Under siege, government takeover, economic collapse, gender issues, defiled food supply, slave labor, immigration, competing visions, and uncertain futures. How do we live in and through this?! These are not new problems. The book of Daniel gives us the hope and future where we are all invited to discover THE GOD OF DANIEL.
Daniel Studies
Daniel #1: The Fantastic Four (1-2)
Daniel #2: Colossus of Dura (3)
Background
remember chapter’s 2-7 are written in Aramaic and show God’s hand on the gentile nations
these chapters form a chiastic literary structure dealing with prophecy of four nations, persecution and deliverance of the protagonists, and God’s revelations to gentile kings
in ch. 4, God makes a revelation to King Nebuchadnezzar regarding the kingdoms of man
biblical chapter and verse markings were not introduced until the 13th century, and 3:31-33 in the Aramaic text is considered to be 4:1-3 in English translations (the English of each Aramaic verse then is +3)
ch. 4 is an autobiographical account by King Nebuchadnezzar, presented by Daniel
it would be the only chapter of the Bible written by a pagan (if he was uncoverted)
here is a summary of the Kings of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian reign lasted 86 years (626 to 539 B.C.)
Study Questions
OF SIGNS AND WONDERS - 3:31-33 (4:1-3)
4 (3:31) King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land: “Peace and prosperity! 2 I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.
3 “How great are his signs!
How mighty are his wonders!
His kingdom will last forever,
and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”
What do signs and wonders tell us of God, and of Moses, the prophets, and the apostles? How do they inform the trustworthiness of the holy scriptures?
The king mentions the “Most High” a continuation of 3:26, using the title another six times here (v. 2, 17, 24, 25, 32, and 34). Though written in Aramaic, the Hebrew translation is “Yahweh Illay,” meaning “the highest LORD.” How has the king already learned and begins to show, that the God of Daniel is the “Most high”, or “the highest Lord?” What other lords is He higher than?
THE FIFTH ORDER - 4:4-9
4 (4:1) I, Nebuchadnezzar, was relaxing in my home, living luxuriously in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed—these visions of my mind—were terrifying me. 6 So I issued an order for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me. 8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well, 9 saying, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!
The king is relaxing at home. This could be during a seven year period of time, from 582 to 575 B.C. in which he had no military campaigns. He’s taking it easy! Why is it that those able to relax, living in luxury, can still be so frightened by the unknown? Have you ever been able to relax, yet still felt fear?
What four edicts have already been decreed by the King (see ch. 2 and 3)? What is the fifth one that goes out? How is the fifth edict different than the first?
We were previously told (1:7) that Daniel (Hebrew) was given the Babylonian name of Belteshazzar, which means “Bel protects his life” or “Bel’s prince.” The king further says (v. 8) the name Belteshazzar is after the name of his god. What do we know of the king’s theistic beliefs, and in particular how does his namesake god, Nebo, play into this conversation?
THE SECOND DREAM - 4:10-18
10 Here are the visions of my mind while I was on my bed.
“While I was watching,
there was a tree in the middle of the land.
It was enormously tall.
11 The tree grew large and strong.
Its top reached far into the sky;
it could be seen from the borders of all the land.
12 Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful;
on it there was food enough for all.
Under it the wild animals used to seek shade,
and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest.
All creatures used to feed themselves from it.13 “While I was watching in my mind’s visions on my bed,
a holy sentinel came down from heaven.
14 He called out loudly as follows:
‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches!
Strip off its foliage
and scatter its fruit!
Let the animals flee from under it
and the birds from its branches.
15 But leave its taproot in the ground,
with a band of iron and bronze around it
surrounded by the grass of the field.
Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,
and let it live with the animals in the grass of the land.
16 Let his mind be altered from that of a human being,
and let an animal’s mind be given to him,
and let seven periods of time go by for him.
17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;
this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,
so that those who are alive may understand
that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms,
and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.
He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, for none of the wise men in my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
How does the second dream begin? Is it a dream he describes, or a dream within a dream? Describe what unfolds before him?
The Hebrew word for sentinel is a waking, watchful, wakeful one, a watcher and messenger. This isn’t just a sentinel, but a holy sentinel, a hendiadys of a watcher and holy one. How does this sentinel enter his dream, and how is this true to a sentinel? What is the irony here exactly?
How does the holy sentinel change the tenor of the dream? What strange shift happens in v. 16?
Who makes the decree to chop down the tree and why? How does this show their authority? How does the why give us hope in trying political times?
THE SEVEN PERIODS - 4:19-27
19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries! 20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and that could be seen in all the land, 21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest— 22 it is you, O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven and your authority to the ends of the earth. 23 As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’— 24 this is the interpretation, O king. It is the decision of the Most High that this has happened to my lord the king. 25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes. 26 They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.”
What do v. 18-19 show of us the king and Daniel’s relationship? How can Daniel be godly and serve a pagan king? How does the church approach modern politics differently?
