Daniel 4 Commentary

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Daniel 1	Daniel 2:4-7:28	Daniel 8-12
Written in Hebrew	Written in Aramaic	Written in Hebrew
Daniel's "No Compromise" Stand	God's Prophetic Plan for Gentile Nations	God's Prophetic Plan for Israel

Daniel 4:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: "May your peace abound!

• all: Da 3:4,29 7:14 Es 3:12 8:9 Zec 8:23 Ac 2:6
• Peace: Da 6:25,27 1Ch 12:18 Ezra 4:17 5:7 Ro 1:7 Eph 1:2 1Ti 1:2 1Pe 1:2
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S
"AUTOBIOGRAPHY"

It should be noted that the first three verses (Da 4:1-3) in our English Bibles are actually numbered Da 3:31-33 in the Aramaic text. Similarly the remainder of the verses (Da 4:4-37) in our English Bibles are numbered Da 4:1-34 in the Aramaic text. Most authorities agree that the content of these three verses (Aramaic Da 3:31-33) is such that it fits best with Daniel 4 and thus they are included in this chapter rather than at the end of Daniel 3.

TECHNICAL NET NOTE - Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:37 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:31 AT, 4:2 ET = 3:32 AT, 4:3 ET = 3:33 AT, 4:4 ET = 4:1 AT, etc., through 4:37 ET = 4:34 AT. Thus Dan 3:31–33 of the Aramaic text appears as Dan 4:1–3 in the English Bible, and the corresponding verses of ch. 4 differ accordingly. In spite of the division of the Aramaic text, a good case can be made that 3:31–33 AT (= 4:1–3 ET) is actually the introduction to ch. 4.

Nebuchadnezzar - This is a very unique chapter in Scripture. Note first that it is written in the first person ("I", "me", "my"). It is therefore essentially Nebuchadnezzar's autobiographical synopsis of his reign, his ruin and his restoration/revival. Notice how the king arrogantly begins in Da 4:4 with a bad case of "perpendicular "I"-itis" (as J Vernon McGee quips), that fatal malady that "infects" all of mankind (Ro 5:12) and ends with a humble sense of the Most High God! If (as I believe) Nebuchadnezzar was a new believer in the Most High God, this is the only chapter in Scripture written by a new believer. It is not that Nebuchadnezzar himself was inspired when he spoke but the chapter is inspired in the sense that Daniel recorded it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2Pe 1:21 and because "all" Scripture is inspired - 2Ti 3:16). As this chapter unfolds we read Nebuchadnezzar's personal testimony (his "life journey") explaining how the Most High God caused him to be born again (cp 1Pe 1:3). In these introductory 3 verses the king begins in essence at the end of his story (which picks back up in Da 4:34-37) and then recounts his reminiscence or "flashback" to the events that led to this national proclamation (So he begins with the good and then goes to the bad and ugly - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"!).

THOUGHT - As you read Daniel 4 ask yourself - Who spoke it? Who wrote it down? How does this relate to 2Ti 3:16 and 2Pe 1:21? When does Da 4:1-3 take place? In other words, how do these opening verses relate to Da 4:4?

Reginald Showers remarks that "There are two lines of evidence which indicate that the words of this chapter are actually Nebuchadnezzar’s. First, the literary style of chapter four resembles the style of Nebuchadnezzar’s ancient inscriptions. Second, the character of the king revealed in this chapter agrees with ancient descriptions of the man. (The Most High God- A Commentary on the Book of Daniel).

In H A Ironside's introduction to this chapter, he writes that...

In Job 33:14, 15, 16, 17, 18, we are told, Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol.

This is how God often speaks to men who will not open a Bible to receive the clear revelation of His will. He has many ways of reaching those who seem bent on their own destruction. In the passage from Job, Elihu goes on to show that when dreams and visions do not avail, God sometimes allows disease to grip the body until the poor sinner is broken in spirit and crushed in heart. Then

"He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light" (Job 33:27-28KJV).

The fourth chapter of Daniel is a remarkable example of God's matchless grace and illustrates most preciously the words of Elihu to Job. The first time God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar He gave him the dream of the great image of the times of the Gentiles. But the heart of the king was willful, and he continued to go on with his own purpose in his pride and folly. God spoke the second time by the marvelous vision of the Son of God in the midst of the fiery furnace, keeping His faithful witnesses from all danger and harm. But again the proud king kept on his way with unsubject heart and unsubdued will. Now God speaks the third time in a most humiliating manner to this great world-ruler.

This stirring fourth chapter of Daniel was written by Nebuchadnezzar himself and preserved and incorporated into the inspired volume. In it we have the interesting account of the means God used to bring this haughty king to the end of himself and lead him to abase Himself before the Majesty in Heaven. In other words, this is Nebuchadnezzar's conversion, and it seems clearly to show that a work of grace took place in his soul before he laid down the scepter entrusted to his hand by Jehovah. The account is also illustrative for in Nebuchadnezzar we see a picture of all Gentile power—its departure from God, its degradation and bestial character, and its final subjugation to God in the time of the end. At that time Christ will return in glory, and all nations will prostrate themselves before Him, owning His righteous and benevolent sway.

As Donald Campbell quips - The introduction is actually a conclusion! Chronologically, these opening words belong at the end of the chapter because they grow out of Nebuchadnezzar's experiences that are recorded in the following paragraphs. But the king was so overwhelmed by God's dealings with him that, humiliating though it was, he wanted the world to know about it.  (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

John Walvoord - Those who reject chapter 4 of Daniel without exception assume that the account is not inspired of the Holy Spirit, that an experience like Nebuchadnezzar’s is essentially incredible, and that it is a myth rather than an authentic historical record. Such objections obviously assume that higher criticism is right in declaring Daniel a forgery of the second century B.C. This conclusion is now subject to question not only because of the fallacious reasoning which supports it, but because it is now challenged by the documentary evidence in the Qumran text of Daniel, which on the basis of the critics’ own criteria would require Daniel to be much older than the second century b.c. (see Introduction). Conservative scholarship has united in declaring this chapter a genuine portion of the Word of God, equally inspired with other sections of Daniel. (Chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride And Punishment)

To all the peoples, nations and men of every language that live in all the earth - This sentence identifies this chapter as a divine decree from King Nebuchadnezzar to all men (see Da 4:6). He’s not the God only of Israel. He is also the God of the Gentiles.

Think about what he is saying.

First, this is his royal proclamation, his personal witness of the saving hand of the Most High God. This is Nebuchadnezzar's "Tract" if you will, of how his personal encounter with the one true and living High God. And He’s not only the God of one nation or one people, but He is also the Lord God, the mighty Sovereign and King of all the nations and of all the peoples of the world.

Second, notice that he is not ashamed to share his conversion with others.

Third, note that he is sharing his testimony with the entire world (all the peoples...in all the earth). What a striking contrast with the same phrase but in the context of an order to bow to an idol! Da 3:4, 7 = "peoples, nations and men of every language." What a change in one's worldview a change in one's heart can make! (cp 2Cor 5:17).

One wonders how this was received by the pagan idol worshipping Babylonians, not to mention all the rest of the world. As we have alluded to before, the famous "wise men" from the East who worshipped at the foot of Christ's birthplace had to have heard about the Messiah from someone (Mt 2:2, 11). Given that Nebuchadnezzar's testimony is recounted in a way that gives God alone the glory, there is no doubt that God's Spirit used it to make significant impact on all the earth. Of course, all the earth clearly was not converted but this chapter suggests that they did at least have an opportunity to hear about the great and mighty Most High God Who is able to deliver one from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18, Col 1:13, cp Heb 2:14, 15) and unto His everlasting kingdom and eternal dominion.

Adam Clarke - There are no preternatural signs like his! His wonders—miraculous interferences, are mighty—they surpass all human power. He is the Sovereign of all kings, and his dominion is everlasting; and every generation is a proof of his all-governing influence. These are very fine sentiments, and show how deeply his mind was impressed with the majesty of God.

Peter describes God's heartbeat in regard to salvation of the world (in the context of those who because of delay, question the teaching that God will judge the world - 2Pe 3:5, 6, 2Pe 3:7, 8) noting that...

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2Peter 3:9, cp 1Ti 2:4 = "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.")

And during the seven year period referred to as the Tribulation (aka Daniel's Seventieth Week), just before Christ returns, John testifies again to the desire of the Father to save men even as His wrath is being poured out on the earth...

And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters." (Rev 14:6, Rev 14:7)

Comment: Note the similarity of the intended audiences of both the angel's message to the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar (respectively, every nation, etc versus all the peoples...all the earth).

May your peace abound - This was a common form of expression in the ancient world (cp Darius' decree in Da 6:25). However issuing from Nebuchadnezzar's lips, this may have had more meaning, as this chapter strongly suggests that he experienced the peace that comes only to the hearts of those converted by grace through faith (Eph 2:8,9). By way of application, if one believes the truth of God's Word by grace through faith, the result is an eternal, abounding peace WITH God (Ro 5:1). And when we as believers choose to live by the truth of God's Word, then we experience the surpassing peace OF God (Php 4:7). Think about this for a moment...Nebuchadnezzar a man filled with anger and prone to acts of unspeakable cruelty, the destroyer of God's temple, the one who took God's people captive, and yet in spite of all this, the Lord is showing grace and mercy to this pagan king. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? (Ge 18:14) Does this not remind us of God's abounding mercy to another pagan king and city in Nineveh (known for their horrible cruelty in was - skinning victims alive, etc) (See Jonah 3:4,5, 6)

🙏 THOUGHT - Beloved, do you have a friend, relative or spouse that you think is simply too far away for God to ever be able to reach their heart and bring about conversion? Then think again and remember the lengths to which God went in order to bring about Nebuchadnezzar's repentance and belief.

Jamieson writes that - Peace (was) the usual salutation in the East, shalom, whence "salaam." The primitive revelation of the fall, and man's alienation from God, made "peace" to be felt as the first and deepest want of man. The Orientals (as the East was the cradle of revelation) retained the word by tradition.

Charles Simeon - A MORE remarkable history than this is not found in the annals of the world. Never was such a transition ever heard of, from such an elevation to a state of such extraordinary degradation, as that which is recorded in this chapter. The account is written by Nebuchadnezzar himself; and, doubtless by divine direction, it was incorporated with the writings of Daniel, and made a part of the inspired volume. (Daniel 4:34-37 NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM VERIFIED AND IMPROVED)

Liberal "scholars" go to great lengths in attempts to discredit the authenticity of Daniel 4 for several reasons, including the unusual nature of the events described and the apparent conversion of a famous pagan king.

John Walvoord sums this up well writing that "This chapter is no more difficult to believe than any other unusual divine revelation." (Chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride And Punishment)

When does Daniel 4 take place? King Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 43 years (605-562BC) but unfortunately we have only a few fragments of the Babylonian Chronicle, Babylon's official court record, and thus for most part have little official record of of Nebuchadnezzar's life and specific actions including those described in Daniel 4. However there is no definitive internal evidence to allow one to assign a specific date to this Daniel 4. 

Between the thirtieth
and thirty-fifth years of his reign

John MacArthur feels that "The setting of Daniel 4 probably took place between the thirtieth and thirty-fifth years of his reign, approximately twenty-five to thirty years after the incident of the fiery furnace. Daniel was between forty-five to fifty years of age. (Daniel 4-1-37: How Are the Mighty Fallen!)

Sam Storms on timing writes "the time when the events of this chapter occurred cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. However, it was sufficiently late in Neb's reign that he could speak of his building projects as complete (Da 4:30). Also, if the 'seven periods of time (Da 4:16) refer to seven years...the dream cannot have occurred later than Neb's 35th year of rule (he ruled 43 years altogether). 'These factors together place the time of the dream likely between the thirtieth and thirty-fifth year of Neb's reign, when Daniel was between forty-five and fifty years old, and when twenty-five to thirty years had elapsed since the deliverance of the three friends from the fiery furnace (Wood, 99). (Daniel 4:1-37)

Gleason Archer attempts to nail down a time period for the events in Daniel 4 writing that "Presumably the events in chapter 4 took place some eight or nine years before the end of the siege of Tyre in 573. (H.W.F. Saggs, The Greatness That Was Babylon [New York. Mentor, 1968], p. 148, estimates that the siege ended in 571 B.C.; See Ezek 26:7, which foretold this major effort against the Phoenician capital.) This would allow for a seven-year interval of mental illness, during which no major military operations were undertaken—say from 582 to 575. Perhaps it was in 583 that Nebuchadnezzar had his dream, with its sinister warning. (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

W A Criswell - The objection [to the authenticity of Daniel 4] is made that the proud, self-centered king who erected an image of himself at Dura would never condescend to tell a story of his own humiliation. The power of God, however, can change even a king's proud heart. (Believer's Study Bible)

Chuck Swindoll entitles this chapter "Insomnia, Insanity and Insight". He adds that "there is evidence...that this polytheistic ruler became converted in mind and heart to Jewish monotheism and thereby experienced salvation. But if Nebuchadnezzar was not saved as a result of the events recorded in Daniel 4, he at least came to intellectually accept and politically submit to the one true God. In either case, this passage of Scripture relays an incredible story about the Lord's sovereignty and the extent to which He will go to demonstrate His authority." ()

John MacArthur - Nebuchadnezzar’s praise of God in Da 4:1–3 and Da 4:34b-37 is the theme that brackets the experience the king reiterates in the first person (Da 4:4–34, Ed: The pronoun "I" is found 18x in 13v and "my" 25x in 14v). He began and ended the narrative with praise, and in between told why he converted to such worship of the true God (cf. Ro 11:33). (SEE MacArthur Study Bible)

Donald Campbell writes that Daniel 4 "records the culmination of Nebuchadnezzar's spiritual biography, with God using drastic means to bring this haughty king to the end of himself and to faith in the God of Israel."   (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

The eloquent preacher Joseph Parker wrote that Nebuchadnezzar "had seen a new revelation, and he would talk about it; something new had shone upon him from the opening heavens, and he would tell all the empire about it—Armenia, Syria, and the dwellers by the Persian Gulf, and the Elamites, and all who trembled at his frown, should hear that he had seen a new aspect of the universe. Nebuchadnezzar had not yet become so ineffably pious as to say nothing about his piety. There are Christian men concerning whom it would be a revelation if one of their workpeople could be told that they even professed Christianity; an errand-boy might be frightened out of his propriety and sanity if he were told that his employer had family prayer. Nebuchadnezzar did not belong to the silent religious community: he would publish a proclamation, he would announce a fact, he would preach what little Gospel he had; he would say, There is more light in creation than I had imagined: come, let me tell you what the light is like, and what wizardry it works in colour and shadow and suggestion. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

The Apologetics Study Bible notes that "Critical scholars consider this section to be literary fiction derived from the same source as the "Prayer of Nabonidus," an Aramaic fragment discovered at Qumran near the Dead Sea in 1952 (known in scholarship as 4QPrNab). Though affinities exist between chapter 4 and that document, they are far outweighed by the differences (e.g., the name of the king, the nature of the illness, and the location). The Nabonidus story is doubtless a distorted version or later application of the biblical narrative. Apocryphal imitations of canonical works were common during the intertestamental period, and several others grew up around the book of Daniel (e.g., Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon). Although these works drew material from biblical sources, they are clearly fictional. (Online no restrictions - The Apologetics Study Bible- Understand Why You Believe) 

Comment: Here is a snippet of the "Prayer of Nabonidus" - 'I, Nabonidus, was afflicted with an evil ulcer for seven years, and far from men I was driven, until I prayed to the Most High God. And an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from among the children of the exile of Judah, and said: "Recount this in writing to glorify and exalt the name of the most high God." Then I wrote this: "When I was afflicted for seven years by the most high God with an evil ulcer during my stay at Temâ, I prayed to the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood, stone and lime, because I thought and considered them gods..."' [the end is missing]

I like Warren Wiersbe's comments on Daniel 4 - Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream accomplished three things: it warned the king that his pride would lead to judgment (Da 4:37; Pr 16:18); it exposed the incompetence of his magicians (Da 4:6, 7); and it gave Daniel another opportunity to glorify the God of heaven. (BORROW With the Word Bible Commentary)

Matthew Henry on Da 4:1-18 - The beginning and end of this chapter lead us to hope, that Nebuchadnezzar was a monument of the power of Divine grace, and of the riches of Divine mercy. After he was recovered from his madness, he told to distant places, and wrote down for future ages, how God had justly humbled and graciously restored him. When a sinner comes to himself, he will promote the welfare of others, by making known the wondrous mercy of God. Nebuchadnezzar, before he related the Divine judgments upon him for his pride, told the warnings he had in a dream or vision. The meaning was explained to him. The person signified, was to be put down from honour, and to be deprived of the use of his reason seven years. This is surely the sorest of all temporal judgments. Whatever outward affliction God is pleased to lay upon us, we have cause to bear it patiently, and to be thankful that he continues the use of our reason, and the peace of our consciences. Yet if the Lord should see fit by such means to keep a sinner from multiplying crimes, or a believer from dishonouring his name, even the dreadful prevention would be far preferable to the evil conduct. God has determined it, as a righteous Judge, and the angels in heaven applaud. Not that the great God needs the counsel or concurrence of the angels, but it denotes the solemnity of this sentence. The demand is by the word of the holy ones, God's suffering people: when the oppressed cry to God, he will hear. Let us diligently seek blessings which can never be taken from us, and especially beware of pride and forgetfulness of God. 

Several Takeaways from Matthew Henry's lengthy comment: 

1. God's humbling of Nebuchadnezzar was not merely judgment; it was also mercy.
God brought the proud king extraordinarily low, but He did not abandon him there. Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and then restored (Da 4:34–37). Sometimes God's severe dealings are actually instruments of His gracious purposes.

2. God may bring us down in order to bring us back to Himself.
Nebuchadnezzar had to lose his throne, his dignity, and even the ordinary use of his reason before he finally “raised my eyes toward heaven” (Da 4:34). His humiliation became the pathway to a radically different perspective.

3. When God restores us, we should tell others what He has done.
Nebuchadnezzar did not conceal his humiliation. He publicly declared both God's judgment upon his pride and God's gracious restoration (Da 4:1–3, 34–37). Grace received should become grace proclaimed.

4. God's warnings are themselves expressions of mercy.
Before judgment fell, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream, provided Daniel to interpret it, and through Daniel called him to turn from his sins (Da 4:27). God did not strike without warning. The warning before judgment was an opportunity for repentance.

5. Pride is especially dangerous because it forgets the Source of our blessings.
Nebuchadnezzar looked at Babylon and declared, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built... by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Da 4:30). He saw his accomplishments but forgot the God Who had given him his kingdom (Da 2:37–38).

6. What God gives, God has the sovereign right to remove.
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, authority, prosperity, and position ultimately came from God. The king needed to learn that “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (Da 4:17).

7. We should treasure God's ordinary gifts that we easily take for granted.
Matthew Henry's observation about the loss of reason is searching. We commonly thank God for health, possessions, and protection, but rarely thank Him for the daily ability to think clearly, reason, communicate, and exercise self-control. Some of God's greatest gifts are blessings we scarcely notice until they are gone.

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Warren Wiersbe's Outline of Daniel 4: 

• Agitation: The King’s Dream (Da 4:4–18)
• Interpretation: The King’s Danger (Da 4:19–26)
• Exhortation: The King’s Decision (Da 4:27)
• Humiliation: The King’s Discipline (Da 4:28–33)
• Restoration: The King’s Deliverance (Da 4:34–37, 1–3)

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Who Rules? By Rev. Peter Grainger

SCRIPTURE: Daniel 4

INTRODUCTION: Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the supreme ruler, but this chapter tells of his encounter with the King of kings.

    1.      Nebuchadnezzar Rules. Nebuchadnezzar ruled the kingdom, but his pride became too strong (vv. 28–32). Like us, he was guilty of:

      A.      Ignoring God (cf. Luke 12:16–21). Although Daniel warned him (v. 27), he allowed his pride to destroy his reign.

      B.      Marginalizing God (cf. Mark 10:17–31). Nebuchadnezzar gloried in his own majesty (v. 30) rather than the Lord’s.
    2.      The Lord Rules. Daniel prophesied that the king must learn that the Lord rules (v. 26). Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way.

      A.      The Fiery Furnace (Dan. 3).

      B.      The Disturbing Dream (Dan. 4:19–27).

      C.      The Painful Process (Dan. 4:28–33).

CONCLUSION: Nebuchadnezzar learned that the Lord rules. It resulted in his conversion (vv. 34–37). How are you dealing with successes and difficulties? May we recognize the Lord rules and attribute to Him the majesty due His name!

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TODAY IN THE WORD Daniel 4:1-37

Now I . . . praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right. - Daniel 4:37

Several decades before Christopher Columbus came to America, a remarkable event happened in the South American Incan Empire. King Pachacuti began to question his people's worship of the sun when he observed that the sun did the same thing over and over, acting more like a laborer than a god. There was a legend of an omnipotent creator God, named Viracocha, and Pacha-cuti decided that this must be the true God who alone must be worshiped.

Equally remarkable is the account of the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, which the king himself narrates. Before his dream, he had a fairly high opinion of himself, which is understandable considering that this king's rule spread from Egypt to modern Iran. If we were to walk beside the king as he surveyed the city of Babylon (Da 4:29-30), we would see one of the greatest cities of antiquity, boasting two of the seven wonders of the world: the hanging gardens of Babylon and the great city wall. But human pride is a dangerous thing, and Nebuchadnezzar's pride had to be broken if he was ever going to come to know the Most High God.

Daniel had already demonstrated his God-given ability to interpret the king's dreams (see Dan. 2). The tree of this dream symbolized the prosperity and growth of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. Although this cosmic tree extended over a very large region, it was cut down, with only a stump remaining. Such a dream would have been disturbing to most people, but when Daniel understood that it applied to Nebuchadnezzar, we can understand why he was hesitant to explain it to the powerful king (Da 4:19).

Despite the unusual way in which Nebuchadnezzar was humbled, God was merciful to protect him and to lead him to a correct understanding of himself and of God. After his ordeal, the great king understood that the Most High ruled over the eternal kingdom—even Babylon the great couldn't compare to that. Moreover, he wanted all peoples to know about the Most High God (Da 4:1), not the great king Nebuchadnezzar.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

No matter how powerful, no one is beyond God's reach. Like the Incan king Pachacuti, Nebuchadnezzar realized that only one God alone must be worshiped.

If you would like to read other accounts like Pachacuti's, we recommend, Eternity in Their Hearts, by missionary Don Richardson. This book further illustrates what we see in Daniel 4: God is sovereign over even the most powerful human rulers, and He desires to reveal Himself to the peoples of the world.

COMMENT - I have read Eternity in Their Hearts (BORROW) (SECOND COPY) (THIRD COPY) and it is a excellent read, one I can still rememeber well even though I read it almost 40 years. The message is powerful! 

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Nebuchadnezzar’s Fall (Dan. 4)
          I.      A solemn and instructive warning against pride and vainglory.
          II.      A sad illustration of the proverb that pride goeth before a fall.
          III.      A beautiful illustration of fidelity in the proclamation of God’s truth.
          IV.      A loud call to thank God for the continuance of our reason.
          V.      A reminder that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men.—WILLIAM M. TAYLOR

Daniel 4:2 "It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.

• Jos 7:19 Ps 51:14 Ps 71:18 Ps 92:1,2
• that: Da 3:26 Ps 66:16 Ac 22:3-16 26:9-16
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. 

Psalm 71:18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come. 

Psalm 92:1-2  A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,

Daniel 3:26  Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.

THE KING'S DESIRE:
THAT ALL MIGHT KNOW THE TRUTH
ABOUT THE MOST HIGH GOD

It seemed good to me to declare - The king explains why he is making this "worldwide" announcement. Clearly he is giving God top billing over his pantheon of so called gods who are really no gods. The rest of this chapter deals with the reason the king has experienced such a radical change in his worldview. His changed (repentant) mind certainly seems to give evidence that he has experienced genuine conversion as a result of the divine humiliation described in Da 4:4-33. The principle declared by John the Baptist is apropos - "Bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance." (Mt 3:8) The fruit of Nebuchadnezzar's lips in offering a sacrifice of praise seem to be clear evidence of genuine spiritual fruit marking genuine spiritual repentance. (cp Heb 13:15).

Nebuchadnezzar's words remind me of Psalm 107:1-2 that speak of the declaration of a redeemed man. I believe he was "redeemed" and simply had to let the world know. O, if we all had the courage and humility (after he was humbled) to give our testimony of redeeming grace!

The psalmist exhorts us to make a declaration of God's word and work of grace in our lives...

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting (cp "everlasting" Da 4:3). Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary. (Psalms 107:1-2)

I love Spurgeon's exhortative comment on these passages: Whatever others may think or say, the redeemed have overwhelming reasons for declaring the goodness of the Lord. Theirs is a peculiar redemption, and for it they ought to render peculiar praise. The Redeemer is so glorious, the ransom price so immense, and the redemption so complete, that they are under sevenfold obligations to give thanks unto the Lord, and to exhort others to do so. Let them not only feel so but say so; let them both sing and bid their fellows sing.

Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Snatched by superior power away from fierce oppressions, they are bound above all men to adore the Lord, their Liberator. Theirs is a divine redemption, "he hath redeemed" them, and no one else has done it. His own unaided arm has wrought out their deliverance. Should not emancipated slaves be grateful to the hand which set them free? What gratitude can suffice for a deliverance from the power of sin, death, and hell? In heaven itself there is no sweeter hymn than that whose burden is, "Thou hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood."

Although we don't know for certain, as discussed above, many conservative commentaries feel that this chapter takes place toward the middle of Nebuchadnezzar's reign of 43 years (this makes some sense because he speaks as a conqueror who has nothing left to conquer - "all the earth" Da 4:1, "at ease...flourishing" Da 4:4). In any event the psalmist echoes the king's thoughts writing...

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come (NB: This is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did - the book of Daniel is part of God's eternal word available to all who are to come!). 19 For Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, Thou Who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee? 20 Thou, Who hast shown me many troubles and distresses, Wilt revive me again, And wilt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. (Ps 71:18, 19, 20)

The signs (Āth) and wonders (T'mah) which the Most High God has done for me - Note that Neb recognizes that the Most High God was trying to get his attention, for He was the source of the signs and wonders. 

Gleason Archer says signs means "`attesting miracles,' natural phenomena that because of their magnitude or timing decisively evidence God's intervention in judgment or redemption" (Wonders means) "supernatural manifestations of divine intervention in the course of nature, cognate with Heb tamah, `be astounded,' `dumbfounded." (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

Jamieson says that signs are "tokens significant of God's omnipotent agency. The plural is used, as it comprises the marvelous dream, the marvelous interpretation of it, and its marvelous issue."

One of the past signs and wonders would surely include the fiery furnace deliverance in Daniel 3 as well as the king's dream and Daniel's interpretation in Daniel 2 which led him to declare God to be a "Revealer of mysteries" (Da 2:47). However the most stupendous personal signs and wonders occur in this very chapter detailing the king's strange divine humbling and subsequent restoration to the throne.

Signs (Āth) and wonders (T'mah) - This is a familiar idiom in Scripture (18x in the OT = Ex 7:3, Dt 4:34, 6:22, 7:19, 13:1, 13:2, 26:8, 28:46, 29:3, 34:11 Neh 9:10 Ps 135:9 Isa 8:18 Jer 32:20 32:21 Da 4:2 4:3 6:27) (16x in NT = Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22; Jn 4:48; Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 7:36; 14:3; 15:12; Ro 15:19; 2Cor 12:12; 2Th 2:9; Heb 2:4)

Most High God (Key phrase in this chapter - 6x in 6v = Da 4:2, 17, 24, 25, 32, 34) (Other uses in Daniel = Da 3:26, 5:18, 21, 7:25). The first use of this great Name of God as the Most High is found in Genesis 14 as Abraham returns with Lot and spoil which result from his victory against 4 Gentile kings and overwhelming odds...

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High (see study). 19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tenth of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself." 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth... (Ge 14:18, 19, 20, 21, 22)

Comment: Note the truths associated with the Most High - (1) He is possessor of heaven and earth, (2) He is worthy of praise, (3) He is our Deliverer. In short, He is sovereign. He rules over all, visible or invisible, in heaven, on earth and under the earth and for all time and eternity.

John Walvoord states that "The expression the Most High God is another evidence that Nebuchadnezzar regards the God of Israel as exalted, but it is not in itself proof that he is a monotheist, trusting only in the true God.: I resonate with H A Ironside's comment -

This verse touches my heart in a most striking way. I realize that I am reading the personal testimony of one who was in some respects the greatest monarch this world has ever known. I am privileged to have his own account of how he—a proud, self-willed man—was brought to repentance and to the saving knowledge of the God of all grace. For I gather from this proclamation that a divine work was accomplished in Nebuchadnezzar's soul by God who, in mercy, had revealed Himself to him. What a wonderful miracle this is! The fact is, every conversion is a miracle—every soul that is saved knows what it is to be dealt with in supernatural power. It is God alone who changes men like this...Oh that men might have their eyes opened to see, and their ears to hear, what God in His grace is doing on the basis of His blessed Son's offering for sin on the cross! (Amen!)  (Chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride And Punishment)

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SIGNS - 'Āth (also transliterated 'ath or 'oth) is an Aramaic masculine noun meaning "sign" or "miraculous sign." It is the Aramaic cognate of the more familiar Hebrew 'oth (אוֹת, H226), which carries the same core semantic range throughout the Old Testament — a visible or perceptible token given by God that communicates His will, power, or message to human observers. These "signs" were not abstract theological abstractions but concrete, personally experienced communications — dreams, prophetic interpretation, and humbling providence — that effectively conveyed to pagan kings both the reality of their own moral accountability and the larger truth of God's sovereign rule over "the history of the world." The word thus captures a key Danielic theme: God reveals Himself to Gentile rulers not merely through abstract doctrine but through personally undeniable acts that leave no room for the recipient to dismiss what he has witnessed and experienced. This Aramaic 'āth pairs conceptually with Hebrew 'oth (H226), used throughout the Hebrew portions of the OT for covenant signs (the rainbow, Gen 9:12-13; circumcision, Gen 17:11), signs of divine confirmation (Exod 4:8-9), and signs pointing to future fulfillment (Isa 7:14) — establishing continuity between the sign-language of Israel's own Scriptures and the sign-language God used to reach even a Babylonian emperor.

WONDERS - T'mah is an Aramaic masculine noun meaning "wonder." It is etymologically related to the Hebrew verb tāmah (תָּמַהּ, H8539), "to be astonished, to marvel" — connecting the noun's meaning directly to the response such a "wonder" is meant to evoke in those who witness it: astonishment. T'mah occurs only three times in the Aramaic portions of Scripture, all within the book of Daniel: Daniel 4:2-3 (Aramaic versification 3:32-33) and Daniel 6:27 (Aramaic versification 6:28). In every one of its three occurrences, t'mah appears in close pairing with 'āth (H852), "sign" — the word studied immediately prior — forming the fixed doxological phrase "signs and wonders" (cf. Dan 4:2-3: "How great are His signs, and how mighty are His wonders!"; Dan 6:27: "He performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth").

The consistent pairing of 'āth and t'mah establishes a two-sided description of God's self-revelation to pagan rulers: the sign ('āth) is the communicative act itself — the dream, the humbling, the demonstrated providence — while the wonder (t'mah) names the astonished, marveling response that such an act rightly produces in the one who witnesses it. Together the phrase functions as a fixed idiom of praise, appearing on the lips of both Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:2-3, after his seven-year humbling and restoration) and Darius (Dan 6:27, after Daniel's deliverance from the lions' den) — two pagan monarchs from two different Babylonian/Persian administrations, both compelled to publicly acknowledge, in nearly identical language, "the Most High God" as the one true, sovereign, wonder-working God. The rarity of the word (only three occurrences, all clustered in these two royal decrees) underscores how exceptional and climactic these particular acts of divine revelation were within the narrative — not ordinary providence, but events so extraordinary that even Gentile kings had no vocabulary sufficient to describe them beyond "signs and wonders."

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.

