Daniel 4:28-33--Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation

Daniel 4:28-33
English Standard Version

Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws.

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Now for the fulfillment of the dream.  He seemed to last about a year heeding the warning from Daniel to modify his behavior (though he did not truly repent and believe yet as we'll see).  The LORD knows that the king will have to go through this humiliation to break him of his pride that is keeping the king from submitting to the LORD and becoming a Proselyte.  After a year the king I walking around on the roof of the royal palace (possibly enjoying the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).  He sees that palace, the city, probably the gardens, and the empire he controls as far as his eye can see.  Then he speaks to himself (what we say to ourselves is very important) that he alone is responsible for building everything great that he sees around him.  It was built by his mighty power and for the glory of his own majesty.  And there, at the point where he worshiped himself, is where the LORD said enough was enough.

As the words were forming in his mouth, an answer came from heaven which he was not expecting to hear--he heard his own answer to the questions of origins and meaning, but now he will hear the LORD's answer to those questions.  Power, authority, glory and majesty all belong to the LORD who reigns over all creation (heaven and earth and all that is in them) from His throne in heaven above.  He establishes kings and can take their throne from them.  That is exactly what he is about to do with King Nebuchadnezzar as He disciplines him.  Just like the dream foretold, the kingdom of Babylon would be taken away from the king for seven periods of time and the king would be driven from among men to live in the fields and eat grass like an ox, have his hair grow like eagle's feathers, to sleep on the ground and to soaked with the dew.  At the end of this time, his humiliation will be complete, his mind will return to him, but his mind will be transformed, and he will know that the LORD is God, and his is not.  The LORD is the ruler of all the kingdoms of the world (notice that He is not just the King of Israel who worships him, and the rest of the territories do not belong to the devil or to the demons who pose as the false gods of this world, the LORD maintains control over all of heaven and earth and all that is in them--He is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords both now and forevermore).

Everything happed exactly as the Word of the LORD said it would through the king's dream and Daniel's interpretation of that dream.  This will be the event that we see finally leads to a change in the heart and mind of the king and is where I think we can point to to say that he had a genuine conversion and will one day be heaven with the people of God made up of a remnant from every people group.  God can save even the most wicked of pagan kings, so it is not too difficult for Him to save you too.  That doesn't mean you should expect dreams from the LORD that need to be interpreted by the LORD's prophet(s) (I'm not saying that the LORD can't do that, but we now have this story of how the LORD worked in the past written for all people of all nations so that all men many understand this truth and the LORD does not need to repeat Himself, men simply need to listen to the message and revelation that was already given not just for the king, but for all men of all nations).  The king will make this very clear when his mind is returned and made new.  We'll come back next time and focus in on what we are to take away from all this, because we are not to walk away from this saying that was just a message for the king and the LORD was only interested in the repentance of that one man who led that one nation.  God's plan was and still is far greater and is still at work today among all men from all nations, but those of us who know His plan are His ambassadors to take it to the whole world.