Who does Daniel say the tree is, and how does he describe the accomplishments?
What does Daniel say will then happen to the king? How does Daniel show hope the king can still avoid this punishment?
“Until seven periods go by….” (v. 23) How long is a period? How long will the king’s judgement last? (Note: the Hebrew word iddan translated here can mean period or year. How does Daniel 7:25, the only other place the Aramaic word is used, influence our understanding?)
TAPROOT - 4:28-33
28 Now all this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 After 12 months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?” 31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you! 32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”
33 Now in that very moment this pronouncement about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers and his nails like a bird’s claws.
Where does the king ultimately go wrong? Who is he serving? (Note: Below is an ancient document detailing the glory and splendor of Babylon).
How does the king become the taproot? What sign and wonder accompanies this moment? How is God showing mercy?
What might the timeline be based on the LXX note of introduction to 4:1 and v. 29? How might this timing impact how the king sees himself?
“The palace from which he surveyed Babylon was one of the citadels on the north side of the city. It had large courts, reception rooms, throne room, residences, and the famous hanging gardens, a vaulted, terraced structure with an elaborate water supply for its trees and plants, apparently built by Nebuchadnezzar for his Median queen. From the palace he would see in the distance the city’s 27km outer double wall, which he had built. His palace stood just inside the double wall of the inner city, which was punctuated by eight gates and encircled an area 3km by 1km, with the Euphrates running through it. The palace adjoined a processional avenue that Nebuchadnezzar had paved with limestone and decorated with lion figures, emblematic of Ishtar; this avenue entered the city through the Ishtar Gate, which he had decorated with dragons and bulls (emblems of Marduk and Bel). It continued south through the city to the most important sacred precincts, to whose beautifying and development Nebuchadnezzar had contributed, the ziggurat crowned by a temple of Marduk where the god’s statue resided. In Marduk’s temple there were also shrines to other gods, and in the city elsewhere temples of other Babylonian gods, restored or beautified by Nebuchadnezzar.” - Goldingay, pp. 89-90.
LAST WORDS - 4:34-37
34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps his hand
and says to him, “What have you done?”36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated over my kingdom. I became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live in pride.
The ministers and nobles seek the taproot out to reinstate him as king. Who is running the country? (Look at the table of kings and what you know of this possible timeline). What normally happens to a king who is succeeded? How is it possible the king is welcomed back in to power after seven periods? Who may have been looking out for the king and his kingdom?
Have we ever seen anything in our political times where the people have asked who is running the country, or could we please bring back the previous guy?
What is the kings’ testimony? What are his final words? What can we learn of the God of Daniel and the times in which we live?
Answer Key
Signs and wonders show the supernatural authority behind the human messenger. The prophet Elijah tells the people “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God.” - 1 Kings 18:24. The pages of scripture can be believed because they are backed with miraculous signs and wonders over and over again.
The king has already experienced that only the God of Daniel is the revealer of mysteries in ch. 2 and rescues His servants in ch. 3 from the earthly king and his gods. He testifies in v. 3 that the Most High’s kingdom will last forever and his authority continues. He is over the gods of the nations, the Babylonian gods, and is the authority over earthly rulers.
Because they aren’t the highest authority. They can only affect what they have authority over. Living in luxury and peace is temporal and temporary. We cannot fathom the unknown, particularly the great unknown, and dreams can certainly illuminate alternate realities, that maybe the good life is about to turn. Share your stories.
The four edicts already issued include: 1) to summon the wise men to tell and interpret his dream (2:2), 2) to execute said wise men for their failure (2:13), 3) to have people bow down and pay homage to the golden statue (3:10), and 4) that anyone who blasphemes the Most High will be dismembered, and their home reduced to rubble (3:29). The fifth edict (4:6) involves summoning the wise men again to interpret a new dream. Although both dreams were terrifying, the king seems to have calmed down and once again trusts his advisors. He at least will tell them the dream this time.
King Nebuchadnezzar is polytheistic and embraces the Babylonian gods, even as the Most High continues to show signs and wonders. Marduk is the supreme Babylonian god. The king of the gods! The Babylonians called him “Bel” which means “lord.” So Bel was also the lord of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar was named after Nebo, or Nabu, the son of Marduk (Bel). For the king to say that the God of Daniel is the Most High, would have placed Him above the king or lord of the gods!
The visions he has are of being on his bed and watching a tree unfold. The tree is a dream within his dream. It is at the center of the earth, growing large and strong and reaching far into the sky, and can be seen from the edge of the earth. It was attractive and had plentiful fruit, giving food for all. Wild animals used it for shade, and the birds their nests.
The sentinel is not in the dream of his dream, but is a wakeful one, watching and bringing a message to the dreaming king who was watching a dream. The irony is that the sentinel was awake, i.e. not in the dream of the dream, but he is obviously still dreaming about the waking sentinel.
