The "Cow"ayzee dream

The Danger of Worldly Peace

What is interesting is that much of this is written from the standpoint of Nebuchadnezzar not from Daniel or God. But it tells how he was led to bow down to Yahweh, the God of Israel in the end. It is almost a confession.

As he begins he appeals to people of the whole earth to tell them about what Yahweh has done for him.

You know how in some movies they will give you a shot from one of the final scenes of the movie and it will say something like “but let me start from the beginning”. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad. Well here he shows us that he is in a good spot and he is stating something important about what he believes about this God that the Israelites he captured worship. He says he is “pleased to tell you”. He finds joy in recounting this story, like one who has gone from unbelief to belief in God. It is a delight to share what God has done in our lives.

He identifies the reign of the God of Israel as “eternal” and from generation to generation. He is stating that unlike his reign, that is mortal, that will one day pass away, the Lord’s kingdom will never stop. These are powerful statements to make, to say that this God of another group of people is greater than he is.

But then he goes back to the beginning of our story.

So as he starts telling us this story what we know is we are about 30 years after what we read in the last chapter. Daniel is about 50 years old, Nebuchadnezzar has finished all his projects (Daniel 4:30), he has built his empire. He gives us a picture of him being laid back in his big mansion, sipping on a pina colada, and grabbing a tan. He had conquered everything, he had built everything, and he was living the good life. Have you ever been there before? In a moment where you say “if I could just stay like this forever I would be happy?

And right in this moment it says that he had a dream, a dream that rivaled his first dream in the terror that it brought him.

And what does he do? He summons all the people who, the first time around, couldn’t interpret his dream for him!

Have you ever made the same mistake over and over again? Why do you think we do that?

Then he says Daniel, whose name meant that one of the gods was with him, was called before the king. His last resort, the one who he knew could give him an interpretation but he wanted to exhaust his other options first. Like he would rather take the easy route because he knows whatever Daniel will say will be hard.

The Dream

This tree is in the middle of the earth and it is feeding all the people and animals of earth as it reaches to heaven (similar to the tower of Babel).

Then it is says that “one who is awake” or “a watcher” comes down to heaven. Have any of you seen the show “What If?” In that, the watchers are those who are told to watch over the activities of the universe but are told not to engage. Well these “watchers” are similar except God calls on them to intercede on his behalf.

And this watcher has been sent to give a warning to the king, because as this angel has watched him he has seen that he has not lived in obedience to God alone, the God of Israel and will therefore face severe consequences if he does not change.

The messenger says the tree will be cut down but there will be a stump that one day might grow again. It is also given protection so that it can grown.

And it says that his mind will be changed to that of an animal for “seven periods of time”. Probably 7 years.

The angel ends by telling them that God, the creator of heaven and earth, has the ability to judge and he is the one who gives any ruler the authority that they do. That no matter how powerful Nebuchadnezzar believes himself to be his is dependent on God.

And Daniel is stunned, but Nebuchadnezzar tells him to give the full, honest view of what the dream means. The king trusts Daniel.

Have you ever been stunned by the punishment someone else received even if you know it is fair? Or said “well they did something bad but for the right reasons!” Daniel enjoys the kings company and he knows that if another king rules they may not be as kind to him. But he still needed to be faithful to this message

Daniel tells him “that tree is you”, similar to Nathan telling David “you are that man!” It is a shocking moment.

Daniel tells him, “you are the great king with the great kingdom” but then “if you continue in sin you will be brought low. He tells the king to act quickly so that what has been foretold will not come to pass. He shouldn’t just doing the same old thing, but “break off your sins”. To stop injustice, to care for those in need, and if he does so then maybe God will continue to bless him.

Essentially it is a call for him to establish the kingdom of heaven. To remove unrighteousness and to live in righteousness. To not act indulgently, to not ignore those who were hurting, to not say “well I am not the one causing them pain so why is that my responsibility?” It is enjoying an indulgent lifestyle and ignore the misfortune of others.

