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Nebuchadnezzar’s Seven Years of Madness
This chapter is based on Daniel 4.
After Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image, the thought
that the Babylonian Empire was finally to fall had profoundly influ-
enced his mind. In the end, God would set up a kingdom that would
replace all earthly kingdoms.
Nebuchadnezzar later lost sight of his noble understanding of
God’s plan concerning the nations. Yet when his proud spirit was
humbled on the plain of Dura, he once more acknowledged that
God’s kingdom is “an everlasting kingdom.”
Daniel 7:27
. He had
an inborn sense of justice and right, and God was able to use him as
an instrument for punishing the rebellious and fulfilling the divine
purpose. As he added nation after nation to the Babylonian realm,
he added more and more to his fame as the greatest ruler of the age.
It was not surprising that the successful, proud-spirited monarch
was tempted to turn aside from the path of humility, which alone
leads to true greatness. Between his wars of conquest he gave
much thought to beautifying his capital, until the city of Babylon
became “the golden city,” “the praise of the whole earth.”
Isaiah
14:4
;
Jeremiah 51:41
. His success in making Babylon one of the
wonders of the world fueled his pride, until he was in grave danger
of spoiling his record as a ruler whom God could use.
In mercy God gave the king another dream to warn him of his
danger. In vision Nebuchadnezzar saw a great tree, its top towering
to the heavens and its branches stretching to the ends of the earth.
Flocks and herds enjoyed shelter beneath its shadow, and birds built
their nests in its branches. “And all flesh was fed from it.”
As the king gazed on the tree, he saw “a Watcher,” even “a Holy
One,” who approached the tree and in a loud voice cried: “Cut down
the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its
fruit. ... Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth... . Let
it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts
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