The Invisible Hand
One Year Bible: November 26
Daniel 2:24-3:30
The Invisible Hand
If I was going to give a nickname to King Nebuchadnezzar for The Veggie Tales series I would have named him “Fickle Pickle”, but no one asked me so I kept my opinion to myself.
However, look at this guy. He has a really BAD DREAM and he calls out ALL the “wise men, enchanters, magicians, and fortunetellers” in the land.
This man is seeking INTEL from all areas and has no idea of who or what he believes. Not only that but if they can’t tell him what his dream means He is going to have them all killed.
Trust me when I say this is a bad day to have a job in “The Intelligence Department”.
Daniel is serving in this area as a young captive brought to Babylon and he seeks God for the answer and gets the message. However, it is not the kind of message that anyone would want to reveal to an unstable king who is ready “to whack some heads”, but Daniel does reveal it to him. Ready or Not…
Daniel also reveals the “Insight behind the Message”.
He tells the king this, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future.” (2: 28)
Have you ever played the little game, “Rock, Paper, Scissors”? Who wins?
The Rock is a closed fist. Paper is a flat hand with palm down, and scissors is a fist with two fingers out as symbols. Rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream is like that…King Nebby saw a huge statue which was a frightening sight. Its head was made of fine gold and its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze. Its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. A rock was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands. The whole statue was crushed to pieces.
Who was this statue? Daniel reveals to King Nebby, “You are the head of GOLD”.
Daniel goes on to tell him that other kingdoms will rise to take his place and then be destroyed.
In the next chapter of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar has them build a statute of GOLD for the people to bow down and worship. I guess he forgot the part about Mighty God destroying it through other nations.
(He remembered the paper and scissors but forgot THE ROCK.)
Is this frightening dream like the random game, “Rock, Paper, Scissors”?
There is a RANDOMNESS to that game, but there is NO RANDOMNESS to what will happen in the kingdom. It may seem so to human eyes, but behind the scenes, there is a Sovereign God who uses EVEN HIS ENEMIES to bring down the proud and deliver HIS people.
We see this teaching “NOT BY HUMAN HANDS” again in the last part of chapter three.
Let’s take a quick peek at what comes next. Daniel tells the king that no wise man, enchanter, magician, or fortune teller could possibly reveal his dream to him. Daniel then boldly tells the king the awful truth of his demise.
Daniel is rewarded and placed in leadership of the kingdom. He is placed in a high position and given valuable gifts. The King made Daniel ruler over “the whole province of Babylon” as well as CHIEF over ALL the wise men.
Daniel then appoints his three friends, Shadrach, Meschack, and Abednego “in charge of ALL the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court. (2: 49)
Before you can “bat an eye” King Nebby who just learned, “You are the head of GOLD” has constructed an idol of gold for the people to bow down and worship.
You see, “Fickle Pickle Nebby” was so impressed with Daniel’s being able to interpret his dream, that he placed Daniel in charge of the land. Daniel then placed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of Babylon.
However, this “Fickle Pickle Ruler” forget “The Pickle” that Daniel warned him about.
He had “Shortermers” when it came to his memory. He once again listened to the jealous crowd who could tell him nothing, nada, zilch. But now he has agreed to ask everyone to bow to his “golden statue”. Interesting that the dream that Daniel revealed described King Nebby as ‘The golden head” that would be toppled.
The Fickle Pickle, King Nebby also forgot all about what Daniel had revealed to him about “The Invisible Hand” behind the revealing of his dreams.
But, “The Invisible Hand” has not forgotten about King Nebby. Things are about to “Heat up” in the Ol’ Fiery Furnace…
