Holy Scriptures and Israel

Narrator (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: The study of Daniel chapter two. But here about three years after, in the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar began to dream many dreams. Notice it says here in verse one that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. He dreamed quite a few dreams and apparently his spirit was so troubled that he could not sleep.

He was dreaming dreams and it really bothered him. He really wanted to know the meaning of those dreams and he lost sleep. Apparently, at least one of those dreams was so important for him that he wanted to know what it meant. He was so concerned about that and you notice in verse two and verse three, he called the wise men and he demanded from them that they would help him to interpret the dream.

Notice it says in verse two and three, "Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king the dreams, so they came and they stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know that dream."

Notice it is singular. One dream that he was so concerned about. So he was dreaming many dreams and he's calling his wise men. Magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, Chaldeans—these were all his wise men, the wise men of Babylon. He is calling them to come to him in order to help him to give him the interpretation of the dream.

Up till this point, the way things had been working out, when any certain king in the Middle East or in that particular area was dreaming a dream, he would tell his wise men, "I want you to give me the interpretation of this dream." They would tell him, "Listen, king, you tell us what you have been dreaming, and we are going to give you the interpretation."

Well, it is very easy. You can tell me what you dreamed and I can figure out something in my mind to tell you. But apparently in this particular dream, he was so much concerned that he wanted to know much more than merely the interpretation. He wanted to see if these wise men were really telling the truth, if they really knew the dream itself.

Notice in verse four the first response of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans came to him and they said in verse four, "Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac." From this verse on, verse 4B, all the way to the end of chapter seven, the language changes from Hebrew to Aramaic. "Syriac" is the Syrian language, or Aramaic, what we call it in Hebrew. From this point on, the language of the book is no longer in Hebrew but in the language of the Chaldeans.

Notice what they say to him: "O king, live forever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show you the interpretation." Right away, they have done what they usually do. They are telling the king, "You just tell us what is the dream and we are going to show you the interpretation." Notice what he does in verse five and six. He is warning them. He gives them some good news and some bad news.

In verse five, he gives them bad news. In verse six, he gives them good news. "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," or a public bathroom. That is the bad news.

The king is expecting from the wise men of Babylon not only the interpretation, but the dream itself. If they were not going to give him the dream and interpretation, there were only two results. Number one, they shall be cut in pieces. Beloved, this king was a monarch. He could speak one word and it surely would come to pass. He would cut them to pieces.

We know it from other chapters in the scripture. In chapter three, he threw the Jewish boys into the furnace. In chapter six, other kings threw Daniel into the lions' den. These kings, when they said something, they meant it, just like the condition that exists in Iraq where Saddam Hussein will speak a word and the people will have to bear the consequences.

Secondly, he says, not only they would be cut to pieces, their homes will be made into a public bathroom. He is saying, "Your houses, I'm going to change them. It's not going to be palaces and places where you have great privileges." That's the bad news. The good news is found in verse six. "But if ye will show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof."

He was not satisfied right now only to receive the interpretation. This time he was so concerned about this particular dream that he wanted to know both the dream and the interpretation thereof. Notice what happened. Next we find in verse seven that this is the second time the Chaldeans or the wise men of Babylon respond to the king.

They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show him the interpretation thereof." You see, they wanted to go back to the old routine. "You show us the dream, we're going to show you the interpretation." Well, it didn't work with him. On this particular dream, he was very concerned, and no wonder, because God was going to speak to him and to speak to all mankind.

Through this dream, we learn so much about the events, about the ways that God was going to deal with men, and about the kingdoms that are going to take possession here to rule over this world. He did not want to give them the dream. He wanted from them the dream plus the interpretation. In verses eight and nine, the king acknowledges the fact that they are trying to gain some time, and he was very upset.

"The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me." When he says "the thing has gone from me," he doesn't mean in the original that he forgot the dream. No. In fact, what he is really saying is the dream is certain with him. He wanted to see if they really have any idea about what he was dreaming about.

In verse nine, he said to them, "If ye will not make unto me known the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof." Apparently, they were playing with those kings.

They were hearing a dream and giving all kinds of ideas, as if they really understood what was meant by the dream the king was dreaming. Well, this time he would not give it up. He was upset with them and said, "Listen, if you're not going to give me this, I know what you are going to do. You are preparing lying lips, corrupt words to speak before me until the time will change. You're trying to gain some time."

Notice in verses 10 and 11 the third time the Chaldeans respond. The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, "There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean." They made a big mistake here because it only made him more angry.

Notice what he says in verse 11: "And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." When they said to him, "There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter," it got him mad. So, beloved, in verses 12 and 13, the king gives his decree.

For this cause, the king was angry and mad. You can see that he was very upset. He was furious and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. "And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain." At the end of verse 13, it says, "and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain." If you remember from chapter one, Daniel began to serve at the end of the chapter at the king's palace.

