Daniel 4:19-37 DANIEL04B The Cut Down Tree That Resurrects

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Daniel 4:19–37 ESV
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21 whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23 And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24 this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25 that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” 28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” 36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Introduction

Chapters 4 and 5 deal with pride. One learns, the other didn’t. Both fell due to pride, only one arose.
Some have said that the event in chapter 4 is not historical as we have no record of it but that is disingenuous as we do not have ANY historical record of Nebuchadnezzar's reign after 594BC
It has been a spiritual journey for him:
Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (C. God’s Humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, to Whom Is Revealed the Dream of the Great Tree (4:1–37))
1. Chap. 2: Daniel’s interpretation of the dream about the great image: He learned that the God of the Hebrews was all-powerful (controlling all history), all wise, and could reveal mysteries no other god could make known.
2. Chap. 3: The deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: He learned that the true God was Lord of nature and history and could by his miracle-working power override the will of the mightiest earthly potentates and deliver his servants from death.
3. Chap. 4: His humiliation to the state of a beast of the field. Finally, Nebuchadnezzar really began to understand his weakness and folly before the Lord God Almighty. At last he realised his utter dependence on God for his reason, his power, and his very life. He saw that he was but an instrument in the hands of the omnipotent God, the true Sovereign of the universe who ordered all history by his own decree. Hence, he came to terms with the primary lesson of the book—the absolute sovereignty of God and his faithfulness to his covenant people. The implication is that he personally put his faith in this God and became a worshipper of the God of heaven.
[Nabonidus, his son, was also sick for 7 years but it was not a mental illness nor was it about pride nor did he become like an animal…there are similarities but differences too. It is not the same story that critics claim]
The Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Judgment and Restoration for Nebuchadnezzar (4:1–37)

“Seven periods of time” also occurs in 4:23, 25, 32. Many scholars are convinced that there is some connection between this story in chapter 4 and a story appearing in the Dead Sea Scrolls about the Babylonian king Nabonidus, titled “The Prayer of Nabonidus.” In that story Nabonidus suffers a seven-year affliction, but then he prays and confesses his sin, and subsequently is healed by a Jewish exorcist.10

19
Actually Daniel was severely distressed and terrified when he heard the dream so much so that the Septuagint says he could not speak for an hour. But eventually Nebuchadnezzar’s faith in Daniel (which should have been placed first in God but first in his other ‘wise mne’) is rewarded with the interpretation.

Daniel did not hastily take delight in God’s discipline that befell the king

Perhaps Daniel had heard of another dream where there is another tree used as a symbol of nationhood found in Ezekiel 31 which represents Egypt and Pharaoh and the parallels are striking for God will also chop that one down and history bears this out but that tree would never grow again; But Nebuchadnezzar’s will.
Though he heard Daniel’s personal care for the King to wish this dream was not so and his call to repentance Nebuchadnezzar did not listen for long for just a year later he had already returned to his ways and his pride got the better of him even saying out loud to himself on the roof of his palace how great he was and how he had done it all. He was the centre of the universe not God.
Pride is a problem for all of us. We are all prone to it. We think that we have achieved things and we had power to make things happen but it was always God who enabled us, who gave us the gifting, who gave us our very life to use our gifts.
20-27
In verse 20 we find the tree reached to the heavens but there is where we find the devil’s downfall as we can see in:
Isaiah 14:12–15 ESV
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
And indeed Nebuchadnezzar is in Babylon, the place of rebellion and pride, as we can read in:
Genesis 11:4 ESV
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
The opposite of what they wanted happened. We find ourselves at enmity with God because of pride as indeed James says in:
James 4:6 ESV
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Pride makes us an enemy of God. He absolutely loathes it. We have to be very careful too think too highly of ourselves but too lowly either for we are what God has made us. And Jesus is our prime example in this:
Philippians 2:5–11 ESV
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
There is a pattern here: if we humble ourselves like Christ then, in the end, we shall be exalted by God.
Let me repeat and make clear: Let us not be so egotistic, let us not be so self-centred – these are things that erupt from pride. We are all too capable of being narcissistic and self-important but these values are in opposition to God and His kingdom. It is this self-righteousness that leads Christians to stop going to Church because they think they are better than those who go.
We are all sinful, we are all far from perfect, we are all, then, unable to save ourselves from a sinless, perfect God. God has saved us through the suffering of His Son who, although He is God, humbled Himself to become limited in being a man and then to die at the hands of those He had created and made. He had every right to destroy them and us but instead made a way for us to come into His Kingdom – this is why we have no right to be boastful or proud about our achievements without first giving glory to God.
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23
The band of iron was a protection on the kingdom until he regained his senses.
This historical event in the life of Nebuchadnezzar lasted for seven years. He became a madman, a true lunatic, out of his mind until one day he looked up and acknowledged that God alone is sovereign and He can raise people to positions of power and can just as easily remove them. Pride comes before a fall but humility comes before exaltation. And as soon as he gave glory to God he was reinstated to his former position.
27

and Daniel’s advice was for the king to break from his sins by dealing righteously (i.e., with the subjects of his kingdom)

Nebuchadnezzar, in all his zeal to build massive cities, temples, and palaces, had harshly oppressed many people—using them as cheap labor and paying only meager wages. They were oppressed and living in poverty, while he himself enjoyed the luxuries of his palace

indicate that true repentance might have averted the judgment of God

Lessons

God is an active ruler over his created order

Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary Application and Devotional Implications

What about the people around you, and especially those who might be under your area of responsibility? p 300 Do you know their needs, and do you take time to find out how you might be of help to them?

