DANIEL 4 - THE CONVERSION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR
The book of Daniel, in its early chapters, tells us as much about Nebuchadnezzar as it does about Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was a man given to dreams. He had a whole range of wise men on his payroll in the different disciplines of magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. He must have paid a lot of attention to what dreams were trying to say. No doubt a lot of the time it was nonsense and quite irrelevant to life, but because of the importance of dreams to him that same medium was the one that God chose to break into his consciousness to bring him to conversion.
How good is our God to reveal himself to individuals, in ways which are meaningful to our own particular circumstances. This chapter is written as Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony but God had his hand on him. God was working to a plan to reveal himself as the Most High quite unbeknown to Nebuchadnezzar by allowing Daniel to be brought to Babylon as a deportee. Then more specifically through the dramas of the golden image and the fiery furnace. To use a theological word, it was God’s "prevenient grace" in action, which means that even before Nebuchadnezzar repented, God was making himself known so that eventually Nebuchadnezzar would turn to him.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (1 : 20). In the story of Nebuchadnezzar, given in his own words, we’re going to look at the Vision, the Interpretation and the Conversion. First then:
THE VISION
Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed of a great tree which reached to heaven and could be seen from the ends of the earth. It sheltered animals and birds and supplied food to all living things. That was fine, but then the king heard something which sent a shiver of fear through him - it was a command that the tree should be cut down and only the stump should be spared.
Nebuchadnezzar had gone to bed in his palace that night, in his own words, "contented and prosperous" (4). He was complacent of spiritual values. His culture and achievements had lulled him into a false sense of security. There’s a verse of poetry that goes, "God’s in his heaven. All’s right with the world" (Browning). That is what he thought. His capital, Babylon, was a marvel of engineering with its new canals and waterways; he had erected magnificent buildings and laid out extensive parks. His city was one of the wonders of the world with its famous hanging gardens.
Nebuchadnezzar had surrounded himself with culture. Now there is nothing wrong with culture. God is not against beautiful things as such. Beautiful things are a gift from God. When God created the world in its perfection he said "it was good". As someone put it, "Would you take a friend who is in hospital a bag of potatoes and carrots as a present? No, you’d take a bunch of flowers to lift the mind and give the will to live." Why? Because flowers are beautiful to look at. It’s all a matter of getting things in the correct perspective. The trouble with Nebuchadnezzar is that not only was he complacent in his ease, he was arrogant in his prosperity. He had made his culture and material surroundings into his god. They became his curse, his delusion; the danger which was to bring him to his tragic undoing.
Nebuchadnezzar had become proud of his achievements. Is it possible for us to become like Nebuchadnezzar? If our hard work has brought us some solid achievement and career success, whether it be academic, commercial, professional or ecclesiastical, we might be tempted to think it is the result, or even the reward, of some spiritual merit.
But even worse than complacency in his culture and arrogance in his prosperity, was the hardness of his heart. God had shown amazing forbearance with Nebuchadnezzar. In each of the three preceding chapters, God had revealed himself to Nebuchadnezzar in unmistakable ways through his young servants, Daniel and his three colleagues, Shadrach. Meshach and Abednego. The young Hebrews in their faithfulness to their God’s dietary laws had proved to be the best scholars of their year; then Daniel had been able to unravel the dream of the image which had within it the destiny of great empires; and then the Lord himself had stood with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. But even this was not sufficient to make the king forsake his heathen ways.
Romans 1 warns that there is a line that can be overstepped beyond which God leaves people to their own lost cause, as their irrevocable choice. Nebuchadnezzar had virtually reached that point of no return. It is a dangerous game to play. If we fail to listen to God’s voice it can have dire consequences. God is a patient God. When he wants to teach us, convert us, and conscript us into his service he first tries the most gentle way. He prefers the way of calling us to follow through our willing co-operation. Of course, when we think that God is speaking to us, we have the duty to test the spirits to see if they are of God, but one thing we must not do is to ignore it. If God’s first approach fails to get a response he may well have to turn the volume up a bit to make sure the message is received loud and clear. To change the metaphor: the ride is likely to be uncomfortable.