• great: Da 6:27 De 4:34 Ps 71:19,20 72:18 77:19 86:10 92:5 104:24 105:27 Isa 25:1 28:29 Ro 11:33 Heb 2:4
• his kingdom: Da 4:17,34,35 2:44 6:26 7:14,27 Ps 66:7 145:13 Isa 9:7 Jer 10:10 Lk 1:32,33 1Ti 1:17 Heb 1:8 Rev 11:15
• is from: Job 25:2 1Pe 4:11
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

What follows is a testimony of God's mercy and grace and power to save from the "guttermost to the uttermost"! (Here is my personal testimony of God's grace) Dear reader, do you have a word of testimony regarding the signs and wonders that the High God has accomplished in your life? Have you ever been brought into direct contact with Him, so that you can speak confidently of what He has done for your soul? If not, then consider God's invitation while the door of His grace remains open and...

Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isa 45:22KJV)

Comment: The venerable preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Read Spurgeon's testimony) was smitten by the Spirit Who used the living and active words of Isaiah 45:22 to cause him to be born again (cp 1Pe 1:3) and Spurgeon spent the rest of his life declaring His signs and His wonders and in so doing became the most prodigious Christian writer the world has ever known!

O, do not let the word depart,
And close thine eyes against the light;
Poor sinner, harden not thy heart;
Thou would'st be saved—why not tonight?

The world has nothing new to give,
It has no true, no pure delight;
Look now to Jesus Christ, and live;
Thou would'st be saved—why not tonight?

Our blessed Lord refuses none
Who would to Him their souls unite;
Believe, obey, the work is done;
Thou would'st be saved—why not tonight?
--Elizabeth Reed

How great are His signs - The first of 4 things Nebuchadnezzar says about God. Great - (5x in 4v in Daniel 4-Da 4:3, 4:10, 4:22, 4:30)

Mighty are His wonders - When one has experienced the great mercies of God as Nebuchadnezzar had, the only thing such a soul can do is sing praises to His Name and His attributes (Cp Paul's doxology in response to the overwhelming revelation of the boundless mercies of God - Ro 11:33, 34, 35, 36).

An everlasting kingdom (Da 4:34, 7:27)- He seems to acknowledge (at least indirectly) that there is an end to the Gentile world kingdoms, even as interpreted by Daniel...

And in the days of those kings ("ten toe" stage of "iron and clay") the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. (Da 2:44)

The psalmist writes words very similar to those of Nebuchadnezzar (some think he was familiar with the Psalm)...

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations. (Ps 145:13)

His dominion is from generation to generation - While Nebuchadnezzar's rule was finite, God's rule will be without end. Nebuchadnezzar "got the picture" regarding Who was in charge! He now acknowledges God not as just a god (one of many "gods"), but as the one true and living God Whose kingdom rules over all and will continue forever.

Joseph Alleine writes that "Conversion is a deep work—a heart-work. It goes throughout the man, throughout the mind, throughout the members, throughout the entire life. Conversion is no repairing of the old building; but it takes all down and erects a new structure."

It should be noted that a few writers like Leupold, Calvin, and surprisingly even modern conservative writers like Thomas Constable, doubt whether the king’s testimony in Daniel 4 reflects his conversion, but I agree with respected expositor John MacArthur who writes...

And now we come, in the fourth chapter, to the climax of his spiritual biography. I really believe in my heart – and this is a – you can’t be totally dogmatic about this. I’ll try to show you why I believe it, but I believe at the end of this chapter Nebuchadnezzar truly comes to faith in the true God. (Daniel 4-1-37: How Are the Mighty Fallen! - Study Guide)

ILLUSTRATION SIMILAR TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR - Donald Campbell observes "How completely different this proclamation from the ones Nebuchadnezzar had made previously. It can only be explained by God's work in the life of this heathen monarch, bringing him to repentance and faith in Himself. It was clearly a miracle of God's grace—as is every conversion. It was December 7, 1941, when Mitsuo Fuchida (read his story From Pearl Harbor to Calvary), a proud and militant Japanese commander, led the attack on Pearl Harbor. But his brilliant military career ended with the defeat of Japan and the close of the war. Returning to his home village near Osaka, he took up farming. One day Fuchida was summoned to Tokyo to testify in the war crimes trials and was handed a pamphlet as he got off the train. He was intrigued by the title, I Was A Prisoner of Japan (read it). It was the story of Jacob De Shazer, the Doolittle raider who was converted to Christ in a Japanese prison camp while reading the Bible. Fuchida's curiosity was aroused from reading of the incident, and he went to a bookstore and bought a Bible. When he went home he began reading it (See different account of how he got a Bible - Mitsuo Fuchida - another bio)."Every night I read the Bible," he said. "I read while plowing the rice fields. One night I read that Jesus died and that He prayed, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' I realized I was one of 'them' for whom Jesus prayed." At the age of 47, on April 12, 1950, Fuchida received Christ as Savior and began a new life. Though later asked to consider heading Japan's air force as commander-in-chief, Fuchida turned down the invitation and spent the rest of his life traveling in Japan, the United States, and Canada, sharing what God had done in his life. Nebuchadnezzar's conversion was no less dramatic.  (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

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G Campbell Morgan - His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation. Dan. 4.3
 
In-the first three verses of this chapter we have the proclamation which Nebuchadnezzar made . as the result of an experience through which he had passed. The full account of that experience is then given in Dan 4.4-36. The last verse is connected with the first three, in that it adds the note of praise to the proclamation. The period of the experience covered at least eight years. First there came to him the vision. This was interpreted to him with great fidelity by Daniel. A year later the madness overtook him. It continued for seven years, during which he lived on the level of the beasts. The sin of the king was that of pride, and the consequent forgetfulness of God. That pride found expression in the words recorded in Dan 4:30. The lesson which he was taught is contained in these words: "His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation." Notice how the idea recurs in the narrative of experience (see Da 4:17, 25, 32 and 34). This statement of the proclamation is complete. The Kingdom of God is recognized in its duration: "His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom;" and in its continuousness, "His dominion is from generation to generation." This is a truth which men of faith sometimes fail to grasp, or feel the force of. God is not dethroned; He never has been; He never will be. He rules to-day, in the kingdom of men; and He gives the kingdom to whomsoever He will. We pray as Jesus taught us for the Kingdom to come; that is that men may volitionally surrender to it, and find its blessings. While we do so, let us never forget that even though men do not yet do so, "Jehovah reigneth."" The true strength of all earthly kings and rulers lies in the discovery of this fact, and in yielding to it.
 

Daniel 4:4 "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace.

• Ps 30:6,7 Isa 47:7,8 56:12 Jer 48:11 Eze 28:2-5,17 29:3 Zeph 1:12 Lk 12:19,20 1Th 5:2,3
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

THE CALM BEFORE
THE STORM

Beginning in this passage Nebuchadnezzar is describing events in the past that preceded and led up to his conversion.

TECHNICAL NET NOTE - This verse marks the beginning of chap. 4 in the Aramaic text of Daniel (see the note on 4:1). The Greek OT (LXX) has the following addition: “In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign he said.” This date would suggest a link to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In general, the LXX of chapters 4–6 is very different from the MT, so much so that the following notes will call attention only to selected readings. In Daniel 4 the LXX lacks sizable portions of material in the MT (e.g., vv. 3–6, 31–32), includes sizable portions of material not in the MT (e.g., v. 14a, parts of vv. 16, 28), has a different order of some material (e.g., v. 8 after v. 9), and in some instances is vastly different from the MT (e.g., vv. 30, 34). Whether these differences are due to an excessively paraphrastic translation technique adopted for these chapters in the LXX, or are due to differences in the underlying Vorlage of the LXX, is a disputed matter. The latter seems more likely. There is a growing trend in modern scholarship to take the LXX of chapters 4–6 much more seriously than was the case in most earlier text-critical studies that considered this issue.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease (sh'lēh) in my house and flourishing (ra'anan) in my palace The king continues his remarkable first-person testimony. He is not merely telling what happened to someone else. He is publicly recounting his own pride, humiliation, and eventual restoration. The most powerful man in Babylon is willing to tell the world how the Most High brought him low.

At ease - This speaks of Babylon at peace with no internal or external conflicts. Things were "good" for the king, but not for all in his kingdom for later Daniel exhorts him to show "mercy to the poor" (Da 4:27). And as we soon see, his "ease" was deceptive as it is with all the rich and powerful who are not "good" with God! What's the danger to any man, believer or not, when they are "at ease" and "flourishing"? (See Dt 6:10, 11, 12 for the answer where we read of Jehovah's warning to Israel, who in her unfaithfulness to God is a picture of our fallen flesh?) There was nothing inherently sinful about being at ease. The danger was that ease could produce spiritual complacency and a false sense of self-sufficiency.

The fact that the king was at ease would lend some support to the premise that these events occurred later in King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, after the active military conquest that characterized his early reign.

Flourishing in my palace - “Flourishing” carries the idea of being prosperous, thriving, and successful in the original language picturing him flourishing as a green plant which is fascinating as one of the wonders of the ancient world was Nebuchadnezzar's construction of the hanging gardens.  Nebuchadnezzar was enjoying the fruits of an extraordinarily successful reign. His kingdom was powerful, his capital magnificent, and his position apparently secure. He was the epitome of self-satisfaction. After all he was in control of everything! Or so he thought! Nebuchadnezzar described himself as flourishing in his palace in terms that in the original language picture him flourishing as a green plant. This king built the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, which enriched his capital with luxuriant foliage. His description of himself here anticipates the figure of the tree in his dream that represented him.

As Campbell says "Then God spoke—it is well to remember that God can deal with ungodly men, even those in high and secure places, when human resistance cannot reach them  (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

Roy Gingrich - Prosperity is a dangerous thing—It often produces pride, and pride destroys us, Prov. 16:18; 29:23. Let us remember what prosperity and pride did to Saul and Solomon!

Harry Ironside observes that the king at this time still unconverted was "At rest and flourishing while still in his sins and a stranger to God. There is a deceitful rest, a deceitful peace, which lulls many a soul into a false security (Je 6:14, 23:17, Lam 2:14, Ezek 13:22, 2Pe 2:1). To be untroubled is no evidence of safety. To be at peace does not prove that all is well. I once caught hold of a blind man and drew him back just in time to keep him from plunging headlong into an open cellar way. He thought all was well and was in peace of mind as he walked along, yet two more steps and he would have gone down! Be sure that your peace is founded on the blood of Christ shed on the cross (Col 1:19, 20); then you will have that peace which is true and lasting (Ro 5:1). Every other is false and fleeting. The peace of God is that which comes from relying on the testimony of God and follows the confession of sins that have separated the soul from Him. (Daniel 4 Commentary)

As Nebuchadnezzar eloquently testifies, God is able (Da 4:37) to arouse each of us out of our spiritual stupor and false sense of security, regardless of what we are placing our trust in (be it plenty, power, prestige, people, possessions, etc) other than His goodness and grace in Christ. May a Romans 12:1 (note) attitude be foremost in our heart and mind each day of the rest of our lives so that we might continually experience His rest in Christ in our lives.

What had Nebuchadnezzar forgotten? In Daniel 2 in the interpretation of the king's dream the prophet declares...

You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. (Da 2:37, 38)

Comment: Daniel could not have been clearer about why Nebuchadnezzar was such a mighty king. Three times he emphasized that God sovereignly bestowed his kingdom and his submissive subjects upon the king. It was not the king's incredible military prowess, nor his intelligent rule, nor anything inherently within Nebuchadnezzar. It was from God and should have prompted praise and thanks to God instead of pomposity and pride!

W A Criswell envisions this great king's self-satisfied and fully satiated state - His army is at peace. He’s not a general any more. He’s not marching at the head of that ravenous, destructive, Chaldean horde. His enemies on the outside are all vanquished. And all of his fears on the inside are allayed. He is at rest. He has those great fortifications—one of the Wonders of the World, they’re all built—and he has a mighty army ready to rise at the blast of the trumpet in his defense. He is at rest in his house and flourishing in his palace. There is nothing wanting. Every goblet is filled with wine. Every corner of every room echoes with music. Every palace is a refuge from fear and terror. And he lays his head down on a pillow of down. And expects to dream dreams of affluence and wealth and luxury and splendor. He is at rest in his house and flourishing in his palace. Monuments, cities, fortifications: the glory of the greatest golden city the world ever knew, Babylon. (Sermon)

John Walvoord sees a more wide ranging prophetic symbolism in this Daniel 4 writing that...the contest between God and Nebuchadnezzar is a broad illustration of God’s dealings with the entire human race and especially the Gentile world in its creaturely pride and failure to recognize the sovereignty of God. (Chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride And Punishment)

Joseph Parker elaborates on Nebuchadnezzar's declaration observing that...there was nothing wanting; every goblet full of wine, every corner an echo of music, every chamber a refuge from pagan trouble and imperial excitement: I never was more comfortable or restful in my life; the house never was so charming, the palace was never so grand, and I pillowed my head on down, and expected to see visions that would make me glad by doubling and redoubling all the poetry and music and wealth of my existence: that was my delightful case; and even in the midst of that enjoyment "I saw a dream which made me afraid. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

Adam Clarke - I had returned to my palace in Babylon after having subdued Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia. It was probably these great conquests that puffed him up with pride, and brought that chastisement upon him which he afterwards describes.

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EASE - Sh'lēh is an Aramaic verb meaning "to be at ease." It occurs in Daniel 4:4 (Aramaic versification 4:1). The verb denotes a state of safety, contentment, and security within one's own domicile, specifically, according to its contextual usage, the absence of any external threat of war, invasion, or political revolution. It describes not merely inward emotional calm but an objective, circumstantial condition: a kingdom settled, borders secure, no rival powers pressing in, no palace intrigue threatening the throne. This is the language of a ruler at the height of unchallenged dominion.

Cognate note: This Aramaic root is closely related to the far more common Hebrew noun shalom (שָׁלוֹם, H7965, "peace, wholeness, well-being") and the Hebrew verb shalah/shalav (שָׁלָה/שָׁלַו, H7951/H7961, "to be quiet, at ease, prosperous"), which appears in similar contexts of settled security — sometimes as a positive picture of covenant blessing (Job 3:26; Ps 122:6-7), and sometimes, as here, as a dangerous state that precedes a fall when it breeds complacency or pride (cf. Ezek 16:49, Sodom's sin described in part as having "arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease").

Theological Significance: The pairing of sh'lēh ("at ease") with ra'anan ("flourishing") in Daniel 4:4 forms a deliberate two-part description of Nebuchadnezzar's condition at the peak of his reign,  externally secure (sh'lēh, no threats from without) and internally prosperous (ra'anan, flourishing within). This is precisely the state Scripture repeatedly identifies as spiritually perilous: ease and prosperity, absent humility, tend to produce self-sufficiency and pride rather than gratitude toward God (cf. Dt 8:12-14, "When you have eaten and are satisfied... your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God"; Prov 1:32, "the complacency of fools will destroy them"). It is precisely at this moment of untroubled security,  not during hardship or military crisis, that God sends the dream of the great tree, and it is precisely this sh'lēh condition that his subsequent seven-year humbling will completely and dramatically overturn (Dan 4:25, 33). The word thus functions as the calm before the storm: the very peace and prosperity Nebuchadnezzar enjoyed becomes the occasion for God to expose and correct the pride it had allowed to flourish unchecked.

FLOURISHING - Ra'anan is an Aramaic adjective meaning "flourishing." It occurs in Daniel 4:4 The word is used figuratively to describe the success and prosperity of a person or king, a state of settled abundance, security, and well-being. The image behind the term is agricultural/botanical, describing something (typically vegetation as of a tree or plant) in full, vigorous, healthy growth, later applied metaphorically to human flourishing in the sense of wealth, status, and untroubled prosperity.

Cognate note: This Aramaic adjective shares its root with the more frequently occurring Hebrew adjective ra'anan (רַעֲנָן, H7488), which appears throughout the Hebrew OT with the same core botanical image describing a "luxuriant" or "flourishing" green tree (e.g., Ps 37:35, "spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil"; Ps 52:8, "like a green olive tree in the house of God"; Jer 17:8, describing the person who trusts in the LORD as a tree whose "leaves stay green"). The image consistently contrasts the flourishing, well-rooted, green tree with barrenness, withering, or judgment.

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Babylon’s Hanging Gardens

In ancient Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar built the famous hanging gardens to please his homesick wife. She had come from northern Assyria and its verdant hills.
So Nebuchadnezzar had an artificial hill built. It was one thousand feet square at the bottom with a four-hundred-square foot plateau at the top, covered with terraces and dotted with imported shrubs and flowers. It was so exquisitely beautiful that it was known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
But, strange to say, in the center of the hill was a den for lions. How much this illustrates that in the heart of pleasure is the peril of death! (Daniel 4 and Daniel 6) —Harold R. Crosser

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Ruler Over All     By Rev. Robert Norris

SCRIPTURE: Daniel 4:4–37

INTRODUCTION: God will not tolerate human arrogance. He gives grace to the humble and scatters the proud. Nebuchadnezzar was a great man. This confident man, who needed nothing and nobody to make his life complete, was nevertheless humbled and brought to confess a personal faith in God. God, through His grace, allowed Nebuchadnezzar that opportunity.

    1.      The Rebuke Nebuchadnezzar Received (vv. 4–27).
    2.      The Disaster Nebuchadnezzar Suffered (vv. 28–33).
    3.      The Lesson Nebuchadnezzar Learned (vv. 34–37).

CONCLUSION: We need the grace of God. Not only have we been saved by the grace of God, but we continue to live in that grace. We are dependent upon it to have our sin met with forgiveness and our failure with the mercy of heaven that was won for us by Jesus Christ.

Daniel 4:5 "I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

• dream: Da 2:1 5:5,6,10 7:28 Ge 41:1 Job 7:13,14
• visions: Da 2:28,29
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

A DREAM THAT 
SHATTERED HIS PEACE

I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. - The contrast with the previous verse is striking. Nebuchadnezzar had just said, “I was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace” (Da 4:4). Everything appeared secure, comfortable, and prosperous. Then God sent a dream that shattered his tranquility. This great king who had never lost a battle, who had defeated all his enemies, who ruled as the king of kings, the head of gold...we would have thought fear and alarm would not be words in his personal vocabulary! Had it been an enemy force approaching his city, he would have called his virile forces to battle stations. But a dream. How can one defend against a dream? Especially a dream sent by the Almighty? And so we see the greatest monarch of all time turning into a craven, cowardly knave.

Harry Ironside comments on the fear and alarm associated with Nebuchadnezzar's dream, noting that "The vision was sent for this very purpose. God saw that he needed to be troubled—he needed to be awakened from his sleep of death. It was grace that thus exercised him. And in some way every soul that is saved has to pass through this period of soul-anxiety and concern."

Dreams had been God's righteous "weapon" in the past to alert sinners, as when Abimelech sent for Abram's wife Sarai...

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married." (Ge 20:2)

Joseph Parker describes this dream in graphic language - "I saw a dream which made me afraid." Let us not tamper with this graphic language, but take it as it stands in the English tongue. Nebuchadnezzar "saw" a dream: it was part of himself, yet it was wholly outside, so that he could fasten his eyes upon it; it was in him and without him, above him, round about him, beneath him; and he was "afraid." Sometimes we ask the question, Do dreams come true? Why, they are true. A dream does not need to come true, because it is there, a fact; it is already part of the history of the brain. There need be no other hell than a dream. Who can count the resources of God? In a dream we can be burned; in a dream we can be encoiled by serpents; in a dream we can be eternally suffocated; in a dream the serpent's fang may be within one inch of striking our life, and we may have no power of resistance or flight. The dream made Nebuchadnezzar afraid, and Nebuchadnezzar was not accustomed to fear, for he had brass enough, iron enough, chariots enough, horsemen enough; at the blast of his trumpet an empire stood up in his defence: but a dream made a fool of him. You cannot strike a dream; you cannot lay your hands upon it and compel it to make terms with you. These are the resources of God. If he would fight us with lightning we could make some device that might catch the lightning and bear it away; if he would fight us always with whirlwinds we could order our masonry accordingly, and hide ourselves behind the granite wall till the great euroclydon cried itself to rest: but he will not do this; he will trouble us with dreams, and make us afraid with visions; and whilst we are flourishing in the palace he will make the floor tremble under us, or there will be a movement behind the screen, the curtain, the arras, and that movement will frighten us more than we ever were affrighted by thunderstorm at midnight. If Nebuchadnezzar had heard that an army was thundering at one of the gates of Babylon, he would have been delighted: war is the amusement of kings; battle is the recreation of royal luxury and ambition: but this was a dream that came through the great brass gates that made the great wall of Babylon memorable as one of the finest structures in the world. You cannot bar out a dream, or lock it out, or bolt it out, or set a watch to keep it out; a wakeful sentry, armed at every point, may be looking at the dream while it touches him, and he cannot touch it, or blow it back, or threaten it, or defy it; it smiles upon him, and passes on, to work its murder in the king's head and the king's heart, and turn the king's imagination into an intolerable perdition. When Pilate was puzzled about the new king and the new theology and the unheard-of sedition which was not written in the Roman books, "his wife sent unto him, saying, 'Have thou nothing to do with that just Man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him'." (Mt 27:19) God has made great use of dreams in history. Spiritual impressions may be laughed at by those who read nothing but cold type; but they are regarded as having unutterable suggestion to those of a more sensitive and exalted order of mind. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

Made me fearful - Nebuchadnezzar's ease was a false sense of security and serenity and it was soon disrupted by a dream God either sent or allowed. The great king who had caused countless others to fear was now himself afraid. The dream produced genuine terror because Nebuchadnezzar sensed that what he had seen carried significance for him.

Fearful...fantasies...alarming - Divine insomnia can have this effect! Fantasies does not mean imaginary nonsense. The idea is the thoughts, mental images, or visions passing through his mind as he lay in bed. The repetition emphasizes the intensity of Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction. He was not mildly disturbed. What he saw continued to terrify him. The Hebrew/Aramaic expression literally refers to visions “of my head,” meaning the visions perceived in his mind. God was disturbing Nebuchadnezzar’s outward ease in order to address his inward pride.

Nebuchadnezzar was comfortable, prosperous, powerful, and apparently secure. But God loved him enough to disturb his false peace before bringing the judgment that would humble him. The frightening dream was therefore not merely a threat. It was a warning, and the warning itself was an act of mercy. God even gave Nebuchadnezzar time to respond. Daniel would later plead “Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness.” (Da 4:27) And remarkably, the judgment did not fall until twelve months later (Da 4:29). In summary, God disturbed Nebuchadnezzar’s peace before He disturbed Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The frightening dream was mercy knocking before judgment entered the door.

Daniel 4:6 "So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

• Da 2:2 Ge 41:7,8 Isa 8:19 Isa 47:12-14
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.  6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 

James 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Genesis 41:7-8   The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh. 

Isaiah 8:19  When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Isaiah 47:12-14  “Stand fast now in your spells And in your many sorceries With which you have labored from your youth; Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you may cause trembling.  13“You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.  14“Behold, they have become like stubble, Fire burns them; They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame; There will be no coal to warm by Nor a fire to sit before! 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR SEEKS
AN INTERPRETATION

So (term of conclusion) I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream - This is essentially the same pagan brain trust that failed miserably to describe and interpret the king's dream in Daniel 2, we suppose many years earlier (but again we don't know exactly how long). Nebuchadnezzar could command the wise men to appear, but he could not command them to possess divine revelation.  This raises an interesting question: Why did Nebuchadnezzar not call Daniel first?

Jamieson observes that "It may seem strange that Daniel was not first summoned (Ed: And remember that if the dating of many is correct, Daniel's previous interpretation would have been over 25-30 years earlier!). But it was ordered by God's providence that he should be reserved to the last, in order that all mere human means should be proved vain, before God manifested His power through His servant; thus the haughty king was stripped of all fleshly confidences.

These wise men were not in contact with the All Wise God. Paul spoke about natural man's "defect" in spiritual matters in his first letter to the Corinthians noting that "a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised ("the wise men of Babylon"). But he who is spiritual (cp Daniel) appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." (1Co 2:14-16)

Nebuchadnezzar's response raises a searching question: When something troubles us, where do we instinctively turn first? There is nothing wrong with seeking appropriate human counsel. Scripture commends wise counselors (Pr 11:14; 15:22). The danger comes when we exhaust every human resource while neglecting the God Who alone possesses perfect wisdom. Nebuchadnezzar had already witnessed God's wisdom through Daniel, yet his first response was again to summon Babylon's wise men. We can sometimes do the same thing. We may consult our experience, reasoning, resources, friends, books, and experts, and only afterward seek the Lord. Human wisdom has its proper place, but it must never take God's place.

Daniel 4:7 "Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me.

• Da 2:1,2
• but: Da 2:7 Isa 44:25 Jer 27:9,10 2Ti 3:8,9
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

BABYLONIAN WISDOM
FAILS TEST AGAIN

Then - Then what? Well, "old habits die hard" as they say and so once again the king turned to the wrong source for advice in his time of difficulty. How about us beloved? Who do we turn to FIRST in our time of difficulty? To the "best" that humanistic wisdom (the latest best seller telling you how to "fix all that ails you", the talking heads on TV, the bloviating [definition] blogs, etc) has to offer (the magicians, the conjurers, etc) or to the source of true wisdom, to God and His godly representatives?

The magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. - If an answer could be found within Babylon’s system of wisdom, these were the men expected to provide it. Once again we see the bankruptcy of Babylonian wisdom, surely a picture of all wisdom of fallen man as opposed to the incomparable wisdom of God. Years had passed, but Babylonian wisdom had not become any more capable of penetrating mysteries that belonged to God. It is notable that this time (in contrast to Da 2) Neb did not threaten to kill them for failing to interpret the dream. 

Nebuchadnezzar’s fear made him far less demanding and far more desperate for an answer. Fear had changed his posture, but it had not changed the limitations of his counselors.

And so the king related the dream to them makes their failure particularly striking. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar demanded that the wise men tell him both the dream and its interpretation (Da 2:5–11). Here the king actually tells them the dream. They only needed to explain what the dream meant this time and and yet they still fail. The reason of course is simple - They lacked divine revelation. Their failure prepares the stage for Daniel and, more importantly, for Daniel’s God.

🙏 THOUGHT There is a spiritual principle worth considering here. Sometimes God allows the things upon which we ordinarily depend to prove inadequate so that we will recognize our need for Him. This does not mean that seeking human counsel is wrong. Scripture commends wise counsel (Pr 11:14; 15:22). But no amount of human wisdom can substitute for what God alone can reveal in His Word. Sometimes the failure of our human resources reminds us where our ultimate dependence should have been all along.

James says human wisdom "is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic." (Jas 3:15) In contrast James says that "the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." (Jas 3:17)

Campbell relates how... Dietrich Bonhoeffer once delivered a stinging indictment against his American theological education that is reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar's experience with his "teachers":

A theology is not to be found here. . . . They chatter till all is blue without any factual foundation or any criteria of thought becoming visible. . . . They intoxicate themselves with liberal and humanistic expressions, laugh at the fundamentalists, and basically they are not even a match for them. Often it goes through and through me when here in a lecture they dismiss Christ, and laugh outright when a word of Luther's is quoted on the forgiveness of sin. (Mary Bosanquet, The Life and Death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer [New York: Harper and Row, 19691, 83).  (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

Joseph Parker writes of Nebuchadnezzar that "He was more earnest this time than he was in the first instance. We have not forgotten that in the first instance he insisted upon the magicians telling him the dream itself, and then the interpretation (Da 2:5); now Nebuchadnezzar speaks from the centre of fear, the dark point of mental apprehension, and therefore he tells the magicians all the dream in the hope that they may be able to explain it away. They could make nothing of it; before these ciphers they could set no unit to turn them into value; these men had not the key of this mystery. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

David Jeremiah - It has been said that no matter how often the wisdom of the world fails, we run right back to the same quacks who have never had the answers. We go to these secular humanist counselors, who don’t help, and finally find a Christian counselor to get us straightened out. After we have exhausted all of the human possibilities, we do the thing we should have done in the first place. (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

Daniel 4:8 "But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying,

• Belteshazzar: Da 1:7 5:12 Isa 46:1 Jer 50:2
• Da 4:9,18 2:11 5:11,14 Nu 11:17-30 Isa 63:11
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Genesis 41:38-39  Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” 39So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are.

FINALLY DANIEL
ENTERED

But finally - At last. The word but marks an important contrast. The magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners had been summoned and had failed to interpret the dream (Da 4:7). But Daniel was different. What Babylon’s entire religious and intellectual establishment could not provide, God would make known through His servant.

Finally does not necessarily mean Daniel was deliberately kept until last. The text does not explain why Daniel was not among the first group summoned. But from the narrative standpoint the effect is unmistakable: Babylon’s resources are exhausted before God’s servant gives the answer.

Joseph Parker remarks that "At the last Daniel came in." It is always so; if we can do without the true man we will. Physicians know the meaning of this; they tell us that not until patients have exhausted every other source of inquiry do they come to them that they may test their skill (Parker goes on to apply this thought to our lives noting that) It is in human nature not to go to Christ first. We begin by doctoring ourselves, by interpreting our own dreams, by asking any liar if he will accept a bribe to flatter us into security. It was always so with Jesus Christ, the Son of God; nobody went to him in the first instance: "He was despised and rejected of men." (The People's Bible)

But finally Daniel (God is Judge, God is my judge.) came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar (Bel protect his life) according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying - Not because Nebuchadnezzar had chosen to believe in Daniel's God but because he had come to recognize Daniel's spiritual insight (Da 1:17, Da 1:19, Da 1:20). It seems that in the record of both of these dreams (Daniel 2 and here), Daniel is kept apart from the wise men, even though he was “master of the magicians” (Da 4:9). The Lord wants to remind us that the wisdom of this world is futile and that only He can give a true understanding of the future

Belteshazzar (10x in 8v - Da1:7 2:26 4:8 4:9 4:18 4:19 5:12 10:1) - His Babylonian name means something like "protect his life" (Akkadian balusu-usur, ‘may he [Bel] protect his life’). Notice that Nebuchadnezzar calls Daniel by both his Hebrew name and his Babylonian name, but emphasizes the latter name.

Roy Gingrich is not far off when he says "Calling upon God or God’s man is usually done as a last resort (Da 4:8)—Finding no help from within or without, we finally look up."

The name of my god - Bel was Nebuchadnezzar's God, despite the fact that he has seen signs and wonders of the Most High God in Daniel 2 and Daniel 3. At the time he is relating the story, Bel would seem to still be his personal god. But by the end of the story, after the period of humbling, the only name on his lips is the Most High God and His praiseworthy attributes.

And in whom is a spirit of the holy gods - Clearly despite Nebuchadnezzar's prior revelations of the one true God, he still believed in many gods (polytheism).

In whom is a spirit of the holy gods - Nebuchadnezzar’s theology was still imperfect, but his experience had taught him that Daniel possessed access to wisdom that Babylon’s experts did not possess. He recognized that there was something different about Daniel and that he was "set apart" from the pagan occultists. What set Daniel apart? (1) In Daniel 1:8 Daniel made a decision to obey God which brought God's blessing on his life (Da 1:9), and the king witnessed the divine effect. (2) In Daniel 2 upon the revelation of his dream and interpretation, the king "paid homage to Daniel" and recognized his God as a "revealer of mysteries" (Da 2:47). In short, Daniel's exemplary life made him a "light to the Gentiles", reflecting in his life the God he worshiped.

🙏 THOUGHT - The axiomatic principle is that a person’s life will ultimately reflect what he truly worships. Daniel lived in the midst of pagan Babylon, yet his conduct consistently reflected the character of the God he served. Nebuchadnezzar may not have understood Daniel’s God correctly, but he could clearly see that there was something different about Daniel (Da 4:8–9). Daniel’s holiness was not a self-righteous, “holier-than-thou” attitude, but a life of integrity, humility, faithfulness, and dependence upon God. This raises a searching question for every believer: Does the way we live before unbelievers make the God we profess believable? Our conduct cannot save anyone, but it can either give credibility to our testimony or create unnecessary obstacles to it. A consistent Christlike life may open a door for the gospel that our lips can then clearly proclaim (Mt 5:16; Php 2:14–16; Col 4:5–6; 1Pe 2:12).

A holy life does not replace the gospel,
but it can open doors for the gospel.

