MONDAY, APRIL 9
Daniel 2:4-9
1 Corinthians 1:19-20

“… hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world?”

A CLEVER MONARCH AND FALSE MAGICIANS

For many centuries ancient near eastern kings had surrounded themselves with various types of wise men and magicians to provide counsel and proper relationships with the gods. With rare exceptions, they were wicked men who wielded great power through their manipulation of ignorant and superstitious kings.

But Nebuchadnezzar the Great was different! He had long observed the ways of these court flatterers during the reign of his father Nabopolassar. Now that a stupendous confrontation with the God of Israel occurred in the form of a mysterious dream, he was determined to test these magicians to see whether they truly had access to the gods of Babylon. In Daniel 2:5, “the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me …” i.e. he had forgotten his dream. Far from forgetting the dream, Nebuchadnezzar was determined to discover, once and for all, whether these wealthy and powerful men were genuine mediators between heaven and earth or whether they had “prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed” (Dan 2:9). If they were genuine, they could surely tell him what he had dreamed. Then the king would be assured that their interpretation of the dream was valid as well.

Today also, highly educated young people are turning away from corrupt, superstitious, and traditional religions that offer no real assurance or meaning in life. And just as Daniel and his friends were ready to offer God’s marvelous alternative, so we should be ready, in the Holy Spirit, to make God’s glorious truth known to the empty and disillusioned generation into which He has placed us.

THOUGHT: Even godless men can often see through the hypocrisy of religions that have no message of hope.
PRAYER: Help me, Lord, to clearly discern the false from the true in the Christian world today, through Thy precious Word.