Lesson for June 29, 2022
The Book of Daniel
Chapter 4
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree
There is a long gap between chapter three and chapter four of more than twenty years. During that time, Nebuchadnezzar had come to know Jehovah (Jesus Christ) as his Savior through a series of events that he related to the people of his kingdom and beyond. He finally recognized that the pagan gods he worshipped were false. The result of his faith was wanting to share it with the world. This chapter is the story of the events that convinced Nebuchadnezzar of his need for a savior.
Verses 1-3
“Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: ‘May your peace abound! It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most-High God has done for me. How great are His signs and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.’”
Prior to this, he simply wanted to force everyone to believe in Jehovah, but that changed once he became a believer. We now see a man humbled before God, demonstrated in his words “may your peace abound.” His comments declare his faith – “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (a spiritual kingdom). Praising God for His mighty works and wonders (what He has done for me) is a solid indication that the king was now a believer. And notice that he gave all the credit to God, where before, he took all the credit.
Verses 4-9
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. 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. So, I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.”
Nebuchadnezzar had once again called for the pagan advisers to interpret a dream, instead of immediately calling Daniel. As an arrogant unbeliever, Nebuchadnezzar had continued to seek human solutions to what troubled him. God was using this dream and what followed to bring Nebuchadnezzar to Christ. After all the pagan advisers failed to interpret the dream, the king did call for Daniel. Notice that Daniel is called “the chief of magicians,” which was the highest rank among all the advisers in the king’s court. Also, Nebuchadnezzar knew that Daniel could interpret his dreams. His statement verifies this, “I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you.” This was the only way that Nebuchadnezzar knew to describe the God of Daniel since he had yet to believe in Jehovah (Jesus).
Verses 10-17
“Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great. The tree grew large and became strong and its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all living creatures fed themselves from it.I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him and let seven periods of time pass over him.This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchersand the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most-High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.’”
Nebuchadnezzar began relating the dream, and later when it came true, actually happened, it caused him to turn to Jehovah for salvation. The dream he related was from the past and he was relating what had occurred prior to his salvation. The king’s dream was of a huge tree in the middle of the earth. Similar to the previous dream, the tree represented Nebuchadnezzar who had become the premier leader in the world. His empire stretched into most of the known world.
The entire world knew of the great leader and his kingdom. He was a brilliant commander of the military, a great administrator, and a highly capable architect. The visibility, beautiful foliage and fruit of the tree in his dream all spoke of the grandeur of his kingdom. Even animal life was protected under his rulership.
While Nebuchadnezzar was dreaming, a messenger (angel/holy one) from God addressed the king, and the message disturbed him. The tree was to be cut down, and the branches, fruit, and foliage removed. This left no place for the birds to nest or the beasts to rest. But the stump was to be preserved and banded with iron and bronze. (Jeremiah 4:16-17; Psalm 103:20-21)
And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him and let seven periods of time pass over him. The message had now become personal in that it referred directly to Nebuchadnezzar. The purpose was clearly stated – that the living may know that the Most-High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men. This was God’s way of humbling the king and making him realize his need for salvation. We can be sure that Daniel and his friends had shared the salvation message with the king on many occasions.
Verse 18
“This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
The king, in a final attempt to understand his dream, once again summoned Daniel. By now, one would think that Nebuchadnezzar would have gone immediately to Daniel, the person who had interpreted his last dream. But the king was arrogant and self-absorbed and tried to handle things with human power. Human solutions are no solutions at all to spiritual problems, and that is what the king had – a spiritual problem. It is human nature to try to solve our own problems, even if they are overwhelming and unsolvable by human means. As believers in Christ, we should always go to God and His Word for the solutions to our problems in life. It is very time-consuming and frustrating to continue to fail when using human viewpoint in an attempt to solve any issue, so why not go to the source for the solution and use the Problem-Solving Devices?
Verses 19-27
“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries! The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged – it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth.In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,’ this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’”
Daniel was shocked by the dream and its interpretation which told the story that King Nebuchadnezzar was going to be severely judged by God. Obviously, Daniel did not want to deliver bad news to the king, but he had to do God’s will. The verdict was in, the king would lose his kingdom (cut down) and he would be driven into the fields to live with the beasts, he would eat grass and he would not have a roof over this head (drenched with dew) for seven years. However, God was not finished with the king because the stump banded with iron and bronze was a way of preserving the roots of a tree. In this way, God was letting the king know that the potential existed for his kingdom to be restored, but only when he recognized that God set up and removed kings by His sovereign will.
Verses 28-33
“All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
God gave Nebuchadnezzar a twelve-month grace period to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, which he failed to do. At the end of God’s grace period, the king was walking on the roof of his palace bragging about all of his accomplishments. As he was doing this, God spoke to him and told him the sentence would be carried out immediately.
He was driven out into the fields and his hair grew long like feathers and his nails looked like birds’ claws. We are reminded of the verse, James 4:6, which tells us that God gives grace to the humble but resists the arrogant. Arrogance was the fatal flaw of Nebuchadnezzar.
Any form of arrogance destroys capacity for life and capacity for happiness and replaces it with self-absorption, which is preoccupation with self. Arrogance is one of the greatest areas of self-deceit – thinking that living life apart from God and His Word is success in life. Success for believers is based on their attitude toward God and Bible doctrine.
Verses 34-37
“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward 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. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so, I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
Nebuchadnezzar then related how he turned to God in faith and became a believer. He had learned his lesson and the result was faith in Jehovah (Jesus Christ) for salvation. God in His grace then restored the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. He had been humbled by Almighty God. His health was restored, the majesty and splendor of his kingdom were restored, he regained the respect and popularity among those in the court, and God made his kingdom even greater than before.
In the end, this great and mighty king humbled himself before God and acknowledged in his humility that all of God’s works are true and all His ways are just (a sign of his faith). And he also acknowledged that God can and will bring down those who in arrogance oppose Him!