“Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.” Daniel 2:2
Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” Nebuchadnezzar senses something is being said to him and he fully intends to find out what this message means. To do that he calls in his group of wise men, his counselors. Solomon had written centuries before “Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in the abundance of counselors there is victory.” Nebuchadnezzar follows the spirit of Solomon’s command – he calls for his advisors. unfortunately the men he calls for do not speak for God.
Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters,
the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned The king of
Babylon, the mightiest man on earth, does not know what to do. Thus
He commands (the same word used of God at creation when he
commanded the appearance of each part of His creation.
The magicians This word can be translated as engraver or writer. The
same word is used iof Pharaoh in Genesis 41:8, in Exodus 7:11. There it refers to dream interpreters
And fortune tellers. These are false prophets who professed to have power (really demonic) by means of various writings like amulets or incantations.
The enchanters This is translated conjurers or astrologers. These are people who profess to transform things by creating illusions, The Hebrew the word is wizard.
The sorcerers This word is translated to whisper a spell or practice magic as in witchcraft.
The Chaldean This is the Babylonian word for an astrologer-priest. It is also the word for the Babylonian master of dreams and magic.
These terms are used by God to cover all of the possible wisdom professions. It show us that none of them can compete with the
gift and wisdom God gives to Daniel. God uses a list to describe various man-made positions with the intent of showing that all of a
pinpointed group are covered. What God wants us to see is that this worldly mighty king called the greatest wise men on the greatest
kingdom on the earth and they could not compare with one Jewish boy operating with the wisdom of the eternal God.
Summoned The king summons (calls) for his group of “wise’ counselors. The word is a generic word for call but it can refer to a
“call for help”. The king needed to have the words of this dream interpreted for him.
To tell the king his dreams We begin to sense a trouble spot. Nebuchadnezzar has called his wise counselors together. It says he did so that they could tell (make conspicuous, report, or inform) to him his dream.
So they came in and stood before the king The group approaches the king. They likely do so with great pride and confidence. They have been in this position in the past and have pulled the wool over the king’s eyes before. So they stand before the king ready to offer him their demonic lies once again. What they had not counted on was God saying, “No, that is not going to happen”. This message is from Me and the king will hear the truth.
What can we learn? We are about to see an Old Testament illustration of I Corinthians 3:19. “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” Daniel does not know it yet but God is preparing a special task for him.