Untroubled Truth

“O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.” (Da 4:9 AV)

Belteshazzar is the Chaldean name Nebechanezzar gave to Daniel.  The secret which the king desires Daniel to reveal is the interpretation of his dream foretelling his seven-year bout with psychosis resulting in living as a wild beast.  What is amusing is the response of the soothsayers in the previous verse.  They told the king they could not tell it.  That didn’t mean they didn’t know it.  They probably knew the interpretation of the dream and didn’t want to be the one to tell the king he was going to lose his mind and eat grass like a wild ox for seven years.  Hence the phrase above.  Nebby knew Daniel was not afraid of the truth.  He was willing to die two times previously.  He was willing to die over the change of diet.  And, he was willing to die over Nebby’s first dream and interpretation.  Daniel’s three friends were willing to die over false worship.  Death did not concern the children of Israel.  Therefore, Daniel was not afraid to tell it like it is.  Which is exactly what he did.  We spoke of Martin Luther in a recent post.  We spoke of his willingness to stand on what he knew to be the truth.  In this time of meditation, let us consider not whether we will or will not stand, but rather, the effect truth has on us.  Even the most distasteful of truths.

There are truths we do not like to consider.  Ugly truths.  Truths we would rather ignore.  The truth of human beings suffering for all of eternity in a devil’s hell is not something we muse upon regularly.  The utter depravity of mankind and all they are capable of is not a thought we often ponder.  We don’t like to think of the impending death of someone close to us even though the word of God is clear that all are appointed to it.  Many truths do not occupy much of our time.  Truths we wish to avoid.   Some are more personal.  We don’t like to dwell upon how much we have done or failed to do for the glory of God.  Dwelling on the hideousness of our sin is not something upon which we spend a great deal of time.  We do not think about the ugliness that can be part of our ministry.  We just want to think of the salvation decisions or the baptisms that come our way.  We would rather not think about the consequences of obedience.  Sometimes it costs a great deal.  We would rather not remember those trials of faith that drove us to our knees.  We don’t want to think of the potential trials that still await the rest of our pilgrimage.  There are theological truths we don’t particularly enjoy thinking of as they apply to us.  The wrath of God.  The justice of God.  The holiness of God as it pertains to our walk with Him.  We want to think only happy thoughts.  Thoughts of freedom and pleasure.

Daniel was not intimidated or fearful of reality.  He did not have his head stuck in the sand hoping it would all go away.  Daniel (and I think the other soothsayers) knew Nebby was getting a little to big for his britches and was due for a fall.  What bothered Daniel was not necessarily the fall of Nebby, but the degree it would involve.  I think what bothered Daniel was Nebby’s condition for seven years.  He saw a madman.  He saw someone completely undone by mental disease.  He saw a horrible sight of someone he knew and respected.  Others saw it too.  They simply could not come to terms with it.  I think that is why we as God’s people are failing the human race.  We cannot look into the ugly truth of depravity and condemnation.  We know of it.  We simply avoid meditating on it.  We cannot bear the thought of those whom we know being tortured for all of eternity.  We think if we can push it out of our minds then we won’t be compelled to do something about it.  Nebby respected Daniel because he was not afraid of the truth.  Most will mock us.  But there will be a few who will appreciate your candor and see the love behind the words.  We need to be like Daniel because a person’s soul depends on it.