The Wise Men Are Helpless

When the wise men arrived, the king was in a desperate frame of mind.

“So they came and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live forever; tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”

The king was frantic. “The thing is gone from me!” he said. “But you must tell me what it was, and give me the meaning of it, at once! This is very important!” He looked from one to another of his wise men, and saw the blankness of their faces. “I’ll tell you, the thing is gone from me!” he said. Then in his anger, he threatened them. “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!” But it didn’t help. They just didn’t know. They hung their heads. The king changed his’ tactics. Now he almost pleaded with them: “But if ye show 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.” But the wise men still insisted that the king must first tell his dream to them. Then Nebuchadnezzar lost all patience. He accused them of stalling, of trying to gain time, and of being ready to lie to him, and to give him a false interpretation. “There is but one decree for you,” he shouted. “Ye shall be cut in pieces!”

Realizing they were caught in a hopeless situation, and doomed, the spokesman for the wise men said to the king:

“There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter. Therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asketh such things of any magician, or astrologer or Chaldean. 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.”

This was a polite way of saying: “Your majesty, you are being unreasonable.” Then we read: “For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.” Let us not forget that Daniel and his three companions, although they were not then present, were now numbered with the “wise men of Babylon!” At this juncture it looked like a serious calamity for them instead of a step toward advancement. Without any fault on their part they had been condemned to death.

“And the decree went forth, that the wise men should be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows, to be slain.”

Arioch, captain of the king’s guard was ordered to perform the executions. But he was friendly to Daniel, and warned him. We read the account: “Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.” The magicians and the astrologers and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans were called wise men. They were wise after the wisdom of the world, but only Daniel reacted with true wisdom. We read:

“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Aza riah, his companions; 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.”

What did they do? They had a prayer meeting. I picture them on their knees the four of them in a circle clasping each other’s hands, together laying the matter before the Lord. They probably took turns praying aloud. I imagine they addressed the Lord as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God of their fathers. They probably recounted, each one of them, all the Lord’s providences on their behalf up to that very time, giving thanks for them. Then I think they must have pleaded God’s glory saying in effect:

“King Nebuchadnezzar and all his court know that we worship thee, the only true God, the God of Israel. We have kept thy statutes even here in this heathen land before them all. They worship other gods who really are not gods at all. Now, if you permit us to be slain together with these heathen magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans, men will say: They trusted in the God of the Hebrews but their God was not strong enough to save them from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. They will say this of you the Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore, for thy name’s sake, tell us the king’s secret and deliver us out of his hand.”