Nebuchadnezzar had been reasoned with, but to no avail, so a more harsh confrontation was necessary - he had reached "the Last Chance Saloon" - it was going to be now or never. So we read of the dream that he received. The Word of the Lord came one night in an unforgettable way and it forced itself on his mind so that he could think of nothing else. What could it all mean? We have thought about the Vision and why it came, and we must turn to:
THE INTERPRETATION
Nebuchadnezzar had come to the end of his resources. He confessed that "the images and vision that passed through my mind terrified me" (8). What did he do? Call for Daniel who had proved to be so reliable in the past? Apparently not: this is amazing as Daniel was the head of the corps of wise men. I wonder if Nebuchadnezzar knew in his heart what the vision meant but wanted to hear something more comforting from his pagan advisers? That is a trick that Satan has worked before - to bring a false peace to a troubled spirit by offering a wrong answer to a question. Sometimes we hear only what we want to hear so as to avoid an unpalatable truth.
But even in this situation God in his mercy overruled, for we hear Nebuchadnezzar confessing that he told his wise men the dream "but they could not interpret it for me" (7). God is very reluctant to disclose his truths through unclean channels. If we want to hear a word from the Lord we must seek out those who love and honour his revelation through the Scriptures. This would rule out trying to peer into our future by reading horoscopes and Old Moore’s Almanac!
Eventually Daniel came on the scene and heard Nebuchadnezzar’s account of the vision of the great tree. Scripture and other ancient literature frequently use the symbol of a tree to convey the thought of a powerful person or nation. But there was more than that in the dream. It was the last part which troubled Nebuchadnezzar, when it mentioned the tree being cut down to a stump. But worse still, the tree seemed to disappear from the vision and a person took its place. The man in the vision would be kept in an open field in the same way as animals. In fact his mind would be changed from a man’s to an animal’s, and he would remain in that state for quite a period. What a strange dream - you could call it a nightmare!
What made it more sinister to a pagan king was that the vision was given to him by what Nebuchadnezzar described as "a messenger, a holy one coming down from heaven" (13). It was definitely a spiritual message for the messenger went on to say that the whole purpose of the vision was "that the living might know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men" (17). This certainly was a case for Daniel to interpret, and what is more Nebuchadnezzar told him that he knew he could do it. Why, "because the spirit of the holy gods is in you" (18).
The floor was Daniel’s, but there was a silence. When Daniel realized the meaning of the dream he was horrified. He simply dreaded to enlighten the king regarding the disaster which threatened him. Nebuchadnezzar sensed Daniel’s perplexity and told him not to worry. Daniel replied that he would much prefer the dream and its interpretation to be applicable to the king’s enemies than to the king himself, but there was nothing for it but to tell him the whole truth. That same duty is imposed on preachers of the gospel.
The prophet plainly told his royal master that the tree was none other than the king himself. Just as a tree begins its growth from a seed, so Nebuchadnezzar had built up a mighty empire which reached from the Mediterranean to Asia, the whole of the civilized world. It was quite an achievement! Just as a tree provides shelter and food, so Nebuchadnezzar was influential and powerful. But there was a downside as well. Instead of Nebuchadnezzar recognizing that it was God who had raised him to his pinnacle of power he took the credit himself. That was the reason for his downfall.
The king was to be cut down from his lofty and proud position. He was to be deprived of his reason and driven from living with human beings to live as a beast of the field. A type of insanity would make him believe that he was an animal. This terrible indignity, from being a great king, to becoming as a brute animal, was to last for seven years. That was the time it would take for Nebuchadnezzar to learn his lesson.
Daniel makes it quite clear that it was to teach Nebuchadnezzar that it is God who reigns and gives authority to whosoever he will. The fact that a person has any power or possession does not imply any merit or personal worthiness. That just puts us all in our place! It is only by the grace of God that we are where and who we are today - anything else is sheer presumption on our part and likely to be abruptly terminated. The apostle Paul had occasion to give the Corinthian Christians warnings from Israel’s history. "These things" he said, "happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, ... So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!" (1 Cor 10:11,12).
