A. Chapter 4 Outline
I. The Dream (4:1-18)
a. The King’s Introduction (4:1-5)
b. The Councillors Ignorance (4:6-7)
c. The Prophet’s Insight (4:8-9)
d. The Dream Illustrated (4:10-18)
II. The Interpretation (4:19-27)
a. Daniel’s Thoughts (4:19)
b. Nebuchadnezzar’s Tree (4:20-26)
c. Possible Tranquillity (4:27)
III. The Fulfilment (4:28-36)
a. The Pride (4:28-30)
b. The Proclamation (4:31-32)
c. The Punishment (4:33)
d. The Praise (4:34-37)
Message
This is a unique chapter in the Bible because it is an official state document, prepared by the king of Babylon himself. This document was autobiographical and it was to be distributed throughout his vast kingdom. In this document the king admits his pride and his temporary insanity, and then gives the glory to the God of Israel for his recovery.
It is quite sad to see what the king had to go through before he was willing to submit to God.
Job 33:14-17 For God speaketh once, Yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. [15] In a dream in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men, In slumberings upon the bed; [16] Then he openeth the ears of men, And sealeth their instruction. [17] That he may withdraw man from his purpose, And hide pride from man.
God often spoke to people using dreams. Elihu went on to tell Job that when dreams and visions to not get peoples attention that God sometimes allows disease to grip the body until the poor sinner is broken in spirit and crushed in heart. Then…
Job 33:27-28 He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, And it profited me not; [28] He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, And his life shall see the light.
Daniel Chapter 4 is a remarkable example of God’s amazing, matchless, perfect grace.
The first time God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar He gave him the dream of the metallic image which showed the time of the Gentiles. However, the king’s heart was wilful and he continued to go on with his own purpose in his pride.
The second time God spoke to him was through the wonderful experience of seeing the Son of God in the midst of the fiery furnace keeping His faithful witnesses safe from all danger and harm. But again the kings pride would not allow him to fully trust God.
Now God speaks a third time in a most humiliating manner to this great world ruler.
I. The Dream (4:1-18)
a. The King’s Introduction (4:1-5)
Verses 1-3
This is the preamble to this Babylonian state document, signed by the king himself and sent to everyone in his empire, to his loyal subjects, to his captives, to every town and village, to ambassadors and kings in different lands. Why? Because he wanted people to know that he had had an encounter with the true God.
He had been a pagan all of his life, he had acknowledged the God of Daniel (2:46-48), the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (3:28-39), but this time it seems that a genuine work of grace has been done in his soul. He sounds like Paul starting one of his epistles “Peace be multiplied to you” what on earth did this man know about peace.
He ruled with a rod of iron. He conquered lands and people putting fear into all a king who delighted in war was preaching peace. This man now knew that the “high God” was the only God and he had come to know Him in a real way.
Verse 4
Nebuchadnezzar thought that all was well, he had said that he was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace. Think of that for just a moment. He was at rest and flourishing whilst still in his sins and a stranger to God. There is a deceitful rest, a deceitful peace, which will lull many a soul into a false sense of security. To be untroubled is no evidence of safety. To be at peace does not prove that all is well.
Verse 5
Have you ever had a nightmare? Where someone or something is chasing you and no matter how hard you try to escape it feels like we are running through thick mud or our limbs have suddenly gone so stiff we just cannot move… How many times have we woken from our sleep bathed in sweat and then suddenly, thankfully realising that it was just a dream. The details soon fade and we can’t even remember it by the morning.
Nebuchadnezzar experienced something similar, but when he awoke, the dream, in all of its mystifying details, was still so vivid and real. He was afraid of the dream; he was troubled by the dream. Maybe his thoughts went back to the last dream that mapped out the world empires for centuries to come.
What did this dream mean?
b. The Councillors Ignorance (4:6-7)
Verses 6-7
Of course they didn’t! 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
It was the same old crowd that stood before the king, when would he learn that these so called scholars, philosophers, psychics, educated men, leaders of Babylon could not help him when it came to the things of God. They were just as fearful and just as dumb as the last time they stood before him after a dream.
c. The Prophet’s Insight (4:8-9)
Verses 8-9
Why wasn’t Daniel with this crowd? The king, after all, had promoted him to their chief in Daniel 2:48 after he had explained and interpreted the first dream. Even in here Nebuchadnezzar refers to him as the “master of the magicians.” This is a position he had held for over 40 years. We can surmise that Daniel would not associate himself with these people beyond the call of duty.
There was probably not much professional empathy between the spiritual and godly Daniel and this heathen crowd of magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and psychics, all of whom were deeply into occultism, spiritism and satanic mysteries, all of which were forbidden by the Law of Moses. Therefore Daniel probably kept as much distance as he could between himself and these practitioners of forbidden arts.
What a relief it must have been for the king to see his trusted advisor. He first calls him by his Hebrew name (Daniel) and then his heathen name (Belteshazzar). The fact that the king uses both names in this document suggests that he had grown fond of Daniel over the years and didn’t treat him like the ordinary exile.
This just goes to show that you do not have to compromise your faith when you are around other people, be true to the Lord, keep your testimony and God will bless you – look at Joseph, he could have easily compromised his faith, he could have turned his back on God. God had given Joseph dreams that he would one day be in a position of authority and he wound up in jail… However God was faithful to His word, Joseph kept his testimony with Potiphar and the jailor and God blessed him for it..
d. The Dream Illustrated (4:10-18)
Verse 10-12
So far so Good, its just a tree, Daniel knew that the tree was a symbol of a world ruler such as Nebuchadnezzar. The king told how he had seen a great tree in the midst of the earth. It grew so strong and tall that the height reached the heavens and the sight of it to the ends of the earth. Clothed with leaves and loaded with fruit it provided shelter and supplied food for all. The word “all” in these two verses shows the vastness of the tree.
Verses 13-16
Now the dream changes tone. We are told about a “watcher” also described as a holy one. This watcher was an angelic being of great power and discernment. Numbered in the ranks of God’s angelic ministers and messengers are “watchers”
“Hew down the tree!” the watcher cried in the dream, and down it went in ruin with only the stump left rooted in the ground. Suddenly the focus shifts from the tree to the man. This man would become mad, changed, unclothed, exposed to the elements and dwelling among beasts. Even his heart would be changed to that of a beast, and this awful state would last for “seven times” or seven years.
Verse 17
Nebuchadnezzar heard the voice of the watcher and as a result heard the true name for God – God, Most High or El Elyon.
EL ELYON
God is revealed in scripture as El ELyon. Melchizedek blesses Abram in the name of El Elyon Gen 14;18
PS 18:13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of El Elyon resounded.
- The psalmist cries out to El Elyon to be rescued 57:1, 78:35
El Elyon. 28 times in the OT. 19 of those in the psalms
- El meaning God
- Elyon meaning highest… most high
The title conveys truth about God… HE is the most high God. There is no other but Him it conveys His power, His transcendence that He is above all
R.C. Sproul tells us “transcendence means literally, "to climb across." It is defined as "exceeding the usual limits." When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. He is an infinite cut above everything else.”
This word conveys God’s omnipotence, His ability to do absolutely anything
"Is anything too difficult for God?’
- He is all powerful. Utterly and completely in control. Totally
- The creator of all things. Sovereign over all things. Lord of all things.
The One before whom every knee must bow- willingly or in awesome angst.
The Power and dynamo of the universe. The one who speaks and things come into being.
Verse 18
The king says to Daniel, “Ok, let me have it. I know it’s important. I know that it has a bearing on me and my kingdom, and I know that you are the only one who can tell me the meaning…”