John MacArthur relates the powerful effect of a holy life, in the story of the famous duo, Stanley and Livingstone "When Henry Stanley found David Livingstone in the heart of Africa, he stayed with him for four months. Stanley was a professed skeptic when he found Livingstone, but came away a Christian. Asked what Livingstone said that converted him, Stanley replied that it was what Livingstone was that brought him to Christ. According to Stanley's report Livingstone never asked him if he was a Christian, never preached to him, and never appeared to pray for his conversion. But Livingstone was so thoroughly a Christian that it dawned on Stanley that one who was not a Christian was something less than a Christian. Livingstone was a man of God who permitted the Lord to live through him. Consequently his life was one of victory and blessing. By the sheer influence and impact of his virtue Livingstone brought Stanley to Christ (see Henry Stanley's How I Found Livingstone, 1913]).

David Jeremiah - For those who work in the business or professional world, you are going to be criticized and ridiculed because of your faith. Before I became a pastor I worked my way through school in a trucking firm. The other guys called me Preacher Boy and other less endearing terms. But as soon as one of those fellows got into trouble, he came to my truck to talk to me. They knew the guys they caroused with, drank with, and with whom they exchanged dirty jokes didn’t have the answers. If we let the spirit of God dwell in us, it won’t be long until someone will be knocking at our door. They will see the difference and want some help. (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

Daniel 4:9 'O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

• master: Da 1:20 Da 2:48 Da 5:11
• the spirit: Da 4:8 Ge 41:38 1Sa 4:8
• no secret: Da 4:5 2:3 Ge 11:6-8 Isa 33:18 54:14 Eze 28:3) (tell: Da 4:18 2:4,5 Ge 40:9-19 41:15-36 Jdg 7:13-15
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Genesis 41:38  Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?”

Daniel 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. 

Daniel 1:20  As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

Daniel 5:11   “There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.

THE KING'S CONFIDENCE
IN DANIEL

O Belteshazzar - Nebuchadnezzar addresses Daniel by his Babylonian name. abylon had changed Daniel’s name, but it had never changed Daniel’s allegiance to his God. Decades of life in a pagan culture had not erased Daniel’s spiritual distinctiveness. Since Bel is Marduk, the chief Babylonian god), the king may have been trying to indicate that Daniel's ability to interpret dreams came from the gods. 

Chief of the magicians - Nebuchadnezzar describes Daniel according to his official position within the Babylonian administration. This does not mean Daniel practiced the occult arts of the Babylonian magicians. Daniel’s source of wisdom was completely different. From the beginning Daniel consistently attributed his understanding to the God of heaven (Da 1:17; 2:20–23, 27–30). What an interesting situation: Daniel held a prominent position within a pagan government without adopting the pagan beliefs surrounding him. He served faithfully in Babylon without allowing Babylon to take possession of his heart.

Since I know Nebuchadnezzar's confidence in Daniel was not based merely on reputation. He had personally witnessed Daniel’s God-given ability years earlier in Daniel 2. The king knew from experience that Daniel was different from the other wise men. Daniel had lived before Nebuchadnezzar long enough for the king to know where to turn when Babylon's wisdom failed.

That a spirit of the holy gods is in you - Nebuchadnezzar again describes Daniel using his own religious vocabulary. He clearly recognizes that Daniel possesses a supernatural source of wisdom, even though his terminology reflects his pagan worldview. The king could recognize that there was something extraordinary about Daniel even though he did not yet properly understand the God Who was the source of Daniel’s wisdom. It bears repeating that Daniel’s life reflected the God he worshiped so consistently that even a pagan king recognized something spiritually distinctive about him.

John MacArthur comments that "The meaning here and in Da 4:18 (as well as Da 5:11,14) is rightly translated as “the Spirit of the holy God.” Wording for the true God in the Heb. of Josh. 24:19 is equivalent to the Aramaic here (which begins in Da 2:4). Some believe he meant “a spirit of the holy gods.” This is unlikely, since no pagan worshipers claimed purity or holiness for their deities. In fact, just the opposite was believed. And since Nebuchadnezzar was rehearsing his conversion, he could genuinely identify the true Spirit of God. (SEE MacArthur Study Bible: Unleashing God's Truth One ...)

Charles Ryrie comments "The king may only be acknowledging his own gods’ supposed work in Daniel’s life, or (since gods may be properly translated by the singular, God) it may indicate his recognition of the true God of Israel. (BORROW Ryrie Study Bible)

Roy Gingrich exhorts us to be imitators of the holy man Daniel writing that "Something supernatural should he seen in our lives (Da 4:9)—Men around us should readily see that God is with us and is living His life through us, (Ge 39:3; 2Cor. 4:7).

🙏 THOUGHT - Beloved, we should live so consistently before unbelievers that, when spiritual questions arise or life's circumstances exceed their own resources, they know there is something different about us and know they can come to us for truth. But like Daniel, when that opportunity comes, we must point beyond ourselves to God. Our goal must be not for people to say, “What an impressive Christian,” but ultimately, “What a great God that Christian knows.” One is reminded of 1Peter 3:15 "sanctify (command) Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." And Col 4:5-6 "Conduct (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity"Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.  

And no mystery baffles you - Nebuchadnezzar expresses enormous confidence in Daniel. The Aramaic idea is that no secret or mystery was too difficult for him. Of course, Daniel himself would never have claimed independent ability to solve every mystery. In Daniel 2 he had explicitly denied that the answer originated in himself:

tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation - Young's Literal reads "the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell". The NIV translates it "here is my dream; interpret it for me." I think from the context the NIV is correct in this instance, but it makes the point that one must be careful when reading any translation that has a significant interpretative component (as does the NIV, in contrast to the NAS and ESV which are more literal). Brenton's English rendering of the Septuagint is "the Holy Spirit of God is in thee". The king finally turns to the man whose God had previously demonstrated His ability to reveal mysteries. The king wanted an interpretation and would soon find out that God was sending him a warning.

The NAS translation reflects the Masoretic text (MT) but the NET NOTE comments...

The Masoretic Text implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.

Daniel 4:10 'Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great.

• tree: Da 4:20-26 Ps 37:35,36 Isa 10:33,34 Jer 12:2 Eze 31:3-18
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

THE GREAT TREE IN
THE MIDST OF THE EARTH

Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: Once again, the mighty king is lying passively on his bed while God places before him a vivid picture of his own greatness and what God is about to do to it. Visions in my mind is literally the idea of “visions of my head.”

I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great - It takes 3 verses to describe the magnificence of this tree! Behold calls attention to something striking and important. This "geographic" phrase in the midst of the earth denotes the tree's (aka "the king and his kingdom's") conspicuous position at the center of the world from whence the Babylonian authority radiated in all directions.

In Ezekiel we read about the "other" great city which is in the midst of the earth...

Thus says the Lord GOD, 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her. (Ezek 5:5)

COMMENT - Recall that the most referenced city in Scripture is Jerusalem (812x) and the second most referenced is Babylon (298x)! City of God versus the City of Man. The best of God versus the best of the Anti-God World system!)

Henry Morris: It is remarkable that modern computer studies have shown that Jerusalem is, indeed, very near the geographical center of all the earth's land areas and, therefore, the midst of the nations. (Morris, Henry: Defenders Study Bible. World Publishing)

J Vernon McGee comments that "In Scripture, a tree can represent a number of things. A tree can represent a man: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Ps 1:3; see also Jer 17:8; Isa 56:3). Also a tree can represent a nation (see Ezek 31:3-14; Mt 24:32,33). The mustard tree in Mt 13:31, 32 represents Christendom today (Ed: The kingdom of heaven manifest in the body of Christ, the Church). The olive tree represents both Israel and the Gentiles (see Ro 11:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 24). The tree here represents Nebuchadnezzar primarily and also his kingdom of Babylon—the king and kingdom are inseparable. (Daniel 4:10-16)

The prophet Ezekiel also used the image of a tree in a figurative description of the kingdom of Assyria...

‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among the clouds. (Ezek 31:3)

---

Dictionary of Biblical Imagery on TREE, TREES - The special status of trees (even individual trees) in the Bible is explainable partly by the fact that the Palestinian world is arid, with trees scarce. Buildings made from wood are not the norm (as in the Western world) but a luxury. In such a world, even the planting of a single tree (Gen 21:33) or the burial of someone under an oak tree (Gen 35:8) might merit mention. If wood as a building material is scarce, it becomes a mark of superiority if a royal bower boasts a house with beams of cedar and rafters of pine (Song 1:17). The 250 generic references to trees in the Bible are thus not to be interpreted as evidence of their abundance (with the exception of the common olive tree) but of the special status of trees in a world where they are scarce. (For full discussion see page 2990 in Dictionary of Biblical Imagery) 

Daniel 4:11 'The tree grew large and became strong And its height reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

NET  The tree grew large and strong. Its top reached far into the sky; it could be seen from the borders of all the land.

NLT   The tree grew very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see.

ESV  The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

• reached: Da 4:21,22 Ge 11:4 De 9:1 Mt 11:23
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Genesis 11:4 (TOWER OF BABEL) They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

WHEN SUCCESS REACHES
ITS SUMMIT

'The tree grew large and became strong And its height reached to the sky (shemayin), And it was visible to the end of the whole earth - Metaphor which Daniel identifies with Nebuchadnezzar (Da 4:22). The dream emphasizes continued growth. The tree did not suddenly appear in its full dimensions. It grew until it became enormous and powerful. Daniel later interprets this directly. Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom had expanded through military conquest, political consolidation, wealth, and massive building projects. His greatness was not imaginary. Scripture acknowledges that he had indeed become great and strong.

The tree’s towering height, reaching to the heavens, recalls the Tower of Babel, whose builders sought to construct a tower “whose top will reach into heaven” (Ge 11:4). This imagery may also intentionally connect Babel’s ancient tower with the great temple-tower complex of Babylon in Daniel’s own day, reinforcing the picture of human greatness and pride reaching upward toward heaven. This time, however, God Himself would not come down as He did at Babel (Ge 11:5); instead, He would send His holy watcher from heaven to carry out His command (Da 4:13). Tragically, the same pride and rebellion that characterized ancient Babel had resurfaced in Babylon (Da 4:14; Ge 11:5–7). Once again, human power was reaching for autonomy from God, forgetting that the very sovereignty in which it boasted had been given by the God of heaven (Da 2:28–30, 37–38). In his hubris, Nebuchadnezzar virtually elevated himself to the place of a god, boasting that he had built great Babylon by his own power and for his own glory (Da 4:30). The connection with the Tower of Babel is striking. There the people built a city and tower to “make for ourselves a name” (Ge 11:4); here Nebuchadnezzar likewise claims Babylon as the monument to his power and his majesty. In doing so, the king claimed as his own the sovereignty that heaven had granted him, effectively denying the great truth he had been taught: “Heaven rules” (Da 4:26; cf. Da 2:37–38).

Adam Clarke notes that "Great men and princes are often represented, in the language of the prophets, under the similitude of trees, see Ezekiel 17:5, 6; 31:3 and following; Jer 22:15; Ps 1:3; 37:35.

🙏 THOUGHT - Success does not automatically produce pride, but it provides fertile soil in which pride can grow. The greater our accomplishments, influence, possessions, knowledge, ministry, or reputation, the easier it becomes to forget that everything we possess has ultimately been received.  Paul's question is an antidote to Nebuchadnezzar's pride: “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1Co 4:7) The tree could legitimately be described as great. Nebuchadnezzar's mistake was eventually believing that its greatness originated with himself. The higher the tree grows, the deeper its dependence upon God should be remembered.

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Sky (heaven) (08065) shemayin (שְׁמַיִן) is an Aramaic noun meaning "sky" or "heavens." It corresponds directly to the more familiar Hebrew noun shamayim (שָׁמַיִם, H8064), sharing essentially the same semantic range and theological weight. The word carries several related but distinct connotations depending on context:

1. The physical sky — its most basic sense, describing the visible heavens overhead. Used of the great tree in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, whose "height reached to the sky" (Dan 4:11), and of the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea in Daniel's own vision (Dan 7:2).
2. The dwelling place of God — reaching beyond the merely physical sky, shemayin designates heaven as God's abode, a realm categorically higher and other than any earthly place (Dan 2:28; 4:34). The text is careful to locate the heavens' greatness not in the sky itself but in who dwells there — heaven is significant because of its Occupant, not its altitude.
3. The abode of God's angelic messengers — the heavens are also home to God's angels, His agents who are sent down to earth to carry out His purposes, as with the "watcher" ('ir) who descends in Nebuchadnezzar's dream to pronounce judgment (Dan 4:13).
4. The whole created universe as the theater of God's revealed power — in its broadest sense, shemayin signifies the totality of creation in which God displays His mighty signs and makes His works known to all (Dan 6:27).

Shemayin's repeated pairing with "God" throughout Daniel's Aramaic chapters — "the God of heaven," "the Most High," the watchers who descend "from heaven" — consistently reinforces the book's central polemic against Babylonian and Persian imperial theology: it is not Marduk, Bel, or any pagan deity who rules the visible sky and the unseen realm above it, but the LORD, whose throne in shemayin places Him categorically above every earthly throne, including Nebuchadnezzar's own. This is precisely the confession Nebuchadnezzar is brought to make by chapter's end: he "raised his eyes toward heaven" and his sanity was restored the moment he blessed the Most High (Dan 4:34) — the geographic/cosmic orientation of his gaze mirrors and enacts the theological reorientation of his heart, from self-exalting pride to worship of the true King of heaven.

Daniel 4:12 'Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it.

• the beasts: Jer 27:6,7 Eze 17:23 31:6
• shadow: La 4:20) (the fowls: Mk 13:32 Lk 13:19
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BLESSINGS BENEATH
THE BRANCHES

Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it - The dream now moves beyond the size and strength of the tree to describe its beauty and fruitfulness. The king was benefactor of all the subjects under his rule. As they often say "so far, so good." The front end of the dream was pleasing and satisfying to Nebuchadnezzar, but that picture would soon change. The different creatures undoubtedly represent the people under his rule ("dominion to the end of the earth" Da 4:22) The imagery is important because God does not deny the genuine accomplishments of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. The tree really was magnificent.

There is an important principle brought out by the imagery of this tree. The tree received, but the tree also gave. It received the soil, rain, sunlight, strength, growth, and fruitfulness necessary to flourish, and then its branches provided shelter and its fruit provided food for others. So it should be with the blessings God entrusts to us. Our abilities, resources, knowledge, influence, possessions, spiritual gifts, and opportunities are not intended merely for our own enjoyment. God blesses us so that through us others may also be blessed. The question is not merely: “How much has God given me?” But also: “Who is finding shade (so to speak) beneath the branches of what God has given me?”

Daniel 4:13 'I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.

• in the: Da 4:5,10 7:1 Da 4:17,23 Ps 103:2
• an holy: Da 8:13 De 33:2 Ps 89:7 Zec 14:5 Mt 25:31 Mk 1:24 Lk 4:34 Jude 1:14 Rev 14:10
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Related Passages: 

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”

Psalm 33:13-15 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;  14From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,  15He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. 

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. 

Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 

HEAVEN INTERVENES SENDING
A DIVINE WATCHER

I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher (ir/iyr), a holy one, descended from heaven - Nebuchadnezzar continues to emphasize the vividness of the dream. He is lying safely in his palace, but God is revealing that events are being determined in a realm far above Nebuchadnezzar’s throne. Behold draws attention to a dramatic development. Now his attention shifts from earth to heaven, from the greatness of the king to the authority that stands over the king.

Nebuchadnezzar was sleeping,
but heaven was watching.

An angelic watcher, a holy one - Note that angelic is not in the original Aramaic but is added by the translators of the NAS. The ESV for example reads "a watcher, a holy one" The watcher announces the sentence, but the Most High determines the sentence. The tree reached toward heaven, but the verdict came down from heaven.

Undoubtedly the NAS is correct that this is an angelic being. How do we know? The context would be compatible - (1) Nebuchadnezzar sees something about him that causes him to describe him as a "holy one", suggesting supernatural origin (2) Holy one (not an evil, fallen angel!) describes one set apart for a special purpose. (3) His purpose is to deliver a message, which was frequently the "job description"

Morris comments that "This distinctive name for one of God's holy angels occurs in the Bible only in this chapter (Da 4:17,23). It does occur also in extra-Biblical literature (the book of Enoch). The term is insightful, suggesting that angels are watching us, and they "desire to look into" God's dealings with us (1Peter 1:12). (Defender's Study Bible Note on Daniel 4:13)

Jamieson has a lengthy note on watcher - Only one angel is intended, and he not one of the bad, but of the holy angels. Called a "watcher," because ever on the watch to execute God's will [JEROME], "Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will." (Ps 103:20, 21). Compare as to their watchfulness, Rev. 4:8, "full of eyes within . . . they rest not day and night." (Ed: Rev 4:8 strictly speaking are not angels per se). Also they watch good men committed to their charge (Ps 34:7 Heb 1:14); and watch over the evil to record their sins, and at God's bidding at last punish them (Jer 4:16, 17), "watchers" applied to human instruments of God's vengeance. As to GOD (Da 9:14 Job 7:12 Job 14:16 Jer 44:27). In a good sense (Ge 31:49 Jer 31:28). The idea of heavenly "watchers" under the supreme God (called in the Zendavesta of the Persian Zoroaster, Ormuzd) was founded on the primeval revelation as to evil angels having watched for an opportunity until they succeeded in tempting man to his ruin, and good angels ministering to God's servants (as Jacob, Ge 28:15 Ge 32:1, 2). Compare the watching over Abraham for good, and over Sodom for wrath after long watching in vain for good men it it, for whose sake He would spare it, Ge 18:23-33; and over Lot for good, Ge 19:1-38 Daniel fitly puts in Nebuchadnezzar's mouth the expression, though not found elsewhere in Scripture, yet substantially sanctioned by it (2Ch 16:9 Pr 15:3 Jer 32:19), and natural to him according to Oriental modes of thought.

J Vernon McGee - These watchers see all, hear all, and tell all. Many believers today think they can live in secret, that they are not under the eye of God. We talk about wanting to enjoy our privacy, but if you want to know the truth, you and I haven't any privacy. Psalm 139:7-12 tells us that we cannot get away from God, no matter where we go. Secret sin on earth is open scandal up yonder in heaven. His created intelligences know all about you, and if you are a Christian, you had better go to God with that "secret" sin in your life and get it straightened out. (See Thru the Bible: Daniel)

The writer of Hebrews asks rhetorically about the angels "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14)

Comment: Indeed, if Nebuchadnezzar was indeed converted in Daniel 4 as I believe, we see that the watcher that brought him a frightful message, in effect functioned as God's minister or servant, to this pagan king who was soon to inherit salvation!

Dr Henry Morris in his comment on Heb 1:14 says "This important passage indicates that the primary reason why God created the angels is so they could serve to implement His purpose in creating and redeeming men and women in His own image. Angels possess great wisdom (2 Samuel 14:20), great strength (Psalm 103:20), great speed (Daniel 9:21), and great numbers (Hebrews 12:22) in performing this ministry. They accomplish their ministry on behalf of the heirs of salvation in various ways, including: instruction (Acts 10:3-6), deliverance (Psalm 34:7; 91:11), comfort (Matthew 1:20; Luke 22:43) and, finally, reception at death (Luke 16:22). They were created to be ministering spirits, continually sent forth to minister (that is, serve) those who shall be heirs of salvation." (Defender's Study Bible Note on Hebrews 1:14)

The psalmist writes "No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For (explaining Ps 91:10) He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard (Heb = shamar = to watch, to keep, to preserve, to guard, to care for; Lxx = to carefully guard, protect and take care of) you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone." (Ps 91:10-12)

Spurgeon comments on Ps 91:11,12 - Not one guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all the angels are here alluded to. They are the bodyguard of the princes of the blood imperial of heaven, and they have received commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all the interests of the faithful. When men have a charge they become doubly careful, and therefore the angels are represented as bidden by God himself to see to it that the elect are secured. It is down in the marching orders of the hosts of heaven that they take special note of the people who dwell in God. It is not to be wondered at that the servants are bidden to be careful of the comfort of their Master's guests; and we may be quite sure that when they are specially charged by the Lord himself they will carefully discharge the duty imposed upon them. To keep thee in all thy ways. To be a bodyguard, a garrison to the body, soul, and spirit of the saint. The limit of this protection "in all thy ways" is yet no limit to the heart which is right with God. It is not the way of the believer to go out of his way. He keeps in the way, and then the angels keep him. The protection here promised is exceeding broad as to place, for it refers to all our ways, and what do we wish for more? How angels thus keep us we cannot tell. Whether they repel demons, counteract spiritual plots, or even ward off the more subtle physical forces of disease, we do not know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the multiplied services which the unseen bands have rendered to us. Ps 91:12. They, that is the angels, God's own angels, shall cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear thee up in their hands; as nurses carry little children, with careful love, so shall those glorious spirits bear up each individual believer. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone; even minor ills they ward off. It is most desirable that we should not stumble, but as the way is rough, it is most gracious on the Lord's part to send his servants to bear us up above the loose pebbles. If we cannot have the way smoothed it answers every purpose if we have angels to bear us up in their hands. Since the greatest ills may arise out of little accidents, it shows the wisdom of the Lord that from the smaller evils we are protected. (Treasury of David—Psalm 91)

From heaven - Heaven is a key word in Da 4 - 11x in 10v - Da 4:13, 15, 23, 25, 26, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37.

🙏 THOUGHT - This verse is a sobering reminder that our lives are lived Coram Deo, before the face of God. Nothing about our lives escapes His knowledge. Yet for the believer this truth is not merely sobering, it is comforting. The God Who sees our pride also sees our faithfulness, our suffering, our obedience, and the things no one else notices. Nebuchadnezzar was about to learn that earthly prominence never removes a person from heavenly accountability.

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Watcher (05894)(ir/iyr) is a unique Aramaic noun, occurring only three times in Scripture — all within Daniel 4 (Da 4:13, 17, 23) — meaning "watcher" or "watchman." The word derives from a root meaning "to be wakeful" or "to be on watch," carrying the core idea of a "waking one" a being characterized by constant, unceasing alertness, one who never sleeps and is perpetually vigilant. In each instance the word is paired with "holy one" (qaddish), forming the fixed phrase "a watcher, a holy one" — indicating these are not ordinary human observers but angelic beings who serve a specific function in the heavenly court: perpetual, wakeful oversight of the affairs of men, and the execution of divine decrees.

The "watchers" of Daniel 4 represent a category of angelic being whose defining characteristic is unceasing vigilance for they neither sleep nor grow weary in their oversight of human affairs, standing in stark contrast to the very human, very finite Nebuchadnezzar whose pride is about to be judged. The watcher's proclamation in Da 4:17 makes explicit the theological point of the entire chapter: "the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of men" and this decree comes not merely as Daniel's interpretation but as a ruling handed down through the heavenly court itself, underscoring that Nebuchadnezzar's humbling is not a matter of chance or mere natural consequence but a deliberate, sovereignly ordained judgment, decreed and watched over by beings whose vigilance never lapses.

NET Note - Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a Hendiadys; so also in Da 4:23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has angelos (aggelos), “angel” here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT). (NET translates it "holy sentinel")

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Robert Hawker - I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher, and an Holy One came down from heaven.—Daniel 4:13.

My soul! that which terrified the impious monarch in his visions of the night, ought to be to thee a subject of holy joy! When Jesus proclaims “the day of vengeance which is in his heart,” he adds also, “the year of my redeemed is come.” A day is enough for destruction; a year, yea, an everlasting year, will not be too long to make his people happy. But what a striking character is this of “a Watcher, and an Holy One!” To whom but to Jesus can it possibly refer? Jesus, at the call of God his Father, stood up from everlasting, to watch over his Church, to water it every moment; yea, to keep it night and day, lest any hurt it. And who shall describe in how many ways the Lord Jesus is for ever performing this blessed office, and hath been, and will be to all eternity? Is he not for ever in the midst of them, to do all that is needful for them: to protect, to comfort, to lead out, to bring home, until he brings in and houseth them in his temple for ever? Yea, he saith himself, “I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land, assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul.” (Jerem. 32:41.) But oh! ye despisers of my God! tremble at the approach of this almighty Watcher, this Holy One coming down from heaven! For he comes, armed with zeal and with wrath, “to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ.” “Oh! kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they that put their trust in him.”

Daniel 4:14 'He shouted out and spoke as follows: "Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches.

• shouted: Da 3:4 Rev 10:3 18:2
• chop: Da 4:23 5:20 Mt 3:10 7:19 Lk 3:9 13:7-9
• let: Da 4:12 Jer 51:6,9 Eze 31:12,13
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ANGELIC INSOMNIA!
CHOP DOWN THE TREE

He shouted out and spoke as follows: Actually 2 words in Aramaic, more literally cried out in strength . Abruptly and without warning the command is shouted out (this would cause anyone to have a frightening night of sleep!) that the great tree which was seemingly indestructible is to be chopped down. The destruction would have been complete except for the next verse.

Chop down the tree  - This pictures the removal of Nebuchadnezzar from his position of royal power. The king whose greatness had “reached to the sky” (Da 4:11, 22) would be brought down to the ground. What appeared firmly established could be removed instantly when God decreed it. This anticipates the great lesson of the chapter: “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (Da 4:17).

And cut off its branches Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches - This reverses the picture of Daniel 4:12. Previously animals found shade beneath the tree and birds lived securely in its branches. Nebuchadnezzar's empire had provided protection and sustenance for vast numbers of people. But when the king falls, those who had gathered beneath his power are scattered.

Nebuchadnezzar looked like an untouchable tree towering over the world, but no tree grows so tall that it is beyond the reach of the Most High. Human greatness can create the illusion of independence, but Daniel 4 reminds us that every position, possession, achievement, and authority remains under God's sovereign hand.

No tree grows so tall that
the Most High cannot bring it down.

Daniel 4:15 "Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it In the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

• leave: Da 4:25-27 Job 14:7-9 Eze 29:14-15
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Related Passages: 

Daniel 4:25-27 that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26‘And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. 27‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’

Isaiah 10:33-11:5  Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash (REFERRING TO ASSYRIA WHO HAD BEEN USED AS GOD'S INSTRUMENT TO JUDGE ISRAEL - ASSYRIA HAD BECOME ARROGANT SO GOD WOULD BRING HER DOWN); Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One. (NOW ANOTHER TREE BEGINS TO GROW - A PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH) Isaiah 11:1 THEN a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.  3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;  4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.  5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.  6And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 

JUDGMENT WITH MERCY:
THE STUMP OF HOPE

Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground - This little word “Yet” introduces a remarkable note of hope into an otherwise severe judgment. The great tree was to be cut down, its branches removed, its foliage stripped, and its fruit scattered (Da 4:14). Yet the stump was not to be uprooted. In short, this speaks of retention of the potential for revival.

NET NOTE - Aram “the stock of its root.” So also Da 4:23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious. The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.

But with a band of iron and bronze around it - The precise significance of the iron and bronze band is not explained, so we should be careful not to press the symbolism too far. Most naturally it pictures the stump as restrained, secured, or preserved during the period of judgment. The stump therefore becomes a beautiful picture of mercy in the midst of judgment.

In the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth - The symbolism begins to give way to the reality. The tree represents a man. Note the occurrence of the masculine pronoun him, which is most closely linked with the stump with its roots in the ground. This is a presaging of the fact that the "him" would not be totally annihilated, despite the tree being chopped down.

Herodotus 7.19 mentions a dream which Xerxes had; namely, that he was crowned with olive, and that the branches of the olive filled the whole earth, but that afterwards the crown vanished from his head: signifying his universal dominion soon to come to an end. 

🙏 THOUGHT - There is also an important lesson in the roots. What looked like the end of Nebuchadnezzar's story was actually the beginning of God's deepest work in his heart. Sometimes God must strip away what makes us feel self-sufficient before we recognize how completely dependent we are upon Him.

Daniel 4:16 "Let his mind be changed from that of a man And let a beast's mind be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass over him.

• be changed: Da 4:32,33 Isa 6:10 Heb 1:11 Mk 5:4,5 Lk 8:27-29
• seven times: Da 4:23,25,31 7:25 11:13 12:7 Rev 12:14
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A CALL FOR A 
CHANGE OF HEART

Let his mind be changed from that of a man And let a beast's mind be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass (Da 4:16, 23, 25, 32) over him - Note the clear movement from description of a tree to a description of a man (his...man...him...him). This shift anticipates Daniel's interpretation in Daniel 4:22: “it is you, O king.” The great tree represents Nebuchadnezzar.

Let his mind be changed is literally "let his heart be changed" as Scripture views our heart as our "control center" (encompassing the inner person, including thought, understanding, disposition, and will - the Septuagint translates the Aramaic with kardia). The Septuagint translates "changed" with the verb alloioo which means to make different, in passive voice (divine passive = God orchestrated the "change") meaning to be changed or altered, to become different. Clearly Nebuchadnezzar's judgment would reach far deeper than the loss of his throne. The upshot is that the God Who gave Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom could also take away his reason.

TECHNICAL NOTE - Are we justified in interpreting the Aramaic word for periods as signifying years and not months, weeks, etc? The best commentary on Scripture is always Scripture (See Compare Scripture with Scripture)! In the book of Daniel in another passage "time" is equated with "year." So in Da 7:25 we read of the saints being given into the hand of the Antichrist for time, times and half a time. By comparing parallel passages in Revelation (Rev 12:6 and Rev 12:14) we can deduce that time (singular) equates with one year and times (plural) equates with two years, so that time, times and half a time is 3.5 years. Thus a single time is one year. Additional, though not direct, support is found in Theodotion's version of the Septuagint. While Theodotion's rendering of Daniel 4:16 has "seven seasons" (LXX = kairos), without specifying an exact length, the same Greek word kairos is used in the Septuagint's rendering of Daniel 7:25 where, as shown above, "time" corresponds to one year. This is not direct evidence, but it is suggestive that even Theodotion's translation favors a seven-year period (reminds me of an old movie name — "The Seven Year Itch!" That would soon be Nebuchadnezzar's fate!).

Seven - Speaks of completion or perfection (see note), in this case that this time would be necessary to see this arrogant king repent and submit to the Most High God.

Jamieson -"Seven" is the perfect number: a week of years: a complete revolution of time accompanying a complete revolution in his state of mind."

Nebuchadnezzar's fundamental problem was not intellectual deficiency but pride. He possessed enough intelligence to rule an empire but lacked the humility to recognize the One Who had given him the empire. Daniel 4 reminds us that intelligence, achievement, position, and power can coexist with profound spiritual blindness.

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Periods of time (05732)('iddan) is an Aramaic noun meaning "time" or "period of time." In the NASB, every occurrence of the English phrase "periods of time" translates this single Aramaic word — and every one of those occurrences is found in Daniel 4 (vv. 16, 23, 25, 32), all within Nebuchadnezzar's account of his seven-year humbling.

Supporting considerations for the "one year" reading: The same word is used elsewhere in Daniel with a clear year-length referent. 'Iddan appears in Daniel 7:25, in the phrase "a time, times, and half a time" (Aramaic 'iddan, 'iddanin, pelag 'iddan) describing the duration of the little horn's persecution of the saints — widely understood by conservative interpreters (in continuity with the parallel "1,260 days" / "42 months" of Rev 11:2-3, 12:6, 14 and "three and a half years" framework) as a three-and-a-half-year period, supporting a year-based value for the term across Daniel's usage. A madness lasting mere weeks or months would scarcely account for Nebuchadnezzar's total removal from governance, the total transformation of his appearance (hair "like eagles' feathers," nails "like birds' claws," Dan 4:33) consistent with prolonged, untreated neglect, or the gravity with which both Daniel (visibly "appalled," Dan 4:19) and the king himself treat the pronouncement.

The condition described (commonly identified as a case of boanthropy — the delusion of believing oneself to be an ox, consistent with Dan 4:25, 33, "he was given grass to eat like cattle") is medically understood, where documented, to run a course of this general duration — lending circumstantial plausibility to a multi-year reading rather than a brief episode.

The specificity of "seven 'iddanin" (plural) underscores that Nebuchadnezzar's judgment was neither random nor open-ended — it was precisely decreed, with both its onset and its appointed conclusion fixed in advance by "the decree of the watchers" (Dan 4:17), just as its purpose was fixed: "until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind" (Dan 4:25). The measured, bounded nature of the 'iddan period reflects a broader pattern in Daniel of God's sovereignty operating not through capricious or indefinite affliction, but through purposeful, time-bound discipline aimed at a specific corrective end — after which, precisely as decreed, "at the end of that period" (Dan 4:34), the king's reason and kingdom were both restored.