This isn’t saying that his good works can earn him salvation, but saying he must change his heart to reflect what God desires from us. That we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And that we love our neighbor as ourselves.

Did this actually happen?

Yes, they did. God gave Nebuchadnezzar an entire year to repent and to turn from his sins but he did not. He just continued to enjoy his life and to ignore the issues other were going through.

And as he was looking out on everything he believed that he had earned and deserved, potentially even the “hanging gardens”. In a city that for hundred of years people talked about as the most well-built, beautiful city in the entire world.

Have you ever heard of “famous last words”? That is what this is.

His main issue is pride. Does anyone know what pride is?

“Pride is nothing more than an exaggerated and dishonest self-evaluation.” Now think, what do you think is an honest evaluation of yourself? Now what do your actions say?

Your actions can say “I want people to notice me, to admire me, to tell me how cool I am” which is often saying “I am deserving of being admired or to be shown how cool I am”. You want people to give you attention you don’t deserve.

Or maybe you say “no one cares about me, I’m a nobody, I can’t do anything” this is still pride because you are saying God doesn’t care about you, your family doesn’t care about you, or your friends don’t.

Now, he may have even though “I have been a little nicer to people, I have made myself feel better with small actions of change.” But he never went to a heart change, he never went to the extent of giving mercy and justice. But he was still filled with self-importance, with pride, with boasting of his own greatness and ability, by what he had built. It is like when a billionaire gives a few million dollars and people say “wow! Look at how amazing that is” when for them it is literally a drop in the bucket.

Daniel (1) Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment (4:28–33 [25–30])

Babylon was a rectangularly shaped city surrounded by a broad and deep water-filled moat and then by an intricate system of double walls. The first double-wall system encompassed the main city. Its inner wall was twenty-one feet thick and reinforced with defense towers at sixty-foot intervals while the outer wall was eleven feet in width and also had watchtowers. Later Nebuchadnezzar added another defensive double-wall system (an outer wall twenty-five feet thick and an inner wall twenty-three feet thick) east of the Euphrates that ran the incredible distance of seventeen miles and was wide enough at the top for chariots to pass.43 The height of the walls is not known, but the Ishtar Gate was forty feet high, and the walls would have approximated this size. A forty-foot wall would have been a formidable barrier for enemy soldiers.

Eight gates provided access to the city, the most celebrated of which was the Ishtar Gate on the north side. This was a massive double tower rising to a height of forty feet and decorated with dragons of Marduk and bulls of Hadad. According to Whitcomb, there were “557 [of these] animals in bright colors against a glazed blue background.” Wiseman relates that the Ishtar Gate “led to the sacred procession way [one thousand yards long] leading south to the citadel to Esagila, the temple of Marduk, and the adjacent ziggurat Etemenanki.” This huge seven-level ziggurat towered 288 feet into the air.46 A bridge (ca. four hundred feet long) spanned the Euphrates River and connected the east and west parts of the city. Fifty-three temples are said to have been present within Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar had at least three palaces at Babylon, the principal residence being located in the southern citadel and covering about 350 by 200 yards. This palace included a beautifully decorated throne room (described in the next chapter).

Babylon also boasted the famous “hanging gardens,” which the ancient Greeks considered one of the seven wonders of the world. According to the Babylonian historian Berosus, Nebuchadnezzar constructed these for his wife (Amytis) who had left the mountains of her native Media for the alluvial plains of Babylonia. Her husband, in effect, built a mountain in the city to remind his wife of her homeland. “These were elevated gardens, high enough to be seen beyond the city walls. They boasted many different kinds of plants and palm trees. Ingenious hoists had been contrived by which to raise water to the high terraces from the Euphrates River.”49 From the roof of his palace the king gazed out upon all of this grandeur, and his heart became filled with pride.

