Nebuchadnezzar learned at the mouth of God's prophet (Daniel)
that the God Who showed him these signs is also the Possessor of an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 4:3 cf. Daniel 2:44)
Having rest from the rigors of war, Nebuchadnezzar is
"at rest" and enjoying the reward of conquest as he says, "flourishing in my palace" (Daniel 4:4)
and he bids his subjects with "peace be multiplied unto you" (Daniel 4:1)
However, once again as happened once before, his rest
and sleep were troubled by a dream (Daniel 4:5 cf. Daniel 2:1)
Once again as he did before - he summoned ALL the learned
men of his court - Babylon's (the world's) finest minds to restore peace to his mind with the interpretation of
the dream, but once again it was to NO avail (Daniel 4:6-7 cf. Daniel 2:2,10)
Finally, he summons Daniel and addresses him by the name
he gave Daniel (Belteshazzar - prince of "Bel") in an attempt to win Daniel's allegiance to his god (Daniel 4:8 cf. Daniel 1:3-4,6-7)
However, once again, the king is made to acknowledge that
it can only be said of his captive royal slave (Daniel) - "NO secret troubleth thee" (Daniel 4:9)
- for it was God's revelation to Daniel, which spared the king's wise men from the king's universal death decree
(Daniel 2:17-19,24-25,46-47)
Nebuchadnezzar sees a tree of "great height"
(Daniel 4:10), which represents Nebuchadnezzar as the sovereign king over ALL the
nations (Daniel 4:1) flourishing "in his palace" (Daniel 4:4) far above ALL the trees "in the garden of God" (Ezekiel 31:3-9 cf. Daniel 4:11-12)
Another figure used to represent the majesty of kings
is that of mountains (Revelation 17:9-10)
Nebuchadnezzar sees a "watcher" ("holy
one") come down "from heaven" with a loud proclamation to "cut off" ("prune")
the tree's branches leaving ONLY the "stump" intact (Daniel 4:13-15)
The result is that this "tree" (Nebuchadnezzar)
will experience a change of "heart" ("character"), i.e. from human "glory" to bestial
"insanity" (Daniel 4:16)
The purpose for this judgment is that the nations would
know that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men" and that ALL authority is given by Him (Daniel 4:17)
- a lesson that the nations will only learn by His "righteous judgments" (Revelation 19:1-6)
Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the inability of ALL his wise
men to interpret his dream with the exception of Daniel - who alone possessed the Divine gift of interpreting dreams
(Daniel 4:18 cf. Daniel 4:7-9)
Nebuchadnezzar knew this to be true based upon the results
of a similar earlier experience (Daniel 2:10-11,46-47)
Daniel is astonished (stunned) at the awfulness of the
judgment pronounced by the interpretation of this dream and the king sensing this to be the case - invites Daniel
not to fear (be troubled) and to hold NOTHING back from him (Daniel 4:19)
Impending horrific judgment caused Daniel to be "speechless"
for "an hour" (Daniel 4:19) and so it will be when there is "silence" in heaven for "a half hour"
BEFORE the pouring out of the great tribulation judgments (Revelation 8:1)
The "great tree" of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is
interpreted as being Nebuchadnezzar himself (Daniel 4:20-22) who is also pictured as the "fair cedar" (Ezekiel 31:3-9)
Judgment is pronounced upon this "tree" (Nebuchadnezzar)
by the "hewing down" of the tree "save for the stump", which is interpreted as Nebuchadnezzar
being "torn down" from the pinnacle of power to the lowly estate as a beast of the field (Daniel 4:23)
This judgment "decree" is said to be from "the
Most High" (Daniel 4:24), i.e. from He Who is "Possessor of heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:19,22)
The purpose of this judgment "decree" is said
to be that the king will be made to know that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that He giveth
it (the kingdom) to whom He will" (Daniel 4:25)
The good news for the king is that AFTER he has learned
his Divine lesson, his kingdom will return to him (Daniel 4:26) - as surely as the royal scepter will return to Israel AFTER she will have finally learned
her Divine lesson as well (I Peter 2:9-10 cf. Exodus 19:5-6)
The King's Bestial Humiliation and Regal Restoration(Daniel 4:27-37)
Daniel's counsel to the king in the wake of prophesied
judgment is to "break thy sins by righteousness", so as to possibly stave off the impending judgment
for the "lengthening of thy tranquility" (Daniel 4:27)
Wise counsel says that "righteousness exalteth a
nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34)
This counsel was offered by the prophets to Israel (Jeremiah 25:1-7) and by the prophet Jonah
to Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-9)
Daniels' counsel to the king went unheeded "for all
this came upon the king" (Daniel 4:28) for after a year's opportunity to repent (Daniel 4:29) - the king again utters
his defiant boast concerning "the might of my power" and "the honor of my majesty" (Daniel 4:30)
In his proudful boast he is but a type of the last defiant
king, i.e. the Antichrist (Isaiah 14:12-14)
"While the word was in the king's mouth", God's
voice from heaven is heard saying "the kingdom is departed from thee" (Daniel 4:31) and the judgment and its
purpose is stated for the third time in this chapter (Daniel 4:32 cf. Daniel 4:16-17,24-25) and is executed without delay - "the SAME hour" (Daniel 4:33)
So it will also be with the last proud king (the Antichrist)
when he too will be brought low and be made powerless (Isaiah 14:15-17)
The king's punishment lasts exactly as long as predicted
- UNTIL "the end of the days" (Daniel 4:34) - the end of the seven "times", i.e. "years" (Daniel 4:16,23,25,32)
At THAT TIME the king says "mine understanding returned
unto me" (Daniel 4:34) and so his 7-year period
of "madness" is a type of the final 7-year tribulation period (Daniel 9:26,27) of the "madness of
the nations" (Jeremiah 51:5-7 cf. Revelation 17:1-2)
The king NOW exalts He Who has abased him (Daniel 4:34) for he NOW sees himself
"as nothing" and powerless before He Whose Hand cannot be stayed (Daniel 4:35) - for "ALL the nations"
are "as nothing" before Him (Isaiah 40:17)
"At the SAME time" the king makes his humbled
confession - ALL his former glory and majesty are "returned unto him" (Daniel 4:36)
Nebuchadnezzar is made to exalt the "King of Heaven"
(Daniel 4:37) and so when ALL is complete
- ALL shall be made to "bow the knee at the Name of Jesus" confessing His Lordship over ALL (Philippians 2:9-11)