'Iddan - 11v all in Daniel - Dan 2:8-9, 21; 3:5, 15; 4:16, 23, 25, 32; 7:12, 25. Translated (NAS) as moment(2), situation(1), time(8), times(2).

Swanson on 'iddan - 1. time, occasion in a general sense, without reference to other points of time (Da 2:8, 9, 21; 7:12); 2. (most versions) time, a period of time, as a definite unit: year (Holladay, KB, BDB, NAB, Hermeneia (Collins)), (seven) years (Da 4:16,23,29, 32); three and a half years (NAB) Da 7:25, formally, time, times and a half time (= 1 + 2 + 1/2), note: other commentaries suggest that this may not be a definite unit of time, or possibly a month, or a six-month period (season) of time; the versions tend to keep the exact unit of time ambiguous.

Daniel 4:17 "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men."

• by the: Da 4:13,14 1Ki 22:19,20 1Ti 5:21
• the holy: Da 4:8,9,13 Isa 6:3,8 Rev 4:8
• that the living: Ps 9:16 83:17,18 Ezek 25:17
• the most High: Da 4:25,32-35 Da 2:21 Da 5:18-21 Jer 27:5-7
• bestows: Ps 75:6-7
• the basest: Da 4:25 11:21 Ex 9:16 1Sa 2:8 1Ki 21:25 2Ki 21:6-18 2Ch 28:22 Ps 12:8 113:7,8; Ezek 7:24 1Co 1:28
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

1 Corinthians 4:7  For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 

Daniel 2:21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 

Romans 13:1  Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Psalms 75:6-7  For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation;  7 But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another. 

PUROSE OF SYMBOLIC
CHOPPING THE TREE DOWN

This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that (term of purpose) the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men." - At first glance, this might sound as though the watchers were in control and independently determined Nebuchadnezzar's fate. Context is always king in interpretation and the rest of the chapter makes clear that the ultimate decree comes from God Himself. Daniel calls it “the decree of the Most High” in Da 4:24. So while the watchers announce and participate in carrying out God's heavenly decree, they are servants of the Most High God "heralds" proclaiming his decree, decision and command and not independent authorities competing with Him.

In order that (term of purpose) the living may know - The king needed to know that this dream was of divine origin and not a bad "nightmare" related to indigestion! But notice that God's purpose extends beyond Nebuchadnezzar. It is not merely “that Nebuchadnezzar may know,” but “that the living may know.”

As an aside, let me encourage you to be on alert for this phrase in order that which is a phrase I refer to as a term of purpose or result. It follows that when you encounter this phrase (or synonymous phrases such as so that, that, as a result) When a term of purpose or result is encountered, it behooves the reader to pause and ponder the context, asking at least "What is purpose (or result or effect)?" There are 161 occurrences of in order that from Genesis to Revelation. The related phrase so that is found some 580 times. While many of your pauses to ponder in order that, so that (or the word "that" used in a similar sense), will lead to a straightforward answer, just the fact that you were prompted to slow down and meditate on the passage can often lead to new insights. It is as if you give your Teacher the Spirit time to speak to you about the text. In the present context, the purpose of the tree vision and the tree being chopped down is to show that "the Most High is the ruler over the realm of mankind." In fact the divine dream really has a three fold purpose, to show that...

(1) The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind

(2) He bestows in on whom He wishes

(3) He sets over it the lowliest of men

These three purposes can be summarized in one word - Sovereignty (see Sovereignty: How Much Does God Control?)

Roy Gingrich "All blessings and gifts are of God—Nebuchadnezzar failed to acknowledge this fact, Da 4:17, 25, 32; 1Cor. 4:7. ()

As Donald Campbell says "This is, in essence, a restatement of the great theme of the Book of Daniel: God is sovereign over the affairs of men and rules supremely in the world. He is the final authority, the highest judge. Further, He oversees the appointment of national rulers. He removes kings and establishes kings (Da 2:21). "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." (Ro 13:1).  (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

Sets over it the lowliest of men - Lowliest means humblest. In the NT, the origin of the Greek word for humble indicates one who is low down. This reminds me of Samuel's selection of the king to replace Saul ("He removes kings" Da 2:21), for even as Jesse's sons were brought before Samuel, he looked at Eliab and reasoned "Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him" to which Jehovah responded "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1Sa 16:7)

It is interesting that Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar claimed to be of very humble origin as evidenced by his royal inscriptions which have been discovered: “in my littleness, the son of a nobody,” “of me, the insignificant, who among men was not visible,” “I, the weak, the feeble.”

Jamieson says that the idea of lowliest of men is "the lowest in condition (1Sa 2:8 Lk 1:52). It is not one's talents, excellency, or noble birth, but God's will, which elevates to the throne. Nebuchadnezzar abased to the dunghill, and then restored, was to have in himself an experimental proof of this (Da 4:37).

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Sovereignty: How Much Does God Control?

A man who grew up in North Africa as the son of missionary parents tells of the time he saw a pregnant woman killed when a team of horses pulling a buggy galloped through a crowd of people. The driver stopped, saw that the woman was dead, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “It was the will of Allah,” and continued on his way.

A 39-year-old woman has lost her desire to live because her husband left her for a younger lover. She has been a devout believer and wonders why God is doing this to her.

The grandfather of a teenage girl killed by a drunk driver has stopped going to church and becomes angry when people try to comfort him. He says that a good and all-powerful God would not let such things happen.

Indeed, sometimes it’s hard to reconcile belief in God’s goodness and power with what we see. I remember the thoughts and feelings I had as a young man when I visited a hospital’s Pediatric ward. I was a surgical technician during World War II, so I had seen severely wounded men. But the sight of deformed and dying children was almost too much for me. I couldn’t think of any reason for what I saw. They had done nothing to bring these conditions on themselves. They couldn’t learn anything through their pain. I found myself wondering about God, even doubting some of the beliefs I had cherished for most of my lifetime.

People who experience or observe debilitating 

disease or heartbreaking circumstances have a number of options. They can deny the existence of a personal God and struggle with unexplainable issues of origin and meaning. They can accept the existence of a God who is a mixture of good and evil. Or they can conclude that God is good, but that some things are beyond His control—the conclusion expressed by Rabbi Kushner in his book When Bad Things Happen To Good People.

Another option is to become fatalistic. Many Muslims and Christians have adopted a “whatever will be will be” attitude toward life. No matter what happens, it’s God’s will. Such a God may be feared, but how can He be loved? And if He cannot be loved, how can He be trusted? The implications are profound. Oswald Chambers made the astute observation that “the root of all sin is in the suspicion that God is not good.”

The Bible does give us another choice, however. It presents God as both all-powerful and good. The God of the Bible is pleased with those who do good, and slowly but surely becomes angry with those who stubbornly resist Him (Ps. 7:11; Nah. 1:1-7). He feels grief toward those who reject Him (Gen. 6:6; Ps. 95:10). He hurts when He finds it necessary to correct and punish (Isa. 63:9). He finds no pleasure in judging the wicked, and longs for their change of heart (Ezek. 18:23,32; 33:11). He delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness (Jer. 9:24). And He loved the world so much that in the person of Jesus Christ He became a member of the human family and took our punishment by dying like a sinner (Jn. 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21).

People who have placed their trust in Jesus 

Christ and live in obedience to God’s Word experience the reality of His love, and love Him in return. They can go through overwhelming sorrows, distressing physical afflictions, and dire circumstances with amazing resiliency. The heartbroken father of a 20-year-old girl who died because the heater in the motel was not vented said to me, “I’m not angry with God. How can I doubt the goodness of the One who has shown so much love toward me and been so patient with me through all my years?” I talked with parents who had a teenage son and daughter both killed in separate accidents. They grieved deeply, but neither ever spoke bitterly or railed at anyone. They told me they anticipate heaven with a new eagerness and that they sense God’s presence in their lives as never before.

The fact remains, however, that the world is full of grief, pain, sorrow, cruelty, and injustice. And while some believers are able to triumph over it, many are deeply shaken. They often wonder where God is or why He lets them down. I have tried to help many such people and have suffered with them. I am therefore writing this booklet from my heart as well as my mind. I want to draw on the Bible and human experience to provide an understandable and practical answer to the question, “How Much Does God Control?” I will do so under the headings: (1) paradoxical truths, (2) conflicting kingdoms, (3) perplexing problems, and (4) practical implications.

I pray that the thoughts expressed in the following pages will be used by God to strengthen His people and lead doubters to faith in the One who has faced the problem of evil for us. (Click to read the entire booklet from Discovery House Publishing)

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The High Price of an Untamed Ego By Dr. Larry Osborne

Scripture: Daniel 4, especially Da 4:17
This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.

Introduction: Today we’re going to learn a lesson from Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4 was penned by Nebuchadnezzar himself.

  1.      The Danger Zone (v. 4). “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous” (NIV). When it comes to an untamed ego, there’s no more dangerous situation than a place where you’re content and prosperous, where everything in your life seems to be going right and you begin to think that maybe it’s because you’re so great.

  2.      The Dream (vv. 5–17). Nebuchadnezzar had a strange dream that terrified him. He brought in all the wise men, the magicians, the astrologers, and soothsayers to interpret but none could. Finally Daniel was brought before Nebuchadnezzar to interpret it.

  3.      The Interpretation (vv. 18–27). Daniel was troubled that he had to give the king such an interpretation, but proceeded to explain the dream. The tree in the dream symbolized Nebuchadnezzar, his expansive power and reign. But Nebuchadnezzar would be humbled, driven out of his kingdom, forced to live among cattle and even eat grass as they do until “you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (v. 25). The stump that is left indicates that when he is humbled, Nebuchadnezzar will again be restored to the kingdom.

  4.      The Fulfillment (vv. 28ff). Later, as the king walked on his roof, he said one of the stupidest things ever to be uttered: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (v. 30). While he was still speaking, judgment came audibly from heaven (v. 31) and then physically to fulfill what was foretold in the dream interpreted by Daniel (v. 33). Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom and was humbled to the point of living as cattle until he acknowledged God’s sovereignty. He was only restored to his kingdom when he recognized God’s ultimate authority.

Application: None of us are in a place of world dominion like Nebuchadnezzar, but we certainly are susceptible to an untamed ego whether it shows up in a marriage, a work environment, a school, or any other situation.

  1.      Develop Healthy Pride and Rid Yourself of Arrogance. Let’s look at the differences between healthy pride and arrogance:

    A.      Healthy Pride. There’s nothing wrong with healthy pride that is confident in one’s own abilities. God doesn’t want you to go through life thinking you’re bad at something you’re good at. He doesn’t want you to have a lower view of yourself, but an accurate view of yourself (Rom. 12:3). We are also supposed to find joy and satisfaction in our own success (2 Cor. 8:24). It’s also acceptable to tell others about our successes in a way that glorifies God (Gal. 6:4). For example, we could all agree that Daniel was a great man and Daniel is the same person who wrote Daniel—a book filled with great things God did through him.

    B.      Arrogance. It’s absolutely wrong to have arrogance that looks down on others (Luke 18:9–14). It’s okay to recognize things we’re better at than others, but it’s sinful to think we’re simply better than others. A second way arrogance shows up is when we think rules that apply to others don’t apply to us (Dan. 4:29–30). Another way this is displayed is in taking advantage of the weak (Dan. 4:26–27; Prov. 29:7). Finally, arrogance is blowing God off (Dan. 4:30). Blowing God off is calculating without God in my equation. We so easily forget that God has put us where we are and begin to think we don’t need God. Arrogance is something that God hates and attacks (Prov. 8:13; 15:25)—a much bigger deal than we make of it.

  2.      How to Keep Your Ego Well-Tamed. These principles are in effect the antithesis of Nebuchadnezzar’s statement in verse 30:

    A.      Share the Credit (James 1:16–17).
    B.      Remember the Helping Hand (Ps. 127:1; Eph. 4:11–14).
    C.      Ask “What’s in It for God?” (1 Cor. 10:31; Prov. 16:2–3).

Conclusion: Whenever you see a tortoise on a post, you know he didn’t get there alone. As you go, share the credit, remember the helping hands, and use it all for God’s glory.
 

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The purpose of God's decree was to directly contradict such thinking as expressed in the famous (? infamous) lines from the poem "Invictus"...

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul...

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley

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God Still Reigns- There's a story from the Eastern Roman Empire of a Christian monk who was horrified by the wickedness of the emperor. He prayed to God and asked, "Why did You allow that evil man to become emperor?" God replied, "Because I couldn't find anyone worse!"

Daniel saw wicked kings reign over God's people in Babylon. It must have been extremely frustrating. In time, the Lord dethroned each proud king, but He replaced them with others just as evil.

King Nebuchadnezzar, for example, exalted himself until God caused him to live like an animal for 7 years. When he regained his mind, he praised God as the one true Ruler (Dan. 4:28-37). But the cycle of evil monarchs continued. Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's descendant, mocked God and used the sacred goblets from the temple in Jerusalem during a drunken orgy (Da 5:2 3, 4).

We must remember that history is God's story. He reigns when the politicians we vote for get into office, and He reigns when those we oppose get elected. God is sovereign over the rulers of this world (Dan. 4:17). We can trust Him to do what is right because His "works are truth, and His ways justice" (Da 4:37). — Haddon W. Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The Most High still rules over kingdoms of men,
He gives the control to whomever He will;
All people must bow to His sovereign plan,
And know that His purposes He will fulfill. --Hess

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Pr 21:1

Daniel 4:18 'This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.' 

• Inasmuch: Da 4:7 2:7 5:8,15 Ge 41:8,15 Isa 19:3 47:12-14
• but: Da 4:8,9 2:26-28 1Ki 14:2,3 Am 3:7
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

1 Corinthians 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

THE KING EXPLAINS WHY DANIEL
CAN INTERPRET THE DREAM

This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but (term of contrast) you are able, for (term of explanation) a spirit of the holy gods is in you. - He affirms the inability of human wisdom to discern spiritual truth (1Co 2:14). Babylon possesses an impressive collection of wise men, but when divine revelation is required, human wisdom reaches its limit. What the king does not yet realize is that he has just described his own future. The dream that troubled him was God's gracious warning to him. Before God brought judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar, God told him what was coming and, through Daniel, would tell him why. 

You are able - Nebuchadnezzar had seen enough of Daniel's life to know that there was something fundamentally different about him. Daniel's ability was not inherent in Daniel. Daniel himself had already made this perfectly clear “As for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man.” (Da 2:30) Ultimately “You are able” ultimately meant “your God is able.”

But (term of contrast) you are able, for (term of explanation) a spirit of the holy gods is in you - Nebuchadnezzar again interprets Daniel through his own pagan theological vocabulary, as he had in Da 4:8. He recognizes a supernatural source behind Daniel's extraordinary wisdom but does not yet express the mature confession that will appear at the end of the chapter.

Daniel 4:19 "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!

KJV  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, 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.

NET  Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, don't let the dream and its interpretation alarm you." But Belteshazzar replied, "Sir, if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

NLT "Upon hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a time, frightened by the meaning of the dream. Then the king said to him, 'Belteshazzar, don't be alarmed by the dream and what it means.' "Belteshazzar replied, 'I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you!

ESV  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, "Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!

BGT (TH) τότε Δανιηλ οὗ τὸ ὄνομα Βαλτασαρ ἀπηνεώθη ὡσεὶ ὥραν μίαν καὶ οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτοῦ συνετάρασσον αὐτόν καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ εἶπεν Βαλτασαρ τὸ ἐνύπνιον καὶ ἡ σύγκρισις μὴ κατασπευσάτω σε καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Βαλτασαρ καὶ εἶπεν κύριε τὸ ἐνύπνιον τοῖς μισοῦσίν σε καὶ ἡ σύγκρισις αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς σου

LXE  Then Daniel, whose name is Baltasar, was amazed about one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. And Baltasar answered and said, My lord, let the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation of it to thine enemies.

CSB  Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was stunned for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, don't let the dream or its interpretation alarm you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

NIV  Daniel Interprets the Dream Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!

YLT  'Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream -- to those hating thee, and its interpretation -- to thine enemies!

NKJ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!

NJB  Daniel, known as Belteshazzar, was confused for a time and upset. The king said, 'Belteshazzar, do not be upset at the dream and its meaning.' Belteshazzar answered, 'My lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its meaning to your foes!

NRS  Then Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar, was severely distressed for a while. His thoughts terrified him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or the interpretation terrify you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies!

RSV Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, "Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!

NAB  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while, terrified by his thoughts. "Belteshazzar," the king said to him, "let not the dream or its meaning terrify you."

GWN Then Daniel (who had been renamed 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 meaning were about your enemies.

• Daniel: Da 4:8 1:7 2:26 5:12)
• was appalled: Da 4:9 7:28 8:27 10:16,17 Jer 4:19 Hab 3:10
• let: Da 4:4,5 1Sa 3:17) (My Lord: Da 4:24 10:16 Ge 31:35 32:4,5,18 Ex 32:32 1Sa 1:15 24:8 26:15 2Sa 18:31 1Ki 18:7
• the dream: 2Sa 18:32 Jer 29:7
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Daniel was momentarily dumbfounded and dismayed!

DANIEL OBVIOUSLY
APPALLED AND ALARMED

Then - Marks progression in the narrative. Nebuchadnezzar had just recounted the dream and asked Daniel for interpretation.

Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled (sh'mam) for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries - NEB says Daniel was "dumbfounded" and "dismayed." The LXX translates appalled (sh'mam) with a verb that means "to become mute"! In other words, it seems Daniel was momentarily speechless. The NLT renders the Aramaic as "overcome" and the NIV as "greatly perplexed". Appalled, momentarily unable to speak, signals the unusual severity of this particular revelation. The text goes on to specify the reason: it is not that Daniel cannot interpret the dream, but that he does not want to be the one to pronounce it, telling the king, "my lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries!" (Dan 4:19). Daniel's appalled hesitation functions narratively to underscore both his genuine compassion for a pagan king who had spared his life and elevated him to high office, and the sheer weight of the coming judgment — a king about to be reduced to eating grass like an ox is not a message any faithful servant delivers lightly, however clearly its truth may have been revealed to him.

For a while - For a while is literally "about one hour" (which is also the Septuagint translation). The NET NOTE says that "The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length. "For a while" (NASB, ESV, NIV) more accurately reflects the word's actual semantic range in Biblical Aramaic; "for about an hour" (KJV) is a defensible but likely over-precise translation that reads a later, more technical sense of sha'ah back into the 6th century BC text.

His thoughts alarmed (b'hal) him - The LXX translates alarmed with suntarasso (from tarasso) which means to be thrown into confusion, confounded, disturbed and the in the imperfect tense pictures this action/attitude as occurring over and over. The NIV renders this phrase "frightened" which seems to give the impression he was afraid, as for example afraid of what the king might do to him. Perhaps, but I think Daniel had counted the cost of integrity and an uncompromising heart and he was prepared for whatever might befall him for speaking the truth. Frightened perhaps for the king would be a better thought and even the context supports that interpretation as Daniel wishes the dream applied to his enemies. Contrary to being concerned about self, he was concerned about the king! Indeed, there is no trace of vindictiveness in Daniel's response. Daniel could have thought, “At last Nebuchadnezzar is going to receive what he deserves.” Instead, the prospect of the king's humiliation distressed him.

Daniel was astonished at the fate that awaited King Nebuchadnezzar. On one hand he cared for the king and did not want to bring such a somber message. On the other hand we recall that the king was well known for his "fiery" (seven times hotter) temper, and he could have just as easily ordered Daniel executed for giving him such a humiliating interpretation. While the following is a proverb, not a promise, it has generally been true in my personal experience and certainly would apply to Daniel "When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." (Pr 16:7)

David Jeremiah -  Daniel gives us a superb pattern of how to preach the judgment of God to people. It needs to be done with a broken heart, with a true concern, pointing out the consequences with mercy. I have a lot of friends in the ministry who can’t wait to get to the passages on judgment, because they come on with great vengeance. One thing is missing—the tears. (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

The king responded - He sees Daniel's anguish and hesitation and encourages him to not withhold the truth.

Harry Ironside comments "Nebuchadnezzar must have discerned the anxiety and sorrow in the face of his minister, for he speaks in a way to give him confidence to proceed with the interpretation. He did not want smooth words made up for the occasion. Little though he (the king) realized what was coming, he still desired to know the truth. It is a blessed thing for any soul to get to the place where he can say: "Give me God's Word, and let me know it is His Word, and I will receive it, no matter how it cuts, and interferes with my most cherished thoughts." (cp 1Th 2:13)

Joseph Parker eloquently paints the picture of Daniel's dilemma writing that "It was like a blow struck upon the very centre of his forehead; when he saw what was going to befall the king he was struck, as it were, with a spear of lightning, his voice altered, as did the fashion of his countenance. He had a message to deliver, and yet he delivered it with tears that were hidden in the tone of his voice. He was not flippant; he was solemn with an ineffable solemnity. Never was he in such a position before. Only the Divine Spirit could make him equal to the responsibilities of that critical hour. Many words we can utter easily, but to pronounce doom upon a life, any life, old man's or little child's, is a task which drives our words back again down the throat. We cannot utter them, yet we must do so; we wait in the hope that some relief will come, but relief does not come from this burden-bearing in the sanctuary of life. The preacher is often as much astonished as the hearer, and as much terrified. In proportion as the preacher is faithful to the book which he has to read, expound, and enforce, will he sometimes come to passages that he would rather not read. It would be delightful if we could expel the idea of penalty from our human intercommunion. Men have tried to fill up the pit of hell with flowers, and all the flowers have been consumed. It would be delightful to hide by concealment of any kind the horrors that await the wicked man, but to hide those horrors is to aggravate them. It can be no joy to any man to go forth and say, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." No man could utter such words but in obedience to the election and ordination of God. It is easy, if we consult our own flesh and sense and taste alone, to hide the Cross of agony and shame; but he who hides the Cross hides the salvation which it symbolises, and without which it is impossible. It is not easy for any man, Jonah or Daniel, Hosea or Joel, to say unto the wicked, It shall be ill with thee. We would rather live upon the other side of the hill, where the sun smiles all day, where the flowers grow as if they would never cease to unfold some new secret of colour and beauty, and where the birds trill a song from hour to hour, as if growing in capacity as they multiply in service. But the hill of the Lord is many-sided; we should be unfaithful and unjust if we did not recognise its multifold aspects, and show them to those who have come to see the reality and the mystery of the divine kingdom amongst men. Daniel looks wondrously well in the moment of his astonishment. The man's best self is now in his face. How quiet he is, and what singular tenderness plays around the sternness which befits the message that he is about to deliver! What a mixture of emotion, what an interplay of colour, what an agony of sensation! yet Daniel is a true man, and he will speak the true word, come of it what may, so far as he himself is concerned; furnace of fire or den of lions, he must speak the word which the Lord has given to him. Why do we not follow his example? Why do we try to take out of the divine word all things offensive? It would be easy to pander to human taste, and to flatter human vanity, and to assure the half-damned man that the process cannot be completed, but that after all he will be taken to heaven and made a seraph of. Who can tell lies so thick, so black? Let him eschew the altar and the Cross. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

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Appalled (08975) sh'mam (שְׁמַם) is an Aramaic verb meaning "to be appalled," "to be astonished," or "to be dumbfounded." It occurs in Daniel 4:19, describing Daniel's own reaction upon first grasping the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream: "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him."

Cognate note: This Aramaic root corresponds to the Hebrew verb shamem (שָׁמֵם, 08074), "to be desolate, appalled, astonished" a word used throughout the Hebrew OT to describe both the desolation of a place laid waste (e.g., Lev 26:32, the land "shall be appalled" at the desolation caused by sin's judgment) and the emotional/psychological state of a person stunned into paralyzed horror at what they witness (e.g., Ezra 9:3-4, Ezra "sat appalled" over Israel's unfaithfulness; Job 17:8, "the upright are appalled" at the sight of the wicked). The Aramaic sh'mam in Daniel 4:19 carries this same weight — not mere surprise, but a stunned, momentarily speechless horror at what has been understood.

Alarmed (00927) b'hal (בְּהַל) is an Aramaic verb meaning "to alarm," "to terrify," or "to dismay." In its passive/reflexive sense it describes being thrown into agitation, dread, or hurried distress. It occurs in Daniel 4:19, describing the effect of the dream's meaning on Daniel himself: "...as his thoughts alarmed him." The verb also appears elsewhere in Daniel's Aramaic chapters describing sudden terror or hasty agitation in the face of overwhelming events (cf. Da 5:6, 9, where Belshazzar's own thoughts terrify him at the sight of the handwriting on the wall).

Cognate note: This Aramaic root corresponds to the Hebrew verb bahal (בָּהַל, H0926), which carries the same core sense of sudden terror, dismay, or hurried alarm throughout the Hebrew OT. E.g., it is used of Saul being "terrified" by the evil spirit (1Sa 16:14), of the wicked being "dismayed" by sudden calamity (Ps 6:2-3, 10), and of the general human experience of being thrown into panicked haste or dread by unexpected crisis (Ge 45:3, Joseph's brothers "dismayed" at his revelation; Job 4:5, "you are dismayed" when trouble touches oneself rather than another).

Significance in Daniel 4:19: B'hal works alongside sh'mam ("appalled") to form a doubled description of Daniel's inner state upon understanding the dream, for he is not merely intellectually troubled but genuinely thrown into distress. The pairing intensifies the emotional weight of the moment: sh'mam captures the initial stunned paralysis, while b'hal describes the racing, agitated turmoil of thought that follows as the full implications of the coming judgment settle in the mind of Daniel. Together they paint a portrait of a faithful servant of God genuinely shaken, not because he fears for himself, but because of the dread at what he must now tell a king who had shown him honor.

The use of b'hal here reinforces that biblical faithfulness does not require emotional detachment from hard truths. Daniel's agitation is not weakness or lack of faith, but it is the appropriate human response of a compassionate messenger forced to carry news of severe judgment to someone he does not wish ill. This same root's broader usage across Scripture, describing the terror of the wicked under judgment, the dismay of the unprepared, the panic of sudden crisis, makes its application to Daniel notable by contrast for even righteous, Spirit-gifted Daniel experiences real b'hal-agitation when confronted with the weight of what God has revealed, yet (as 'iddan and the following verses show) his alarm does not prevent him from speaking faithfully and calling the king to repentance (Dan 4:27).

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David Jeremiah - Years ago in London there was a large gathering of notables for a concert. One of the invited guests was a famous preacher, Caesar Milan. A young lady charmed the audience that night with her singing. After the concert Milan went up to her and graciously, but very boldly, said to her, “I thought as I listened to you tonight how tremendously the cause of Christ would be benefited if your talents were dedicated to His cause. You know, young lady, you are a sinner in the sight of God, but I am glad to tell you that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from all sin.”
That lady became so angry at the preacher that she stomped her feet and walked away. As she was leaving he said, “I mean no offense. I will pray that God’s Spirit will convict you.”
Now that’s not exactly my style of witnessing, but here’s the rest of the story. The young lady went home, but she couldn’t sleep. The face of the preacher appeared before her, and his words rang through her mind. About two o’clock in the morning she got out of bed, took a pencil and piece of paper, and with tears rolling down her face, Charlotte Elliot wrote:

      Just as I am, without one plea,
      But that Thy blood was shed for me,
      And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
      O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

That song has been sung by choirs throughout the world as an invitation to accept Jesus Christ. Most Billy Graham crusades conclude with it. A few words by a man who preached the judgment of God with a broken heart resulted in tens of thousands of new Christians declaring their faith. I wonder what would happen if that would be our modus operandi in the ministry today. (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

Daniel 4:20 'The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth

• Da 4:10-12 Eze 31:3,16
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

DANIEL COMMENCES
TO INTERPRET THE DREAM

The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth - Daniel repeats the features of the tree before interpreting its meaning. Everything moves upward and outward. Nebuchadnezzar's greatness keeps expanding. But the dream is preparing him to discover that there is a limit to how high a man may rise without recognizing the God Who raised him.

Renald Showers comments that "God’s representation of Nebuchadnezzar as a large tree that provided food and lodging for all was very fitting for at least two reasons. First, in several of his inscriptions Nebuchadnezzar had boasted about the peaceful shelter and abundance of food that he had provided for his subjects through Babylon. Indeed, in these boasts he used language descriptive of a tree when referring to his rule through Babylon. In one inscription he said, “The produce of the lands, the product of the mountains, the bountiful wealth of the sea within her I received. Under her everlasting shadow I gathered all men in peace. Vast heaps of grain beyond measure I stored up within her.” In another inscription he declared, “Under her everlasting shadow I gathered all men in peace. A reign of abundance, years of plenty I caused to be in my land.” Second, as a result of military campaigns that took him several times through the forests of Lebanon, Nebuchadnezzar became greatly captivated by the huge cedar trees of that land. This attitude was reflected in one of his inscriptions where he described the trees as follows: “mighty cedars, tall and strong, of costly value, whose dark forms towered aloft, the massive growth of Lebanon.” Indeed, in his inscriptions Nebuchadnezzar boasted that he personally had cut down some of these huge trees with his own hands. He even had a picture of himself cutting a cedar inscribed on stone. One gets the impression that the king exalted in the fact that he could cut down such a towering giant of strength. (The Most High God).

Daniel 4:21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged--

• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Daniel 4:18 This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.

DANIEL CONTINUES 
REVIEWING THE DREAM

and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged-- Daniel continues describing the great tree before identifying it as Nebuchadnezzar. Da 4:20 emphasized the size and strength of the tree, while Da 4:21 emphasizes the prosperity and benefits that flowed from it. Nebuchadnezzar's empire was not only powerful; vast numbers of people lived under its protection and benefited from its resources. Unlike the dream in Daniel 2 which Nebuchadnezzar did not reveal to the wise men or Daniel, he does reveal this dream in Da 4:18. 

Daniel 4:22 it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth.

• thou: Da 2:37,38 2Sa 12:7 Mt 14:4
• thy greatness: Da 5:18-23 Ge 11:4 28:12 2Ch 28:9 Ps 36:5 108:4 Jer 27:6-8 Rev 18:5
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

2 Samuel 12:7  (PROPHET NATHAN CONFRONTING KING DAVID FOR SIN WITH BATHSHEBA) Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.

Second milennium portrayal of a god as an anthropomorphic
cosmic tree that provides vegetation and from which the waters flowed.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR, YOU 
ARE THE MAN!

it is you, O king; for (term of explanation) you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth - Now comes the dramatic identification. With one sharp stroke Daniel delivers the solemn interpretation. "You Nebuchadnezzar are the tree." The great tree was not Babylon in the abstract but represented Nebuchadnezzar himself in his extraordinary greatness and dominion. For Daniel to speak these words required courage. Daniel is standing before the most powerful ruler of his day, and he tells him plainly that the dream concerns him personally. Daniel does not evade the message or soften its personal application. The dream is no longer about a mysterious tree somewhere in the world. Nebuchadnezzar is the tree.

The ancient Near Eastern king was sometimes identified with the Tree of Life, as he was the source of protection and sustenance for his people. Also, there are what seem to be anthropomorphic depictions of the Assyrian sacred tree. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary)

You have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth - Daniel acknowledges Nebuchadnezzar's genuine greatness. He does not minimize the king's achievements simply because judgment is coming. But notice again the wording: “you have become great.” Nebuchadnezzar had not always possessed this greatness. Earlier Daniel had told him exactly where it came from “The God of heaven has given you the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory.” (Da 2:37)

Nebuchadnezzar was the great king who brought the Neo-Babylonian Empire and its Chaldean dynasty (625–539 B.C.) to worldwide prominence. His long reign, from 604 to 562 B.C., spanned approximately forty-three years and marked the high point of Babylonian power and splendor. The magnificent remains of ancient Babylon, impressive even in the time of the Greek historian Herodotus (485–425 B.C.), bear witness to the extraordinary building activity of this remarkable monarch. Nebuchadnezzar was a man of exceptional ability, a statesman, military commander, politician, religious leader, builder, and strategist, whose accomplishments understandably earned him an enduring reputation among later generations of Babylonians.

