Daniel 4.5-Nebuchadnezzar Saw Revelations-Visions That Terrified Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 23, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 4:5-Nebuchadnezzar Received Prophetic Revelations-Visions That Terrified Him
Lesson # 111
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 4:5.
This evening we will study Daniel 4:5, which records Nebuchadnezzar telling his subjects in his kingdom that he saw a dream, which caused him to be frightened, specifically revelations on his bed.
He then emphatically states that these visions in his mind caused him to be terrified.
Daniel 4:1 “King Nebuchadnezzar, to each and every person belonging to the nations, ethnicities and language groups, who are living throughout the entire earth: May your prosperity increase! 2 It is pleasing to me to make known the miraculous signs, yes, and wondrous signs at that, which the Most High God performed on my behalf. 3 How great are His miraculous signs! Indeed, how great are His wondrous signs! His kingdom is eternal. In other words, His governmental dominion is from generation to generation. 4 I myself, Nebuchadnezzar was content in my house, specifically prosperous in my palace.” (My translation)
Daniel 4:5 “I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.” (NASB95)
“I saw a dream” is composed of the masculine singular noun ḥē∙lěm (חֵלֶם) (khay´-lem), “a dream” which is followed by the first second person singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ḥǎzā(h) (חֲזָה) (khaz-aw´), “I saw.”
The verb ḥǎzā(h) means “to see” in the sense of receiving a prophetic revelation in a dream.
The noun ḥē∙lěm is in the singular and refers to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and refers to the revelations Nebuchadnezzar received from God in a dream.
This is indicated by the fact that Daniel’s interpretation of this dream as recorded in Daniel 2:19-27 reveals that this dream was just that, a revelation from God concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s future.
“And it made me fearful” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine singular paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel) active imperfect form of the verb deḥǎl (דְּחַל) (deh-khal´), “it made fearful” and then we have the first person singular pronominal suffix -î (־י) (ee), “me.”
The conjunction wa means “which” since it is functioning as a relative pronoun referring to the noun ḥē∙lěm, “dream.”
The verb deḥǎl means “to cause one to be frightened” referring to the state of fear and describes the vision in the king’s dream as inducing fear in him.
The paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel stem) of the verb denotes that the dream caused Nebuchadnezzar to enter the state of being frightened.
“And these fantasies” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine plural noun hǎr∙hōr (הַרְהֹר) (har-hor´), “fantasies.”
This time the conjunction wa is epexegetical meaning that it is introducing a word which describes the noun ḥē∙lěm, “dream.”
The noun hǎr∙hōr is in the plural and means “revelations” and not “fantasies” (NASB95, ESV) since the rest of the chapter and specifically Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream reveals that this dream was a just that a revelation from God concerning the king’s future.
“And the visions in my mind kept alarming me” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine plural construct form of the noun ḥězû (חֱזוּ) (khay´-zev), “the visions in,” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun rē(ʾ)š (רֵאשׁ) (raysh), “mind” which is modified by the first person singular pronominal suffix -î (־י) (ee), “my” and then we have the third person masculine plural paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel) active imperfect form of the verb behǎl (בְּהַל) (bĕ-hal´), “kept alarming” which is followed by the first person singular pronominal suffix -î (־י) (ee), “me.”
This time the conjunction wa is emphatic meaning that it is introducing a statement which advances upon and intensifies the previous statement.
The advancement and intensification is going from where he received these revelations to describing his state of mind.
He goes from saying he received revelations to saying that they were supernatural revelations that entered his mind while in an altered state of consciousness.
He goes from saying that these revelations frightened him to saying that they were visions which terrified him.
The noun ḥězû means “visions” and refers to Nebuchadnezzar receiving a supernatural revelation from God while he was awake and describes an appearance of something in Nebuchadnezzar’s mind that was a supernatural revelation to communicate a truth to him, not seen as a sensory perception.
This term speaks of revelation from God the Holy Spirit with regards to the Father’s will for Nebuchadnezzar and denotes that God gave Nebuchadnezzar revelation with regards to His future plans for the king, which is demonstrated in chapter four.
The noun ḥězû indicates that Nebuchadnezzar received this revelation from God while he was in a trance.
This is distinguished from the possession trance and dreams since it is an altered state of consciousness in which extrasensory audiovisual experiences, which are revelatory in character, are perceived in private by individuals.
Here this word denotes that Nebuchadnezzar was in an altered state of consciousness in which God revealed what will take place in his life in the future.
These visions that Nebuchadnezzar received from God were prophetic in that they tell the king about his future and were also symbolic as indicated by the fact that the tree and its stump is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar.
These visions were also oracles of assurance since the king is assured that he would be restored to the throne which acknowledges that God is sovereign over him.
These revelations Nebuchadnezzar received from God regarding his future was to direct him to submitting to God’s will over his life and to teach him and the reader that God’s authority is over every ruler including the most powerful ones such as Nebuchadnezzar.
The verb behǎl means “to cause one to be terrified” and is a stronger word than the verb deḥǎl which means “to cause one to be frightened.”
The paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel stem) of the verb denotes that these visions caused Nebuchadnezzar to enter the state of being terrified.
Daniel 4:5 “I saw a dream, which caused me to be frightened, specifically revelations on my bed. Indeed, visions in my mind caused me to be terrified.” (My translation)
In Daniel 4:5, Nebuchadnezzar abruptly begins his story in that he goes from telling his reader that he was content in his house, prospering in his palace to abruptly telling the reader that while relaxing on his bed, all of a sudden he received revelation from God in a vision in a dream, which terrified him.
The king is learning that once again that the transcendent, omniscient and omnipotent God who he came into contact with as recorded in chapters two and three is immanent meaning that God intervenes in the lives of men.
When Daniel told the king the interpretation of his dream, God was intervening in the life of the king and communicating to him that he Nebuchadnezzar was accountable to Him and was sovereign over the king.
God intervened in the king’s life by giving him a dream, which Daniel interpreted for him.
He again intervened in the king’s life by manifesting His omnipotence in delivering Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from his power.
Now the God of Israel is intervening in the life of Nebuchadnezzar by once again giving him a dream, which is much more personal in nature than the one he received in chapter two.
This dream in chapter four concerns itself exclusively with Nebuchadnezzar and so he is learning about the miraculous nature of God’s kingdom in that He intervenes in the lives and affairs of men.
As was the case in chapters two and three, the king is learning once again that God is sovereign over him.
The reason why Nebuchadnezzar was terrified upon receiving these prophetic revelations-visions was that he felt threatened by he saw.
He felt threatened because his conscience was convicting him that he was still living in rebellion with God.
On two separate occasions, Nebuchadnezzar was told by God that He was sovereign over him.
In chapter two, Daniel interpreted his dream and told the king that God gave him his authority, power and success and was thus sovereign over him.
Then, in chapter three, by miraculously delivering Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from his power, God was telling the king that He was sovereign over him.
Now, he receives another supernatural revelation, which bothers his conscience since in this revelation-vision, the king saw a holy watchman coming down from out of heaven, who tells the king that his message was from God.
Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar knows that God is speaking to him again and his conscience has convicted him that he has not been obedient to the previous revelations given to him in that he has yet to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over his life.
So the king knows with this revelation or vision that God is dealing with him and is not happy with him which is reflected in Daniel’s interpretation, which said that the king would be deposed for seven years until he acknowledged that God was sovereign over him.