DANIEL 4

1. The middle letter in the word "pride" is i.
2. God has His ways of humbling the proud and Daniel 4 is a vivid illustration of this.
3. In Dan.2, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a fearful vision. None of his sorcerers or astrologers or wise men was able to interpret this strange dream, only Daniel the prophet.
4. But rather than humble him, the dream made Nebuchadnezzar proud. In chapter 3, we saw how he cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a fiery furnace. Our Lord delivered them, but this still was not enough to humble the proud king.
5. Finally in chapter 4 we see what God had to do to humble this proud king.

4:1-3 The king’s proclamation. This proclamation serves as sort of a preamble to the rest of the chapter.

1. Nebuchadnezzar appears to have been converted. He seems to sincerely desire that everyone know the true God. But unfortunately, he was a "double-minded man" (4:8; cf. II Kings 17:24-41).
2. At first, Nebuchadnezzar thought only of his kingdom – now he realizes that God’s kingdom is far more important (vs. 3).

4:4-7 I believe these dreams were sent by God to warn Nebuchadnezzar. Cf. Dan.4:5 with Dan.2:1. There are many interesting lessons to be learned from the life of Nebuchadnezzar. One of them is this: after realizing that his wise men were incapable of interpreting his dreams, he still went back to them for help (vs. 6,7). Things have not really changed that much. Multitudes of people still keep going back to cults and false religions even after they have proven themselves useless and even dangerous.

4:8 After his wise men failed him again, the king calls upon Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar was very confused spiritually (not unlike many religious people today). He acknowledged the God of Israel as the true God (2:47; 3:28,29). He proclaimed that "no other God…can deliver after this sort" (3:29). Yet he would not give up his various pagan gods.

4:9 The title "master of the magicians" was probably intended to be a compliment. It might mean "master of the scholars" because in Babylon the magicians were the wise scholars. They mixed science, magic, and religion together (cf. Ezek.28:3).

4:10 In the Bible, a great tree often symbolizes a king or a kingdom (cf. Ezek.31:3; Matt.13:31,32). A tree symbolizes earthly greatness, grandeur, and power. The tree was in a most conspicuous place – the midst of the earth, and its height was great. This tree symbolized King Nebuchadnezzar, whose lines of power went out to all the known inhabited earth.

4:11,12 This indicates the strength of Babylon.

4:13 These are angels. Nebuchadnezzar used pagan terminology because he was a pagan. All pagan religions believe in the spirit world.

4:14 Notice the personification of the tree. The angel is giving orders to the other angels, "cut off his branches…" The tree was "it" in vs. 12 but now it is personified – the tree represents King Nebuchadnezzar.

4:15 The stump stays rooted to the earth. Provision is made for the continuation of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule – the stump is left. A band of iron and brass might be symbolic of the king’s madness which would later hold him symbolically in chains. This tree definitely represents Nebuchadnezzar. Note: "his portion."

4:16 The length of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness was "seven times," i.e. seven years.

4:17 The purpose: "that the king may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men…" – this is one of the great themes of the book of Daniel (cf. 2:21; 5:21). Victor Hugo (quoted by L. Strauss): On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon stood gazing upon the field of battle as he described to his commanding officer his strategy for that day’s campaign. "We will put the infantry here, the cavalry there, the artillery here. At the end of the day England will be at the feet of France and Wellington will be the prisoner of Napoleon."

After a pause the commanding officer said, "But we must not forget that man proposes, but God disposes."

With arrogant pride the little dictator stretched his body to full height and replied, "I want you to understand, sir, that Napoleon proposes and Napoleon disposes." Victor Hugo went on to write, "From that moment Waterloo was lost, for God sent rain and hail so that the troops of Napoleon could not maneuver as he had planned, and on the night of battle it was Napoleon who was the prisoner of Wellington, and France was at the feet of England" (cf. James 4:6; I Peter 5:6).

4:18 Nebuchadnezzar still had great confidence in Daniel.

4:19 Daniel was loyal to the king and was troubled by the dream.

4:20-22 Nebuchadnezzar was then at the peak of his political and military power.

4:23 A decree is from God and is ministered through His angels (cf. vs. 17).

4:24,25 This is what it would take to humble the proud king.

4:26 "The stump of the tree roots" represents the restoration of King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

4:27 Daniel urges Nebuchadnezzar to repent. "If it may be…" indicates that God was ready to extend mercy to the proud king if he would humble himself. Perhaps God would prolong the time before the judgment or shorten the judgment when it came, but either way, God would "lengthen" his "tranquility" if he repented.

4:28,29 God gave Nebuchadnezzar twelve months but he did not repent.

4:30 "Great Babylon" was protected by a system of great double walls; the outer line extending ten miles around. The double walls were each 25 feet thick, with 40 feet between them; and a total of 260 towers 160 feet apart. *Through the center of the city, for 2/3 of a mile, extended the great 70 feet wide stone-paved Procession Street, having walls decorated with enameled bricks showing 120 lions and 575 dragons and bulls arranged in alternate rows.

* At the northern end of Procession Street was the famous Ishtar Gate, 35 feet high, decorated with 557 animals in bright colors against a glazed blue background. The original gate was brought by Kaldewey to Berlin where it still resides, but an exact replica may be seen at the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago.

• The city was dominated by a seven-story ziggurat (step-pyramid), 288 feet high, known as the Tower of Babylon. On top of this stood the Temple of Marduk, containing a solid gold statue of Marduk, weighing 52,000 pounds.
• At the north end of the city, near the Ishtar Gate, was Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. His throne room was 171 feet by 56 feet. At the northeast end of the palace were the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

4:31-33 God’s judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Pro.6:16-19; 16:18). "The tragic result of his vainglory was that he who had attempted to make himself more than a man became less than human" (G. Coleman Luck). There is a mental disorder called "boanthropy" or "lycanthrophy," i.e., Nebuchadnezzar really thought he was an ox. A man named Raymond Harris observed a man who suffered from this in 1946 in a British mental institution (cited by John Walvoord, Daniel, p. 109).

4:34 Nebuchadnezzar’s apprehends the true God, and His everlasting kingdom (cf. 2:44; 7:14; Luke 1:33).

4:35 Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God’s sovereignty. He certainly sounds like a man who has been truly converted.

4:36 His reason returned to him.

4:37 The key to the entire chapter: "Those that walk in pride He is able to abase."