The Bible bears witness to Nebuchadnezzar’s extraordinary prominence as he is mentioned more than 85 times in nine Old Testament books. Remarkably, God ordained that even Judah would come under his authority and referred to this pagan monarch as “My servant” (Jer 25:9; 27:6), emphasizing that Nebuchadnezzar’s power ultimately served God’s sovereign purposes. Jeremiah declared that God had placed nations and even “the beasts of the field” under his authority (Jer 27:6). Nebuchadnezzar ruled many, but the Most High ruled Nebuchadnezzar.

There is therefore a striking irony in his story. The king before whom nations bowed would himself bow before Daniel, a Judean exile from conquered Jerusalem (Da 2:46). The conqueror was confronted by a captive who knew the God Who had given the conqueror his kingdom! Nebuchadnezzar’s entire life and reign were thus circumscribed by the sovereignty of the Most High God, Who raised him up, gave him his greatness, used him for His purposes, and ultimately humbled him when he forgot the Source of his greatness.

The splendor and genius of Babylon were indeed inseparably associated with Nebuchadnezzar, but Daniel repeatedly reminds us that what Nebuchadnezzar regarded as his achievement was ultimately God’s gift (Da 2:37–38; 4:17, 25, 32). This makes the imagery of Daniel especially fitting. As Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold in Daniel 2:38, so in Daniel 4 he was the great tree. He had grown strong, his greatness had increased, and his dominion had extended far and wide. Yet the tree had not grown by its own power but by supernaturally given power! The king who towered over the earth would have to learn that he stood only because Heaven had allowed him to stand. Is this principle not applicable to all of us, believers and unbelievers! 

Jamieson - While pitying the king (Da 4:19), he uncompromisingly pronounces his sentence of punishment. Let ministers steer the mean between, on the one hand, fulminations against sinners under the pretext of zeal, without any symptom of compassion; and, on the other, flattery of sinners under the pretext of moderation. (ED NOTE: Or as I once heard someone say, the preaching should be such that it comforts the afflicted, but afflicts the comfortable!)

To this Joseph Parker writes "There are some things we must speak abruptly, or we never shall speak them at all; they must, so to say, be forced out of us: the word must come like the shot of a musket: "It is thou, O king," a short sharp stroke. Who would vacillate when he knew he was going to deliver sentence of death, worse than death, all deaths in one agonizing humiliation? Better it should be after the pattern of Daniel, clear, simple, prompt, resonant, put in the very smallest words, words that a child could understand and repeat, monosyllables that made the heavens black with unimaginable terror:—"It is thou, O king."...Sometimes the preacher has to say even to a millionaire, It is thou, O rich man: it is with infinite difficulty thou canst get near Christ: how hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven! thou hast wine, and beast's flesh, and fowls of the air, and bread in plentifulness; but thou shalt sleep with strange bedfellows, yea with poverty and affliction and loathsomeness: set thine house in order: riches take unto themselves wings, and flee away; he who yesterday gave orders on the Exchange, tomorrow will beg a piece of bread to break his fast. Sometimes the teacher has to address himself to the boastful man, and say, It is thou, O boastful man: thou didst suppose thyself to be in possession of everything; to be lord and king and mighty man and counsellor and lawgiver; the word shall die on thy blackening lips, and thou who didst serve in the house of vanity shall be a bondman in the house of disappointment. This was personal preaching, the kind of preaching that is resented. We are willing that any man shall be preached to except ourselves. The minister who succumbs to that dire temptation was ordained by men, but the ordaining hand of Christ was never laid upon his faithless head. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

Daniel 4:23 'In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him",

• saw: Da 4:13-17
• and let his: Da 4:15 5:21
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

THE STUMP REMAINS
FOR SEVEN PERIODS

In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven - This emphasizes that the coming judgment has a heavenly origin. Nebuchadnezzar's downfall will not simply be the result of political intrigue, military defeat, or unfortunate circumstances. Heaven has issued the decree.

And saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it - One can only imagine Nebuchadnezzar's face at this point in Daniel's explanation! He was to chopped down, destroyed, stripped of his greatness represented symbolically by the tree. The man whose majesty had “reached to the sky” (Da 4:22) is about to be brought extraordinarily low. 

Nebuchadnezzar was a picture of every man's problem, for he imagined that the tree (his kingdom and kingship) had “become great and grown strong” because of his own strength and ability. For this reason, he had to be cut down and humbled.

ESV Study Bible adds "The image of the cosmic tree reaching to the heavens (Da 4:11) is reminiscent of the Tower of Babel (Ge 11:4). Such hubris inevitably ends in disaster, and the divine lumberjack would bring the mighty tree crashing to the ground, removing it from its place of influence and glory. Nebuchadnezzar would not only lose his power and glory but also his rationality (which distinguishes him as human), so that he would behave like the wild animals. The one who thought of himself in godlike terms would become beastlike so he could learn that he is merely human after all. When the tree was cut down, the stump and the roots were allowed to remain, bound in iron and bronze, possibly suggesting that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom would be protected and then established after he learned to honor the true God."

Yet (term of contrast) - Nebuchadnezzar should have shouted "hallelujah" upon hearing this word "yet" because it marked an important change in direction, from destruction to restoration. To say it another way the conjunciton “yet” introduced mercy into the judgment.

Leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field -  Nebuchadnezzar himself will not be annihilated because God commands that the stump remain. The roots remain because his story is not finished. As discussed in Da 4:15 significance of these bands is not explained, so I will avoid speculation. Some see the band as figurative allusion to the king's being bound by mental illness. Others see it as a sign that the stump would be protected thus assuring its survival. The unmistakable point is that the stump remains under God's control until God's appointed purpose has been accomplished.

and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven - Notice again the change from the tree imagery to the person: “let him.” How would one be drenched with dew? They would have to be outside with no covering roof. Thus Nebuchadnezzar would depart his palace and be exposed to the elements. Instead of sleeping beneath a royal roof, he will live outdoors where the dew falls upon him.

and let him share with the beasts of the field - Nebuchadnezzar would experience a profound humiliation in which he lives as though he were one of the lowly animals. There is surely a profound irony here, for Nebuchadnezzar had begun thinking of himself as almost more than a man, but now God would humble him until he lived as less than a man.

Until  - Until is a crucial time phrase and thus it behooves us to fully understand its meaning for there are some 575 until's in the Bible, giving you plenty of opportunities to interrogate this word (See interrogate with the 5W/H questions). Until is an expression of time and means something will continue to happen up to a point and then it will not happen. Synonyms of until include till, up to, up till, up to the time. If something happens until a particular time, it happens during the period before that time and stops at that time. Stated another (similar) way, if something happens until a time, it happens before that time and then stops at that time. It means up to the point in time. Up to such a time as.  We can also see until with a negative to emphasize the moment in time after which the rest of your statement becomes true, or the condition which would make it true. Example - "The traffic laws don't take effect until the end of the year." "It was not until 1911 that the first of the vitamins was identified."

Seven periods of time pass over him - For seven periods of time, he would lose his throne, wealth, the respect of his subjects, and even his sanity so that he might finally come to his “spiritual senses” and acknowledge that “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind” (Da 4:25). It is important to note that the judgment has a divinely determined limit. It will not continue indefinitely. God has appointed both its beginning and its end. The seven periods of time are commonly understood as seven years, although the Aramaic expression itself literally refers to seven “times” or periods, and the verse does not itself define their precise length. 

More important than calculating the duration is recognizing its theological purpose. Da 4:25 tells us exactly how long the humiliation will continue “until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind.” Thus the emphasis is not merely chronological but spiritual. Nebuchadnezzar's school of humiliation would continue until he learned the lesson of sovereignty.

Daniel 4:24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:

• the decree: Da 4:17 Job 20:29: Ps 2:7 148:6 Isa 14:24-27 23:9 46:10,11
• come: Job 1:12-19 40:11,12 Ps 107:40
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

THE DECREE OF 
THE MOST HIGH

This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king - marks the transition from Daniel's review of the dream to its explanation. There is no uncertainty in Daniel's words. He knows what the dream means, and despite being deeply troubled by it (Da 4:19), he will faithfully tell Nebuchadnezzar the truth.

Which has come upon my lord the king - This makes the judgment intensely personal. Daniel respectfully calls him “my lord the king,” but royal position cannot exempt Nebuchadnezzar from God's authority. The king who commanded others is himself accountable to the Most High.

Daniel 4:25 that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.

• drive: Da 4:32,33 5:21-31 Job 30:3-8 Mk 5:3,4
• to eat: Ps 106:20
• Until: Da 4:17,32,34,35 2:21 5:21 Ps 83:18 Jer 27:5
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Psalm 49:12 But man in his pomp will not endure. He is like the beasts that perish.

Spurgeon's Comment - He is not like the sheep which are preserved of the Great Shepherd, but like the hunted beast which is doomed to die. He lives a brutish life and dies a brutish death. Wallowing in riches, surfeited with pleasure, he is fatted for the slaughter, and dies like the ox in the shambles. Alas! that so noble a creature should use his life so unworthily, and end it so disgracefully. So far as this world is concerned, wherein does the death of many men differ from the death of a dog?

Psalm 75:6; 7  For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation; 7 But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another. 

Jeremiah 27:5  “I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

MAN WITHOUT GOD
IS LIKE A BEAST!

that you be driven away from mankind  - Daniel now states plainly what the dream had portrayed symbolically. The great tree will be cut down because Nebuchadnezzar himself will be brought down. But the key to the verse is the word “until.” His humiliation has a divine purpose: Nebuchadnezzar must learn what his pride has prevented him from recognizing, that the Most High rules. You be driven away from mankind! What a reversal! The king who stood above men would be removed from men. Nebuchadnezzar had enjoyed the highest position in human society; now he would lose his place in human society altogether.

your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field - The symbolism of the dream now becomes reality. Nebuchadnezzar would live outside ordinary human society under conditions resembling those of animals. God used the metaphor of a beast to describe the Gentile kingdoms in Daniel 7 and the last world ruler who would eventually come out of the beastly Gentile kingdoms (Rev 11:7; 13:1ff; 14:9, 11; etc) 

and you be given grass to eat like cattle - He was to become a strict vegetarian! This represents the depth of his humiliation. Nebuchadnezzar had undoubtedly eaten from the finest royal tables in Babylon. Now his food would be like that of cattle. Unlike the maniac of Mark 5:1–20, he would not be violent or uncontrollable, but peaceful enough to graze quietly among the cattle.

and be drenched with the dew of heaven - The king who had lived sheltered within magnificent Babylon would now live exposed to the elements.

and seven periods of time will pass over you - The judgment would continue for the period God had appointed. As discussed above, these “seven periods” are commonly understood as seven years, though the Aramaic expression itself simply says seven “times.” More important than the precise duration is the purpose expressed by the next word UNTIL.

Until (see previous discussion of UNTIL) - This time phrase always signal an end (praise God!) and thus may be the most important word in the sentence. Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation was not purposeless and not endless. God had established a boundary around it. But the discipline would continue until the proud king learned the lesson. We all do well to remember that it is God Alone Who changes the times and epochs (Da 2:21 )

you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes - The clear indication is that after seven years of humiliation and crawling like a beast on the earth, the King will indeed come to the end of himself and will come to recognize the Most God as the only true King of Heaven and Earth. Here is the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation.  This is the great lesson of Daniel 4, repeated in Da 4:17, 25, 32. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon. But God ruled Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar's fundamental sin was not possessing power but forgetting the Source of his power. Nebuchadnezzar needed to understand that his throne was not ultimately something he had achieved, but something he had received from God. This strikes directly at the root of pride. Pride says “I achieved it. I earned it. I built it. It belongs to me.” Humility recognizes “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1Co 4:7) Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was real. His accomplishments were real. His authority was real. But none of them made him independent of God. And beloved, the same is true for every one of us!!!

Warren Wiersbe rightly concludes that "Men and women are made in the image of God, but when they leave God out of their lives and resist His will, they can descend to the level of animals. “Do not be like the horse or like the mule,” warns King David, who was guilty of acting like both (Ps. 32:9NKJV). Like the impulsive horse, he rushed into sin when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then like the stubborn mule, he delayed confessing his sins and repenting (2Sa 11:1ff). When the Lord arrested Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road, He compared the pious rabbi to a stubborn ox when He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5NKJV). (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament)

Joseph Parker asks "When will God take us out of the furnace? When He can see His image enough. When will God cease to lacerate our poor shrinking flesh? When we have learned to obey Him (cp Ps 119:67, 71). When will he take the wolf away from the door, so that we can go out into the meadow and enjoy the sunshine? When we have yielded back all wickedly acquired gain, and have thrown down the thirty pieces of burning silver for which we sold the Christ of God. Why this penal system in the universe? Why loss? Why decrepitude and helplessness? Why burning fevers? Why all the maladies that afflict the body? Why all the ills that flesh is heir to? "Till thou know." (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

R. K. Harrison attests to a personal encounter with a clinical case with some similarities to the king's condition...

A great many doctors spend an entire, busy professional career without once encountering an instance of the kind of monomania described in the book of Daniel. The present writer, therefore, considers himself particularly fortunate to have actually observed a clinical case of [lycanthropy] in a British mental institution in 1946. The patient was in his early 20's, who reportedly had been hospitalized for about five years. His symptoms were well developed on admission, and diagnosis was immediate and conclusive. He was of average height and weight with good physique, and was in excellent bodily health. His mental symptoms included pronounced anti-social tendencies, and because of this he spent the entire day from dawn to dusk outdoors, in the grounds of the institution....

"His daily routine consisted of wandering around the magnificent lawns with which the otherwise dingy hospital situation was graced, and it was his custom to pluck up and eat handfuls of the grass as he went along. On observation he was seen to discriminate carefully between grass and weeds, and on inquiry from the attendant, the writer was told the diet of this patient consisted exclusively of grass from hospital lawns. He never ate institutional food with other inmates, and his only drink was water....

"The writer was able to examine him cursorily, and the only physical abnormality noted consisted of a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickened condition of the finger-nails. Without institutional care, the patient would have manifested precisely the same physical conditions as those mentioned in Daniel 4:33" (Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969).

Joseph Parker comments that "Some men require violent teaching. We will not obey God's love: when he whispers to us we do not hear him; unless he take up the trumpet of his thunder, we pay no attention to the voice of Heaven. Pleasant angels have come to seek us and bring us home, but we have declined their evangel and their gospel and their company; summer has come, with spring on one side and autumn on the other, all beautiful and rich, abounding in all things lovely and useful; and they have said they have come to bring us back to heaven, and we have defied the whole of them. Not until God takes up the rod of his lightning do we begin to be religious. A plague would fill the church; an epidemic would make a prayer-meeting at five o'clock in the morning seasonable: we are cowards! Yet, blessed be God, he does not withhold violence if it will do us good. If we will not have the company of angels we shall be thrust into the society of beasts, and in that humiliation we may be willing to listen to terms and proposals that otherwise would have fallen upon deaf ears; and there in the open field, with only beasts to talk to, we may begin to pray. (The People's Bible - Daniel 4)

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David Jeremiah rightly says that "God always warns us before He sends judgment. He says, “Listen and obey or suffer the consequences.” He sent a voice from heaven as the warning, but He gave the king a chance to turn his life around. I believe that God does that for us today. He tells us, “Look, you’re headed for a crash. Turn around or you’ll land in a ditch that’s so deep you won’t be able to pull yourself out.”  (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

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Donald Campbell -  The discipline in the form of this strange exile would last till the king learned what God was teaching him. How long, we often ask, must we endure discipline from God's hand, the discipline under which we chafe? The answer is the same as it was for Nebuchadnezzar: it will last until we learn the lesson God is teaching us. 

It will have learned obedience
through its sufferings.

A woman visiting in Switzerland came to a sheepfold on one of her daily walks. Venturing in, she saw the shepherd seated on the ground with his flock around him. Nearby, on a pile of straw lay a single sheep that seemed to be suffering. Looking closely, the woman saw that its leg was broken. Her sympathy went out to the suffering animal and she asked the shepherd how it happened.  "I broke it myself," he said sadly, then explained. "Of all the sheep in my flock, this one was the most wayward. It would not obey my voice and would not follow when I was leading the flock. On more than one occasion, it wandered to the edge of a perilous cliff. And not only was it disobedient itself, but it was leading other sheep astray. Based on my experience with this kind of sheep, I knew I had no choice, so I broke its leg. The next day I took food and it tried to bite me. After letting it lie alone for a couple of days, I went back and it not only eagerly took the food but licked my hand and showed every sign of submission and affection. "And now, let me say this. When this sheep is well, it will be the model of my entire flock. No sheep will hear my voice so quickly nor follow so closely. Instead of leading others away, it will be an example of devotion and obedience. In short, a complete change will come into the life of this wayward sheep. It will have learned obedience through its sufferings." God would deal with Nebuchadnezzar in a similar way, but at the end of "seven times" (probably seven years), the sentence would be lifted. (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

Daniel 4:26 'And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.

• to leave: Da 4:15
• the heavens: Mt 5:34 21:20 Lk 15:18,21
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Daniel 4:36 “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

AN ASSURANCE OF
RESTORATION

And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules - This verse explains the meaning of the stump left in the ground. Nebuchadnezzar's judgment would be severe, but it would not be permanent. God would preserve his kingdom for him, and after the king learned the great lesson of the chapter, he would be restored. The stump represented preservation with the possibility of restoration. Nebuchadnezzar would be cut down, but not uprooted. His position would be taken from him temporarily, but God's purpose for him was not finished. In other words, the stump was God's sign that judgment would not have the final word.

God preserved the stump because
He was disciplining the king, not discarding him.

your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules - This is remarkable. Nebuchadnezzar would lose his ability to rule, yet God would preserve his kingdom so that it could eventually be restored to him. The same God Who decreed his humiliation also guaranteed his restoration. This demonstrates that God's purpose was not simply punitive, but corrective and restorative. God intended to humble Nebuchadnezzar, teach him the truth about divine sovereignty, and then restore him.

After you recognize - Here we see God's grace in using the judgment to humble not harden the king's heart, that he might receive spiritual vision. And thus the time of humiliation is promised to come to an end when the king comes to his senses and sees God for Who He really is, the Most High God.

Babylon ruled the nations,
but Heaven ruled Babylon.

it is Heaven that rules - NLT = "when you have learned that heaven rules." God’s goal was not merely punishment, but enlightenment and transformation, which would come when the king finally recognized the moral and spiritual truth of God’s sovereign rule and his own accountability to Him. This is a striking expression. “Heaven” is a reverential way of referring to God Himself, as the parallel statements in Da 4:17, 25, 32 make clear “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind.” This is one of the great declarations of the book of Daniel: Heaven rules. Babylon may rule nations, but Heaven rules Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar may sit on Babylon's throne, but God sits above Nebuchadnezzar's throne. Earthly circumstances may appear to be controlled by kings, presidents, dictators, armies, governments, or empires, but behind and above them all stands the sovereign God. Even a world that looks out of control is still in the full control of the God of Heaven. Nebuchadnezzar's fundamental problem was that he had been looking horizontally at his kingdom instead of vertically toward heaven. Is not this a perspective many of us earthlings (even believers) often have? That's rhetorical. See the antidote Vertical Vision. Every changes in Da 4:34 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven.” That physical action (aka "vertical vision") beautifully expresses the spiritual lesson of the chapter. The man who had been looking at Babylon finally began looking toward heaven. Beloved, where is your "outlook"? Is it an "uplook?" If it isn't, it should be! (cf Col 3:1,2). 

Harry Ironside applies the importance of divine recognition or rejection on a national scale writing that "history teaches us the value of a national recognition of God's moral government. A story is told of a heathen chieftain who came from his distant domain to visit Queen Victoria. One day he asked her if she would tell him the secret of England's progress and greatness. In response, it is said the queen presented him with a Bible saying, "This Book will tell you." Who can doubt that according to the measure in which that Book of books has been believed and loved by any people, God has honored them? And every nation that has welcomed and protected the gospel has been cared for and blessed in a special way. On the other hand, let there be a national rejection of His Word, and you will find disaster following disaster. This was the case of the French people, who were among the first favored by Him in Reformation times but who drove out the truth He gave them. He who cannot lie has said, "Them that honour me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed" (1Sa 2:30).

Daniel 4:27 'Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.'

KJV  Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

NET Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged."

NLT  "'King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.'

ESV  Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity."

BGT  (TH) διὰ τοῦτο βασιλεῦ ἡ βουλή μου ἀρεσάτω σοι καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐν ἐλεημοσύναις λύτρωσαι καὶ τὰς ἀδικίας σου ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς πενήτων ἴσως ἔσται μακρόθυμος τοῖς παραπτώμασίν σου ὁ θεός

LXE  Therefore, O king, let my counsel please thee, and atone for thy sins by alms, and thine iniquities by compassion on the poor: it may be God will be long-suffering to thy trespasses.

CSB Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity."

NIV  Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue."

YLT 'Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and thy sins by righteousness break off, and thy perversity by pitying the poor, lo, it is a lengthening of thine ease.

NKJ  Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity."

NJB May it please the king to accept my advice: by upright actions break with your sins, break with your crimes by showing mercy to the poor, and so live long and peacefully.'

NRS  Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged."

• let: Ge 41:33-37 Ps 119:46 Ac 24:25 2Co 5:11
• break: Job 34:31,32 Pr 16:6 28:13 Isa 55:6,7 Eze 18:21,27-32 Mt 3:8 Ac 8:22 26:20 Jas 4:8-10 1Pe 4:8
• by showing: Ps 41:1-3 Isa 58:5-7,10-12 Eze 18:7 Lk 11:41 Ac 10:2-4 Ga 5:6,13,22 Eph 4:28
• if it: 1Ki 21:29 Joe 2:14 Jon 3:9 Zep 2:2,3
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Acts 26:20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

BREAK AWAY NOW
FROM YOUR SINS

Therefore - Always pause to ponder this strategic term of conclusion. Therefore points back to everything Daniel has just explained.Because the hammer of the Lord is coming down to smash your pride. In view of that absolute certainty, change your heart and experience the times of refreshing (cp Peter's advice to the stubborn, prideful Jews in Acts 3:19, 20).

O king, may my advice be pleasing to you - Daniel has just told the world's most powerful ruler that God is going to humble him, yet he continues speaking with remarkable respect. Daniel's compassion in Da 4:19 now becomes personal exhortation. He does not merely announce judgment and walk away. He urges the king to change his ways.

Break away (a command) now from your sins by doing righteousness - The Aramaic verb translated “break away” (peraq) can carry the idea of breaking off, separating oneself from, or putting an end to something. This is "shorthand" for repent! (see note) Daniel is calling Nebuchadnezzar to act immediately, to make a decisive change of direction. Notice the urgency added by the word “now.” Daniel is telling the king that the appropriate response to conviction is not someday, but today, now! In short, in light of the certainty of the fulfillment of the decree of the Most High, Daniel calls on the king to have a change of heart or to repent and demonstrate the genuineness of his repentance by performing works of righteousness and mercy. Note that the works are the fruit (they are not meritorious, they do not earn salvation), while repentance (and belief -- cp Mk 1:15) is the "root" which leads to the changed behavior. John the Baptist echoed this truth in the NT exhorting his hearers to "Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance." (Lk 3:8, cp Acts 26:20) Nebuchadnezzar's conduct must change because genuine repentance bears fruit in one's life.

TECHNICAL NOTE - "Break away" (peraq). P'raq (Peal imperative) literally means "to break off, tear away, sever" not "turn" (as in shub) or "change one's mind" (as in metanoeo), the words more technically tied to "repent." But functionally, in the present context, Break away serves as Daniel's call to repentance, a call for a decisive, clean break from sin, paired with actively doing righteousness and showing mercy to the poor. Daniel is not calling for a gradual fading of sin, but a snapping-off of it.

and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor - Daniel becomes even more specific implying that Nebuchadnezzar's sins included the oppression or neglect of the poor. This is especially significant because Nebuchadnezzar's pride was expressed through his obsession with his own greatness. While he was concerned with “the glory of my majesty” (Da 4:30), Daniel directs his attention toward those with little power or status. The king who had been living for his own glory needed to begin showing mercy to others. There is an important biblical principle here (as noted above by John the Baptist). Repentance is not merely turning from something (bad), but is turning to something (good). In short, Daniel tells the king to stop practicing unrighteousness and do righteousness. Stop neglecting or oppressing the vulnerable and show mercy.

In case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity - ESV = "that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity." Perhaps means possibly, but not with complete certainty

. This introduces a conditional element in the Aramaic text (cf. Ezra 5:17). Daniel was not promising that the Lord would prolong the king’s peace and prosperity if he repented. Rather, there remained the possibility that God might mercifully extend his prosperity if the king turned from his sins and practiced the justice and mercy God expected even of pagan rulers. Tragically, the king did not respond favorably to Daniel’s appeal (Da 4:30).

J Dwight Pentecost comments that "Daniel concluded by exhorting the king to renounce his sins. This points out the principle that any announced judgment may be averted if there is repentance (cf. the Book of Jonah)." (see Bible Knowledge Commentary)

Donald Campbell agrees writing that "Daniel's final message to the king came straight from his heart (4:27). It was a word of spiritual counsel that the king turn from his sin and practice righteousness. As God spared Nineveh from judgment because of her repentance, so might He spare Nebuchadnezzar. Tragically, Daniel's words fell on deaf ears." (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

ESV Study Bible - Page 122 agrees - This appeal to repentance implied that the fate depicted for Nebuchadnezzar in the dream was not inevitable, and it provided Nebuchadnezzar with an opportunity to repent of his pride. If Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself, God would not need to humble him further. Even pagan rulers are accountable to the God of the Bible (cf. notes on Ps. 82:1-4; Prov. 31:1-9; Mark 6:18; Acts 24:25).

John MacArthur- Daniel called for a recognition of sin and repentance (cf. Isa 55:7). He was not presenting a works salvation, but treating the issue of sin exactly as Jesus did with the rich young ruler in Mt 19:16-23. The king failed to repent at this point (Da 4:30).

In this section Daniel cared enough to confront. Courageous confrontation was necessary. And if we are honest, loving confrontation always takes courage. Let us in the church age be diligent to heed the caution and exhortations of Paul

Brethren, even if a man is caught (passive voice, the Greek means to be overtaken, to be caught unawares = what a pix of sin chasing, surprising and overtaking us!) in any trespass (paraptoma = deviation from living according to what has been revealed as the right way), you who are spiritual (i.e., controlled by the Spirit = Gal 5:16, Eph 5:18), restore (katartizo in the present imperative = command to make this our lifestyle to put in order, to restore to a former condition, mend, repair. How possible? Only by being continually filled with the Spirit) such a one in a spirit of gentleness (prautes - which also comes from the Spirit = Gal 5:23); each one looking (skopeo) to yourself (Why?), lest you too be tempted (cp 1Co 10:12). Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ (see Gal 5:15, cp Jn 13:34, Ro 13:8, 9, 10). (Gal 6:1, 2)

Illustration of the need to bear one another's burdens: The Sequoia trees of California tower as much as 300 feet above the ground. Strangely, these giants have unusually shallow root systems that reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of surface moisture. Seldom will you see a redwood standing alone, because high winds would quickly uproot it. That's why they grow in clusters. Their intertwining roots provide support for one another against the storms.

Gleason Archer agrees that "Daniel needed real courage to inform his royal master that his rule was marred by the sin of oppression and callousness toward the poor and disadvantaged among his people. Daniel's candor might have cost him his high office or even his life."  (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

Study these related passages pronouncing divine judgment and the response - the cases of Hezekiah, Isa 38:1-5 and of Nineveh, Jonah 3:5-10 and Jer 18:7, 8.

Warren Wiersbe applies this section to us, especially those of us who like to preach, teach or study prophecy "Unlike some preachers, Daniel didn’t divorce truth from responsibility. There was a “therefore” in his message. I have participated in numerous prophetic conferences and heard a great deal of interpretation and some speculation, but I haven’t always heard personal and practical application. Some of the speakers talked a great deal about what God would do in the future, but they said very little about what He expected of His people in the present. An understanding of God’s plan imposes on the hearer the responsibility to do God’s will. (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament)

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David Helm’s insights into Daniel’s interpretation:

We must be willing to share the bad news with people that they are out of sorts with God, even as our heart breaks for them while saying it. We must be willing to tell others that God is not pleased with this pride—the human tendency to push him aside, and think that we are the measure of all things. We must be willing to say why God works against us—so that we might one day know that he rules, and not us. Finally, we must be ready to call for repentance and offer hope.

Daniel did all of that. And then the text stops. We are not told what the king said on that day. In fact, the verses that follow take the reader into the future, to at least one year later, and then seven periods of time beyond. Clearly, God didn’t feel any need for us to know how this private witness was received. He wanted us simply to see that it was given.… Daniel didn’t shirk from speaking God’s word into the life of the most powerful man in the world. In doing so, he has provided us with an example of the backbone needed to be faithful when our opportunity comes. And come it will, for God is in the business of revealing himself to prominent, powerful people. (Daniel for You, 78)

Daniel 4:28 All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.

• Pr 10:24 Zec 1:6 Mt 24:35
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

WHEN WARNING
BECOMES REALITY

All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king - God's Word is sure and it will come to pass just as He stated (Isa 14:24, 46:10). This short verse marks the transition from warning to fulfillment. Everything Nebuchadnezzar had seen in the dream, everything Daniel had interpreted, and everything God had warned would happen now becomes historical reality.

Donald Campbell - The dream had its dreaded fulfillment-but not immediately. God is longsuffering and He demonstrated this by delaying judgment for twelve months, apparently giving Nebuchadnezzar a chance to respond to Daniel's advice. But the dream and Daniel's warnings grew dimmer and faded from the king's mind as the months passed. (BORROW Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society)

Moses testifies that "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Nu 23:19, cp Joshua's last warning to Israel - Josh 23:15, 16)

Warren Wiersbe - Da 4:28–33 were written by another hand, but Nebuchadnezzar picks up the narrative in Da 4:34. Daniel himself may have written Da 4:28–33 and inserted them in the official royal document. Luke followed a similar approach in Acts 23:25–30. Neither the Babylonian king nor the Roman officer was inspired by the Spirit when they wrote, but Daniel and Luke were led by the Spirit to include their writings in what we know as Holy Scripture. (Bible Exposition Commentary page 1361)

Paul House notes that no record of Nebuchadnezzar's illness is not shocking for "Officials have various reasons for covering a mad king’s duties, as British leaders did during George III’s (1760–1820) bouts of madness, or Americans did when President Wilson (1913–1921) suffered a crippling stroke." (See Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 99)

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Robert Morgan - My All in All - 

       All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4:28 

Visitors to Berlin's Pergamon Museum are astounded by the Ishtar Gate, one of the most fabulous excavations from antiquity, built by King Nebuchadnezzar about 575 BC. It 's covered with glazed bricks of rich blues and yellows, with stunning images of dragons, bulls, and daisies. It was one of eight entrances into the city, and Daniel himself entered Babylon through this gate.

In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar boasted to himself about his great city, but the Lord cut him down to size, afflicting him with a humiliating mental illness known as zoanthropy in which he imagined he was an animal.

All this came upon Nebuchadnezzar as predicted, and for seven years he suffered bouts of insanity until he acknowledged that God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion endures from generation to generation. The Lord does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and earth. No one can hold back His hand.

Two words in Daniel 4 summarize the story of Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 26, Daniel told the king, "Your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules." Those two words are simple enough to memorize and sloganize in our hearts. My candidate may lose the election, the globe may erupt in war, taxes may rise, culture may decay, plagues may come. And closer to home, my day may be ruined by things beyond my control. But heaven rules! The Most High oversees the universe, and "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun doth its successive journeys run."

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TODAY IN THE WORD - Daniel 4:28-37

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:18

In 1988, Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks met in the boxing match with the richest purse in history up to that point. Spinks was undefeated and a legitimate title contender, but Tyson knocked him out of the match—and out of boxing—in just 91 seconds. At that moment, Tyson appeared to have cemented his place at the top of his sport. But his success crashed down almost as quickly as his opponents once fell to the mat. Controversy in the ring and financial, personal, and legal trouble out of the ring brought his career to an ignoble demise. By 2005 he lamented, “I’m really embarrassed with myself and my life. People put me so high; I wanted to tear that image down.”

