. Daniel trusts that God WILL meet us as humans and identify our deepest spirit-needs as well as interpret them… give meaning and structure… that HE will return to us our “sleep”… our “rest”. So Daniel bets his life on the truth that God is the true God, who WILL meet us as his people and THROUGH US declare the true meaning of our “dreams” and what it is that actually troubles our spirit. God does this in a way that no “talking head” can apart from him. We desperately need the example in this day and age. We are bombarded by so much pseudo-wisdom and fake “magic”. As a people, we are suffering from some REAL spiritual un-rest. So many around us and amongst us are like Nebuchadnezzar… we have troubled spirits, cannot sleep, and are longing for someone to interpret what it is we truly need because the trappings of the palace are not soothing our spirits AT ALL. We need men and women who will boldly live like Daniel… seeking THE LORD and putting ourselves in situations that are impossible without him. When God shows up… he shows up with TRUE power. The world will try to “call our bluff”, but the difference is that God is going to show up! So what is going to happen to Daniel? Is God going to show up for him? Is Daniel going to be used by the Lord to save everyone’s bacon? When the culture’s experts are proven to be frauds, the people of God have a unique opportunity to bring glory to the Lord, and put on display that the LORD is the only one who calms the spirit, shapes our dreams, shows us TRUE meaning (“interpretation”) and restores our rest! Tune in tomorrow to find out more. Love you guys! - JDP