Calling Their Bluff

Lake Michigan Iceberg

The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my mind is troubled by a wish to understand it.  The Chaldeans answered the king, “May your majesty live forever!  Tell your servants the dream, and we shall reveal its meaning to you.”  The king answered the Chaldeans, “This is my firm resolve:  if you cannot tell me what I dreamt and what it means, I shall have you torn limb from limb and your houses turned into dunghills. If, on the other hand, you can tell me what I dreamt and what it means, I shall give you presents, rewards, and high honor.”

Daniel 2:3-6a [New Jerusalem Bible]

In the early hours of the morning, King Nebuchadnezzar looked on the gathering of intelligencia hastily assembled before his throne, and announced that he had experienced a vivid dream that made him uneasy, and he was desperate to know the meaning of it.  The intellectuals of the group answered, “Oh, is that all??  Piece of cake!  Tell us the dream and we’ll tell you what it means.”  After all, who would possibly know whether or not they were correct?  They were the experts in such matters.  If they answered with authority, the king would accept their interpretation without question.

The king’s next statement penetrated their minds with stunning force:  “The thing is gone from me” [KJV],  i.e., “Hey, I simply don’t remember any of it—so I need you guys to tell me what the dream was, and then tell me what it means.” His advisors stared at him in horror.  “Whadaya mean, you don’t remember?  You expect us to know what the dream was that you had??  That ridiculous!  That’s absurd!  That’s…”  The king did not find the looks on their faces priceless - he found them treasonous. Recognizing their mindset, Nebuchadnezzar drew a line in the sand: tell me my dream and the interpretation, and you will have great reward; fail, and you will lose your lives.”

Obviously, the wise men did not comprehend the short fuse on the king’s temper, for they asked again:  “Tell your servants the dream, and we will tell the interpretation.”  The king accused them of stalling for time, as well as agreeing among themselves to lie and mislead him until the tide turned in their favor.  Nebuchadnezzar said:  “If you tell me the dream, then I shall know that you can give me the interpretation.”  At that point, the Chaldeans finally spoke a word of truth:  “There is no one on earth who can reveal what the king commands!”  Checkmate.  The royal rage was unleashed, the decree for the death of all the kingdom’s wise men was sealed, and the elite of the king’s cabinet were marched off to their execution.    

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 12:22