Daniel 4 King James Version (KJV)

Daniel 4 King James Version (KJV)

4 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

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.

4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:

5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,

9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:

12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

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

14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:

15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:

16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

19 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.

20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:

22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

27 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.

28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

This story about one of the greatest kings in the history of the world serves as an absolute warning and admonition against ANYONE being puffed up in pride about ANYTHING at any time. Period. It is in the Bible for all to read, and therefore there is simply no excuse for anyone allowing themselves to get too carried away with themselves about something THEY HAVEN'T DONE! To quote the great apostle Paul: "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (I Cor. 4:7) If you are alive it is because God allowed you to come into the world, and everything you are and have was in one way or another given by God. We did not bring ourselves into the world, and we do not decide when we leave the world. So everything that takes place between birth and death, is simply an allowance or a gift from God. Are you rich? If so, you could die at any moment, and not take one cent of it with you. Why be foolishly proud of something that you cannot insure that you can hold onto? Are you talented? Whatever your talent, one moment of time can remove it from you and leave you with no ability to regain it. I remember the story my old Pastor told about someone he knew who was a great guitar player for the Lord. The individual fell away and used his talent for this world. He also lost the use of his hands to an affliction, and never got to play the guitar again. Are you beautiful? Again, one moment and one mishap can take that away for the rest of your life. Are you really smart, and maybe really educated too? One solid knock on the head from a car wreck or many other means could leave you needing someone else to do your thinking for you for the rest of your life. Are you in some kind of high position, where you have authority over many people? So was Nebuchadnezzar. In fact he was in one of the highest positions that anyone in history has ever been in. Just read Jeremiah 27 for confirmation of the full account of that.

The list could go on, but I'm certain the point has been sufficiently made. And that point is that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is certain or secure in this life, very much including this life. David told it in some very sobering words of a Psalm: "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish" (Psm. 49:16-20). Make no mistake, that reference to 'never seeing light' is a direct reference to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the 'second death' that awaits all who refuse to believe on Christ and do his will in this life (Job 18:5; Prov. 20:20; II Pet. 2:17; Jude 1:13). Human beings simply do not have the power over their lives and circumstances the way they often think that they do. Solomon gave us the ultimate statement on that, but like all other truth and reality, it is for the most part overlooked: "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it" (Eccl. 8:8). Our lives can be snuffed out in a moment's time, and when that moment comes, there will be absolutely nothing that we can do about it, as Solomon noted. In fact Solomon wrote about this glaring and sobering reality quite often. That's what a boatload of wisdom will compel one to: "For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them" (Eccl. 9:12).

So what we are seeing here is death, death, and more death. But if you're "eyes are in [your] head," as Solomon also alluded to, that is what is staring you in the face 24/7/365 (Eccl. 2:14). In fact the book of Ecclesiastes, which I've drawn from several times here, is by and large all about death. My estimation of the book is that it is the most realistic, most graphic, most sobering, and most powerful description of the human existence ever written. In fact it has long been my favorite book in the Bible. The reason that it is so good to be often reminded of the reality of death, is the very thing that the account of Nebuchadnezzar's dilemma was about. As long as we remain aware of the fact that we do not get to stay here, and that we are going to die, there is more likelihood that we will not get caught up in pride about anything we may have going on in this life. It does not last. It will not last. Period. And if it does not last by reason of death, then it probably won't last by reason of time or chance either. We do not have 'power to retain our spirit in the day of death,' as Solomon said, and that means that we do not have power to retain anything before death either. Whatever we are or whatever we have is merely a temporary gift from God that we should be using for his glory while we live. If we decide that our assets are for our own glory then we are walking on banana peels as Nebuchadnezzar found out he was doing. We also have the reality that there will be a judgment after death, of all of our deeds that we have done in this lifetime: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (II Cor. 5:10,11). 'The terror of the Lord' indeed. What we are dealing with now is that God sent his Son to this world two thousand years ago, and he died a horrible death to pay the penalty for our sins, and to take our place in death by so doing.

Every moment of time since Jesus went back to heaven has been for the purpose of glorifying him for what he has done, and he sent back the power of his resurrection from the dead so that we could do exactly that (Acts 1:4,5,8; Acts 2:1-4). Everyone who has NOT BELIEVED on him, and has not received that resurrection power, and has not glorified him in holiness since that time; will NOT be saved from the wrath of God that Jesus will bring with him when he comes back to this world (II Thess. 1:6-9). He told us that in no uncertain terms if fact: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (Jn. 3:16-18). The word 'condemned' is the same thing as 'damned,' as in 'eternal damnation.' With all of these things in mind, and with Nebuchadnezzar's account of his own humbling, we really have no excuse to be carried away in pride about anything at all. And if we receive all of these sobering realities in faith, we are left with only one option that makes any kind of sense whatsoever. Once again it was Solomon who gave us this one option at the end of his mega-powerful book about the sate and purpose of the human existence: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:13,14). Well, actually there is one more thing that I could add to that summary, and that is the new testament update to that conclusion: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:27,28). Now all I have left is, well, amen.