He was one of the wise men of Babylon. So by the end of verse 13, we find out that the decree had been given. He commanded to destroy the wise men of Babylon. The decree went forth and they were looking as well for Daniel and his friends. In the first 13 verses, there was a real challenge to the wise men of Babylon to show the king both the dream as well as the interpretation thereof.

Three times the wise men there were trying to get out of it. Eventually, he was so upset and angry that by verse 12 and 13, he was very furious and the decree was given to slay all the wise men of Babylon. So now from verse 14 to verse 16, notice the plea of Daniel. Daniel is requesting some time.

In verse 14 and 15, Daniel approaches the captain of the king's guard, Arioch. "Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known unto Daniel."

He asked him why the king so quickly wanted to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Arioch gave him the information. He told him the king was dreaming many dreams, and one of these dreams was so important for him. He requested the wise men of Babylon to come in, but they did not give him any answer. Therefore he commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Then notice verse 16, Daniel requested an appointment. "Then Daniel went in, and he desired of the king that he would give him time." The word there should be an appointment. "And that he would show the king the interpretation." He was sure that God was going to help him give the interpretation to the king of Babylon.

If you turn back to chapter one for a second, look at what we read in verse 20. "And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." Then in verse 17 of chapter one, "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams."

So you see that God had been giving to Daniel the ability to understand visions and dreams and give the interpretation thereof. Daniel in verse 16 says, "Give me an appointment, an appointed time, and I'm going to give you the answer. I'm going to give you the interpretation thereof." But one thing he does that is so beautiful is that he doesn't trust in himself.

He doesn't have confidence in himself. The first thing that he does is go to the Lord in prayer. This is very practical. When there are problems coming across our pathway and challenges in our life, sometimes we try to fix them without first going to the Lord in prayer. This is a beautiful principle to see here in verses 17 to 23: the prayer of Daniel.

First of all, he calls up his friends and shares with them his problem. "Then Daniel went to his house, and he made the thing known unto Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions." What do you do when trouble comes across your way? Are you the kind of person who is learning from the Word of God and going first of all to the Lord to talk about those challenges? Or are you immediately trying to solve everything without first sharing with the Lord?

The principle that we learn from this chapter is that the first thing he does is go to the Lord in prayer. He not only goes alone in individual prayer, but he gets his companions and says, "This is the situation. I want you to please spend some time to pray to the Lord about this situation." If you turn to the book of Acts, chapter four, Peter and John had been threatened because they were preaching the message of the Messiah.

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge that they had been with Yeshua," with Jesus. They called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. "But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, ye judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people, for all men glorified God for that which was done. "And being let go, they went to their own company, and they reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them." First, they reported the situation. The second thing you find them doing is praying together.

"And when they heard, they lifted up their voice unto God with one accord, and they said, Lord, thou art God, which have made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them." It is so beautiful. In fact, one of the first prayer meetings for the assembly is found right here in the New Testament when they shared the burden they had collectively with all the believers.

In verse 24, when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. They glorified the Lord and began to request help from Him. Back to Daniel 2. Same principle here in verse 17 and 18. First, Daniel went to his house and made the thing known unto Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Then verse 18: "That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."

The first thing Daniel does is share it with his friends and together they request help from God. By the way, notice that this is the first time the expression "the God of heaven" is used. It is mentioned a few times in this chapter. This is most likely found in the scriptures where Israel had been in the diaspora, or Israel had been outside of the land, even post-exile, like in the book of Ezra or Nehemiah.

The reason for that is simply this. By the time of the book of Ezekiel, because of Israel's disobedience, the Shekinah glory had departed from the temple. From chapter eight of Ezekiel and onward, you find that the Shkhina left the temple, left the Temple Mount, went all the way to the wall, and ultimately returned to heaven.

Oftentimes you find other expressions: the God of Israel, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But this time you find the expression "the God of heaven" quite a few times. In other words now, the scepter, the rule that Israel as a nation had had, had been taken for a time and handed over to another nation, and now God is overseeing the affairs of the times of the Gentiles from heaven.

"They would desire mercies of the God of heaven." If you want to write them down, I'm just going to give you a couple of places where it is found. Ezra chapter one, verse two. Ezra chapter six, verse 10. Ezra chapter seven, verses 12 and 21. In Malachi chapter one, verse five, and chapter two, verse four.

If you want to read about the Shekinah glory departing, see Ezekiel chapter eight, verse one through Ezekiel chapter 11, verse 25. There are the four stages of the departure of the Shekinah glory. By the way, the word Shekinah comes from the Hebrew word Shkhina, which means to rest. When the tabernacle was built in Exodus, God's glory rested upon it.

Later, when the temple was built by King Solomon, the Shkhina—the manifestation of God—rested upon the temple, and the cloud filled the house of God as evidence of the presence of God in the midst of His people. By the time we read in Ezekiel, the spiritual state of the nation of Israel had been so low that the Shkhina departed. It's amazing if you read the chapter there. It departed so slowly, as if if the people of Israel would turn back to God, the Shekinah would come back. But slowly, the Shkhina left the temple and went back to heaven.

Narrator (Male): You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com.

You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.