Daniel 4
J. Vernon McGee · Citado em PreceptAustin
Daniel 4
Vernon McGee quips), that fatal malady that "infects" all of mankind (Ro 5:12-note) and ends with a humble sense of the Most High God! If (as I believe) Nebuchadnezzar was a new believer in the Most High God, this is the only chapter in Scripture written by a new believer. It is not that Nebuchadnezzar himself was inspired when he spoke but the chapter is inspired in the sense that Daniel recorded it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2Pe 1:21-note and because "all" Scripture is inspired - 2Ti 3:16-note). As this chapter unfolds we read Nebuchadnezzar's personal testimony (his "life journey") explaining how the Most High God caused him to be born again (cp 1Pe 1:3-note). In these introductory 3 verses the king begins in essence at the end of his story (which picks back up in Da 4:34-37) and then recounts his reminiscence or "flashback" to the events that led to this national proclamation (So he begins with the good and then goes to the bad and ugly - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"!). Reginald Showers remarks that... There are two lines of evidence which indicate that the words of this chapter are actually Nebuchadnezzar’s. First, the literary style of chapter four resembles the style of Nebuchadnezzar’s ancient inscriptions. Second, the character of the king revealed in this chapter agrees with ancient descriptions of the man. (The Most High God- A Commentary on the Book of Daniel). In H A Ironside's introduction to this chapter, he writes that... In Job 33:14, 15, 16, 17, 18, we are told, Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol. This is how God often speaks to men who will not open a Bible to receive the clear revelation of His will. He has many ways of reaching those who seem bent on their own destruction. In the passage from Job, Elihu goes on to show that when dreams and visions do not avail, God sometimes allows disease to grip the body until the poor sinner is broken in spirit and crushed in heart. Then "He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light" (Job 33:27-28KJV). The fourth chapter of Daniel is a remarkable example of God's matchless grace and illustrates most preciously the words of Elihu to Job. The first time God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar He gave him the dream of the great image of the times of the Gentiles. But the heart of the king was willful, and he continued to go on with his own purpose in his pride and folly. God spoke the second time 60by the marvelous vision of the Son of God in the midst of the fiery furnace, keeping His faithful witnesses from all danger and harm. But again the proud king kept on his way with unsubject heart and unsubdued will. Now God speaks the third time in a most humiliating manner to this great world-ruler. This stirring fourth chapter of Daniel was written by Nebuchadnezzar himself and preserved and incorporated into the inspired volume. In it we have the interesting account of the means God used to bring this haughty king to the end of himself and lead him to abase Himself before the Majesty in Heaven. In other words, this is Nebuchadnezzar's conversion, and it seems clearly to show that a work of grace took place in his soul before he laid down the scepter entrusted to his hand by Jehovah. The account is also illustrative for in Nebuchadnezzar we see a picture of all Gentile power—its departure from God, its degradation and bestial character, and its final subjugation to God in the time of the end. At that time Christ will return in glory, and all nations will prostrate themselves before Him, owning His righteous and benevolent sway. As Donald Campbell quips - The introduction is actually a conclusion! Chronologically, these opening words belong at the end of the chapter because they grow out of Nebuchadnezzar's experiences that are recorded in the following paragraphs. But the king was so overwhelmed by God's dealings with him that, humiliating though it was, he wanted the world to know about it. (Campbell, D. Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society - well written, practical, recommended) Walvoord - Those who reject chapter 4 of Daniel without exception assume that the account is not inspired of the Holy Spirit, that an experience like Nebuchadnezzar’s is essentially incredible, and that it is a myth rather than an authentic historical record. Such objections obviously assume that higher criticism is right in declaring Daniel a forgery of the second century B.C. This conclusion is now subject to question not only because of the fallacious reasoning which supports it, but because it is now challenged by the documentary evidence in the Qumran text of Daniel, which on the basis of the critics’ own criteria would require Daniel to be much older than the second century b.c. (see Introduction). Conservative scholarship has united in declaring this chapter a genuine portion of the Word of God, equally inspired with other sections of Daniel. (Chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride And Punishment) To all the peoples, nations and men of every language that live in all the earth - This sentence identifies this chapter as a divine decree from King Nebuchadnezzar to all men (see Da 4:6). He’s not the God only of Israel. He is also the God of the Gentiles. Think about what he is saying. First, this is his royal proclamation, his personal witness of the saving hand of the Most High God. This is Nebuchadnezzar's "Tract" if you will, of how his personal encounter with the one true and living High God. And He’s not only the God of one nation or one people, but He is also the Lord God, the mighty Sovereign and King of all the nations and of all the peoples of the world. Second, notice that he is not ashamed to share his conversion with others. Third, note that he is sharing his testimony with the entire world (all the peoples...in all the earth). What a striking contrast with the same phrase but in the context of an order to bow to an idol! Da 3:4, 7 = "peoples, nations and men of every language." What a change in one's worldview a change in one's heart can make! (cp 2Cor 5:17). One wonders how this was received by the pagan idol worshipping Babylonians, not to mention all the rest of the world. As we have alluded to before, the famous "wise men" from the East who worshipped at the foot of Christ's birthplace had to have heard about the Messiah from someone (Mt 2:2, 11). Given that Nebuchadnezzar's testimony is given in a way that gives God alone the glory, there is no doubt that God's Spirit used it to make significant impact on all the earth. Of course, all the earth clearly was not converted but this chapter suggests that they did at least have an opportunity to hear about the great and mighty Most High God Who is able to deliver one from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18, Col 1:13-note, cp Heb 2:14, 15) and unto His everlasting kingdom and eternal dominion. Adam
Daniel 4
McGee comments that... In Scripture, a tree can represent a number of things. A tree can represent a man: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Ps 1:3; see also Jer 17:8; Isa 56:3). Also a tree can represent a nation (see Ezek 31:3-14; Mt 24:32,33). The mustard tree in Mt 13:31, 32 represents Christendom today (Ed: The kingdom of heaven manifest in the body of Christ, the Church). The olive tree represents both Israel and the Gentiles (see Ro 11:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 24). The tree here represents Nebuchadnezzar primarily and also his kingdom of Babylon—the king and kingdom are inseparable. (Daniel 4:10-16 - Mp3) The prophet Ezekiel also used the image of a tree in a figurative description of the kingdom of Assyria... ‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among the clouds. (Ezek 31:3) Daniel 4:11 '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. reached: Da 4:21,22 Ge 11:4 De 9:1 Mt 11:23 Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries The tree - Metaphor which Daniel identifies with Nebuchadnezzar (Da 4:22). Adam