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Chapter 4 starts with a letter or document written by King Nebuchadnezzar. The first and last sections of the chapter are written in the first person, with the middle part written in the third person.
The opening verses are stunning. The king writes his letter to the whole world (v. 1). The phrase ‘peoples, nations and men of every language’ is familiar to us. We saw back in 3:7 that the phrase was used in the command for people to worship the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Now the same group is addressed – but not with a command to idolatry, rather with a testimony of a converted man.
In verse 3 we read of the king’s declaration about the Most High God. He has come to declare the eternal kingdom of God. He has come to understand what lies at the heart of the gospel.
When the exiles arrived in Babylon, it was the king who wanted them to be assimilated into being Babylonian. But it is through the life and witness of the exiles that the king of Babylon has come to submit to the God of the Jews.
The rest of the chapter details how this happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Once again Nebuchadnezzar had a dream (vv. 4,5 – remember chapter 2). In contrast to before, this time the king tells his advisers the content of the dream, but like before, they were unable to interpret it (vv. 6,7).
In verses 9 to 16 the king tells Daniel the content of the dream. The king has seen a tree that can be seen by all the world. However, as a result of a command from heaven, the tree is to be cut to a stump that is to be bound in iron and bronze. In verse 16 the stump takes on personality. The person is to live with, and like, an animal for seven ‘times’ or years.
In verse 17 the king is told by the holy messengers that the purpose of his dream was so that people know that Judah’s God is the Most High, the true God in control of the kingdoms of this world. The king now wants to know the meaning of the dream (v. 18).
Reflection
In this chapter we are seeing how the king has been converted. It reminds us that there is no one too ‘hard’ for the Lord to humble. Are there people we have stopped praying for because we have forgotten how powerful the Lord and His gospel are?
Scripture
About this Plan
The story of Daniel and his three friends is well known and well loved. But the account of these four men, in a far away land, is so much more than the lion’s den and a fiery furnace that we remember from Sunday school. In forty days, experienced Bible–teacher Justin Mote, shows us God’s goodness, provision and sovereignty, even when the situation seems out of control.
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