The Book of Daniel (5)
Chapter 4
Nebuchadnezzar's second Dream

    In the last verses of chapter 3, we read of Nebuchadnezzar's 
decree:
    
    'That every people, nation, and language, which speak any 
thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a 
dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this 
sort.
    
    Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
in the province of Babylon'.

    In verse 47 of chapter 2, after Daniel had revealed 
Nebuchadnezzar's first dream and the interpretation of it, he 
said, 'Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord 
of kings, and a Revealer of secrets'.  In chapter 3:28 & 29, he 
makes a more personal confession, saying, 'Blessed be the God of 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego' and prohibits under 
severe penalties, any word against Him.  So privately and 
publicly he acknowledges the supreme power of the God of 
Daniel and his three friends.

    In the days immediately before the return of the Lord, when 
Israel are in the throes of their 'time of trouble', they will surely 
link up this deliverance in the Book of Daniel with the comfort 
and encouragement of Isaiah's words in chapter 43:
    
    'But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and 
He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I 
have called thee by thy name: thou art Mine.
    
    'I am the LORD thy God - thy Saviour' (verses 1-3).

    It is in the Book of Revelation chapter 13 we read that 
Nebuchadnezzar's attempt for world worship to an image will 
be repeated.  Satan's man likened and referred to as a beast, will 
be given power over all mankind, yet in chapter 15:2-4 we read 
of other Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abed-negos who will not bow 
the knee and worship the image of the beast.  They too will know 
the presence of the Lord and will be given power and great glory 
in the kingdom of God.  Despite all the attempts of Satan to 
usurp the worship of men, Christ will triumph in the end, and all 
who remain faithful to Him will be victorious.

    Turning now to chapter 4, we read:
    
    'Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and 
languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto 
you.
    
    I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high 
God hath wrought toward 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' (verses 1-3).

    We may well wonder at these words!  How was it that this 
pagan, autocratic ruler of a vast empire, came to ascribe to God 
such praise and adoration?  How was it that he had come to 
recognize One Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
His dominion from generation to generation?  Charles H. Welch 
writes:  
    
    'When one has waded through a series of royal proclamations 
made by kings of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt, full of idolatry, 
cruelty and human pride, this proclamation of so mighty a king is 
seen to be all the more remarkable'.

    How this was accomplished occupies the bulk of this chapter, 
and here we read of the one solitary contribution to Holy 
Scripture made by a Gentile king.  There is no doubt that 
Nebuchadnezzar ruled as a despot over a vast area, and no one at 
this zenith of his conquests could dare to challenge his might.  
Because of this power he must have been lifted up by pride and 
arrogance.  Evidently, in the mercy of God, he was to be humbled 
in so drastic a manner that he would be brought again to his 
knees, and eventually come to acknowledge his utter 
unworthiness before the Most High God.

    In verses 4 to 18 we read of Nebuchadnezzar's second 
dream, which again made him afraid, but this time he 
remembered it and told the dream before his wise men.  The wise 
men of the court were unable to give the king the interpretation of 
yet another dream, so Daniel was called in and was told the 
dream:
    
    'I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the 
height thereof was great, the height thereof reached unto heaven.
The leaves thereof were fair and the fruit thereof much, the 
beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the 
heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it' 
(verses 10-12).

    The huge tree and the fowls of the heavens that rested in the 
branches represented Nebuchadnezzar himself and the kingdom 
where idolatry and evil abounded.  It reminds us of the parable of 
the mustard seed in Matthew chapter 13 where, from the smallest 
herb that was sown, a huge tree grew, contrary to nature, so that 
the birds of the air rested in the branches.  Here was something 
grotesque and evil, symbolizing the man of sin, empowered by 
Satan, taking control of the nations on the earth immediately 
before the Lord's return as king.

    Continuing with the dream in verses 13 to 17, 
Nebuchadnezzar saw 'a watcher and an holy one' come down 
from heaven, that is a holy angel.  The Chaldee word 'watcher' 
means an angelic being who watched over the affairs of men.  He 
cried aloud and said,
    
    'Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his 
leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, 
and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of 
his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the 
tender grass of the field;  and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, 
and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
    
    Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart 
be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him, that the 
living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men '.

    Now for the interpretation, found in verses 19-27, but this 
dream also troubled Daniel, and he 'was astonied for one hour'.  
At last he said to the king:
    
    'My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the 
interpretation thereof to thine enemies.  The tree that thou sawest,
it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong:...
    
    And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming 
down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, this is the 
interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, 
which is come upon my lord the king:
    
    They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with 
the beasts of the field, and seven times shall pass over thee, till 
thou know that the Most High ruleth.  And whereas they 
commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall 
be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the 
heavens do rule' (verses 19-26).

    Daniel reveals that because of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar was 
to suffer a great humiliation.  A disease, partly mental and 
resembling what is known as 'lycanthropy', fell on him in the 
height of his pride and boasting.  He imagined he was an ox and 
was driven out from the society of men as a madman.  He 
suffered this shameful ignominy for a period of seven 'times', 
maybe seven years, with the stated object in verse 25:
    
    'O till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of 
men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will'.

    All this came upon the king at the end of twelve months, and 
as he was boasting of his might and power in his palace, while 
the word was in the king's mouth, a voice from heaven said to 
him, 'The kingdom is departed from thee', and in the same hour 
was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven 
from men (verses 28-33).  Modern excavations on the site of 
Babylon have discovered everywhere the name of 
Nebuchadnezzar, and the words 'that I have built' even on 
bricks, pavements and walls; yet see the change that came upon 
this man after he was humbled:
    
    'And at the end of the days, mine understanding returned 
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured 
Him that liveth for ever, Whose dominion is an everlasting 
dominion, and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What 
doest Thou?  At the same time my reason returned unto me; and 
I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added 
unto me' (verses 34-36).

    He learned his lesson the hard way, and we see in these final 
proclamations at last ascriptions of praise and honour transferred 
from false gods of stone and wood, and rendered to the One True 
Living God.  What a testimony was this to be published 
throughout the domain of this pagan king!
    
    'Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King 
of heaven, all Whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and 
those that walk in pride He is able to abase' (verse 37).
    
    Here is recognition of the mighty greatness of the heavenly 
King and kingdom.  Even more than that, the light of moral truth 
breaks in and God is praised not merely in view of His power, 
but because 'all His works are TRUTH, and His ways 
JUDGMENT'.  His WILL is supreme in heaven and among men!

N.J.DREDGE