Deeper ReflectionKings get to ask the impossible. When Nebuchadnezzar ordered
the wise men in his court to interpret his dreams, he made
an
unreasonable demand on them. With “royal dreams
in Babylon, there was a protocol that allowed for interpretation. It
required the king to inform the professional interpreters of the content
of his dream”
1 .But Nebuchanezzar refused to follow the protocol: He
commanded the wise men, “Declare the dream and its interpretation”,
otherwise they would be severely punished (v.5); if they succeeded, they
would be greatly rewarded (v.6).People above us may make unreasonable demands on us. There are three
kinds of expectations: Our own expectations, people’s expectations
and God’s expectations. Only God’s expectations are always true and
reasonable, and He knows whether we can meet them or not. God’s
expectations could be His commandments that we are to actively obey,
or trials according to His will that we are to passively endure. Our own
expectations and people’s expectations can at times be higher than God’s.The wise men appealed to the king to change his order, but he refused
(vv.7-9). Behind Nebuchadnezzar’s unreasonable demand was a
reasonable distrust in these men. He knew that they were stalling for
time (v.8), and had “conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my
mind” (v.9, NLT). It was “as if Nebuchadnezzar suspected all along the
emptiness of the diviners’ alleged ability to foretell the future and was
determined to put them to test”
2 .Unbeknown to anybody, behind this royal unreasonableness and stubbornness
stands the divine intention, which we only know as the story unfolds.
1 Tremper Longman III, Daniel, The NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 1999), 77
2 Iain M. Duguid, Daniel, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2008), 20-21