Nebuchadnezzar boasted that it was he who “built” this “great Babylon,” and statements by Berosus, cuneiform inscriptions, and other discoveries at Babylon combine in their testimony that Nebuchadnezzar carried out extensive building operations. “Most of the bricks taken out of Babylon in the archaeological excavations bear the name and inscription of Nebuchadnezzar stamped thereon. One of the records of Nebuchadnezzar sounds almost like the boast which Daniel recorded … (Dan. 4:30); it reads, ‘The fortifications of Esagila and Babylon I strengthened and established the name of my reign forever.’ ”

Daniel (3) The Contents of the Dream (4:10–17 [7–14])

This individual would actually believe himself to be an animal, a psychological phenomenon known as lycanthropy. “Lycanthropy” (lit., wolf-man) originally referred to the delusion of believing oneself to be a wolflike creature (the primitive werewolf superstition was inspired by this malady) but today has come to be a general designation regardless of the type of animal involved. P. Keck reports that studies “suggest that lycanthropy, though unusual, is very much alive in the twentieth century.” Persons involved in Keck’s studies believed themselves to be a wide assortment of animals—wolves, gerbils, dogs, birds, cats, rabbits, tigers, and an unidentified creature. In 1946 R. K. Harrison observed a patient in a British mental institution with an illness virtually identical to that described in the Book of Daniel. The patient wandered about the grounds of the institution eating grass as if he were a cow. His drink consisted of water. Harrison stated that “the only physical abnormality noted consisted of a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickened condition of the fingernails.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s illness would continue until “seven times pass by for him.” Most scholars, ancient and modern, have interpreted the “seven times” as seven years (cf. 7:25), although there are those who take the phrase to denote merely a period of time, the length of which is unspecified. Yet the word “time” would be expected to designate some definite and well-known period such as days, weeks, months, or years. Since seven days, weeks, or even months seem to be too short a duration for the illness, it is reasonable to suppose that the time was seven years. As Wood explains, the idea is that “the full cycle of seasons, with all the changes in types of weather involved, would pass over the king seven times.”

Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary C. Judgment on Nebuchadrezzar (4:1–37)

The illness referred to, known as lycanthropy, is well attested in pre-scientific times, but is not referred to today under that name. Dr M. G. Barker, a consultant psychiatrist, writes: ‘As far as Nebuchadrezzar’s illness is concerned, the features are of a fairly acute onset of insanity, with the apparent delusional idea that he was an animal. The length of time that he was unwell is not clear, but he also seems to have had a spontaneous remission and returned to sanity and changed his way of life and outlook subsequently. This kind of history is much more typical of a depressive illness with relatively acute onset, delusional beliefs of a morbid nature and, in the days before drugs and E.C.T., most such illnesses had a spontaneous remission within a period of one, two and, occasionally, more years. The person who recovered would recover complete insight, as did Nebuchadrezzar, apparently.’ Dr Barker goes on to cite two patients in his own clinical experience whose illness took the form of thinking they were changing into animals and who responded to treatment. ‘The reason why this particular manifestation of depression is so rare is because of the increased sophistication of people since the seventeenth century and this bizarre way of the mind acting out its guilt and feelings is no longer necessary, as people will accept depression and distress more readily

It took this humiliating experience for him to repent and say “God, you are greater than me”. That is how arrogant we are, that even when we are the lowest point imaginable we still like to think we are in control. We still like to believe our future is ours to choose, that what we receive is ours, that we aren’t responsible for how we treat others.

But he recognizes that God is sovereign, and stated that we was proud. He learned what we learn in Proverbs.

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”

Or Isaiah 40:17 “All the nations are as nothing before him; they are considered by him as empty nothingness.”

In our world we can be tempted to fear our position, to dive into the chaos of those around us. But God has redeemed us, he reigns over everything, and we should find comfort in Him who is over everything.

What Nebuchadnezzar realizes is that he needs to give his allegiance to the heavenly kingdom, not his own kingdom. To put faith in something greater than himself.

Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary a. Thanksgiving for Recovery (4:34–37)

Sanity begins with a realistic self-appraisal

Matthew 6:31-34 “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”