Daniel (Greek) 2:7-11: a reflection

7They answered the second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 8The king answered, “I know of a certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see the thing has gone from me. 9But if you don’t make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the situation changes. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, “There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean. 11It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

King Nebuchadnezzar makes an impossible demand of his wise men: not only to interpret his dream, but to tell him the dream itself, which he will not reveal. The wise men protest that no one can do this: There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand; no king ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter. And they conclude, revealingly: no one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. They confess that this is beyond all human wisdom; only a god could do it, and their gods, they say, do not dwell with people.

Notice the confession the wise men make, and its irony. They admit the limits of human wisdom: what the king asks is beyond any human power to know. Only a god could reveal such a hidden thing, and, they add sadly, the gods do not dwell with flesh; they are distant, unavailable. They have reached the end of their own wisdom and can only point to a divine knowledge they believe is out of reach. But of course, the very next thing the story shows is Daniel's God, who does dwell with his people and reveals the mystery to Daniel.

There is a truth here worth holding. Human wisdom has real limits; there are things beyond our knowing, mysteries and needs we cannot meet by our own understanding, and it is wise to admit it. But where the wise men said the gods do not dwell with flesh, the true God does. He is not distant and unavailable; he dwells with his people and makes known what is hidden. When you reach the end of your own wisdom, faced with what you cannot understand or resolve, do not despair as the wise men did, pointing to a distant, unavailable God. Turn to the God who does dwell with us and reveals what we cannot know. Where human wisdom fails, he is near, and able to make known what is hidden.

Lord, the wise men reached the end of their wisdom and said only the gods could reveal the mystery, but that the gods do not dwell with flesh. Thank you that you are not a distant, unavailable God, but the God who dwells with his people and makes known what is hidden. When I reach the end of my own wisdom, faced with what I cannot understand or resolve, keep me from despair. Help me turn to you, who are near, and able to reveal what I cannot know. Where my wisdom fails, be my wisdom.