Daniel 4: 1-37
A Letter from Nebuchadnezzar about his insanity.
From King Nebuchadnezzar.
To the people of every province, nation, and language in the World.
I wish you peace and prosperity.
I am pleased to write to you about the miraculous signs and amazing things the Most High God did for me.
His miraculous signs are impressive.
He uses His power to do amazing things.
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom.
His power lasts from one generation to the next.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living comfortably at home. I was prosperous while living in my palace. I had a dream that terrified me. The visions I had while I was asleep frightened me. So I ordered all the wise advisers in Babylon to be brought to me to tell me the dream's meaning.
All his pagan and worldly advisers came to him.
I told them the dream, but they couldn't tell me its meaning. Finally, Daniel came to me (he had been renamed Belteshazzar after my god [Bel]). The spirit of the holy gods is in him.
I told him the dream: Belteshazzar, head of the magicians, I know the spirit of the holy gods is in you. No secret is too hard for you [to uncover]. Tell me the meaning of the visions I had in my dream. These are the visions I had while I was asleep: and he recounted his dream to Daniel.
Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning because the wise advisers in my kingdom can't tell it to me. However, you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.
This king sure had faith in Daniel, and really put him on the spot here.
Then Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar) was momentarily stunned. What he was thinking frightened him. I told him, Belteshazzar, don't let the dream and its meaning frighten you.
Belteshazzar answered, Sir, I wish that the dream were about those who hate you and its meanng were about your enemies.
You saw an oak tree grow and become strong enough and tall enough to reach the sky. It could be seen everywhere on Earth. It had beautiful leaves and plenty of fruit, enough to feed everyone. Wild animals lived under it, and birds made their homes in its branches.
You are that tree, your Majesty. You grew and became strong and mighty until you reached the sky. Your power reaches the most distant part of the World.
You saw a guardian, a holy being, come down from Heaven. He said, Cut down the oak tree! Destroy it! But leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Secure it with an iron and bronze chain in the grass of the field. Let it get wet with the dew from the sky. Let it get its share of the plants on the ground with the wild animals for seven years.
This is the meaning, your Majesty. The Most High has decided to apply it to you, your Majesty. You will be forced away from people and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. The dew from the sky will make you wet. And seven years will pass until you realize that the Most High has power over human kingdoms and that He gives them to whomever He wishes.
Since the stump and the tree's roots were left, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you realize that Heaven rules.
That is why, your Majesty, my best advice is that you stop sinning, and do what is right. Stop committing the same errors, and have pity on the poor. Maybe you can prolong your prosperity.
All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, he was walking around the royal palace in Babylon. The king thought, Look how great Babylon is! I built the royal palace by my own impressive power and for my glorious honor.
Before the words came out of his mouth, a voice came from Heaven: King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to this: The kingdom has been taken from you. You will be forced away from people and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. And seven years will pass until you realize that the Most High has power over human kingdoms and that He gives them to whomever He wishes. He can place the lowest of people in charge of them.
Just then the prediction about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was forced away from people and ate grass like cattle. Dew from the sky made his body wet until his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails grew as long as birds' claws.
At the end of seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to Heaven, and my mind came back to me. I thanked the Most High, and I praised and honored the One Who lives forever, because His power lasts forever and His kingdom lasts from one generation to the next.
Everyone who lives on Earth is nothing compared to Him. He does whatever He wishes with the army of Heaven and with those who live on Earth. There is no one who can oppose Him or ask Him, What are You doing?
That's when my mind came back to me. My royal honor and glory were also given back to me. My advisers and nobles wanted to meet with me [again]. I was given back my kingdom and made extraordinarily great.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, will praise, honor, and give glory to the King of Heaven. Everything He does is true, His ways are right, and He can humiliate those who act arrogantly.
So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became a believer in the God of Heaven, the Lord God of Israel.
He realized that he really is little better than an animal, certainly not the god he had imagined himself to be previously.
*[The Ryrie Study Bible, page 1316, in a note on 4:33, states that, "The king's illness was boanthropy (imagining himself to be an animal and acting accordingly), a condition that has been observed in modern times. Probably the king was kept in one of the royal parks during his insanity."]*
God can save anybody who is open to Him. Even during the times before Jesus came to "open the door to Gentiles," this story shows us that God was not limiting salvation to only the Jews and Israelites. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (II Peter 3:9), and He showed this king His power to care for and rescue His people, in ways no other god ever has or ever will.
We are saved by faith, believing God and trusting Him to be and do what He has told us He would do. This is how He has always saved people, starting with Adam and Eve. And He continues to save whoever will believe Him and trust Him, acknowledging that He is God and we are not.
This is the last we hear of Nebuchadnezzar, the next chapter is about his son (or grandson). And Daniel is still on the scene to give advice to this king, also.
O my Father, thank You for your consistency in always loving us, always teaching us, and always providing for us and leading us. You protect us, You draw us to Yourself, and You humble us when we get on our "high horse," thinking that we're anything without You.
You are my strength, You are my sustenance, You are my very life. You are the Source of everything I need or want, and Your Love drowns me in its fathomless depths.
I long for the time when I will be with You where You are, enjoying Your Presence and basking in Your Goodness, worshiping You forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