A place of fame and renown might be the most precarious perch in all the world, especially when the person enjoying that position believes he or she is solely responsible for getting there. Nebuchadnezzar was on top of the world when he proclaimed his own greatness (Da 4:30). No sooner than he had finished his statement, the Lord informed him of his lowly sentence.

Nebuchadnezzar went from mighty king to senile beast. While he likely didn’t turn into a literal animal (he could have been stricken with a disorder called boanthropy, which would cause him to think he was a cow), he definitely did live like an animal. He spent seven years outside of society, unkempt and wild. He didn’t cut his hair, shave his face, or trim his fingernails (Da 4:33). The man who had an entire empire at his beck and call was eating grass in a bout of insanity.

But after the seven years were over, Nebuchadnezzar did something profoundly human: he repented. He praised God. He saw the Lord’s kingdom as superior to his own (Da 4:35). He realized that despite all his vast earthly power, he was helpless against the mighty hand of God the Father. With the restoration of his sanity and the destruction of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar returned (Da 4:36). He escalated to even higher greatness in his kingdom, but the most valuable acquisition for Nebuchadnezzar was his humility before God.

APPLY THE WORD - Animals don’t have to choose to be made low. They are put in their place by God and never question their role in His creation. But we can be tempted to think that we can assign to ourselves the majesty of God, or to devalue our worth below the lowliest of animals. It can be especially tempting to think highly of ourselves when we’re involved in the work of His kingdom. But we must remember that we join Him because of His grace and His love and His care for us.

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Daniel 4:28-37. TODAY IN THE WORD

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was hardly the first intellectual to declare his atheism. But Nietzsche’s contempt for God was more blatant than that of many other nineteenth-century atheists. Nietzsche ridiculed Christian virtues such as humility, proposing that they be replaced by aggressive pride. His ideal of humanity was a “superman” who would ruthlessly exploit others, unburdened by notions of sympathy or brotherly love. Nietzsche himself boasted, “I am not man; I am dynamite…my truth is fearful.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, meet King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. This ancient monarch, recognized as one of the greatest rulers of antiquity, could have taught modern boasters like Nietzsche a life-changing lesson in theology.

For instance, despite his boasts Nietzsche proved to be quite human, suffering a complete physical and mental breakdown in 1889. Nebuchadnezzar suffered a similar fate described in Daniel 4, but there the similarities end.

We know from today’s text that Nebuchadnezzar was in dire need of a lesson about pride and humility. His boasts about his “great Babylon” give us clues to his pride problem. He built the great city and his kingdom to the glory and majesty of himself (Da 4:30).

This was not just patriotism gone overboard. The king was setting himself in opposition to God. And because Nebuchad-nezzar had conquered Jerusalem and brought back the gold vessels from the temple and Jewish captives such as Daniel, there was more at stake than just the pride of one monarch. Israel’s God’s was being dishonored.

Nebuchadnezzar’s sin was even more blameworthy because it was committed in defiance of a vision from God. The king also ignored Daniel’s warning that his arrogance and cruelty would bring judgment (Da 4:24-27).

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Independence Day is a good day to ask ourselves how patriotism fits into the picture for committed Christians.

Today’s lesson gives us an important clue. If our celebration of America’s birthday leads to praise and thanksgiving to God for His blessings and to humility before Him as our sovereign King, then we can offer God our Fourth of July as a sacrifice of worship.

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Daniel 4:28-37 TODAY IN THE WORD

Everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. - Daniel 4:37

“Pride is a vice,” said eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson, “which pride itself inclines every man to find in others, and to overlook in himself.” Another anonymous saying warns: “Temper gets you into trouble. Pride keeps you there.” Author and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis observed: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you.”

These observations describe well the sin for which Nebuchadnezzar was judged in Daniel 4. He ruled Babylon, the military superpower and leading culture of its day, and was therefore the most powerful man on earth. When his pride grew, God sent him a dream as a warning. The dream was about a strong tree that got chopped down. Even an emperor should not imagine he is beyond the reach of God's justice and power, for the Lord has a habit of humbling the proud (James 4:6).

This warning was even more specific: Nebuchadnezzar would not just be defeated in battle or suffer a political setback—he would be personally shamed and humiliated. Daniel explicitly told the king that the purpose would be to demonstrate God's sovereignty over all human kingdoms (Da 4:17). Although God had shown mercy by putting Daniel in position to interpret the dream and urge a repentant response, everything happened exactly as foretold. Nebuchadnezzar made a prideful statement about his own power and glory (Da 4:30), triggering judgment. For seven years—too long to keep it hushed up—he was out of his mind and lived like an animal.

The king was released from this embarrassing affliction only when he publicly acknowledged the one true God's eternality, power, righteousness, justice, and supremacy. Nebuchadnezzar brought glory to God for who He is and what He has done. Sin seeks glory for self, but worship gives glory to whom it is due.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Do you think you're beyond God's reach? Think again! “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). He can take away any part of your life, and He can give it back again, not arbitrarily but as part of His divine plan. How should we respond? Like Job: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).

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Charles Stanley - Pride

  SCRIPTURE READING: Daniel 4
  KEY VERSES: Psalm 73:21–22

 My heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Nebuchadnezzar thought he had it all. He didn’t need God; he ruled all of Babylon, and all of its finery was at his absolute disposal.
The disturbing dream that Daniel interpreted for him had not come true; he certainly wasn’t living as an animal yet. He stood on the roof of his palace, soaking in the scenery with pleasure. He said aloud with pride: “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built?” (Dan. 4:30 NASB).
The moment the words left his mouth, Nebuchadnezzar knew he’d gone too far. He felt himself drop to his knees. He scrambled about on all fours and ate grass like a cow. No one would come near the wild man with shaggy hair and fingernails like sharp birds’ claws.
Seven years later, at the end of the punishment period God prescribed, the king looked up at the heavens and began giving praise to God. For the once proud ruler, recognizing the truth of God’s sovereignty brought him literal freedom from his beastly affliction.
When you do not acknowledge the Lord’s right to use your life and possessions as He sees fit, God is grieved. Because He loves you, He wants you to honor Him and be submissive to His plans. The king who learned the hard way grasped a tough lesson: “His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Dan. 4:37 NASB).

  Precious Lord, take it—this plague of pride. I want to be set free from it because it is one of the things You hate. Let me walk humbly before You.

Daniel 4:29 "Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.

• Ge 6:3 Ec 8:11 1Pe 3:20 2Pe 3:9-10,15 Rev 2:21
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Genesis 6:3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

1 Peter 3:20   who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

2 Peter 3:9-10; 15 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (3:15) and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

Revelation 2:21  ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

Romans 2:4-5 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

Isaiah 26:10  Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD. 

Genesis 15:16  (JUDGMENT DELAYED) “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” 

GOD'S REPRIEVE
"A GRACE PERIOD"

Twelve months later -God had warned Nebuchadnezzar through the dream, Daniel had clearly interpreted it, and Daniel had personally urged him, “Break away now from your sins” (Da 4:27). Yet judgment did not fall immediately. God gave Nebuchadnezzar an entire year to respond. This twelve-month interval demonstrates the patience of God. Nebuchadnezzar had been given unmistakable warning of what would happen if he continued in his pride, yet God delayed the execution of the sentence. Nebuchadnezzar was without excuse. God gave the pride filled king ample time to repent (Rev 2:21, cp Ge 6:3). Personal repentance of every person is God's desire (2Pe 3:9, Ezek 18:23, cp 1Ti 2:3,4), but Nebuchadnezzar refused to repent even after the prophet Daniel had lovingly confronted him (Da 4:27).

Every sunrise during those twelve months was another evidence of mercy. Every day was another opportunity for Nebuchadnezzar to humble himself. God's delay was intended to encourage repentance, not presumption. Ecclesiastes 8:11 describes this danger: when the sentence against evil is not executed quickly, the human heart can become emboldened to continue in evil.

God is never in a hurry,
but he is always on time!

This passage is clear evidence of God's gracious (truly undeserved) forbearance which Paul described in Romans 2 rhetorically asking...

Or do you think lightly (kataphroneo) of the riches (ploutos) of His kindness (chrestotes) and forbearance (anoche) and patience (makrothumia), not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance (metanoia)? (God had even used His prophet Daniel to call on the king to repent!) (Ro 2:4)

THOUGHT - In view of the Most High's rich kindness how should we respond when we are confronted by God's word of conviction concerning some aspect of the sin of pride in our life? We would be wise to heed Peter's exhortation...Humble (tapeinoo in the aorist imperative = command to make this decision now! Don't delay! It is urgent! You make have 12 months like Nebuchadnezzar but you may not!) yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1Peter 5:6) Yes, pride precedes humiliation, but here we see humiliation precedes exaltation as the remainder of this chapter dramatically illustrates!

He was walking on the roof - The flat roof of a royal palace would have provided an impressive vantage point from which Nebuchadnezzar could survey the majesty and splendor of his great Babylon. The roof of the palace can be a dangerous place for kings as David found out (Read 2Sa 11:1-5, 6-17). This becomes important in the next verse because what Nebuchadnezzar saw stimulated what Nebuchadnezzar said in Da 4:30! The problem was not that Nebuchadnezzar looked at Babylon. The problem was how he interpreted what he saw.

God’s delay of judgment is not the cancellation of judgment;
it is an opportunity for repentance.

Jamieson observes of Nebuchadnezzar that "At the first announcement of the coming judgment he was alarmed, as Ahab (1Ki 21:27), but did not thoroughly repent; so when judgment was not executed at once, he thought it would never come, and so returned to his former pride (Read Ec 8:11).

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Who’s in the Spotlight?

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

If you’ve been around the world of golf for long, you know that winning the coveted “Green Jacket” at the Masters is arguably the most coveted accomplishment in golf. As I was watching the final round of the Masters Golf Tournament in 2007, I was thrilled to hear the winner give credit to Jesus for the gifts and abilities the Lord had given him. With much of the world watching, he turned the spotlight from himself to Jesus!

It brought to mind the year that Bernhard Langer won the Masters. In the Butler Cabin afterward, before millions watching on TV the interviewer said to him, “Winning the Masters must be the greatest moment in your life.” To which the champion replied, “This is no doubt the greatest moment in my golf career, but it doesn’t compare to the fact that 2,000 years ago today my Lord and Savior rose from the dead to give me eternal life!”

I was off my couch, ecstatic that Jesus and what He has done for us was getting such global recognition!

This is exactly what it means to glorify God and to live with enough biblical sanity to know that all we have and all we are is directly attributable to God’s grace and provision in our lives. Think about it. Where would you be today if God had not given you the mental horsepower to figure stuff out, the opportunities for education and promotion, the talents to do things well, the spiritual gifts to participate successfully in His work, the income to keep food on the table, or the wisdom of His Word to help you know how to live? The list is long when it comes to what God has graciously given you. To say nothing of the gift of salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection! The fact is that you and I would be nothing if it weren’t for God’s generous and undeserved supply.

When King Nebuchadnezzar took God’s glory for himself,
he was banished to eating grass in the field like an animal

So, since all we have is from God, it’s important that we don’t act like we are self-made people. In fact, when King Nebuchadnezzar took God’s glory for himself, he was banished to eating grass in the field like an animal until he got the picture straight about who should get the glory for his power and position (Daniel 4:29-34). And Herod was eaten by worms and died for letting the people call him god (Acts 12:21-23). God takes it seriously when we rob Him of His glory!

Granted, it’s not always easy to know just what to say when you want to transfer the applause from yourself to God. But just knowing that it’s important to give credit where credit is due is a good beginning. Every once in a while, someone will tell me what a great sermon I preached, and in that moment I am keenly aware that what I do with the spotlight is very important. I have to tell you, when I take the compliment for myself I end up feeling small and disloyal. But when I acknowledge that I had no idea what they needed to hear, I can say with confidence, “We both know where the blessing came from!” and I love to tell people that if they were blessed by the sermon it’s a sure sign of how much God loves them. Every time I turn the spotlight where it belongs, I end up feeling grateful to God and joyful that I was able to give Him the glory.

So take the Bible’s advice: Keep the spotlight on Jesus—then know the joy of what it means to live for His glory.

YOUR JOURNEY…

What things in your life tend to attract compliments from others? Could it be your knowledge, your ideas, your talents, your home, your car? Are you tempted to steal the glory for those things, or do you readily and regularly give credit to God?

Are there things in your life that you wish would attract compliments from others? Ask the Lord to reveal those areas, and allow Him to reshape your self-seeking perspective with a biblical sense of gratitude for those blessings.

Read about what happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:29-31. How did Nebuchadnezzar’s attitude change in Da 4:34-37? What can you learn from his example?

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James Smith - NEBUCHADNEZZAR—RUIN AND REMEDY DANIEL 4:29–37

“All Scripture … is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.” In the experiences recorded in this chapter there is something that might reprove our selfishness, correct our actions, and instruct in the righteousness of God. This personal testimony of Nebuchadnezzar was given as a Royal Edict (Da 4:1). One may know much about the ways of God and yet be an utter stranger experimentally to His saving grace. Think of—

I. His Privileges. He had been favoured with special opportunities. In chapter 2 we see God revealing to him in that “Great Image” the character and history of Gentile rule. He heard Daniel, the man of God, interpreting that vision. He had seen the mighty power and grace of God in saving the three Hebrews from the fiery furnace. He had also publicly confessed that there was no other god like the God of the Hebrews (Da 3:29). More than that, he had been solemnly warned of God by this vision of the great tree hewn down (Da 4:14), and of his heart being changed into a “beast’s heart” (v. 16). He was moreover counselled to “break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by shewing mercy” (Da 4:27). How many there are in this day of grace who likewise have been as mercifully dealt with by visions, warnings, and encouragements. Their need, like this king’s, is repentance toward God.

II. His Pride. “At the end of twelve months he walked upon the palace of Babylon … and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built?” etc. (Da 4:29, 30). These twelve months were days of grace, but as “all things” seemed to “continue as they were,” the warning of God was neglected and forgotten. On the royal palace, about four hundred feet high, he had a full view of “Great Babylon” lying around him, four-square, with a circumference of about sixty miles. There were twenty-five streets intersecting each other—150 feet wide and about 15 miles long. The city had a hundred brazen gates, and was walled about with a massive structure three hundred feet high and eighty feet broad, so that two chariots with four horses abreast could pass easily on the top. This wall was also ornamented with two hundred and fifty towers. The river Euphrates ran slowly through the midst of the city. The great bridge built by the king, and the royal palaces on each side, with the gorgeous temple and the magnificent “hanging gardens,” might all be before his eyes when he said, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built … by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Da 4:30). When the Pharisee said, “I thank God that I am not as other men,” he was also glorying in his great Babylon of self-righteousness. Cardinal Wolsey gloried in his Babylon of “worldly honour.” All glorifying that is not in the Lord will come to naught.

III. His Downfall. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from Heaven saying, The kingdom is departed from thee,” etc. (Da 4:31, 32). Pride goeth before a fall. He who was glorying in the grandeur of his own works is now driven out from the presence of men as a raving maniac. The root cause of it was rebellion against the Word of God. Sin, like lunacy, separates and unfits for the fellowship of God.

IV. His Recovery. “At the end … I lifted up mine eyes to Heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me” (Da 4:34). What an awakening! To find himself living the life of a beast! The beast life is that of eating and drinking, with no knowledge of God. There are multitudes which need just such an awakening. What he wanted was understanding. To cut his hair, clip his nails, and to cast a royal robe over him was not the restoration that he needed. Outward reformation can never stand for an inward apprehension. The eyes of the understanding must be enlightened. It is not a new faculty, but a new vision of guilt and of God. The prodigal made this discovery “when he came to himself.” The evidence of his sound conversion was, “Now I praise the King of Heaven” and confess that “those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (Da 4:37).

Daniel 4:30 "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'

• Is not: Da 5:20 Ps 73:8 Pr 16:18 Hab 1:15,16 2:4,5 Lk 12:19,20 14:11 1Pe 5:5
• great: Ge 10:10 11:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Rev 16:19 17:5 18:10,21
• which: 1Ch 29:12, 13, 14 2Ch 2:5,6 Isa 10:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 37:24,25 Eze 28:2, 3, 4, 5 29:3
• and for: Da 5:18, Da 5:19 Es 1:4 Ps 49:20 104:1 145:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 1Co 10:31 Rev 21:24, 25, 26
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Artist's re-creation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
constructed c. 8th–6th century BCE.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)

THE HEART OF NEB'S PROBLEM
WAS HIS HEART!

The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great - The idea is that the king spoke or responded, apparently as he surveyed his magnificent capital from the palace roof. What he saw was indeed impressive. His mistake was not recognizing Babylon's greatness. His mistake was claiming ultimate credit for that greatness. This is precisely what Moses warned Israel about “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.” (Dt 8:17,18) Nebuchadnezzar's words are almost a living illustration of that warning.

The king reflected - Would that this read "The king repented", but 12 months had passed and no watcher's voice had disturbed his days and apparently no more frightful dreams had disturbed his nights. He was content and consumed with self. He misinterpreted God's silence which is a danger Solomon alluded to (and to which we all should take heed) - "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." (Eccl 8:11)

Daniel had already told him plainly “The God of heaven has given you the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory.” (Da 2:37) Nebuchadnezzar had apparently forgotten the word “given.” That is often where pride begins. We forget that what we possess was first received.

ESV Study Bible - Page 122 - The view from the roof of the royal palace of Babylon (v. 29) included numerous ornate temples, the hanging gardens he had built for his wife (one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world), and the outer wall of the city , wide enough for chariots driven by four horses to pass each other on the top. As he looked at these notable accomplishments, Nebuchadnezzar boasted to himself of his mighty power and glory.

Donald Campbell adds - The city was surrounded by a system of double walls (comparable to a six-lane highway!) that were 85 feet high (comparable to an eight-story building!). The top of the wall was, as a matter of fact, used as a roadway for chariots and served as an aerial highway for rapid troop movements. Eight gates, named after gods of Babylon, gave access to the city. The famed Ishtar Gate opened onto the Processional Way, an elaborately ornamented street leading to the temple of Marduk, one of fifty temples within the city. The palace of Nebuchadnezzar also adorned the city and was proudly called by the king, "The Marvel of Mankind," "The Center of the Land," "The Shining Residence," and "The Dwelling of Majesty." It is supposed that within the palace area were the Hanging Gardens, considered by the Greeks to be one of the wonders of the ancient world. These gardens, of such height as to be seen outside the walls, were said to have been built by Nebuchadnezzar to gratify the desire of his wife Amytis to gaze upon green mountains like those of her native Media. Finding satisfaction in a job well done is certainly legitimate, but Nebuchadnezzar's response to the beauty of Babylon was something else. The king spoke with a self-glorifying arrogance that practically amounted to a defiance of God when he said, 

Which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty - Notice who gets the glory for Babylon the Great! I myself have built...my power...my majesty - His repeated self affirmation emphasizes his self centered state and is clear evidence that he has a severe case of "perpendicular "I"-itis". The problem was that he interpreted his accomplishments as though he were their ultimate source. Nebuchadnezzar is a classic illustration of man boasting in what he thinks he can do apart from God. Through Jeremiah Jehovah tells man what to boast in...

Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jer 9:23, 24, 1Cor 1:31, cp Gal 6:14, Php 3:3)

Here is one of Nebuchadnezzar's prayers to his "god" Marduk...

Like dear life I love thy exalted lodging place: in no place have I made a town more glorious than thy city of Babylon

Paul House - He takes complete credit for all that has been done, sharing none with his father, none with his workers, none with his gods and none with the ‘Most High’ God. When he looks into his heart, his own reflection is all he sees. (See Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 99)

By the might of my power - This is the antithesis of Zechariah 4:6 "‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts." Nebuchadnezzar's pride moves from the achievement to the ability behind the achievement. Not only did Nebuchadnezzar say, “I built it,” but essentially, “I built it because I am powerful.” Yet Daniel had told him years earlier “The God of heaven has given you...the power, the strength and the glory.” (Da 2:37) Pride takes what God has given and changes “His gift” into “my achievement.” To say it another way pride begins when “God gave” quietly becomes “I achieved.” The antidote is not denying what God has enabled us to accomplish. It is remembering Who gave us the ability, opportunity, strength, and circumstances to accomplish it.

John Kitto - His misfortune was, that he was but too conscious of his own greatness....Ascribing all that he had achieved to the strength of his own arm, and to the largeness of his own conceptions, he began to deem himself something more than mortal.”

For the glory of my majesty - Now we reach the ultimate objective: his own glory. Nebuchadnezzar's problem was deeper than merely taking credit for Babylon. He had made himself the center of the story. The city existed for “my majesty.” His kingdom had become a monument to himself (cf the golden image in Daniel 3!) And this explains why God was about to strip away the very things in which Nebuchadnezzar gloried. The kingdom, power, majesty, palace, and position had become mirrors in which Nebuchadnezzar saw only himself. The gifts of God had become fuel for the pride of the king.

Sinclair Ferguson says "The one who refused to honor God’s glory loses his own glory. Refusing to share what he has with the poor, he becomes poorer than the poor. He becomes outwardly what his heart has been spiritually and inwardly—bestial." (Daniel, 93)

Renald Showers notes that - From a purely human viewpoint, Nebuchadnezzar had good reason to boast. He probably was the greatest builder in ancient times. Forty-nine building inscriptions of this king have been uncovered thus far. Most of the bricks recovered from ancient Babylon bear this inscription: “I am Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.” He himself declared that his heart impelled him to build. Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the old palace of his father, then built two more palaces. He built seventeen religious temples in Babylon and its suburb, Borsippa. He completed the two great walls that surrounded the city. The outer wall was wide enough for chariots to pass each other on its top. The king installed great fortifications to protect the city and had canals dug from one end of the city to another to facilitate commerce. One of Nebuchadnezzar’s most splendid projects was the magnificent Ishtar Gate. This was a double gateway through the walls of the city. The walls of this gate were covered with bulls and four-legged dragons in high relief. The approach to the gate was between strong fortress walls on which were rows of lions in relief and covered with brightly colored tiles. The king’s greatest building feat was the Hanging Gardens. One of Nebuchadnezzar’s wives, the princess of Media, grew homesick for the mountains of her homeland. In order to satisfy her, the king had mountains built on the roof of the royal palace complex. These mountains were planted with trees and other kinds of plants. An ingenious hydraulic machine system was devised to lift water from the Euphrates River to water the elevated gardens. These Hanging Gardens became so famous that the Greeks named them one of the Seven Wonders of the World. (The Most High God- A Commentary on the Book of Daniel).

Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before stumbling.(Pr 16:18)

The builders of the Tower of Babel, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar stand as striking Old Testament examples of the timeless truth that “pride goes before destruction” (Pr 16:18). Each reached a pinnacle of human power and self-exaltation, magnifying himself and challenging the rightful supremacy of God. Significantly, God intervened when their pride seemed most secure and their glory most impressive. At the very height of human greatness, God demonstrated how quickly He can bring the proud low. Babel’s builders were scattered, Pharaoh’s power was shattered, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his throne. Human pride may climb remarkably high, but it can never rise above the sovereign hand of the Most High.

THE SUBTLE SIGNS
OF A PROUD HEART

C S Lewis calls pride "the great sin" writing that - There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when they see it in others; and of which hardly any people, except some Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves; and the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

Lest we read over this narrative too quickly thinking it has little application to our life, let us ask the Spirit of the Living God to search each of our hearts (Ps 139:23, 24), for vestiges of that horrid sin that God hates (see Pr 8:13, note which sin is first in the list in Pr 6:16, 17, 18), and which always leads to ruination in one form or another. Ponder the following thoughts as you allow the ultimate Watcher to search your heart (Pr 15:3, 2Chr 16:9)...

Some of the warning signs of a proud heart are:

• - Usually thinks that he is right.
• - Easily offended.
• - Does not like to be corrected.
• - Often complains about circumstances or people.
• - Usually ungrateful.
• - Often impatient with others and sometimes with God.
• - Not afraid of temptations.
• - Secretly ashamed of serving Christ.
• - Likes to talk more than listen; freely offers opinions.
• - Desires to be first or best.
• - Needs to be noticed.
• - Obstinate towards authority.
• - Quick to find fault with others.
• - Bold to contradict others.
• - Demanding and hard to please.
• - Much more sensitive to personal desires than to the needs of others.
• - Boasts about achievements.
• - Lives beyond his means.
• - Has a hard time forgiving others.
• - Pride makes people covetous, liars, flatterers, hypocrites, men-pleasers, and contentious.

NOTE: I do not remember where I found the previous lists of traits of the pride heart. That said here is a link to a very similar listing which is better because it contrasts the proud heart with the broken heart and is used by highly recommended ministry Life Action Ministries as one of their worksheets for the heart that is seeking revival. See Proud/Broken People (and be convicted as I am each time I look at this list!) which is shown below...

PROUD PEOPLE
BROKEN PEOPLE

1. Focus on the failures of others ><> Overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need
2. A critical, fault-finding spirit; look at everyone else’s faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescope ><> Compassionate; can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven
3. Self-righteous; look down on others ><> Esteem all others better than themselves
4. Independent, self-sufficient spirit ><> Have a dependent spirit; recognize their need for others
5. Have to prove that they are right ><> Willing to yield the right to be right
6. Claim rights; have a demanding spirit ><> Yield their rights; have a meek spirit
7. Self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation ><> Self-denying
8. Desire to be served Motivated to serve others ><> Desire to be a success Motivated to be faithful and to make others a success
9. Desire self-advancement ><> Desire to promote others
10. Have a drive to be recognized and appreciated ><> Have a sense of their own unworthiness; thrilled that God would use them at all
11. Wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked ><> Eager for others to get the credit; rejoice when others are lifted up
12. Unapproachable or defensive when criticized ><> Receive criticism with a humble, open spirit
13. Feel confident in how much they know ><> Humbled by how very much they have to learn
14. Quick to blame others ><> Accept personal responsibility and can see where they are wrong in a situation
15. Keep others at arms’ length ><> Willing to risk getting close to others and to take risks of loving intimately
16. Self-conscious ><> Not concerned with self at all
17. Unapproachable or defensive when criticized ><> Receive criticism with a humble, open spirit
18. Concerned with being respectable, with what others think; work to protect their own image and reputation ><> Concerned with being real; what matters to them is not what others think but what God knows; are willing to die to their own reputation
19. Find it difficult to share their spiritual need with others ><> Willing to be open and transparent with others as God directs
20. Want to be sure that no one finds out when they have sinned; their instinct is to cover up ><> Once broken, don’t care who knows or who finds out; are willing to be exposed because they have nothing to lose
21. Have a hard time saying, “I was wrong; will you please forgive me?” ><> Quick to admit failure and to seek forgiveness when necessary
22. Tend to deal in generalities when confessing sin ><> Able to acknowledge specifics when confessing their sin
23. Concerned about the consequences of their sin ><> Grieved over the cause, the root of their sin
24. Remorseful over their sin, sorry that they got found out or got caught ><> Truly, genuinely repentant over their sin, evidenced in the fact that they forsake that sin ><> Compare themselves with others and feel worthy of honor ><> Compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy
25. Blind to their true heart condition ><> Walk in the light
26. Have a subconscious feeling, “This ministry/church is privileged to have me and my gifts”; think of what they can do for God ><> Heart attitude is, “I don’t deserve to have a part in any ministry”; know that they have nothing to offer God except the life of Jesus flowing through their broken lives
27. Don’t think they have anything to repent of ><> Realize they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance
28. Wait for the other to come and ask forgiveness when there is a misunderstanding or conflict in a relationship ><> Take the initiative to be reconciled when there is misunderstanding or conflict in relationships; they race to the cross; they see if they can get there first, no matter how wrong the other may have been

Do we see ourselves anywhere in this list beloved? Or perhaps you might be like me, for I looked desperately for a line which did not at times apply to me! Oh my or oh me! Praise God for Pr 28:13, 1John 1:9.

If you "passed the test" of the preceding pride "check list", you might also consider examining your heart using Dr Piper's summary of ten biblical observations about pride...

1) Pride Is Self-Satisfaction (Hos 13:4, 5, 6)

2) Pride Is Self-Sufficiency and Self-Reliance (cp warning in Dt 8:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) - God’s goodness is turned into self-sufficiency.

3) Pride Considers Itself Above Instruction (Jer 13:9, 10) - Pride stubbornly refuses to be taught the way of God, and makes its own wishes the measure of truth.

4) Pride Is Insubordinate (Psalm 119:21) - When the commandments of God are spoken, pride turns away and will not submit. It rejects the right and authority of God to command.

5) Pride Takes Credit for What God Alone Does (Da 4:30, 31, 32; cf. Isa 10:12)

6) Pride Exults in Being Made Much Of (Mt 23:6)

7) Pride Aspires to the Place of God. (Acts 12:21, 22, 23; cf. Is 14:12, 13, 14)

8) Pride Opposes the Very Existence of God (Ps10:4) - Pride knows that the simplest solution for its own survival would be that there be no God at all. That would be, as the Nazi’s might say, “The Final Solution” for the survival of pride.

9) Pride Refuses to Trust in God (Pr 28:25 contrasts arrogance and trust) - Pride cannot trust God. The posture of trust is too weak. Too dependent. It calls too much attention to the strength and wisdom of another. Trusting God is the heartbeat of humility, the opposite of pride. When pride keeps us from trusting in God to take care of us, there are two possibilities: one is that we feel a false security based on our own imagined power and shrewdness to avert catastrophe. The other is that we realize that we cannot guarantee our security, and so we feel anxious.

10) Pride Is Anxious About the Future (Is 51:12, 13) God says to anxious Israel that their problem is pride. (Read the entire message by John Piper - Are You Humble Enough to Be Care-Free?)

John Wesley rightly remarks that "All pride is idolatry."

Simply looking at the word "pride" gives us a clue as to the main problem.

PRIDE

In other words "I" is the problem, that "virus" passed down from Adam to all mankind (Ro 5:12), and known as the flesh (self) . Believers need to remember that they also possess the flesh, the evil disposition and anti-God tendency in all mankind. Praise God for the Cross which releases us from the power of sin by the blood of the Lamb (Rev 1:5).

Andrew Murray wrote that "All the sin of heathendom, all the sin of Christendom, is but the outgrowth of the one root—God dethroned, self enthroned in the heart of man."

Puritan writer Thomas Manton hits the proverbial nail on the head noting that "Other sins are against God's law, but pride is against God's sovereignty."

James Montgomery Boice - The root of pride is saying that we can do without God.

John Calvin - Everyone flatters himself and carries a kingdom in his breast.

William Secker - Pride is a sinner's torment, but humility is a saint's ornament.

Augustine - It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.

Spurgeon - Be not proud of race, face, place or grace...Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honour modest worth.

Lord, pride, that fearful enemy,
So quickly takes control;
I plead, this day, Your pardoning grace
To cleanse my heart and soul.
—DJD

Pride is the mother of all sins.

Is this not Babylon the great - In human terms, it was great (and in the last days will again be great), but not when weighed on God's scales (cp Da 5:27)! Rebellious men will continue to trust in Babylon the great (See article - Babylon is Babylon!), even until the very end of this age, when God finally says "Enough!" and renders His final verdict on the great city, John recording that the kings of the earth are seen...

standing at a distance because of the fear of her (figuratively speaking of Babylon) torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' (cp Da 4:31!)...And a strong angel (cp "watcher" Da 4:13, 23) took up a stone like a great millstone (great enough to crush and obliterate the great city) and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. (Rev 18:10, Rev 18:21, cp Rev 16:19, [note that first "great city" in this verse = Jerusalem = "into three parts"], Rev 17:5, cp Ezekiel's prophecy Ezek 26:17) (See The Destruction of Babylon and Babylon’s Predicted Destruction)

The Apologetics Study Bible writes that " Historical sources (e.g., Herodotus, Berosus, cuneiform inscriptions) and archaeological excavations have substantiated Nebuchadnezzar's claim concerning Babylon's grandeur and the king's extensive building program. Ancient Greeks regarded Babylon's famous Hanging Gardens as one of the "seven wonders of the world," and bricks from ancient Babylon are stamped with Nebuchadnezzar's name.(Online no restrictions - The Apologetics Study Bible- Understand Why You Believe) (Bolding added)

Gleason Archer notes that Nebuchadnezzar's...

works there were most impressive. The celebrated Ishtar Gate...seems to have been erected by him, along with the enameled-brick facing, displaying a procession of dragons and bulls. The East India House Inscription, now in London, refers to about twenty temples he rebuilt or refurbished in Babylon and Borsippa, and also to a vast system of fortifications and large shipping docks (cf. Ira M. Price, The Dramatic Story of Old Testament History [Philadelphia: Revell, 1925], p. 356).