Yet it is not enough to “not oppress” others. God wants us to be men and women of mercy—really caring for people

28-33

The God of heaven does not forget his word

Nebuchadnezzar: he gave all glory to himself instead of God – listen again to what he said in verse 30:
“Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty?”
In that very moment, as he was still speaking it, God removed him from the throne and cast him out of all normality.

First, he claimed to have built it himself as his personal “royal residence.” From his perspective, Babylon was first and foremost his dwelling place. He saw the city’s purpose primarily for his personal benefit and luxury rather than seeing himself as a servant to his people. Second, he claimed to have built it by his own “mighty strength.” Even though the city was really built by the sweat of thousands of his subjects (probably including slave labor and foreign captives), he viewed the city as a reflection of his mighty strength and gave himself the credit for its accomplishment. Third, he saw the city’s purpose as being for “the honor of his majesty.” This was self-centered thinking to believe that the architectural grandeur of the city was intended for his personal honor. This was not only an insult to the God of heaven, but it even violated his own religious beliefs, for as a worshiper of Babylon’s patron deity, Marduk, the city was meant to be for Marduk’s honor and glory. From an earlier part of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar wrote,

… [from] the Upper Sea [to] the Lower Sea … which Marduk, my lord, has entrusted to me, I have made … the city of Babylon to be the foremost among all the countries and every human habitation; its name I have [made/elevated] to the (most worthy of) praise among the sacred cities.… The sanctuaries of my lords Nebo and Marduk (as a) wise (ruler) … always

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. 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

Another testimony to Babylon’s grandeur is that two hundred years later Alexander the Great planned to make the city the headquarters of his vast domain

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

Nebuchadnezzar was walking upon the roof of his royal palace looking out over the magnificent city he had built. Lacocque suggests that the king’s location may have been the famous “hanging gardens.”40 From this high vantage point he had an impressive view of the area.

In v. 30 Nebuchadnezzar referred to the city as “the great Babylon” (cf. Rev 14:8 and 18:2), and indeed it was great. Babylon was one of the preeminent cities of history and during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign undoubtedly was the most magnificent (and probably the largest) city on earth. Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, visited Babylon about one hundred years after Nebuchadnezzar’s time and was overwhelmed by its grandeur.41 Over two hundred years later, Alexander the Great planned to make the city the headquarters for his vast empire.

Babylon was a rectangularly shaped city surrounded by a broad and deep water-filled moat and then by an intricate system of double walls.42 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.”44 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.”45 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.47 Fifty-three temples are said to

Jun 13 pp 141–154

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.48 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.

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Lessons

he appoints human rulers. Though it may be tempting to think that men attain to high positions of power as a result of their own actions (whether good or bad), the truth is that God determines who rules and who does not. Rom 13:1 states, “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (NASB). Hence, Jesus could respond to Pilate’s intimidating inquiry, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11, NASB).

Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary Application and Devotional Implications

Pride often manifests itself in self-applause—attributing one’s successes to one’s own efforts and failing to properly give God the credit. When we do this, we rob God of the glory he deserves

God does not give His glory to another.
34-37

Even this shows the goodness of God, for those who are willing to part with their prideful ways and humble themselves before God are often found with newfound joy of heart. When we do what is right in the eyes of God, we discover more joy and freedom, not less

Although we should be somewhat cautious in our conclusions, these actions do seem to speak of a transformed and redeemed heart of a saint. Therefore, we may very well assume that Nebuchadnezzar himself became a true believer in the same God as Daniel and will one day stand with Daniel in the kingdom of God that will be given to the Son of Man

This seems reminiscent of Job’s experience: “The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12). This also teaches us something very important about the grace and the goodness of God. He is incredibly enthusiastic about bestowing grace

Notice carefully that this chapter does not simply teach that pride is wrong but that God humbles the proud. Thus, God is actively at work in the affairs of this world, although his ways of doing

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The story of Nebuchadnezzar that finishes here reveals that over the time of his reign his understanding about God increased.

Lessons

Clive Scofield lays it out for us
1. In Daniel 2:47 (NKJV) 47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” - God is just a god among other gods even though He may be chief.
2. In Daniel 3:28 (NKJV) 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! - He is still a Hebrew deity, Master of angels, and a God who responds to faith.
3. And in today’s passage in Daniel 4:34–35 (NKJV) 34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honoured Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?” - Here the king rises into a true apprehension of God.
God is not simply the God among gods but God is overall and no one including any other god can overpower Him.
All praise and honour belongs to God. God will give His glory to no other. People have always wanted the power over their own lives but actually we are slaves either to our passion, desires and pride or we are slaves who find their freedom in glorifying God who is in charge of history and raising or deposing people. Therefore,
James 4:10 (NKJV)
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary Application and Devotional Implications

Many of us easily get caught up in building our own little kingdoms

Conclusion

This is the end of the chronicle of Nebuchadnezzar.

Bibliography

Scofield, C. I. (Ed.). (1917). The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press.
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