This Week's Story
click here to play audioMy dream has put me, Nebuchadnezzar, into a prison where my eyes twitch with sleeplessness.
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Daniel and a Terrifying Dream, part two
Nebuchadnezzar’s head was a mess of maddening thoughts. “My enemies claim, “King Nechadnezzar is brutal and powerful. Only fools tangle with him.
“I’m glad no one sees me now. I’m like a helpless child who’s had a bad dream. It has put me into a prison where my eyes twitch with sleeplessness! My mind is the captive of a horrifying statue of a man.”
He called his chief of staff.
“Ashpenaz, get my magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers.”
When they arrived, he informed them, “I have had a troubling dream. Tell me what it is and what its meaning is.”
“Your Highness, we honor you. Please describe to us your dream. Then we can tell you what it means.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s face twisted into a glare. “We are not playing
a game. Do what I ask or your bones will be jerked out of their sockets and your houses will be pounded into trash. But, if you tell me what I dreamed and what it means, you will be given many gifts and honors.”
“Oh, mighty one, please tell us your dream.”
“Enough stalling! You plot to tell me lies. Tell me my dream; then I can be sure that you will give me its correct meaning.”
“Your Majesty, no one is capable of doing what you ask. Only a god could fulfill your request and no god lives among us.”
“Ashpenaz, get these worthless creatures out of my sight. I want them and all my so-called wise advisers executed.”
Arioch, commander of the king’s guards, began to obey the king’s order. A guard detail located Daniel and his three friends. All four of the former prisoners of war had become influential in the council of the king’s advisers. Commander Arioch arrived to kill them.
Daniel asked him, “Why has such a harsh order been given?”
Arioch replied, “The king is gripped by a bad dream. He insists that his wise men tell him his dream and explain it. They can’t; so all of them are to be killed including you.”
Daniel received permission to see the king and requested, “O king, please give me more time so I can tell you your dream’s meaning.”
Nebuchadnezzar agreed.
Daniel told his friends, “We must ask God to tell us the secret dream so we will not be killed.”
That night Daniel had a vision of the secret dream. He knew God had given it to him. He enthusiastically proclaimed, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for He alone has all wisdom and power.”
Soon Daniel was describing the king’s dream to him. “O King, God has shown you future events. The head of the brilliant male image you saw was gold. Its chest and arms were silver. Its belly and thighs were bronze and its legs were iron. Its feet were iron and clay. Each part represents a nation.
A rock smashed the statue’s feet and it crashed into small pieces. Then the rock became a gigantic mountain that covered the earth.
“Your Highness, that was your dream. Its meaning is: You are the gold head with power over many countries. Your kingdom will end. The next kingdom will not be as mighty. Then the third one, the bronze belly and thighs, will rise to rule. A fourth kingdom like iron follows. It will crush nations and they will be divided like clay and iron. Nothing will bring them together. God will destroy these nations and set up a kingdom that cannot be conquered.
“Your dream, King Nebuchadnezzar, is true and its meaning is certain.”
This is Scott Thomas for Barbara Steiner with a famous dream that is recorded in the book of Daniel in the Bible.
The website thisweeksstory.com has many more fascinating accounts.
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