On one of his inscriptions, Nebuchadnezzar boasted, "The fortifications of Esagila [the temple of Marduk] and Babylon I strengthened, and established the name of my reign forever" (cf. George A. Barton, Archaeology and the Bible [Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1916], p. 479). To this inscription he appended a prayer to Marduk: "O Marduk, lord of the gods, my divine creator, may my deeds find favor before thee … Thou art indeed my deliverer and my help, O Marduk; by thy faithful word which does not change, may my weapons advance, be sharp and be stronger than the weapons of the foe!" At the time of his enthronement, he had composed a hymn that included this humble petition to Marduk: "I am the prince who obeys thee, the creation of thy hand. Thou art my creator, and the sovereignty over the hosts of men thou hast entrusted to me. According to thy mercy, O lord, which thou hast extended over all of them, incline unto compassion thine exalted power, and set the fear of thy godhead in my heart. Grant that which may seem good unto thee" (Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. 1, pl. 53).  (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

Tony Evans...

We see a great lesson of this in Daniel 4. This is a sweet chapter because sometimes we get the big head. A song from the sixties began “Mister Big Stuff, just who do you think you are?” Well, old Nebuchadnezzar thought he was God’s gift to creation... Some of us are crazy when it comes to thinking about God, because we think wrong about Him. Until we start thinking right about God, we won’t think right about ourselves. Only after Nebuchadnezzar started thinking right about God could he say, “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me” (Da 4:36). (Our God is Awesome)

If old Nebby were here, he would tell you, “Don’t ever do what I did, standing on my balcony talking about ‘Look at this great Babylon that I have built.’ “Don’t ever do that because my nails started to grow, and hair started growing out all over me. I crawled like an animal for seven years, but I learned my lesson. When I got my sanity back, I let it be known that there’s only one God in the universe. So let me tell you, God will bring you down to the dirt on your face, if He has to, to teach you this lesson.” (Evans, A. T. The Battle is the Lord's : Waging Victorious Spiritual Warfare)

Babylon the great - This affirmation takes us back to the beginning of Babylon in Genesis.

And the beginning of his (Nimrod's) kingdom was Babel (confusion) and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Ge 10:10).

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 And it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. (Ge 11:1-9)

Guzik comments that...

Late-daters of Daniel (who say that it was written in the times of the Maccabees, around 167BC) can’t explain how a late writer would have known to accurately attribute the spectacular buildings of Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar. One liberal Bible commentator, R. H. Pfeiffer, says of this problem: “we shall presumably never know.”

Charles Dyer records the following extra-biblical note...

On the brick wall towards the north my heart inspired me to build a palace for the protecting of Babylon. "I built there a palace like the palace of Babylon of brick and bitumen...I raised its summit and connected it with the palace with brick and bitumen. I made it high as a mountain. Mighty cedar trunks I laid on it for roof. Double doors of cedar wood overlaid with copper, thresholds and hinges made of bronze did I set up in its doorways. That building I named "May Nebuchadnezzar live, may he grow old as restorer of Esagila." -- AN ANCIENT INSCRIPTION ABOUT THE BUILDING OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S PALACE ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF BABYLON...

No doubt about it—Babylon was majestic. Nebuchadnezzar had buried the Ishtar Gate built by his father so he could construct a new (and far more mag­nificent!) Ishtar Gate on top of it. He rebuilt the south­ern palace, constructed the hanging gardens, repaired the walls around the city, restored the Tower of Babel and the temple to Marduk, and built or extensively repaired most of the other temples in the city. His building exploits were legendary. On many of the bricks he had made for his building projects he stamped the following inscription: "I am Nebuchadnez­zar, king of Babylon, king of everything from sea to far sea." Nebuchadnezzar's boasting was not false, but it was prideful. (Borrow The Rise of Babylon. Moody)

Steve Zeisler relates the interesting snippet about a modern arrogant ruler...

Kim Jong Il, the ruler of North Korea, celebrated his fifty-ninth birthday last week. The North Korean state press reported without any irony that there were unusual multiple rainbows in the winter sky and that remarkable storms rolled through with unusually resonant thunder. The conclusion was that nature itself was celebrating the birthday of the exalted leader of North Korea.

Throughout history those with great power over nations have imagined that nature bowed to their greatness. They have often believed, as have their subjects, that they were divine in their makeup and authority. One of the oldest and worst of ideas is that you can be like God in defiance of God. This idea was spoken first by the serpent in the garden and has been taken up over and over again in history. (The End of Arrogance)

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C. S. Lewis calls PRIDE “the great sin” and with good reason. It is the sin that led to the fall of Satan. It is the sin that led to the fall of humanity and drove Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. Of this sin Lewis said,

  There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault that makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility.… According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind. (Mere Christianity, 121–22)

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C S Lewis - “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you” (Mere Christianity, 124)

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Jonathan Edwards had much the same opinion on this great sin as Lewis:

  The first, and the worst cause of errors that prevail in such a state of things, is spiritual pride. This is the main door, by which the Devil comes into the hearts of those that are zealous for the advancement of religion. ’Tis the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind, and mislead the judgment: this is the main handle by which the Devil has hold of religious persons, and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God. This cause of error is the mainspring, or at least the main support of all the rest. Till this disease is cured, medicines are in vain applied to heal other diseases.…

Pride is much more difficultly discerned than any other corruption, for that reason that the nature of it does very much consist in a person’s having too high a thought of himself: but no wonder that he that has too high a thought of himself don’t know it; for he necessarily thinks that the opinion he has of himself is what he has just grounds for, and therefore not too high.… The heart is so deceitful and unsearchable in nothing in the world, as it is in this matter, and there is no sin in the world, that men are so confident in, and so difficultly convinced of: the very nature of it is to work self-confidence, and drive away [humility]. (Some Thoughts on the Revival, 414–16)

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David Jeremiah - NAPOLEON IS PORTRAYED BY THE ARTISTS he commissioned to memorialize him as a strutting little man, standing defiantly with his right hand pushed between his vest buttons or as a hero astride a fiery steed, pointing the way for his troops to cross the Alps. His bicorn hat made him instantly recognizable and imitated at costume parties through the years. He was proud, a man driven by ambition to conquer Europe.

On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was describing to his commanding officer his strategy for that day’s campaign. He said, “We’ll put the infantry here, the cavalry over there, and the artillery in that spot. At the end of the day, England will be at the feet of France, and Wellington will be the prisoner of Napoleon.”

The commanding officer responded, “But we must not forget that man proposes and God disposes.”

With typical arrogance, the little dictator pulled his body to its full five-feet-two and replied, “I want you to understand, sir, that Napoleon proposes and Napoleon disposes.”

Victor Hugo, the novelist, wrote, “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 prisoner of Wellington, and France was at the feet of England.”

If you asked me what the most fundamental sin is, I would answer without hesitation: the sin of pride. Pride is basic to all other sins. It is simply exaggerated and dishonest self-evaluation. It was the sin that began sin, when Satan said, “I will be like the most High God.”

Pride is number one on God’s hate list. “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look . . .” (Prov. 6:16 KJV). Proverbs hits the issue of pride hard.

  “The LORD detests all the proud of heart” (Prov. 16:5).
  “I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Prov. 8:13).
  “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).
  “When pride comes, then comes disgrace” (Prov. 11:2).

If we summarize all the Old Testament proverbs, we could easily do it with one key verse from the New Testament: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). (SEE The Handwriting on the Wall)

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The mother of one of the greatest New England college presidents addressed a friend who had joined a church: "Elizabeth, did you kneel down in church and call yourself a sinner?" "Neither I nor any member of my family will ever do that!" the woman replied, and her pride was just the reason why this able woman, with all her Unitarian admiration of Christ the man, did not come to Him as Savior.

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Who Deserves The Credit - Historian Stephen E. Ambrose believes that heroes made the United States "the best and greatest country that ever was." He attributes its greatness to presidents like Washington and Jefferson and to explorers like Lewis and Clark. Ambrose wrote, "God had nothing to do with it. It was people that made it."

That view focuses on the noteworthy contributions of men and women, yet it fails to recognize that behind the scenes God guides and controls the rise and fall of all nations.

King Nebuchadnezzar thought he was responsible for building his great kingdom. He boasted, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built . . . by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30).

Those words were still in his mouth when God humbled him so he became like an animal and ate the grass of the field. Seven years later he declared, "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth" (Da 4:35).

Let's not be deceived by our own accomplishments. It's God who works in us, giving us the desire to obey Him and the power to do His will (Phil. 2:13). The Lord is the One who is worthy of praise. He deserves the credit. — Vernon C. Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Help us, Lord, to see successes
In the context of Your grace;
Keep us from all pride and boasting
That ignores Your rightful place. —Sper

True humility credits God for every success.

Daniel 4:31 "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying,' King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,

• the word: Da 5:4,5 Ex 15:9,10 Job 20:23 Lk 12:20 Ac 12:22,23 1Th 5:3) (fell: Da 4:24,34 Mt 3:17 Jn 12:28 Ac 9:3-5 Rev 16:7
• Sovereignty...removed: Da 5:28 1Sa 13:14 15:23
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

HOW TO GET A QUICK TRANSFER
FROM THE PALACE TO THE PASTURE!

While - The king had been warned; now judgment was about to fall, his final words tolling like a bell announcing impending disaster!

While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying,' King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you - Nebuchadnezzar had barely finished boasting when God answered. Immediate judgment from God (Da 4:33) while he was in the very act of speaking, so that there was no doubt as to the connection between the crime and the punishment! God is long-suffering with sinners, but when the time comes for Him to act, there is no delay.

Nebuchadnezzar was proclaiming his sovereignty
 at the very moment God removed it.

John Kitto - “That very hour in which Nebuchadnezzar had deemed himself almost a god, beheld him far less than man.”

To be sure, sometimes God's judgments are delayed (even as exemplified by the 12 month respite for Nebuchadnezzar), but they are always certain (see the danger of self deception regarding divine delay = Ec 8:11). God's declarations of judgment are as sure as the sun rising, even the writer of Hebrews testifies...

For the word of God is (#1) living and active and (#2) sharper than any two-edged sword, and (#3) piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and (#4) able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight (#5), but all things are open and laid bare (#6) to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12, 13)

Jesus' parable of the rich man is similar...

And I (the rich man) will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' (Luke 12:19, 20)

A voice came from heaven - This is the answer to Nebuchadnezzar's pride. The king had been looking down from his palace upon Babylon, but suddenly a voice came down from heaven to the king. Daniel had just told him “It is Heaven that rules.” (Da 4:26) Now Heaven speaks. Nebuchadnezzar's palace may have been high above Babylon, but there was still a throne infinitely higher than his.

The king looked down on Babylon,
but Heaven looked down on the king.

saying,' King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared - The message is intensely personal. Earlier Daniel had said “It is you, O king.” (Da 4:22) Now heaven says “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you...” There could be no misunderstanding. The dream was no longer merely a warning concerning something that might happen in the future. The sentence was now being executed. Nebuchadnezzar had been personally warned, and now he was personally addressed.

Sovereignty has been removed from you -  Notice the wording carefully. It does not say Nebuchadnezzar lost his sovereignty as though political circumstances simply turned against him. It was “removed.” Someone greater than Nebuchadnezzar took it away. This fulfills the central truth of the chapter “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” (Da 4:25) The God Who had bestowed the kingdom could also remove the sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar had just said “I myself have built...” Heaven answered, in effect “What you think belongs to you can be removed from you.” This also recalls Daniel 2:21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.” Nebuchadnezzar was about to experience personally the theology Daniel had taught him years earlier.

Sovereignty has been removed from you - This is a clear illustration of Da 2:21 and the fact that God resists the pride of men, be they great or small.

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED (antitasso in the antitasso = He is continually arranging Himself in battle as it were against the pride of men) TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE....Humble (tapeinoo = to make low and is in the aorist imperative = like a military order calling for full attention and immediate obedience. Don't delay!) yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:6, Jas 4:10)

Comment: Note that the command to humble is passive voice which indicates that the subject acting upon the individual is an outside force, in this case God Himself (the "divine passive"). The idea then is not so much to be humbled but to allow yourself to be humbled or placed in a lower position. It is not to be a forced humiliation, but a voluntary self-abasement. This work of God in humbling us is a work of His grace -- the "gravity of grace" always flows from higher to lower. Archibald Alexander said that "Humility is to the Christian what ballast is to the ship; it keeps him in his proper position and regulates all his thoughts and feelings." The more an unbeliever sees God as He really is, glorious and holy, the more clearly he sees himself as he really is, sinful and depraved. Great thoughts of self and great grace never go together. Self-consciousness is a sure sign that there is not much depth of grace. He who overvalues himself undervalues his Saviour.

Steven Cole rightly draws our attention to an important principle: The key to developing biblical humility is in the phrase, in the presence of the Lord (Jas 4:10). Only those with hardened hearts could be proud in the presence of the Lord! The holy angels in His presence cover their faces (Isa 6:2). When Isaiah had his vision of the Lord, he was undone—personally shattered—and immediately aware of his own sinfulness (Isa 6:5). When God portrayed the wonders of creation before Job, he had no further arguments against God. Instead, he said (Job 42:6), “I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” When the apostle John, who formerly had rested his head on Jesus’ chest, saw Him in His glory on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet as a dead man (Rev 1:17). (Sermon)

Phil Newton offers insight on why one would humble themselves in God's presence: Consider the many times we see humility taking place in Scripture. It seems that there is a pattern of God's people recognizing the Lord's presence or something of His attributes, and then the response is humility (e.g., Isaiah, Joshua, David, Moses, Peter, John). (1) They caught a glimpse of God, as they had never had before; they saw and experienced something of the divine character before them. (2) Consequently, each responded by seeing his own weakness, unworthiness, and helplessness (Mt 5:3). This is the very opposite of the pastor from another generation of whom it was said he could "strut sitting down." So, think upon the Lord; get a clear view of your own selfishness with time, money, conversation, and interests; acknowledge God's worth above all. (Sermons from the Epistle of James)

Dr. Bonar once remarked that he could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he was doing, and become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun. Jonathan was willing to decrease, that David might increase; and John the Baptist showed the same spirit of humility.

Peter echoes this divine doctrine writing that...

GOD IS OPPOSED (antitasso -see Jas 4:6 above) TO THE PROUD (huperephanos from huper =over, above, + phaino =shine, show > picture of head held high above others, even "above God"!), BUT (contrast) GIVES GRACE (charis) TO THE HUMBLE (tapeinos = low, not high, not rising far from the ground). Humble (see Jas 4:6 above) yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1Pe 5:5, 6)

John Flavel had it right declaring

They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud.

As someone once said,

The ears of barley that bear the richest grain always hang the lowest.

Puritan William Secker wrote that

Pride is a sinner's torment, but humility is a saint's ornament.

Andrew Murray once asked...

Do you want to enter what people call "the higher life"? Then go a step lower down.

Luke records the story of King Herod another prideful ruler who was opposed by God...

And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum (bema) and began delivering an address to them. And the people kept crying out, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:21, 22, 23)

In the psalms David speaking for God says...

No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure. (Ps 101:5)

Comment: Pride will sit and show itself in the eyes as soon as anywhere. A man is seen what he is in oculis, in poculis, in loculis (in his eyes, his cups, and his resorts) say the Rabbis. See Pr 6:17. --John Trapp.

And again David writes...

For you save a humble (LXX = tapeinos) people, but the haughty (proud) eyes you bring down (low) (Heb = shaphel = to be or become low or abased; LXX = tapeinoo). (Psalm 18:27ESV)

Daniel 4:32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'

• they shall drive: Da 4:14-16,25,26 5:21 Job 30:5-7
• until: Da 4:17,25 Ex 8:10 9:14,29 Jos 4:24 Job 12:18-21 Pr 8:15,16 Isa 37:20 45:3 Jer 27:5
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Daniel 2:21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 

WAITING FOR THE KING
TO RECOGNIZE GOD AS RULER

and you will be driven away from mankind - Nebuchadnezzar had exalted himself above other men; now he would be removed from the society of men. Only moments earlier he had been walking on the roof of his royal palace, admiring Babylon and speaking of “my power” and “my majesty.” Now God announces that the man at the pinnacle of human society will be driven outside human society. What an astonishing reversal from ruler of men to separated from men. This is not a psychosis in the strictest sense but represents God induced humiliation.

and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field - Nebuchadnezzar's palace had symbolized his greatness. Now the field would become his dwelling place. God was stripping away the outward supports of Nebuchadnezzar's pride.

You will be given grass to eat like cattle - The king who could command that the finest food be brought to his table would now eat like an animal. There is also an interesting expression here: “you will be given grass.” Even in his humiliation Nebuchadnezzar remained dependent upon what was given to him. That had been his problem all along. He had forgotten that his kingdom, power, strength, and glory had been given to him by God (Da 2:37). The man who forgot that his kingdom was given to him would now learn that even his grass was given to him.

and seven periods of time will pass over you - God places a boundary around the judgment. Nebuchadnezzar would not determine its duration. The same God Who determined when it began determined when it would end. His humiliation was severe, but it was neither random nor uncontrolled. God remained sovereign over every part of it.

Until you recognize - See discussion of until. Webster says until is "used as a function word to indicate continuance (as of an action or condition) to a specified time. Here until indicates that the beastly behavior would end when he came to his senses. Nebuchadnezzar had to be humbled before he could be exalted (Jas 4:10). The chastisement of God is always for a holy and helpful purpose. God's purpose was not merely to punish Nebuchadnezzar but to teach Nebuchadnezzar. The king needed to recognize something. He had looked at Babylon and said “I myself have built.” God would humble him until he could look toward heaven and acknowledge “His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” (Da 4:34) The discipline therefore had both a limit and a lesson. It would last UNTIL the lesson was learned.

That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind - This is now the third occurrence of the central declaration of the chapter (Da 4:17, 25, 32). God repeats it because this is precisely the truth Nebuchadnezzar's pride refused to recognize. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, but God ruled Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had authority over men, but God had authority over Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar sat upon an earthly throne, but there was always a throne above his throne.

And bestows it on whomever He wishes - God is in control. Over and over this chapter emphasizes God's sovereignty. Here is the direct answer to Nebuchadnezzar's boast in Da 4:30. Nebuchadnezzar said “I myself have built.” God says “I bestow.” Nebuchadnezzar said “my power.” God says “I bestow.” Nebuchadnezzar said “my majesty.” God says “I bestow.” The king thought in terms of achievement. God speaks in terms of gift. Nebuchadnezzar had confused what had been entrusted to him with what originated from him.

Merrill Unger quotes ancient sources that seem to allude to Nebuchadnezzar's 7 periods of beastly "sabbatical" - Berossus, a Babylonian priest of the 3rd century BC, notes that Nebuchadnezzar after he had reigned 43 years ‘was suddenly invaded by sickness’ (Contra Apionem 1:20 = from Works of Josephus), obviously referring to some unusual malady. Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica (9:41) quotes from Abydenus concerning Nebuchadnezzar in his last days "being possessed by some god [demon] or other’ and who having uttered a prophecy concerning the coming of the Persian conqueror ‘immediately disappeared." Critics disregard these allusions and maintain that Nebuchadnezzar’s madness is a fictitious element of Daniel. But if history were silent, that in itself would not be sufficient evidence to reject the historicity of this chapter. The ‘seven times,’ 16, are likely ‘seven years.’...A Dead Sea Scroll text identifies such a mental malady with Nabonidus. Why then would it be impossible for Nebuchadnezzar? (New Unger's Bible Handbook)

John Piper - No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). “Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established” (Proverbs 19:21). (Pray for Kings and All in High Positions)

Charles Dyer rightly says that "Like his predecessors at the Tower of Babel, the king of Babylon learned that his greatest achievements fell far short when measured against God's majesty." (Borrow The Rise of Babylon. Moody)

Daniel 4:33 "Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

• same: Da 5:5 Job 20:5 Isa 30:14 1Th 5:2
• and he was: Da 4:25,32
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Joshua 23:14  “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.

Painting of Nebuchadnezzar
by William Blake

CHICKENS ALWAYS COME
HOME TO ROOST!

Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled - Nebuchadnezzar could issue decrees affecting millions of people, but when God issued a decree concerning Nebuchadnezzar, the king was powerless to prevent its fulfillment. As Eccl 8:11 says the fulfillment of God's Word may be delayed, but His Word never fails and will be fulfilled exactly when He desires (see Josh 23:14). In this case the fulfillment was immediate and was directly connected with the king's boasting!

Nu 32:23 expresses the principle of paying the piper so to speak - "be sure your sin will find you out!" The Septuagint translates "find you out" with the verb katalambano (the prefix "kata" intensifies the meaning and adds the sense of suddenness) which means to seize with force, (with suddenness) to overtake, which is exactly what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Even as he spoke with such pomposity and boasting, "shazam," immediately the Word (of God's prophetic promise) was fulfilled." Katalambano is used by Paul to describe the future coming of the Day of the Lord, of a time of spiritual darkness, which will suddenly overtake all who have rejected Christ and this overtaking will be like a thief. (1Th 5:4, 1Th 5:2) The chickens always come home to roost! The skeletons eventually come out of the closet. Though the wheels of God grind slowly, they grind exceedingly small. Be sure your sin will find you out!

Immediately (08160)(saah) is an Aramaic feminine noun meaning a short time, a brief time span, almost immediately. The people were warned in Da 3:6 and Da 3:15 that they would be thrown immediately into the furnace of fire if they did not bow and worship the golden image. Here in Da 4:33 the Septuagint translates "immediately" with the phrase "in the same hour" (aute te hora).

Although it is difficult to find substantiation in extra-biblical literature, the NLT Study Bible has this intriguing note "Several ancient sources lend support to this account, and the king's annals are notably empty from 582 to 575BC."

Fulfilled (05487)(sup) is an Aramaic verb meaning to be fulfilled, to be ended, to end. In Da 2:44 it is used to describe God's Kingdom which "will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms." Here in Da 4:33 sup is translated in the Lxx (Theodoret) with the verb sunteleo which means to bring something to an end, to finish it, or to complete it. The prophetic promise given in the vision some 12 months earlier is now fulfilled. God always keeps His word.

And he was driven away from mankind - The great tree was now cut down. The man who had ruled multitudes was removed from human society. The king who had determined the destiny of others could no longer determine his own circumstances. This is the fulfillment of Da 4:25, 32 almost word for word. There is tremendous irony Nebuchadnezzar had driven people from their homes; now he was driven from his. The ruler became the outcast.

And began eating grass like cattle - Moments earlier Nebuchadnezzar had been walking on the roof of the royal palace. Now he was living like an animal.

The man who thought himself almost a god had to become
less than a man before he acknowledged the Most High.

And his body was drenched with the dew of heaven - The king accustomed to royal shelter was now exposed continually to the elements, exactly as God had foretold (Da 4:25). Nothing in this description suggests a brief episode. Nebuchadnezzar remained in this condition long enough for dramatic physical changes to occur.

Until (see until) - remember the word God had repeatedly attached to this judgment “Until.” Even while Nebuchadnezzar was lying in the field, God's purpose was still operating. The stump remained.

his hair had grown like eagles' feathers - This simile ("like...") could refer to length (eagle's feathers grow up to 22" long) and/or the appearance (hair matted together mimicking feathers). Daniel is describing Nebuchadnezzar's outward appearance after prolonged neglect. The comparison emphasizes hair that had become long, coarse, and unkempt, giving him a wild appearance. The man who had once been surrounded by all the grooming and luxury appropriate to a king now bore little outward resemblance to royalty. The transformation is shocking because the contrast is intentional. The king who gloried in his majesty lost every visible appearance of majesty.

and his nails like birds' claws - Again, this describes prolonged neglect. His fingernails and toenails had grown long enough to resemble claws. The language completes the picture of a man who had lost the normal appearance and manner of civilized human life. Nebuchadnezzar had exalted himself almost as though he were more than a man. God humbled him until he lived like a beast. There is profound irony here. Pride caused Nebuchadnezzar to think too highly of himself; God's discipline showed him how utterly dependent he really was.

Dr G B Zustiak writes that "From the description given of Nebuchadnezzar, however, he though of himself as an ox; which makes the disease more specifically to have been boanthropy ("ox man")...A. R. Short, in his book, The Bible and Modern Medicine, described another variety of "animal illness" called avianthropy, in which the patient was convinced that he was a cock-pheasant, and roosted in a tree each night instead of sleeping in a bed."

Carl Jung (not a believer) would describe "Nebuchadnezzar...[as] a complete regressive degeneration of a man who has overreached himself." (Whatever that means!)

Donald Campbell - For seven long years the once-proud king lived on the level of a beast, in a state of virtual amnesia. His case was perhaps similar to the soldier in World War II who, at a boxing tournament on an army base, was led around the ring between matches in the hope that someone would recognize him. Repeatedly he stood and gazed out at the unresponsive crowd, until in frustration and despair, he cried, "Will no one tell me who I am?"

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James Graham imagines it happened this way:   In the twinkling of an eye, Nebuchadnezzar became a raving maniac. With wild shrieks he rushed from the room and down the staircase as the crown of gold toppled from his head. Across the tiled floor of the throne room he raced, tearing from his body his regal robes and scattering them as he went. Through the doors and down the corridors he ran bellowing like a wounded bull while the palace retainers stood by in consternation. By the time he issued from the great door of the palace he was very little encumbered with garments of any kind, only his tunic and short trousers remaining, and these he also discarded as he continued his mad flight down Palace Way. Nebuchadnezzar, the proud and dignified monarch of the greatest empire of ancient times was running down the street of his capital city, stripped, stark naked (The Prophet-Statesman, 110).

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Living Like An Animal - After 60 years and 6 million visitors, the zoo in Milan, Italy, was shut down. Animal-rights activists had protested that conditions in the zoo were unfit for the animals caged there. But when the animals moved out, homeless people moved in. Until city leaders intervened, hundreds of them began sneaking into the cages under the cover of darkness, looking for a night's rest.

Ironically, the zoo was only a 5-minute walk from one of Europe's most expensive shopping districts. Within 400 yards of the cages, the shops of Italian fashion designers lined a street that attracted big spenders from all over the world.

There is something sad about people who live like animals. But who was further from the image of God--those taking shelter in the zoo or the big spenders a few blocks away?

The mighty king Nebuchadnezzar had been warned in a dream that he would be eating grass with the animals unless he changed his proud, sinful ways. The prophet Daniel told him to stop sinning and to show mercy to the poor (Da 4:27). But Nebuchadnezzar refused, and his nightmare came true.

Father, forgive us for our pride. Help us not to live like animals but like people created in Your image. — Mart De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The pride and arrogance of man
Is evil in God's sight,
Because there's nothing man can do
Without God's strength and might. --Sper

We are never so empty as when we are full of self.

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TODAY IN THE WORD Daniel 4:33-37
Everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. - Daniel 4:37

Muhammad Ali was one of the most prolific boxers in history, and his verbal jabs packed plenty of punch as well. Some called him larger than life. He called himself “the greatest.” But his battle with Parkinson's disease dealt the outspoken star a near knockout blow. After coping with the humbling disease, he has learned many lessons, saying, “God gave me this illness to remind me that I'm not Number One. He is!”

Nebuchadnezzar had lost control of his mind for seven years, plenty of time for him to learn his lesson. Although he was certifiably insane, that doesn't mean he wasn't aware of his situation. The tone of his praise to God seems to indicate that he had been tormented by the state of madness his pride had caused, and he had fully repented of his wicked ways.

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of radical shifts. In chapter 3 he went from cursing Daniel's friends to increasing their power and praising God. In this chapter he was chewing on grass and mooing like a cow one moment and delivering the most eloquent speech of praise to God the next. And the amazing thing about his words of praise is the state from which he delivered them. He hadn't been around people for seven years, so his outburst of worship must have been based on what he had learned about God from Daniel.

For Nebuchadnezzar, the story had a happy ending. He was returned to power, even greater than ever. He praised and worshiped God with a sincerity beyond any he had ever shown. His word choice in the final verse of this chapter is very interesting. In the past, Nebuchadnezzar had called attention to the power of God, but in this passage, he focused on other characteristics of God. He stressed the goodness and justice of God, and then he worshiped Him for His ability to make a proud heart humble. Seven years prior, Nebuchadnezzar would never have appreciated those attributes of our Lord. Chapter 4 is our last impression of Nebuchadnezzar, and humility and love for righteousness is a great way to be remembered.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Do you love God's justice? When is the last time you praised God for being right in all His ways or for humbling you? When we sin, God's righteousness can be painful; when we suffer the consequences, His justice can be humiliating. But when God exposes our sin and disciplines us, He draws us closer to Him. And being close to Him is wonderful because He is so good. Praise Him for His righteousness today, even if it means confessing your most embarrassing sins.

Daniel 4:34 "But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

• at the end: Da 4:16,26,32
• raised: Ps 121:1 123:1 130:1,2 Jonah 2:2, 3, 4 Lk 18:13
• I blessed: Job 1:21 Ps 50:14 103:1, 2, 3, 4 107:8,15,22,31 Isa 24:15 La 3:19-23
• the most High: Da 4:17,32 Ps 7:17 9:2 92:1 La 3:38
• him: Da 12:7 Ps 90:2 102:24 146:10 Jer 10:10 Jn 5:26 1Ti 1:17 6:16 Rev 4:10 10:6
• whose: Da 4:3 2:44 7:14 Ps 10:16 145:13 Isa 9:6,7 Jer 10:10 Mic 4:7 Lk 1:33 Rev 11:15
• is from: Ps 90:1
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Psalm 121:1-2 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?  2My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

RESTORATION
BEGINS

But - A crucial term of contrast for Nebuchadnezzar. Da 4:33 ended with Nebuchadnezzar looking and living like a beast. Da 4:34 begins his restoration. A change of direction is about to occur, which ultimately will result in a change in his eternal destiny (in my opinion -- I think he came to personally know the Most High God).

At the end of that period - When? Exactly when God had decreed - at the end of 7 periods of time (as discussed probably seven years). God is never early and never late! God had said the discipline would continue “until” Nebuchadnezzar recognized that the Most High rules (Da 4:25, 32). The judgment had a divinely determined boundary. Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation did not last one moment longer than God's purpose required. God determined when the discipline began, and God determined when the discipline ended. The stump had remained because God's purpose for Nebuchadnezzar remained.

Notice the progression: (1) Personal choice (enabled by grace) to look up (cp Isa 45:22KJV). (2) Reason returned - God's sovereign will and word fulfilled. (3) Praise Offered - Not for getting his kingdom back but uninhibited praise to the real King, the Most High God.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven - The first person narrative resumes, as the king goes from the fields to the palace! But he comes back a different man than the one that left. For 7 years he had been looking down at dirt! Here he says that he made a choice of his will (enabled by divine grace of course) to raise his eyes toward heaven (from whence came the voice Da 4:31). Here we encounter the interaction of the mysterious truth of man's responsibility (I...raised) and God's sovereignty (My reason returned = God gave it back to him).

The king looked down upon Babylon and became proud;
he looked up toward heaven and became humble.

Paul House notes that raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me "is an interesting phrase, since it implies that the punishment did not simply end and he was well. Rather, he had to look to God, or, having suffered through the seven periods of time, and with his mind intact, he looked to God rather than repeating his prideful comments. Regardless, he had some responsibility in the matter. As Lucas (2002: 113) comments, ‘Looking to heaven suggests seeking God’s aid, and so implicitly acknowledging his kingship.’ Baldwin adds that the fact that he could look to heaven ‘proves that he was still human and capable of response to God, despite his derangement’ (1978: 115). The text leaves open the possibility that the indefinite ‘seven periods’ of time could have ended sooner, had he given up his pride more quickly. Third, upon receiving his reason back, he recognized God as the ‘Most High’, and praised and glorified him, who lives for ever. Praise is the appropriate response to healing. (See Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 99)

and my reason returned to me The order is fascinating He looked toward heaven and his reason returned. Nebuchadnezzar had thought his proud boast represented clear thinking. In reality, his failure to recognize God was profound spiritual foolishness. Now his ability to function rationally is restored. The king who had lost his reason finally recognizes the most fundamental reality of all that God is God, and Nebuchadnezzar is not. There is a beautiful irony here. Nebuchadnezzar came to his right mind when he came to the right view of God.

and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever - Previously Nebuchadnezzar's words had been directed toward himself. His mouth that had been filled with self-praise is now filled with God-praise. That is one of the clearest evidences of the change taking place in Nebuchadnezzar. The king stopped praising Nebuchadnezzar and started praising God. Now he praises the One “who lives forever.” Nebuchadnezzar had finally discovered the difference between human greatness and divine greatness. Human rulers come and go. God remains. Human kingdoms rise and fall. God's kingdom endures. Human glory fades. God's glory does not.

