GOD ONLY KNOWS
Greetings church family!
This week we continue our yearlong journey through the book of Daniel.
Daniel 2:1-9 - In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him, and sleep deserted him. So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream and am anxious to understand it.” The Chaldeans spoke to the king: “May the king live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My word is final: If you don’t tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a garbage dump. But if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you’ll receive gifts, a reward, and great honor from me. So make the dream and its interpretation known to me.” They answered a second time, “May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will make known the interpretation.” The king replied, “I know for certain you are trying to gain some time, because you see that my word is final. If you don’t tell me the dream, there is one decree for you. You have conspired to tell me something false or fraudulent until the situation changes. So tell me the dream and I will know you can give me its interpretation.”
Marie Curie was a pioneering Polish-French physicist and chemist famous for her groundbreaking research on radioactivity—a term she coined. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two different fields - Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. She also discovered two elements on the periodic table - polonium and radium.
However, Curie’s achievements were realized amidst tremendous difficulty. As a pioneering woman in science, Curie faced institutional exclusion, financial hardship, and intense scrutiny. After her husband’s sudden death, she continued groundbreaking research under immense pressure to prove her legitimacy. During World War I, she worked relentlessly to develop mobile X-ray units, often at great personal risk, carrying both grief and responsibility.
Unlike Curie, not everyone can perform under pressure. The Chaldeans in our Scripture passage found this out the hard way. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a mysterious dream and sought desperately for its interpretation. His command to the Chaldeans was that they tell him his dream and provide an interpretation of his dream, or face death! The Chaldeans made one last attempt to convince the king that his request was unreasonable.
Daniel 1:10-13 - “The Chaldeans answered the king, “No one on earth can make known what the king requests. Consequently, no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, medium, or Chaldean. What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.” Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. The decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed, and they searched for Daniel and his friends, to execute them.
Ultimately it would be unfair to describe the Chaldeans as unable to perform under pressure in this situation. There are just some things no human being can accomplish on their own power, no matter how much pressure is applied. Humans breathing underwater without assistance - impossible. Males giving birth to a baby - not happening. And also on that list is guessing the totality of someone’s dream. The Chaldeans admit this explicitly. “No one on earth can make known what the king requests.” [Daniel 2:10] And yet, the king insists, to the point that, not just the Chaldeans, but all the wise men of Babylon would be put to death if no one could carry out his request.
Babylon’s wisdom claimed to interpret mysteries, yet it collapsed when tested. Its experts were trained, credentialed, and confident—until the limits of human ability were exposed. The failure here is not intelligence, but dependence. Babylon relied on systems without revelation, power without humility, and authority without surrender. When mystery confronts control, control panics.
This passage speaks powerfully to modern life. We live in a world that promises answers—algorithms, experts, strategies—but still trembles with anxiety. Like Nebuchadnezzar, we sense that something is wrong, but instead of seeking God, we demand certainty from human systems that were never designed to bear that weight.
Church family, if you are in a season where answers are needed but clarity is missing—where pressure is high and solutions seem nonexistent—this passage reminds you that human limits are often the doorway to divine revelation. There are some things that God only knows. Rest assured that God is not absent in the delay. He is preparing to reveal what no human wisdom can. My prayer is that you are filled with the perseverance and Christ-centered trust that only the Spirit can give, to sustain you in the waiting time.
Blessings!
Pastor Chris
