Two Hebrew Boys

“In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him….” (Daniel 2).

The rabbi’s raspy voice continues from Daniel 2. His words bring to life another Hebrew in a hostile land for another young boy. He sits, dark haired, clothed in a rough tunic, hands already calloused at his young age by helping in his father’s workshop. He leans forward, intent. His brothers squirm around him, ready to be free from the rabbi’s drone. But this boy is enraptured. His Father’s words. Words about him for he knew that everything in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms were written about him (Lk. 24:44). He must have taken these words and mulled them over. What did they say about his Father? What did they say about him? His purpose?

The hum of the rabbi’s reading continues: “Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: ‘Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation’” (Daniel 2:24). Bless. Save. Agent of mercy. Always for life, through miraculous means, through his servants, God would deliver. The little boy drops his head, contemplates his hands, rubs the palm of his hands, the bruise where his hammer hit his thumb. Yes, God would always save through his servants. His hands--would be nail-pierced. 

But the boy’s quick black eyes look up again—Daniel and his friends were saved. Preserved by the Almighty God who would always have a remnant. No matter what hostile enemies faced them or what the savage world threw at them, God always had a remnant. In the death of exile, God still preserved the life of his people. God! Faithful God to preserve, even from seeming death! The boy raised his head in confidence. The boy--who would defeat death.

The hot Nazareth suns filters through into the synagogue, but the trickling sweat doesn’t distract the boy from the reading of the scroll: “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Dan. 2:28). A God who gave wisdom and might to Daniel (2:23). The same God who promises a Servant upon whom “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). This Servant, full of wisdom. The Servant, mediator of wisdom, the one through whom all the blessings and gifts of God come. The Servant, the revealer of wisdom, the wisdom of God personified (Prov. 8; Col. 2:3).  

The wisdom of God for us.

The salvation of God for us.

Yes! We join with Daniel in 2:21-23, praise to mercy poured out, praise to Mercy personified in a little boy, a man, a Servant of the Lord, an exalted King.

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

To whom belong wisdom and might—revealing hidden in a little boy in Nazareth, who learned and grew, who was crucified in weakness, the wisdom and might of God on a cross,

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings—and has ordained an eternal kingdom under his Son, the unchanging King,

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding—pouring forth on his Son and then through his Son to all who are in him, granting them all, all!, that they might need (1 Cor. 9:8; Col. 2:3; Jas. 1:5; Jas. 1:17; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; Col. 3:16),

He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him—revealing glory on the cross, revealing God himself in a manger, the Light of the world himself plunging into darkness of death, and his own refusing him for they loved darkness,

To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter—God the Father himself, calling and working through his Son, our revelation, our might, our wisdom, our strength, our All in All. Jesus, my Lord! Jesus, my Lord, in whatever circumstance of joy or sorrow, in the depths of our need, in the depths of the sorrows of this world:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

Rev. 5:12