Nebuchadnezzar Didn’t Know

April 19, 2009 by admin.

Lately I’ve gotten interested in end-times prophecy again. I had taken a small hiatus from it, but the recent financial melt-down, subsequent efforts to fix it, and other world-wide events that have been going on got me interested again.

In theology, the topic of end-times prophecy and end-times prophetic events is called eschatology. As you might imagine, there are tons of different views on the topic of eschatology. For the record, I believe Jesus is going to come to the earth again in an event called the “rapture,” I am premillenial–that is, I believe the 1,000 year millenium in which Christ rules and reigns on the earth happens sometime after a 7-year event called The Tribulation (also known as The Day of the Lord), and I believe it’s possible that Christians may well have to go through at least 1/2 of the Tribulation and can do so without violating any of the timing events that Revelation and other books speak of.

Yes, I seriously believe this is going to happen.

Here’s what’s interesting though: I began going through the book of Daniel again because there is quite a bit of eschatological prophecy in the book, it had been awhile since I’d read it, and I wanted to refresh my knowledge.

I began by buying a book on Daniel by H.A. Ironside. Ironside is a famous Bible commentator who wrote the bulk of his expositionary work in the early 1900’s. His commentary on the book of Daniel was written in 1920. Ironside died in 1950. Like another Bible commentary hero of mine, J. Vernon McGee, Ironside has a way of taking very difficult passages, making them plain and easily understandable.

The first chapter of Daniel went fine for me. I reread about Daniel (in Aramaic, Belthashazzar) and his three friends (known in Aramaic as Meschach, Shadrach and Abednego) and the fact that Daniel and his buddies would not allow themselves to eat the same kind of food the Babylonians were eating. The reason? Because the Babylonians worshiped all kinds of gods and Daniel and his friends did not want to exhibit even a hint of disrespect for their God–Yahweh.

But in chapter 2 of Daniel, I learned something quite new. Ironside notes that the Bible says Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted the wise men of the land to tell him what it was and interpret it for him. I knew that from before. But here’s the new thing: According to Ironside, Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t remember the dream! Have you ever had that happen? You dream a vivid, compelling dream, but 10 minutes after you wake up you can’t remember it, even though you knew when you were in the heat of it that it was important? I’ve had this happen dozens of times.

According to Ironside, Nebuchadnezzar not only wanted his wise men to tell him what the dream was, and interpret it for him: he wanted them to do so because he couldn’t remember what the heck he’d dreamed!

What’s extremely interesting about this is that some Bibles don’t say it this way. They imply that Nebuchadnezzar knew what the dream was. Here are some examples of the scripture in question - Daniel 2:5 - (taken from BlueLetterBible.org):

King James Version
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

American Standard Version
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

New American Standard
The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

New Living Translation
But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be demolished into heaps of rubble!

Here’s the takeaway for serious Bible students: Look verses up in more than one version of the Bible! Just because the Bible says something one way in one version does not mean you have the whole story!

In the case of Daniel 2:5, there is a significant difference between Nebuchadnezzar not remembering what he had dreamed and demanding the wise people of the land to tell him what he dreamed and interpret the dream, versus Nebuchadnezzar knowing what he dreamed, but seeking to make sure his wise men were exactly that–wise men.

Finally, it’s important to note that Daniel did not take credit for the accomplishment. He was quick to tell Nebuchadnezzar that he, nor anyone else can tell a man what he dreamed. This work is up to God. Daniel made sure God got the credit for this work.

Posted in Spiritual | No Comments »