The King Humbled

The introduction to the chapter gives us insight into the purpose of this.

Nebuchadnezzar begins the recount of this event by singing the praises of the God who endures for ever

This points to the running theme of this chapter, and this book and all of scripture:

The Lord is Sovereign.

When King Nebuchadnezzar God’s praise he echo’s the message of the dream in chapter 2

His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom

and his dominion endures forever

As we look at this dream, the interpretation and the events that follow, we must keep in mind the Sovereignty of God is the key theme

God Placed Daniel

These events take place some 30 years after the events of chapter 3

By this point, many people estimate Daniel would be about 50 years old

At this point, king Nebuchadnezzar has seen God:

Bless the Hebrew boys in chapter 1

Daniel interprets the dream in chapter 2

Delivering the three in chapter 3

Somehow, in light of all this, when it came time to interpret a dream, Daniel isn’t the first to be called

We don’t know why, but for some reason the king calls all the Babylonian advisors

the results were the same as the last time, they were again unable to interpret he dream

“at last” v8, or some translations say “finally” implying that some time passed

whether this is days or just hours, to King Nebuchadnezzar it was a near intolerable time

some 35 years earlier, Daniel watched his nation be overthrown, the city of Jerusalem get destroyed and the Temple plundered

He got carried away to a foreign land, indoctrinated, enslaved and most likely turned into a eunuch.

At surface level, everything seems to be going terrible

But because of all that, Daniel was in position time and time again to influence the most powerful person on earth

God Placed King Nebuchadnezzar

In chapter 2Nebuchadnezzar himself acknowledged that God is the one that raises us kings and kingdoms

The tree grew to great heights, to the heavens, symbolizing the power Neb had

only because God allowed king Nebuchadnezzar to be in power was he where he was.

The people benefited from God’s sovereign placement

the tree’s leave were beautify, the fruit was abundent and there was food for all

There was shade and places for all the birds to live

King Nebuchadnezzar, though an unrighteous man, was a blessing to the people

God placed him in this place at this time for this purpose

God Will Remove Nebuchadnezzer

The cutting down of the tree is symbolic of King Neb. losing his authority

he is brought down

no longer lifted up to a hight where all the people can see

It is important to recognize that the tree is not just cut down, but that the decree for the tree to be cut down came from a watcher, a holy one.

The term watcher (ir) appears only in this chapter and is a reference to an angle

some versions will even translate ir as messanger, which is another meaning for the greek and hebrew words we translate as angel

The fact that the decree to chop down the tree comes from an angel, agains shows us that the one pulling all the strings is indeed God

God caused King Nebuchadnezzer to grow to power, as we saw in chapter 1 where we are told “God gave jerusalem” and here God will humble the same king.

But message comes with the promise of delivery

the root is to be banded and not uprooted

the tree will grow back but before it can grow back there will be a time of suffering

In verse 16 we find that the kings mind will become that of a beast

the king will believe himself to be an animal, and no longer a person

this will last for a period of 7 times

we do not know if this is 7 years, but most commentators agree that it is 7 years

Daniel ends the interpretation with a warning

Break off your sins

practice righteousness

break off your iniquities

show mercy

and there may be grace to be found

God Humbles the King

In verse 28 we jump forward 12 months

12 months after the dream we see that nothing has changed

Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof, admiring the great kingdom God has given him and taking all the credit

He actually declared to himself how great Babylon is and how he built it on his own

The king, who in chapter 2 admits it is God that raises up nations and in chapter 3 admits God to be the God of Gods spends chapter 4 singing his own praise

For many of us, our lack of humility is our biggest downfall

This is especially common in people who have something worth bragging about

In all honesty, from mans eyes, King Nebuchadnezzer appeared to be a man responsible for his success

like a successful athlete, business owner or politician, it would be easy to see his see his words here and say “He’s right, he has done a great thing”

But as he was still speaking, God struck him

12 months of time from the dream until the punishment were not enough for this proud pagan to humble himself

A voice from Heaven, most likely God’s voice reminiscent of the voice at the mount of transfiguration but possibly the voice of an angel

the voice declared it was time, that the kingdom would be stricken away.

Immediately Nebuchadnezzar’s mind left him and he began to believe himself a wild animal

Lychanthropy: A person believes they have been transformed to an animal

Zoanthopy: A person believes they are an animal

This is different than the otherkin movement we are hearing about in teens to day

They know they are not animals, but in the case of King Nebuchadnezzer he believed he was

God Restored King Nebuchadnezzer

(v34) At the end of the days

Right on schedule, his mind returned to him

He lifted his eyes and blessed the Most High (EL)

There is a great parallel in this to the prodigal son

Both thought they were worthy

The king, to be praise for his accomplishments and the son to be given his inheritance early

In the midst of his eating from a feeding trough we are told he came to himself

His mind returned to him

in my mind I see both of them face down in pig food, looking up to Heaven and realizing what they have done

When Neb regained his mind he immediately praised the God of Heaven

Not only did he praise God, he sang of God’s sovereign rule

God’s Sovereignty is Our Comfort

So many people run from the doctrine of the sovereignty of God but it really is the foundation of our faith

If we did not have a God that was in control of all things, then we would have a God that at best was slightly more powerful than us

But since we have a God that is in control of all things, we can rest in the knowledge that nothing happens outside His will

Nothing happens outside of His knowledge

Nothing happens outside of His decree

and nothing happens that wont end in His glory

So if you are in Daniel’s position, a slave and eunuch, in a foreign land you can rest that God holds your life in His hand

If you are raised up to a position of authority like king neb, with great accomplishments and reasons to be praised, you must remember it’s because God placed you there

If you end up living in the wild, like an animal, you can rest in the comfort of knowing God is behind it and it will work out for your good.

Because at the end of the day, God’s glory is our good.