Nebuchadnezzar was made a great king by God himself. God had blessed the King with power, glory wealth, authority over lands, people and nations. So great was his kingship and power that as the king looked out over his vast realm and all the glory that it contained, it inspired within Nebuchadnezzar a scene of pride about all his possessions and accomplishments.
The Great Tree
King Nebuchadnezzar had been given a dream of
a great strong tree which bore fruit, and had great spreading branches that
reached into the sky and provided for many and birds made their nest in the
branches.
"Now these were the visions in my mind as
I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a was great. tree in the midst of the earth and its height
‘The tree grew large and became
strong
And its
height reached to the sky,
And it
was visible to the end of the whole earth.
‘Its foliage was beautiful and its
fruit abundant,
And in
it was food for all.
The
beasts of the field found shade under it,
And the
birds of the sky dwelt in its branches,
And all
living creatures fed themselves from it."Dan:4:10-12
In the vision, this tree stood until, an angle of God ordered that the great
tree to be chopped down , yet it's roots were to be left in the earth and a
band of iron was to be placed about the stump.
“Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,
Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;
Let the beasts flee from under it
And the birds from its branches.
“Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
But with a band of iron and bronze around it
In the new grass of the field;"(13-15)
After the proclamation of the angel to chop
the tree down and to affix the iron band upon the stump, the angel then makes a
cryptic proclamation.
"And let him be drenched with the dew of
heaven,
And let
him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. “Let his mind be changed from that
of a man
And let
a beast’s mind be given to him,
And let
seven periods of time pass over him."(15b-16)
Daniel Interprets
The Prophet Daniel, who served as an adviser
to King Nebuchadnezzar , after hearing the kings’ dream is alarmed by what he hears.
The Prophet Daniel recognizes that it is a warning from God for King
Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel then interprets the meaning of the
dream for the King, telling him that the King has sins which threatens to undo
his position, but if the King repents, God will be merciful, but if he will not,
then Nebuchadnezzar will be cut down as the tree, and then driven out from
before men and live in the wild as an animal, but if the King repents God will
not bring this upon Nebuchadnezzar. (19-27)
Looks Out at His Kingdom
One year after the vision of the great tree
being cut down and the warning from the Prophet Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar was
walking upon the roof of his royal palace. Nebuchadnezzar looked at his kingdom
and saw all of its greatness. He ruled much of the known world and his
kingdom's influence was felt from north to south and east to west.
Nebuchadnezzar 's heart was lifted up and, he
was filled with pride over all that he had and did, and then ascribed to himself
the greatness of his kingdom and all of its glory.
“All this happened to
Nebuchadnezzar the king. “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the
royal palace of Babylon. “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not
Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might
of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ “While the word was in the king’s
mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is
declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away
from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You
will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass
over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of
mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ (28-32)
As an Animal
The King Nebuchadnezzar then, at that moment,
loses his ability to reason as the warning vision spoke none year earlier.
"Let his mind be
changed from that of a man And let a beast’s mind be given to him" (16a),
Nebuchadnezzar now acts as a carnal animal and
lives as an animal, and is among the animals. He can no longer reason as a man
his life is simply the life of an animal driven by the pulls of the nature of
an animal.
"Immediately the word concerning
Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began
eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven
until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’
claws".(33)
Lifted His Eyes to Heaven
This was the life of a King whom God had made
great. Pride brought the loss of reason upon Nebuchadnezzar as he admired his
own self perceived accomplishments and greatness. Here
Nebuchadnezzar remained in the state of lost reason and animal behavior all due
to his carnal pride.
For seven years King Nebuchadnezzar lived
without reason, until he lifted his eyes to Heaven, and it is then
Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returned to him. With Nebuchadnezzar's reason restored,
he then gave glory to God and worshiped the Creator of Heaven and Earth and all
was restored to him.
Looking at Our Own Kingdoms
What is the lesson for us today so many
centuries removed? We all can be like King Nebuchadnezzar; we can look out at
the kingdoms of our lives and see great things. We may look at our positions in
life, or good works which we have done, education, possessions or any other self-erected
standards of greatness whatever they might be, and if we do this, we can be
filled with the pride of our flesh.
When Nebuchadnezzar looked out at his kingdom,
he took his eyes off the Great God. His view now was to the things of the Earth,
he lost the ability to reason and he acted as an animal concerned with only self-preservation
and keeping the life of the flesh alive.
This tells us that when we look out at the
kingdom(s) of our life, no matter how good they might be, without acknowledging
the God of Heaven we lose the ability to reason, that is, to acknowledge the
God of Heaven and to worship him alone. We become carnal and are concerned with
the things of Earth rather than the things of Heaven.
As Nebuchadnezzar's great tree was cut down and bound with a a band of iron so
might the great tree of our own lives’ kingdom be hewed to the grown and bound
with a band of iron, cut down no matter how many people benefit from us.
The Things of Heaven
The Apostle St. Paul speaks to Christians in
all ages, to rather, set out minds on the things of God, the things above
rather upon the things of the Earth.
"Set your mind on the things above, not
on the things that are on earth".Col:3:2
"Seek first the Kingdom of God" Matt:6:33
When we keep our minds upon the Heavenly things of God and our relationship with the great God , the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in clear focus , in, and upon the Person of Jesus Christ and acknowledge that it is by his gracious hand that all which we have received is from him alone, then there cannot be found room in our hearts for pride; we will attend the spiritual things rather than to keep the life of the flesh alive.
Whatever we have in this life , all good no matter how great our personal
kingdoms might be all good which we have receive is from the Great God
and not ours accomplished by our own means.
"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of lights"Jam:1:17a
Reason Restored
When we lift our eyes to Heaven and
acknowledge the Great God, we, like Nebuchadnezzar, will have our minds
restored. We see God as God and we, like the King, will no longer behave as an animal,
concerned only for preservation of the flesh, that is , we behave like an
animal.
We then worship him as did Nebuchadnezzar did
when he finally saw the truth that "God rules in the Kingdoms of
men" the King then issued a proclamation giving glory to God
the King of Heaven.
If we in our looking to the things of this
life, and have become preoccupied with our flesh, and have become filled with
pride, we then need to “lift our eyes to Heaven” and
worship the Great God and give all glory to him alone we will be fully restored
and our reason will return to us.
Benediction: May we each and all look not upon the
things of this life with pride, but rather let us lift our eyes to heaven and
worship the Great God, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.
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Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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