The Book of Daniel, The Second Dream of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:4-18 - Lesson 17

Chapter Four of the book of Daniel is an amazing account of the personal testimony of one of the greatest kings in history.

Because of the intervention of God in his life Nebuchadnezzar took time to write this letter that is chapter four even though its contents do not always show him in a good light.

It is a testimony of the tearing down of his pride resulting in him assuming a position of great humiliation, however it is all to his good.

For as the proverb of the book of Ecclesiastes says the end of a thing is better than the beginning thereof for the ending includes great praise for the Most High God.

In his estimation, what has happened to him at the hand of the Most High God is worthy to be told to all people, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth.

For great signs and wonders had been wrought upon him by the God whose wonders and signs are great and whose kingdom is everlasting, transcending generation to generation.

After praising and glorying in the God of Daniel he begins his testimony as to how he came to know this God personally.

Daniel 4:4-12,  I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:  I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.  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.  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.  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,  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.  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.  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:  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.

The first thing we are to note here is that Nebuchadnezzar is at rest and flourishing in his palace.

This picture of a resting king brought to my mind another man of Jesus’ day, a rich farmer, who also took his ease as he looked upon much goods laid up for many years.

He rested in his substance and believed that it would do him good for years to come.

But it was later in his life than he thought it was!

His attitude was to take his ease, eat, drink and be merry as if many years were his in which to do so.

This seems to be the picture of Nebuchadnezzar as he surveyed all that he had amassed in this the most powerful of kingdoms.

But Jesus said to the rich farmer who basked in his full barns:

Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

At this time Nebuchadnezzar was not rich toward God but instead was rich for himself for all the treasures of Babylon were laid up for him.

Nebuchadnezzar rested in his flourishing kingdom and basked in his own glory seeing his substance as that which satisfies.

God required the soul of the rich farmer that night and his filled barns did him no good.

The message being that your bank account will not satisfy nor anything temporal will satisfy for you are an eternal being and only that which is eternal satisfies.

Only that which you can take with you to eternity will satisfy for all that you can see, touch, taste or feel, will be left for others.

There has never in all of history been an instance where the goods or substance of those who have died have disappeared with them.

It all stays behind to be used by others regardless of its value.

The farmer’s soul was taken that very night but in the case of Nebuchadnezzar God was merciful and gave the king time to repent.

He gave the king time to recognize, praise, extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment.

This is what we will find the king voicing in the last verse of this chapter, after his humiliation had transpired.

God had already revealed future events to the king however the future events revealed by the great image of chapter two were of events spanning the centuries.

But the events in the dream of our passage today concern that which will come to pass in the next eight years.

It is that which affects him personally for it concerns his eternal soul.

It was a dream which made him afraid and gave him thoughts and visions which troubled him.

Again, as on the occasion of his first dream, he called his wise men.

You would think after experiencing their powerlessness in recalling the first dream he would have bypassed them in favor of going to the successful interpreter of dreams, the Israelite Daniel.

But he gave his own people another chance without demanding that they tell him the dream but simply provide an interpretation.

I suppose that Nebuchadnezzar wanted his wise men, men who worshipped his gods, to be successful.

No doubt there was pride on his part and he wished his own religion to dominate.

Perhaps he also thought that their interpretation would be more flattering than that of Daniel who in the first dream brought things that did not please the king.

Remember that he had rebelled against the conclusion of the first dream and had built the stature completely made of gold, refusing to believe that his kingdom was not everlasting.

It was also out of the question for him to first yield to the God of Daniel when he still believed in a multitude of gods.

So he first calls his wise men but again they fail him in providing the meaning of the dream.

But this time there is no threat on their lives as before and perhaps this is so because we are told that Daniel at the last came in before him to interpret the dream.

Perhaps his coming in put off any adverse reaction or threat by the king or perhaps Nebuchadnezzar had learned to control such quick reactions to problems that came up in his life.

In this testimony Daniel is called by his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, and both Nebuchadnezzar’s god and Daniel’s God are mentioned in the same sentence.

Verse 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:

So we see Nebuchadnezzar’s belief system at this time is in a multitude of gods, Daniel’s God being among them.

So the king describes a great, strong and mighty tree in the midst of the earth which reaches into the heavens and can be viewed by the whole world as a beautiful and marvelous thing.

It is a tree which provides nesting places for the birds, shelter for the beasts and a multitude of food for all to eat.

This is the good part but like the first dream there is a part that troubled the king.

The king liked the head of gold in the first dream but was troubled by the stone made without hands which pulverized the entire image including his kingdom, represented by the head of gold.

In this dream he is thrilled with the beauty of the tree and all it offers but it too has a troubling scene attached to it.

And like the statue, it too is totally felled, this time by a watcher and an holy one from heaven.

Daniel 4:13-18,   I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;  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:  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.  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.  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.

This part of the dream describes a judgment, for the tree is judged unworthy to continue its function and is taken away by the watcher who is a holy being according to the king.

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:

A metal band was installed around the stump of the tree for the stump was not removed completely indicating that there is hope for the tree to reform from the remnants of the old tree.

The band of iron and brass would prevent the stump from splitting and rotting and once removed would again sprout.

The band could also indicate bondage of that which remained of the tree which certainly happened to the king as he spent 7 years of insanity as a beast of the field.

Nebuchadnezzar’s description of the tree when in the stump configuration changes from a tree to a creature, living among the beasts in the open field and having the mind of a beast.

For later in this chapter Daniel declares that the tree is the king.

This is the troublesome part for the king and it seems he knew an interpretation that was not all positive and glowing was to come from the lips of Daniel.

Perhaps that is why he would have rather had an interpretation from his own Babylonian countrymen.

Don’t you suppose that the words of verse 17 rang in the ears of the king for they gave the sense of what was to come in Nebuchadnezzar’s life.

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.

These words no doubt brought alarm and dismay to the heart of this proud and arrogant ruler and also alluded to the possibility that he may be among the basest of men.

Remember this verse when you wonder why God gives us the leaders that we get.

God is sovereign and as we learned in Daniel 2:21,  And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: