Daniel, Chapter 2: Part 3
We have established that the natural mind is searching to find his true identity. He does not know the answers to the questions, Am I valuable…Does my life count for anything?
Verse three tells us more about this search.
Dan 2:3 – And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
The word “dream” in Hebrew also means “to grow strong, to restore to health.” The natural mind (king = Nebuchadnezzar) wants to be strong and healthy. He knows this requires knowing his identity in Christ. (The dream was of a great image with a head of gold.) Gold is a type of the sinless nature of Jesus Christ, and Daniel told him (in later verses) that he, Nebuchadnezzar is that head of gold; therefore he desires to know his identity in Christ. He does not know how to make this a reality in his life.
His spirit was troubled to know the dream. The word “troubled” in Hebrew means “to push, to impel, propel, and to agitate.” The spirit in him is compelling him to move forward in his quest to know who he is in Christ.
Application:
If we are truly seeking a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, we too should be feeling compelled to know our identity in Christ. God helps us in this quest by gradually (or sometimes suddenly) stripping away the things from our life that we have used in forming a false identity. This should be a powerful force in our lives as God’s judgment on the world in the end times intensifies. God has said he will shake everything that can be shaken and nothing will remain standing but that which is rooted and grounded in him. Our greatest security in these end times will come from knowing who we are in Christ.
The natural mind is thinking and pondering about his identity. He worries about the things everyone worries about…does my life count? Am I valuable? Am I lovable? Will I be protected? Everyone is trying to determine their worth via identity. His mind is troubled because he doesn’t know who he is.
Verse 4
As the natural mind (Nebuchadnezzar) seeks to find his identity, the demons come around to “help.” They love to tell us who we are. They say things like, “You are a failure. You’re stupid. You’ll never amount to a hill of beans,” etc. They often mimic things our parents or others said to us when we were growing up. At other times they fill us with flatteries so we will get lifted up in pride. (If you are new to this study, we established that Chaldeans are a type of demon in earlier verses. Chaldea means “as robbers, as demons,” and a description of their character and behavior is found in Habakkuk chapter one.)
(I have broken up the following verse with sub-numbers to make it easier to follow my interpretation:)
Dan 2:4 (1) Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, (2) O king, live for ever: (3) tell thy servants the dream, (4) and we will show the interpretation.
(1) The demons interject thoughts into the natural mind. Syriak is the language of Aram similar to Hebrew. Aram means “deceiver, curse.” Demons try to deceive the natural mind. Their voices are often difficult to determine because they seem like our own thoughts.
(2) O king, live forever meaning, “You are king. You are in charge of your life. You can do whatever you want, but whatever you do, don’t die to self. They knew the principle that Jesus would later teach when he said, “…he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” When we lay down our own self-life for Jesus, we find out who we are. The demons want us to go on forever “doing our own thing” so they can harass us and use us for their own purposes. When we find our life, we find out who we are in Christ. This is found in relationship with him.
(3) You determine your identity yourself. Get into performance orientation. Pretend to be someone you are not. You can do this on your own.
(4) “We will show the interpretation.” “Show” in the Chaldea language (in which this section of Daniel was written) means “to live.” Gesenius’ Lexicon says it means “to breathe, hence to live.” The demons are saying if you will try to make your own identity yourself, we will come in and live in you. We’ll tell you who you are.
