Dan 4:7 | KingComments | STEP | Just as with the first dream, it is clear to Nebuchadnezzar that this second dream is not just a dream. He realizes that it is a dream with a message. He wants to know that message. To find out the meaning of the dream, he calls all the wise men of Babylon into his presence. They stand around him as a large group. In contrast to the first dream ( ), which he may have really forgotten, he now tells what he dreamed. But all his scholars are inadequate; they cannot tell him the interpretation. When they were called on the occasion of his first dream, they claimed that Nebuchadnezzar only needed to tell the dream and then they would tell him the interpretation ( ). It is clear why they can’t interpret the dream even now, even though he has told them the dream. For the dream comes from God and only God can give the interpretation, for nobody knows the mind of God but the Spirit of God ( ). Finally, Daniel comes. Did he forget Daniel? Or is it below his level of honor to have to be helped by a Jewish exile again? In any case, he cannot ignore him. Daniel appears on stage when all worldly wisdom has failed and has been unable to provide a solution. After his earlier experience with the interpretation of dreams it would have been understandable if the king had first thought about Daniel. But so quickly does man, and certainly man who does not live with God, forget God’s former actions in his life. The lesson must be learned again. The last person the world thinks of will be the first to be recognized by God. We also see this with the woman who spent everything on doctors for her illness. When there is no one who has been able to help her, when all the resources she has tapped into have failed, she finally goes to the Lord Jesus. With Him she finds the long sought after and coveted healing ( ). So many people only resort to the Bible when all the other books have not given what they are looking for. God’s Word is the last refuge. When Nebuchadnezzar speaks about Daniel and also when he speaks to him, he still turns out to be an idolater. He connects Daniel with his god, he sees Daniel as someone in whom the spirit of the holy gods is, and speaks to him as “head of the magicians”. He has no doubt that Daniel has insight into the most hidden secrets. Full of confidence in ’Daniel’s ‘skill’ to interpret dreams, he tells him his dream.

‏ Daniel 4:7

Who Knows the Interpretation of the Dream?

Just as with the first dream, it is clear to Nebuchadnezzar that this second dream is not just a dream. He realizes that it is a dream with a message. He wants to know that message. To find out the meaning of the dream, he calls all the wise men of Babylon into his presence. They stand around him as a large group. In contrast to the first dream (Dan 2:4-11), which he may have really forgotten, he now tells what he dreamed.

But all his scholars are inadequate; they cannot tell him the interpretation. When they were called on the occasion of his first dream, they claimed that Nebuchadnezzar only needed to tell the dream and then they would tell him the interpretation (Dan 2:4 ; 7). It is clear why they can’t interpret the dream even now, even though he has told them the dream. For the dream comes from God and only God can give the interpretation, for nobody knows the mind of God but the Spirit of God (1Cor 2:11).

Finally, Daniel comes. Did he forget Daniel? Or is it below his level of honor to have to be helped by a Jewish exile again? In any case, he cannot ignore him. Daniel appears on stage when all worldly wisdom has failed and has been unable to provide a solution. After his earlier experience with the interpretation of dreams it would have been understandable if the king had first thought about Daniel. But so quickly does man, and certainly man who does not live with God, forget God’s former actions in his life. The lesson must be learned again.

The last person the world thinks of will be the first to be recognized by God. We also see this with the woman who spent everything on doctors for her illness. When there is no one who has been able to help her, when all the resources she has tapped into have failed, she finally goes to the Lord Jesus. With Him she finds the long sought after and coveted healing (Mk 5:25-34). So many people only resort to the Bible when all the other books have not given what they are looking for. God’s Word is the last refuge.

When Nebuchadnezzar speaks about Daniel and also when he speaks to him, he still turns out to be an idolater. He connects Daniel with his god, he sees Daniel as someone in whom the spirit of the holy gods is, and speaks to him as “head of the magicians”. He has no doubt that Daniel has insight into the most hidden secrets. Full of confidence in ’Daniel’s ‘skill’ to interpret dreams, he tells him his dream.