TECHNICAL NOTE ON VERBS BLESSED, PRAISED AND HONORED - The three Aramaic verbs in Nebuchadnezzar's confession — "I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever" — are grammatically perfect (suffix-conjugation) forms, but the kind of action they describe in this context is best understood as continuous or habitual rather than a single completed act. That is, the king is not merely describing one moment of praise offered the instant his sanity returned, but testifying to a settled, ongoing pattern of worship that began at that moment and continued as his enduring practice from then on. This reading fits the literary arc of the passage: Da 4:34 opens Nebuchadnezzar's closing testimony, which culminates in Da 4:37 with the present-tense-functioning declaration, "now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven" — language describing his settled posture as king, not a one-time outburst of relief (see TECHNICAL NOTE on that verse) Together these verbs embody reverence, respect, admiration, and worship as Nebuchadnezzar's new and continuing way of life, in stark contrast to the self-exalting pride that had characterized him before his humbling (cf. Dan 4:30). The grammar itself thus reinforces the chapter's central lesson that genuine humbling before God does not produce a momentary religious sentiment but a lasting transformation of character and habitual worship.

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion - What a transformation from Da 4:30! Nebuchadnezzar had said “Babylon the great, which I myself have built...” Now he says “His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” Nebuchadnezzar's dominion had been taken from him in an instant. God's dominion can never be taken away. The king had learned by painful personal experience the great truth repeated throughout Daniel 4 “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind.” Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was given. God's kingdom simply is.

And His kingdom endures from generation to generation - Babylon looked permanent when Nebuchadnezzar stood on his palace roof. It was not. God's kingdom alone transcends generations. Nebuchadnezzar had been impressed with something that would eventually disappear. Now he worships the One Whose kingdom can never disappear. This echoes Daniel 2:44 “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.” Nebuchadnezzar finally recognizes that there is a kingdom infinitely greater than Babylon and a King infinitely greater than Nebuchadnezzar.

Him Who lives forever...everlasting dominion...kingdom endures - Each of these descriptions emphasizes the eternality of God and His immutable (unchangeable) sovereignty.

Daniel Akin writes (as do many other conservative commentators) "Yes, I believe Nebuchadnezzar was genuinely converted and saved and that he entered into a life-changing relationship with the one true and living God, the One he now acknowledged personally as “the Most High.” The king’s reason returned to him, and he immediately did what any right-thinking person does: he worshiped the only living and true God. (See Exalting Jesus in Daniel - Page viii)

David Jeremiah agrees writing Daniel 4 "is the last we hear about Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, but I believe we will meet him someday in heaven. The Lord brought him from wickedness to righteousness with a severe lesson in animal husbandry." (See The Handwriting on the Wall)

Jamieson observes that "Nebuchadnezzar's looking up towards heaven was the first symptom of his "understanding" having "returned." Before, like the beasts, his eyes had been downward to the earth. Now, like Jonah's (Jon 2:1, 2, 4) out of the fish's belly, they are lifted up to heaven in prayer. He turns to Him that smiteth him (Isa 9:13), with the faint glimmer of reason left to him, and owns God's justice in punishing him.

The psalmist has a similar description...

To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! (Ps 123:1)

Spurgeon comments: The Psalmist looked so high that he could look no higher. Not to the hills, but to the God of the hills he looked. He believed in a personal God, and knew nothing of that modern pantheism which is nothing more than atheism wearing a fig leaf. The uplifted eyes naturally and instinctively represent the state of heart which fixes desire, hope, confidence, and expectation upon the Lord. God is everywhere, and yet it is most natural to think of him as being above us, in that glory land which lies beyond the skies. "O thou that dwellest in the heavens", just sets forth ,the unsophisticated idea of a child of God in distress: God is, God is in heaven, God resides in one place, and God is evermore the same, therefore will I look to him. When we cannot look to any helper on a level with us, it is greatly wise to look above us; in fact, if we have a thousand helpers, our eyes should still be toward the Lord. The higher the Lord is the better for our faith, since that height represents power, glory, and excellence, and these will be all engaged on our behalf. We ought to be very thankful for spiritual eyes; the blind men of this world, however much of human learning they may possess, cannot behold our God, for in heavenly matters they are devoid of sight. Yet we must use our eyes with resolution, for they will not go upward to the Lord of themselves, but they incline to look downward, or inward, or anywhere but to the Lord: let it be our firm resolve that the heavenward glance shall not be lacking. If we cannot see God, at least we will look towards him. God is in heaven as a king in his palace; he is here revealed, adored, and glorified: thence he looks down on the world and sends succours to his saints as their needs demand; hence we look up, even when our sorrow is so great that we can do no more. It is a blessed condescension on God's part that he permits us to lift up our eyes to his glorious high throne; yea, more, that he invites and even commands us so to do. When we are looking to the Lord in hope, it is well to tell him so in prayer: the Psalmist uses his voice as well as his eye.

Piper observes that "When your eyes are Godward, your reason returns. Why? Because your mind was made for God. And when Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returns, he uses it as God intended: “he blessed and praised and glorified the One who lives for ever.” (The First Dark Exchange- Idolatry)

Note that this pagan king's testimony to the goodness and grace of God, which wrought his repentance and conversion, presents a beautiful pattern for every testimony by beginning and ending with praise to the Most High God (Da 4:2). Beloved, let me encourage you to (1) give your testimony (first by living out the supernatural changed life which opens the door for speaking out about the supernatural works of our great God) to those whom God has placed in your purview and (2) begin and end with praise to God, taking care to not grovel in the details of your life "before Christ"!

Blessed the Most High - This reminds one of the David's words (note the parallels to the king's experience in Daniel 4)...

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits (rewards);
3 Who pardons all your iniquities (including pride);
Who heals all your diseases; (including loss of reason)
4 Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things (cp Da 4:36),
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle (Interesting simile!).
Ps 103:1, 2, 3, 4, 5-Spurgeon's note

Jamieson comments on the significance of the king's praise noting that "Praise is a sure sign of a soul spiritually healed (Ps 116:12, 14 Mk 5:15, 18, 19).

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C H Spurgeon - The unconquerable king

‘I Nebuchadnezzar … blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion …: and all the inhabitants of earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will …: and none can stay his hand.’ Daniel 4:34–35

What is the right spirit in which to contemplate all this? The first is humble adoration. Even in our public gatherings we do not have enough worship. O worship the King! Bow your heads now—bow your spirits rather and adore ‘him that liveth for ever’. Your thoughts and emotions are better than bullocks and he-goats to be offered on the altar: God will accept them. Worship him with lowliest reverence, for you are nothing and he is all in all. Next let the spirit of your hearts be that of unquestioning acquiescence. He wills it! I will do it or I will bear it. God help you to live in perfect resignation. Next to that exercise the spirit of reverent love. Do I tremble before this God? Then I must seek more grace that I may love him as he is, not love him when my thoughts have diminished him of his splendour and robbed him of his glory, but love him even as an absolute sovereign, for I see that sovereignty exercised through Jesus Christ, my shield and his Anointed. Let me love my God and King, and be a courtier, happy to be admitted near his throne to behold the light of the Infinite Majesty. Lastly let our spirit be that of profound delight. I believe that to the advanced Christian there is no doctrine which contains such a deep sea of delight as this. The Lord reigns! The Lord is King for ever and ever! Why, then all is well. When you get away from God, you get away from peace. When the soul dives into him and feels that all is in him, then she feels a calm delight, a peace like a river, a joy unspeakable. Strive after that delight.

FOR MEDITATION: Think on God’s glory as summarised in some of the great doxologies in the New Testament epistles (Romans 11:33–36; Ephesians 3:20–21; Jude 24–25).
N.B. Spurgeon’s text was appropriate to the surrender of Napoleon III to the King of Prussia, as reported in the previous night’s papers. However, any connection was to be ascribed to the leading of the Holy Spirit, since Spurgeon chose the text on the morning before the news broke!

QUOTES FROM SPURGEON'S SERMON  The unconquerable king

“The Lord’s place is on the throne, and our place is to obey; it is his to govern, ours to serve.”

“The throne of the universe is not vacant, nor its power in abeyance.”

“God doth not hold a bare title to kingship, but he is actually King.”

“Events appear to fly at random like the dust in the whirlwind, but it is not so.”

“Never is the throne vacant, never is the sceptre laid aside.”

“Jehovah is always King, and shall be King for ever and for ever.”

“He keepeth Israel, and never slumbers nor sleeps.”

“He is the unit. He stands for all in all, and comprehendeth all; and all the rest are but so many valueless ciphers till his unity makes them of account.”

“I worship a God I never expect to comprehend.”

“It is mine to-day to adore and obey: by-and-by when he sees fit I shall know more and adore better.”

“If God does not rule everywhere, then something rules where he does not, and so he is not omni-presently supreme.”

“I dare never invest the free will of man with omnipotence, for this were to make man into a sort of God.”

“None can hinder him, or cause him to pause. He has might to do what he wills.”

“God is love. God is holiness. God is the law.”

“What folly to hold up a candle to show the brightness of the sun! How much more foolish to attempt to defend the thrice holy Jehovah!”

“How wise to be at one with him!”

“Be glad that you have one to trust in to whom nothing is impossible, who can and will achieve his purposes.”

“Great God, reign thou supremely, for there is none like unto thee.”

“Do not look at the second cause of the afflictions, look to the great first cause.”

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

“We have received good at his hands, and we have blessed him... but if we receive evil and still bless him, this is grace.”

“We do not worship enough, my brethren.”

“Worship him with lowliest reverence, for you are nothing, and he is all in all.”

“He wills it! I will do it or I will bear it.”

“The Lord reigns! The Lord is King for ever and ever! Why, then all is well.”

“When you get away from God, you get away from peace.”

Daniel 4:35 "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'

• all: Job 34:14,15,19-24 Isa 40:15-17,22-24
• and he: 1Sa 3:18 Job 23:13 Ps 33:9-11 115:3 135:6 Isa 14:24-27 Isa 46:10,11 Mt 11:25,26 Ac 4:28 Eph 1:11 Php 2:10,11
• the inhabitants: Ps 33:8,14 49:1 Isa 26:9
• none: Job 9:4,13 34:29 40:9-12 42:2 Pr 21:30 Isa 43:13 Ac 5:39 9:5 Ac 11:17 1Co 10:22
• What: Job 9:12 33:12,13 40:2 Isa 45:9-11 Ro 9:19,20 11:33-36 1Co 2:16
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

HE DOES ACCORDING
TO HIS WILL

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing - Nebuchadnezzar is not saying that human beings have no value to God. Rather, he is describing mankind's insignificance when compared with God's infinite greatness and sovereign power. The contrast is between finite creatures and the infinite Creator. Isaiah uses similar language “All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.” (Isa 40:17) Nebuchadnezzar had once regarded himself as extraordinarily important. He ruled nations, commanded armies, built cities, and issued decrees. Now he places himself where he belongs: among “all the inhabitants of the earth.” The man who once considered himself greater than other men had discovered how small all men are before God.

But He does according to His will in the host of heaven - Again His sovereignty is emphasized. See (Ps 115:3 Ps 135:6 Mt 6:10 Eph 1:11). Nebuchadnezzar had spent his life doing his will. He conquered whom he wished. He promoted whom he wished. He punished whom he wished. In Daniel 3 he even commanded an entire population to worship a giant idol! But Nebuchadnezzar finally discovered that there was another will above his will. The king could do what he wished only so long as the King of heaven permitted it. God's sovereignty means that His purposes are not ultimately subject to the permission, approval, or power of His creatures. As Psalm 115:3 declares “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” God's sovereignty is not limited to earth. The host of heaven most naturally refers here to the heavenly realm and its inhabitants. God exercises sovereign authority there as well. Thus Nebuchadnezzar's confession encompasses the whole created order. There is no realm outside His authority.

and among the inhabitants of earth - This is the lesson Nebuchadnezzar personally had to learn. Daniel had repeatedly told him “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind.” (Da 4:17, 25, 32) Now Nebuchadnezzar himself confesses it. What Daniel had declared, Nebuchadnezzar had experienced. The king had learned that God's sovereignty was not merely a doctrine to be acknowledged. It was a reality to which even Nebuchadnezzar must bow.

and no one can ward off His hand  - His hand speaks of His authority and power. He is omnipotent. The picture is of someone attempting to restrain, hinder, or turn back God's hand. Nebuchadnezzar knew something about an outstretched hand of power. His armies had conquered kingdoms and his commands had changed people's lives. But when God's hand moved against Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar could not stop it. The hand that held Babylon could not hold back the hand of God.

or say to Him, 'What have You done?' - This does not mean Scripture forbids every sincere question addressed to God. The emphasis is upon calling God to account as though some higher authority had the right to judge or overrule Him. Nebuchadnezzar had spent his life demanding explanations and obedience from others. But who could summon the Most High and demand that He justify His sovereign acts? The implied answer is: No one. There is no court above God's court. There is no throne above God's throne. There is no authority to which God must answer. This echoes Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker.” And Romans 9:20 asks “Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?”

Wiersbe comments that "The king acknowledged the sovereignty of God (Dan. 4:35b), which was the main lesson God wanted him to learn through this difficult experience (Da 4:17, 25, 32). It’s too bad that this wonderful Bible doctrine has been so maligned and misinterpreted by amateur Bible students, because an understanding of God’s sovereignty brings the believer assurance, strength, comfort, and the kind of surrender that produces faith and freedom. The Bible teaches both divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and when you accept both, there is no contradiction or conflict. No person is more free than the believer who surrenders to the sovereign will of God. To ignore God’s sovereignty is to exalt human responsibility and make man his own savior, but to deny responsibility is to make man a robot without accountability. The Bible preserves a beautiful balance that exalts God and enables His people to live joyously and victoriously no matter what the circumstances might be (Acts 4:23-31; Ro 8:31-39). (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament)

There's not a plant or flower below
But makes his glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow
By order from his throne.
Isaac Watts
(I Sing the Mighty Power of God)

C H Spurgeon had this to say regarding God's sovereignty...."Most men quarrel with this [God's sovereignty]. But mark, the thing that you complain of in God is the very thing that you love in yourselves. Every man likes to feel that he has a right to do with his own as he pleases. We all like to be little sovereigns. Oh, for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God...No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God... (but) There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty...If God lights the candle, none can blow it out.

J I Packer - To know that nothing happens in God's world apart from God's will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.

J Oswald Sanders rightly remarks that "God can never be outmaneuvered, taken by surprise, or caught at a disadvantage. He is a God who knows no crisis. Before an emergency arises, God in his providence has made adequately and perfectly timed provision to meet it.

Here are some Scriptures that emphasize the doctrine of divine sovereignty...

But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Ps 115:3).

Isaiah 43:13 "Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"

Isaiah 45:9 "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?

Isaiah 46:9, 10 Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;

John Piper - The purposes of God cannot be frustrated; there is none like God. If a purpose of God came to naught, it would imply that there is a power greater than God’s. It would imply that someone could stay His hand when He designs to do a thing. But “none can stay his hand” (Da 4:34, 35) (Desiring God) The antidote to Nebuchadnezzar’s pride was not merely a new knowledge in the head, but a new exultation in the heart. His “praise” and “exultation” reveal the wakening of faith, and the gladness that God ruled the future with the omnipotent grace to establish his plan and humble the proud. He was satisfied with God’s prerogative to do as he pleases in the sovereign freedom of his justice and grace. (Future Grace) (Bolding Added)

Sinners think they are “free” and don’t realize how much they are in bondage
to their fallen nature and to the forces of Satan and the world.

Warren Wiersbe - The king acknowledged the sovereignty of God (Da 4:35b), which was the main lesson God wanted him to learn through this difficult experience (Da 4:17, 25, 32). It’s too bad that this wonderful Bible doctrine has been so maligned and misinterpreted by amateur Bible students, because an understanding of God’s sovereignty brings the believer assurance, strength, comfort, and the kind of surrender that produces faith and freedom. The Bible teaches both divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and when you accept both, there is no contradiction or conflict. No person is more free than the believer who surrenders to the sovereign will of God. To ignore God’s sovereignty is to exalt human responsibility and make man his own savior, but to deny responsibility is to make man a robot without accountability. The Bible preserves a beautiful balance that exalts God and enables His people to live joyously and victoriously no matter what the circumstances might be (Acts 4:23–31; Rom. 8:31–39). Because God is sovereign, He can do as His pleases and nobody can hinder Him or call Him to account (Ro 9:14–23). The heart of sinful man rebels at the very idea of a sovereign God, for the human heart wants to be “free” of all outside control (Ps. 2:1–6). Sinners think they are “free” and don’t realize how much they are in bondage to their fallen nature and to the forces of Satan and the world. Charles Spurgeon was very balanced in his theology, and he said:

Most men quarrel with this [the sovereignty of God]. But mark, the thing that you complain of in God is the very thing that you love in yourselves. Every man likes to feel that he has a right to do with his own as he pleases. We all like to be little sovereigns. Oh, for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God. (Bible Exposition Commentary page 1361)

Related Resources:

• THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing

Daniel 4:36 "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

• my reason: Da 4:34
• mine: Da 4:15,16,32 2Ch 33:12,13
• added: 1Sa 2:30 Job 13:12 Pr 22:4 Mt 6:33 2Co 4:17
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S SOVEREIGNTY
RESTORED BY THE SOVEREIGN GOD

At that time my reason returned to me - Nebuchadnezzar repeats what he stated in Da 4:34. His restoration begins with the restoration of his reason. But notice what had happened immediately before this. Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes toward heaven, recognized God's everlasting dominion, and acknowledged God's sovereign will (Da 4:34–35). Nebuchadnezzar had finally learned the lesson for which the discipline had been given. The king came to his right mind when he came to a right view of God.

And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom - What God had taken away, God was fully capable of restoring. Nebuchadnezzar had boasted about “the glory of my majesty” (Da 4:30). God removed that majesty. Now God gives it back. But Nebuchadnezzar is no longer speaking as though his majesty were self-created. The passive expression is important “were restored to me.” Earlier he said “I myself have built.” Now he says “were restored to me.” The emphasis has shifted from personal achievement to personal reception. Nebuchadnezzar now understands that what he possesses can be given, removed, and restored by God.

and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out - Nebuchadnezzar did not simply recover mentally while remaining isolated. His royal court recognized him again. His counselors and nobles returned to him, and the normal relationships of government were restored. The man who had been “driven away from mankind” (Da 4:33) was now sought out by mankind.

As an aside, the fact that the king was not overthrown by these men during his seven years of humiliation is clear testimony to the miraculous nature of these events. Most kings have enough difficulty remaining in power when they are healthy and have full reasoning powers, much less when they begin to get "bats in the belfry"!

so I was reestablished in my sovereignty - God kept His word. The stump had remained. The roots had remained. And now the tree begins to grow again. The stump remained because God's purpose for Nebuchadnezzar remained.

and surpassing greatness was added to me - This is remarkable. God did not merely restore Nebuchadnezzar to where he had been. Additional greatness was given to him! Notice again the passive language “was added (divine passive - "reestablished" is also passive) to me.” Nebuchadnezzar does not say “I regained my greatness.” He says greatness “was added to me.” The king who once spoke the language of self-achievement now speaks the language of reception. Before his humbling he declared “I myself have built.” After his humbling he said “was restored to me,” “was reestablished," and “was added to me.” That change reflects Nebuchadnezzar's change in perspective. Nebuchadnezzar learned that the way up was first the way down. Humbled before God, he was restored to greater honor than he had known in his pride.

Daniel 4:37 "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride."

• I Nebuchadnezzar: Da 4:3,34 5:4,23 1Pe 2:9,10
• the King: Da 5:23 Mt 11:25 Ac 17:24
• all: De 32:4 1Sa 2:3 Ps 33:4,5 99:4 119:75 145:17,18 Isa 5:16 Rev 15:3 16:7 19:1,2
• those that walk: Da 4:30,31 5:20-24 Ex 18:11 2Ch 33:11,12,19 Job 40:11,12 Eze 16:56,63 Jas 4:6-7 1Pe 5:5-6
• Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages: 

Job 40:11; 12   “Pour out the overflowings of your anger, And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low. 12 “Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him, And tread down the wicked where they stand. 

Luke 1:51-52  “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.  52“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. 

Luke 14:11  “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

Luke 18:14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

James 4:6-7 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:5-6  You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.  6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Daniel 5:20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor. 

Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor. 

GOD IS ABLE TO 
HUMBLE THE PROUD

Daniel a young Jewish boy fulfilled the goal Jehovah had intended for the entire nation of Israel to fulfill. As Luke (a Gentile) records in Acts 13:47-48 "For thus the Lord has commanded us, 'I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU SHOULD BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.' And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Daniel was a light who shown forth the light of life (Jn 8:12) to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven - There is something significant about the word Now. Nebuchadnezzar is speaking as a man who has passed through God's humbling discipline and emerged with an entirely different perspective. Three expressions pile one upon another. Nebuchadnezzar does not merely acknowledge God's existence. He openly praises, exalts, and honors Him and as discussed in the TECHNICAL NOTE below the Aramaic verb construction indicates that this is not a one and done action but Nebuchadnezzar's new habitual action, as one would expect from a changed (presumably converted) individual. This is exactly the opposite of Daniel 4:30. There Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself. Here Nebuchadnezzar exalts God. The man who once wanted Babylon to display “the glory of my majesty” now wants his testimony to display the glory of God. God had not merely restored Nebuchadnezzar's throne. He had redirected Nebuchadnezzar's praise. Now the king on earth exalts the King of heaven! Those are not the words of a pagan king but a converted king.

TECHNICAL NOTE ON VERBS PRAISE, EXALT, HONOR - All three verbs in Aramaic are in  Pael Participle. Putting the stem and the form together, "praise," "exalt," and "honor" in Daniel 4:37 are intensive, continuous/durative verbal forms — grammatically this is about as strong a construction as Aramaic offers for expressing ongoing, wholehearted, characteristic worship, rather than a single completed act of praise. This directly supports and grammatically confirms the interpretation that Nebuchadnezzar isn't recalling a single outburst of gratitude at the moment his sanity returned — the Pael Participle construction in Da 4:37 presents his praise as his settled, continuing, intensified practice as king from that point forward: "now I, Nebuchadnezzar, [continually and intensely] praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven." The grammar itself is the strongest possible evidence for the habitual-action reading, since the participle form is Aramaic's standard way of expressing exactly that kind of ongoing, characteristic action.

J. Dwight Pentecost adds "Since Nebuchadnezzar said that these attitudes characterized his life, many have concluded that he experienced regeneration, becoming a child of God. Nebuchadnezzar did confess that what God had done in dealing with him was right and just. This is certainly not acknowledged by one who continues in rebellion against God. The king also admitted that he had walked in pride (cf. 5:20) but had been humbled by his experience. This too would testify to a transformation in Nebuchadnezzar’s character through a newfound knowledge of God." (SEE Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament - Page 1343)

For (term of explanation) all His works are true - Nebuchadnezzar explains why he praises, exalts and honors God. Not only are His works true but also His words! Nebuchadnezzar had personally experienced this. God had warned him what would happen. And everything happened exactly as God had said. Nebuchadnezzar could now look backward over the entire experience and testify that God's Word had proved true in every detail. What God said He would do, He did. AND BELOVED, HE ALWAYS DOES!

and His ways just - Think about this. Nebuchadnezzar has just been made to live like an animal and yet Nebuchadnezzar makes no accusations of unfairness or injustice. The humbled king does not merely acknowledge that God is powerful enough to humble him. He acknowledges that God was just in doing so. Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that God's discipline was not arbitrary or cruel, but corrective and constructive, designed not merely to bring him down, but ultimately to bring him back to a right view of God. God's humbling hand had been a righteous hand.

and He is able to humble those who walk in pride - Nebuchadnezzar knew this not merely as doctrine but from personal experience. Nebuchadnezzar had learned that no person is so powerful, successful, wealthy, influential, or exalted that God cannot bring him low. The Most High knows exactly how to humble the man who thinks himself most high.

Those who walk in pride - This is Nebuchadnezzar's self-condemnation before the whole world that he walked in pride and for that he was justly humbled by God. Nebuchadnezzar does not merely say that God humbled him. He turns his personal experience into a universal principle. Notice “walk” describes one's habitual conduct or pattern of life. Pride can be momentary but far more dangerous is it becomes more than an occasional thought. It can become a settled pattern of life, a way of viewing ourselves, our accomplishments, our abilities, and even God's blessings. Nebuchadnezzar was the "poster child" for one who walked in pride. God allowed him to continue walking that road until He stopped him. And now Nebuchadnezzar gives us the lesson written across his entire experience “He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

Tony Evans - This is a sobering lesson for any of us who are tempted to develop a “theo-ego,” a God complex. Whenever you get so big that you don’t think you need God, people may as well get your room in the sanitarium ready, because you have already lost your mind. We need to say it again. God is in control. He sets up kings and He brings down kings. Listen to Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony. “He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Daniel 4:37). You and I are only what God allows us to be. (Evans, A. T. The Best is Yet to Come : Bible Prophecies Through the Ages)

As Wiersbe reminds us "No matter what position we have in life, God gave it to us, and He is sovereign. When man tries to take the place of God, he becomes like a beast. God still resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (LXX = tapeinos = not rising far from the ground, figuratively of a lowly condition, downhearted, lowly in spirit = humble) (Pr 3:34)."(BORROW With the Word Bible Commentary)

Jesus gave a similar warning - Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Mt 23:12)

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Wake Up Calls - A strong, young brute often swaggered around town boasting that he could walk a barbed wire fence in his bare feet with a wildcat under each arm. So goes the story according to the Iron County Miner. The braggart got a rude awakening, however, when he married a strong-willed little lady who made him wash the dishes twice a day.

Another rude awakening occurred when a platoon sergeant roused a new recruit after his first night in an army barracks. "It's four-thirty!" bellowed the sergeant. "Four-thirty!" gasped the rookie. "Man, you'd better go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow!"

We are all inclined to dream our way through life until someone or something confronts us with the real world. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon, the wake-up call lacked humor. Before his encounter with God, he thought he had life well in hand. Suddenly he found himself on his hands and knees eating grass like an animal (Daniel 4:33). After 7 long years (Da 4:32) he learned that in the real world everyone must live under authority, everyone is on God's time, and everything we possess is a gift from His gracious hand.

Father, wake us up today. Make us aware of what it means to live under Your wise and loving authority.— Mart De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

When life is all sunshine and days are bright,
Our thoughts of the Lord may take wings of flight;
But God is still ruler, His kingdom stands,
And we all are subject to His commands. —K. De Haan

A person who thinks too much of himself
thinks too little of God.

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D L Moody - Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His way judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.—Daniel 4:37.

WHEN you find that a man has got to praising God it is a good sign. Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier edict said much about other people’s duty toward the God of the Hebrews, but nothing about what the king himself should do. Oh, let us get to personal love, personal praise! That is what is wanted in the church in the present day.

Nebuchadnezzar passes from the stage: this is the last record we have of him. But we may surely hope that his was a “repentance to salvation not to salvation not to be repented of.” If so, we may well believe that to-day Nebuchadnezzar the king and Daniel the captive are walking the crystal pavement of heaven arm-in-arm together; and, it may be, talking over the old times in Babylon.

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F B Meyer - Daniel 4:37  All his works are truth, and his ways judgment.

This is the confession of a heathen king; but how true it is, and how well for us, if we dare to affirm, amid all the appearances to the contrary, and all the shrinking of the natural man, that all God’s works are truth and his ways righteous, not only in the wide circumference of the heavens, but in the tiny circle of our little life.

The main lesson, let us note it, which this chapter is designed to teach, and which Nebuchadnezzar epitomizes in these words, is the abhorrence with which God regards pride. We are all tempted to walk on the terrace of our palace, and say, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” But to speak thus is to incur the displeasure of the Most High, who giveth the kingdom to whomsoever He will.

If thou hast achieved a position of wealth and independence and success, do not be proud of it, as though it were all of thy own creating. God gave thee power to get wealth; raised thee to that responsible position as his agent and trustee; and made thy name as one of the great over the earth. Give Him the glory, and be sure to consider thyself only as his steward, entrusted with his property, and continued in thy position for so long a time as thou art faithful in thine administration.

May not that illness, that suspension from active work, that serious deprivation, have been sent to thee, as this madness was permitted to come to the King of Babylon, that thou shouldest know and acknowledge that the heavens do rule? Remember that the watchers and the holy ones still walk the world with viewless footprints, and give in their account. 

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Empire Building - After being warned by Daniel about his pride, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was struck with insanity. The Lord restored his mind, but only after he spent 7 years in a field thinking he was a wild animal.

Nebuchadnezzar went from boasting, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for . . . the honor of my majesty?" (Da 4:30) to a humble prayer: "I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven" (Da 4:37). He had repented of prideful empire building.

Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee expressed concern about empire building in the church today. He advised Christian leaders, "Don't try to build a little empire of your church. I started out with that viewpoint, and I had never been more unhappy." He encouraged them to "build into the lives of people" and leave the results to God.

When a church devotes undue energy to statistics, buildings, and programs, pride can enter in and the needs of God's people can be forgotten.

Jesus never forgot the importance of individuals. He invested His time in 12 men (Mark 3:14). Paul discipled Timothy who in turn discipled others (2Ti 2:2). God's kingdom grows when we invest in people. — Dennis Fisher (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Churches grow when people pray
And pastors preach the Word,
When love for Christ seeks out the lost
To win them to the Lord. —D. De Haan

Poor is the church that values programs above people.

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A Testimony from over the Edge of My Grave It is a good thing to tell others what God has done for us. But," we too often say, "I can't speak in public and I even find it hard to witness on a person-to-person basis." Then write a letter! Nebuchadnezzar did-and so can we!

Some years ago a Christian man died, and the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse had the funeral service in Philadelphia. The attendance was large and included many business executives who had been associates of the dead man. A year earlier the deceased had written a letter with the caption, "A Testimony from over the Edge of My Grave" and put it in his papers, asking that it be read at his funeral.  Dr. Barnhouse opened the letter and began to read: 

"This is my funeral service, but I want it to be a time of testimony. Mac, I suppose you're in the audience looking at my casket. My, how many times I've played golf with you to seek to bring the gospel to your heart and you wouldn't hear! George, why have you continued to reject Jesus Christ when He died for you and offers eternal life now?" By this time, different persons in the audience were squirming, afraid they would be addressed next. We should not wait till we die, but should speak up for Christ now, or at least write a letter of testimony to a lost friend we've been praying for!

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KING Nebuchadnezzar had it all. Power. Majesty. Great­ness. But he forgot where he got it. He pranced around the pal-ace of Babylon boasting,

"Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30)

Before his last arrogant words had left his mouth, he was startled by the voice of the One who had placed him on the throne. God said,

"Nebuchadnezzar, .. . the kingdom has departed from you!" (Da 4:31)

But that's not all. The mighty king of Babylon also got a quick transfer from the palace to the pasture. As God had warned him in a dream, he became a crazed creature, grazing on grass like an ox. The proud monarch became a picture of humility. Not until this man-crea­ture lifted his head heavenward and "blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever" (Da 4:34) was he allowed to return to sanity and to his throne.

Everything we have, our possessions, our position, our poten­tial, comes from God. He is the source of our strength, the giver of our talents, and the One who controls our circumstances. When we forget this, or take the credit, God may find it necessary to transfer us from a position of pride to humiliation.

Knowing our position in relationship to God is the way to keep pride out of our lives. When we know how high and mighty He is, we'll have little trouble remembering how weak and lowly we are.—J D Brannon (Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)

Daniel 5 Commentary