A few
hundred years before Daniel and in a different country, Joseph had a similar
experience to his. I find it interesting that Joseph interprets his dream in
Egypt just before Israel (Israel is Joseph’s dad) becomes a country in the
narrative (a few hundred years in chronology) and Daniel interprets his dream
in Babylon (607 BCE) just before Israel/Judah ceases to exist as a country (586
BCE). These dreams are like book ends for the existence, the story of the
country of Israel/Judah.
Reading
from Gensis 41:14-36 (NIV):
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and
he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his
clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a
dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when
you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied
to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In
my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there
came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After
them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen
such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the
seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one
could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I
woke up.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of
grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other
heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin
heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians,
but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The
dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is
about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads
of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly
cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless
heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh:
God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance
are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will
follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine
will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered,
because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream
was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by
God, and God will do it soon.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a
discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let
Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of
Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food
of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority
of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in
reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will
come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
Now, it is important to note before we compare these dreams that, though there were Judeans, Samaritans and others during the Roman Empire a few hundred years later, the nation of Israel/Judah, after the Babylonian conquest, had already ceased to be an independent country– never to rise again (with the possible exception of the time of the Maccabees) until Christ returns with the New Jerusalem at the eschaton. The country that calls itself Israel today is NOT the ancient Israelites. Today’s Israelis are predominately Eastern Europeans who set up their apartheid regime in 1948, the same year as the Western Europeans set up their apartheid regime in South Africa. These stories of Joseph and Daniel really are book ends on the life of the country of Israel.
In Genesis
41, you will notice that Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was that in
the good / prosperous times he, and by extension, we should save from our
excess for when lean times follow. But more than that – just like all the
people’s land and possessions belonged to Pharaoh, so too all the land in the
world really belongs to God. The Bible is clear about this especially in
Leviticus 25 (among other places) where Israel is reminded to honour the
sabbatical years and the Year of Jubilee. Sabbatical years were years when the land
was supposed to rest like the people were supposed to rest on Sabbath days. And
Years of Jubilee were when debts were to be forgiven; and slaves and indentured
servants were to be set free. Pharaoh's dream can be seen as, in part, laying out
the blueprint for the foundation of the Kingdom of God. It shows us what God’s
Dominion looks like: everything belongs to YHWH; we forgive one another, and
the captives are set free.
That Pharaoh’s
dream is about more than just saving wisely for a rainy day can be shown by
Luke in his gospel (Lk 12:13-21). He recounts Jesus’ parable of the man who
saved for his retirement and then had his life demanded of him before he could
access the savings. Israel, likewise, like us, and like Adam and Eve, was
supposed to care for the land and the people. Because they didn’t, they were
removed from the land (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21). This was a warning that Israel
was given from the very beginning – even before they were a country and their
failure to love God, the land, and their neighbour; led to God taking their
promised land and giving it to someone else. This brings us to our passage
today. Daniel Chapter 2.
When asked
to tell Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was, the Chaldeans answered, Verse 11, “What the king asks
is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do
not live among humans.” This is neat: the Chaldeans were correct. Only
Jesus, the True God, can reveal this meaning and only Jesus, the True God, did live
among men! (and He’s coming back!)
Daniel
also shares this gospel; he says, Verses 27-28, “No wise man, enchanter,
magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but
there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King
Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.”
But first,
Verses 14-23, before Daniel has this conversation with the king, he steps out
in faith, speaks to the guard, and then speaks to the king, and then he prays.
He goes to his house and tells his friends about what is needed and they pray.
They pray for mercy and during the night God gives Daniel a vision of the dream
and the interpretation. Daniel thanks and praises God and asks the captain of
the guard to stop the executions of the wise men and take him to the king. They
give Glory to God and Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar his dream and what it means.
Verses 37-38, “Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has
given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed
all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they
live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.”
This is
reminiscent, reflective of how God had given Pharaoh charge over Egypt and the
land Israel occupied. This is reflective of how Israel was to care for the land
they were promised. This is reflective of how the Amorites were responsible for
that land prior to Israel and it notes in the text that Nebuchadnezzar is now (in
his day) responsible for the land; It is also reflective of how Adam and Eve
were given the land to care for but it was taken away from them for their disobedience
/ unfaithfulness; and it was later taken from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the
Israelites, and it will be taken from Nebuchadnezzar's successors as well.
There will
come a time though, when, Verse 44: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It
will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself
endure forever.” We know what the Kingdom - like the Mountain in the dream
- is that will endure forever, never be destroyed or given to another people. That
is the Kingdom of God. Isaiah 9: 6-7 speaks of this Kingdom and, the rock its
ruler:
“For unto us a child
is born,
unto us a son is
given,
and the government
will be on his shoulders.
And he will be
called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of
his government and peace
there will be no
end."
We celebrated
Christmas less than a month ago, the purpose of which is to celebrate the birth
of Jesus the King and look forward to the full realization of His Kingdom! His
birth was the rock being cut from the mountain. The mountain, His Kingdom will
never end and there will always be peace! When Jesus returns with the New
Jerusalem at the eschaton this will all be complete. And until that time, as
His citizens, we need to keep serving our King.
Like Pharaoh,
Nebuchadnezzar, the Amorites, Jacob, and Adam and Eve were all supposed to do:
we need to take care of the earth, everything, and everyone in it; we need to
forgive debts and others and we need to neither
hoard nor sell God’s possessions for a profit but rather share with everyone in
need all that God has given us stewardship over.
My friends,
this is what we, like our foreparents, are called to do, and my friends this is
what you, each of you here, with your individual, collective, and corporate
ministries have been doing very well; and this my friends is what I pray we
will be faithful to do until that day when the mountain in the king’s dream has
finally reached its full height and the Rock of our Salvation, the True King of
Kings, returns with the new Jerusalem to rule over us forever and ever. Amen.
Let us
pray
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