The thriving tree is chopped down! Gone are its branches, foliage, and fruit. The animals must scatter. The taproot, or stock of its root, is left alone, so the tree is spared. In v. 16 the tree becomes a person.
The decree is by the holy sentinels, presumably by the God of Daniel whom they serve. They have the authority by signs and wonders to enforce this decree. The decree is so those who are alive understand the Most High has authority over human kingdoms and bestows to whomever He wishes. Whatever is going on in our political cycles, the Lord is in control and is over our nation. He is aligning His eternal purposes with our earthly happenings.
They have a close relationship built on mutual respect. The king says Daniel can do what no one can and has the “spirit of the holy gods” (a polytheistic reference that he has supernatural knowledge). Daniel is broken that the interpretation is regarding the king and wishes it was meant for his enemies. Daniel serves multiple pagan kings at the highest of positions. He understands that God is behind the elevation of these kingdoms and the punishment of his people. He serves God in the midst of these realities. Our modern political reality is we can only serve and follow the king who will advance our moral and religious ideology. We have forgotten we are in the fourth kingdom and it will be destroyed only by the rock.
The tree is King Nebuchadnezzar. The king is great and strong and his greatness reaches to heaven and his authority to the ends of the earth.
The king will be driven from human society to live with wild animals. He will be humbled for 7 periods until he understands that heaven rules over human kingdoms. Daniel advises the king to break away from sin and iniquity and do the right thing, to show mercy to the poor, and then perhaps the king’s prosperity will continue.
A period could mean “season” (there were two seasons per year, summer and winter) or even “year” giving the likely period of time a half year or a year. Daniel 7:25 using the same word iddan, makes me lean towards a period of a year, i.e. 7 years of judgement. “Time, times, and half a time” likely means one, two, and a half, totaling three and a half “times,” a period of 42 mos.—if an iddan is a year—where holy ones will be delivered into evil hands, consistent with Rev. 12:5-7 when the blaspheming beast goes to war with and conquers the saints.
The king has been forewarned, and yet 12 mos. later rejects the notion that the Most High is over all human kingdoms. He mistakenly thinks he has built the great Babylon by his own mighty strength and for his majestic honor. He is serving himself.
The king becomes the taproot by being driven from human society for seven periods of time (chopped down), but yet being allowed to return (grows again) when he understands the Most High rules over human kingdoms and gives them to whom He wishes. There is an accompanying sign and wonder (v. 2-3) with a loud voice pronouncing from heaven for all to hear. God is patient, allowing the king to come to repentance and being restored to his kingdom.
The intro note at 4:1 Aramaic translations (4:4 English translations), “In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign…” is similar to 3:1 “in the eighteenth year of….” would put the story at roughly 586 B.C. to the final destruction of Jerusalem. Giving an extra year (v. 29) of reflection, he would have likely felt invincible at this moment in his life and kingdom successes.
It does not appear another king has taken control of the kingdom, based on the king table above, as the next king Evil-Merodach doesn’t assume the throne until much later, in 562 B.C. Normally if a king is succeeded he is dead, whether of natural causes or because of a coup. We do know that Daniel was given authority over the entire province of Babylon (2:48-49), and would have knowledge of the present situation impacting King Nebuchadnezzar, and could have kept the kingdom running until the king’s return. We ask how it’s possible that we don’t know who is running the kingdom for 7 periods, but we find ourselves in similar times and situations. If Daniel in fact was running the kingdom, or had great influence in running it, it makes sense that he would have been awaiting the end of 7 periods to seek out the king and reinstate him as the rightful taproot. Perhaps Daniel is looking out for the king, just as he previously expressed much concern over his repentance to avoid judgement. It is amazing to watch the prophet of God who understands that God appoints human kings and kingdoms, and is a servant to who Jeremiah calls the servant king of Yahweh. This is much different than our religious leaders today who shout from the mountaintops “NOT MY PRESIDENT!!!” Our religious leaders today seem to have forgotten that elections don’t determine presidents as much as it is God’s divine appointment (see v. 3, 17, 25, 34, 36).
Nah, couldn’t be!
King Nebuchadnezzar’s speaks of the Most High God’s great signs and mighty wonders, and His eternal kingdom and authority over each generation. His final words we have are that he praises and exalts and glorifies the King of heaven, whose deeds are right and ways are just. He brings down those who walk in pride. We can be sure that the God of Daniel is over all, giving human kingdoms to whomever He wishes, humbling the exalted, and exalting the humble.
Resources
listen on Bandcamp to original song and verse, based on fxchurch sermon series
find fxtalk podcast episodes on “The God of Daniel” by Mat Shockney
discover the re:group Vault for additional Bible Study content
Meet with others during the week and re:group in a smaller setting for Bible study and fellowship. Credits: background sources generally include Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Ray Stedman, and GotQuestions.org. All Scripture taken from the NET Bible except where noted. Based on a message series “The God of Daniel” from Daniel by Mat Shockney, lead pastor. Content by Jason Snyder, associate pastor. Artwork by Luke Bilotta.