Episode 158: Daniel 4:1-26 The Sovereign God Rules the Affairs of Men

Living Water Community Church

We worked through the first part of Daniel 4. In this chapter we have Nebuchadnezzar having another dream. The chapter starts out with this appearing to be a dictation from Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar starts out by giving glory to the most high God. The God who has shown His power to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Because this story starts out this way and because of the way it ends this appears to be Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony and confession of faith in this God he is giving glory to. Nebuchadnezzar is a prospering in his palace and at ease when he is troubled by a dream which alarmed him. It is a cryptic dream and he calls on all his wise men to come and none of them could interpret the dream. Finally Daniel comes before him and he tells him the dream. He saw a tree which grew and became great and its height reached to heaven. You could see it from anywhere on earth. It provided food and shade for all the beast and birds. Everything was fed from it. A holy one from heaven came down and proclaimed it should be cut down, but the stump should be left and bound with a band of iron and bronze. The holy one or watcher begins speaking of the tree using personal pronouns. The watcher says that he should be given the mind of a beast and 7 periods of time should pass over him. Then the vision ends with a declaration of how the holy ones have decided this, “...to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.” Daniel was said to be alarmed by the dream and the king told Daniel not to be alarmed by it. Daniel then goes on to tell the king how the tree is him and his kingdom.