Daniel

Daniel Chapter 4

• Daniel 4:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
• 2 I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

This is a narrative that the king made after these things he describes here happened to him. It is fabulous the way he came through all that and was restored to a sound mind. This really shows the mercy of God. God could have allowed him to remain in that state and forever be lost but He had mercy on this king.

So great was his change of heart that he was willing to humble himself and tell all those in his kingdom what transpired. Even though the term all nations is stated, he actually was in authority over what is now modern Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq.

• Daniel 4:3 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.

Notice that he does not fail to give God the praise and glory for His mighty works and great dominion.

It was kind of drastic but this king was shown who God was before this time and he always reverted back to how he was before. He was hot tempered, full of pride and quick to decree death on those with whom he was angered at. What happened here caused him to recognize that God is everlasting and the real supreme ruler for eternity.

This is a perfect story that goes with the verse in Proverbs concerning pride: This verse has been proven true throughout all history no matter how great a person became. 

• Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Today in the church, pride has become the downfall of many. We have a few good experiences; the sick are healed or we produce a great revival with many souls being saved and instead of being so thankful and full of humility that God would see fit to use us, some have become proud thinking that we are somehow special and start to puff up ourselves above others. Many times though it is the others that do this by holding men's persons in admiration and puffing them up. It is hard to resist that type of praise. A true man of God is humble because He knows that he has nothing that God can't give to the any one among us.

• Daniel 4:4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:
• 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
• 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
• 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
• 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
• 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
• 10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
• 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
• 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: 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.
• 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven;
• 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, 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:
• 15 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:
• 16 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.

He dreamed a dream that terrified him. Unlike his first dream in Daniel chapter 2, this one he remembered when he woke up. Like the first dream the astrologers and soothsayers could not interpret it. Daniel came before him and the king acknowledged that Daniel had the spirit of the real God. He calls Daniel by his Babylonian name given to him when he first came into captivity although Daniel seemed to ignore that name and used his Hebrew name in his own writing.

In his dream he sees a great and tall tree. The tree provided food and shelter for all.

The watcher came down from heaven. The term watcher is used for an angel that carried out God's will as they watched over the humans on the earth. The watcher cried out for the tree to be cut down, branches cut off, leaves shaken off and the fruit from the tree was to be scattered. The stump was to be left in the ground. The stump was left but wet with the due of heaven.

He was in this sad state for seven years. Out of his mind for seven years. Except for the hand of God in all this, I doubt if he would have been able to get his throne back.

• Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Again I repeat that watchers are God's angels.

• Daniel 4:18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
• 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spoke, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

Here we see into the faithful character of Daniel. He knew the interpretation and wished that it wasn't true for this king but he knew he had to tell him the truth. Daniel was in a troubled state for a whole hour. He already knew what the dream meant and didn't really enjoy giving the king the interpretation.

• Daniel 4:20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
• 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
• 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

This king of Babylon was very great because God allowed it to be so. At the word of God, his kingdom could end and it did end at the appointed time according to the first vision of the great image.

• Daniel 4:23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof 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 of the field, till seven times pass over him;
• 24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
• 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
• 26 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.
• 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

He reminded the king that he was the tree that was strong and had dominion over the earth. What they preceived as the earth in that day. They probably didn't know of the existance of land that we later call America. The tree cut down in the dream represented the king. He would be insane for 7 years. Yet there was a way to avoid all this.

Daniel begged the king to stop his sinning and show mercy to the poor. It would seem here by the words of Daniel, that if the king would have repented and stopped sinning by changing his ways and having mercy upon the poor, perhaps he could have averted the events that were to follow.  God gave the king 12 months to see if he would repent. At the end of 12 months we see that nothing happened to change his ways. He gave himself glory for building the great Babylonian kingdom and was lifted up in pride. He did not change.

Repentance is a word we have almost forgotten but it is a must in bringing in true salvation. It is true that faith in Christ saves us from sin but to really have saving faith one must be willing to turn from sin and forsake his or her own ways. A change takes place when a conversion is for real. We change and pass from death into life. If we claim to believe in Christ but want to hold onto our sins, receiving Christ only to escape hell and not because we really are giving our life to Christ, we are not truly saved but only are as those who receive the word by the wayside. No fruit is brought forth.

We can see why some are "saved" but do not last while others continue on with Christ bringing forth fruit. Some are moved by the altar call, the music, and pressure from others but never really repent of sin. This is not saving faith. When one really repents of sin, they are really obeying the call of the spirit of God. The spirit draws us to repentance, we believe Jesus and believe that He died to save us from sins, we acknowledge that we have sinned and that we want to be free from the bondage of sin. We then can be genuinely saved by the mercy and grace of God. Half-heartedness does not work. That is why so many I've seen in the past, make several trips to an altar of prayer before they really convinced they are saved. They haven't really given themselves completely to God the first few times, their faith may be weak or perhaps the preacher was one that was a little legalistic in his message. No matter what the trouble was though, several trips to an altar of prayer does help.

This king reminds me of a one who believes for a while as we saw in chapter 2 but later forgets all that he learned. This is an unstable type who lives by emotions and do not stay faithful. Yet God had mercy on this king and wanted him to be saved in the end. This also could be why some of us have to make several trips to the altar to pray as I mentioned in the above paragraph.

• Daniel 4:28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
• 29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

He had 12 months to repent and do as Daniel suggested in verse 27. All he had to have done to avoid this was repent and turn his life around or just "stop sinning." Perhaps he thought Daniel must surely have been mistaken that time and that is was only a weird dream since a year had passed with no fulfillment of that dream.

• Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?

Pride goes before a fall. None of us are so great that God cannot bring down. I'm sure Adolph Hitler thought this way one time when the world seemed to be his for the taking. How the mighty  are fallen. At His word (God's) we stand or fall.

• Daniel 4:31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
• 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
• 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
• 34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

Another scripture comes to my mind:

• James 4:9,10 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Being humble and realizing our need for God and that we can't just live holy without His help is a beneficial. We need God. 

• 1Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

We should also show an humble attitude toward others. 

• Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
• 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
• 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Unfortunately his descendants after him did not learn from this event in Nebuchadnezzar's life as we shall see in chapters to come. In all things we do we must realize how great God is and that we live daily according to His mercy. The fact that we have been privileged to hear the gospel is enough to be thankful for. All throughout eternity we can remember that by His mercy we were able to hear the gospel, believe and be saved.

Sometimes I think about those things. What if my dad would not have heard or his mother before him? What if Dad would not have received Jesus Christ and repented of sin? If Dad would not have been obedient, I might not have heard. What if I had no bible to read and it was still forbidden to the common person as it was during the middle ages? We would not know the truth of the gospel. What a gold mine we have and yet it is so neglected.

I think many times that men and sometimes women were burned to the stake for standing up for the truth of God's word. If they had not have been faithful, the gospel may not have reached my generation.

It humbles me to think that I am a believer, not because of anything I did to deserve it but because God had mercy and brought the gospel to me. DC

Daniel Chapter 5

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