Daniel went on to explain the vision in more detail. Although judgement was to fall upon the king, his kingdom was not to be taken away permanently from him. The tree was to be cut down, but the stump with its roots was to be left. This was taken as meaning that there was some hope for the future, and the kingdom would be restored to Nebuchadnezzar "when you acknowledge that Heaven rules" (26).
I don’t know whether it is intended or not, but it is possible to see in the stump left in the ground a picture of the nation of Israel. Clearly, she rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as her Messiah when here on Earth 2,000 years ago, but there is a sure hope that one day her eyes will be opened, and many believe that the signs are there already, as Paul wrote in Romans, that the olive tree of Israel will receive back its natural branches. But as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, it is all a matter of "not persisting in their unbelief" (11:23). The same applies for individuals - the Lord can restore "the years the locusts have eaten" (Joel 2:25).
Daniel was greatly stirred by the sentence he had to pass on to Nebuchadnezzar and he went on to counsel him to renounce his sins and start afresh by turning to practical righteousness. He would have to show his sincerity. The eleventh hour had arrived for Nebuchadnezzar, but in the mercy of God, if he had obeyed the call to repent, the threatened sentence might well have been halted. He had received a fair warning, but no, it was not to be. It seems that a year’s grace was given for him to learn his lesson and change his attitude from the heart, but he would not repent, and inevitably and without further warning the sentence was executed. The tree was cut down.
God had given Nebuchadnezzar a year in which to change his ways. Although he was frightened at the vision, as time went by and nothing happened he regained his proud self-confidence. Nebuchadnezzar was taking a walk in his hanging gardens, congratulating himself on his great achievement, "by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty" (30). With the words still on his lips he was struck down with a mental illness which made him imagine that he was an animal, and in fact he was led out to a field and lived in that sad condition for seven years. We might think it was a harsh sentence but really it was a blessing because from the Vision and the Interpretation we turn to:
THE CONVERSION
Thank God for his kindness and long suffering. If God is not able to achieve his purposes for us one way, he often has a reserve plan. While this cannot be taken for granted, like with Jeremiah’s potter, he perseveres and re-works the marred vessel. God cannot stand a proud spirit. It may involve rougher and more prolonged treatment, but it certainly is worth while if it produces a new creation.
We do not know what brought about Nebuchadnezzar’s physical recovery, but certainly something spiritual took place. Nebuchadnezzar testified, "I raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored" (34). At last he had found God. He realised that his punishment had been due to defrauding God of the honour due to him and he now gave unreserved honour to the Most High. He had found something bigger than himself to live for, as he put it, "to praise and glorify the King of heaven" (37). He was now right with God, and God saw fit to bless him with even greater prestige than he had before his illness.
Why did this happen to Nebuchadnezzar? We might ask the same question about ourselves - why are we the children of God when there are so many who seem completely unmoved by his love and his claims on their lives? One thing is for sure: it is not for any personal merit. Why? Many years ago I heard a man of God discussing this mystery as to those who are saved. He said that conversion was like going through a doorway which had written over it "whosoever will may come" (see Rev 22:17), but as he passed through it and looked back on the other side of the doorway he saw the words "those he predestined, he also called" (Rom 8:29). It is all of the grace of God.
So we come to the end of a personal testimony of someone who had gained the whole world only to lose it in order to find something better - peace with God. Nebuchadnezzar knew something wonderful had happened to him, and right at the beginning of his story he announced to all mankind, "It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me" (2). It is about what God has done to him as an individual, and he wanted to share it with the whole world. That is what the gospel is all about - to point others to finding peace with God.
The Vision, the Interpretation and the Conversion were all of God’s grace in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, but God seldom works without a human agent. In this case it was Daniel who he provided to be alongside the king in the dark valley of his experience. How important it was that Daniel was on hand to help in Nebuchadnezzar’s crisis experience, someone that he could trust to tell him the truth, awful though it was. Daniel himself had found God a very present help in trouble and it was his privilege and responsibility to be right there. That is our calling as Christians - we are to be his messengers. Daniel felt his inadequacy but yet again he proved his faithfulness; Nebuchadnezzar was converted and God’s name was praised.
