Daniel 4:7-12

b. RULER'S REVERIE RELATED, PART I

TEXT: Daniel 4:7-12

7

Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

8

But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzer, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying,

9

O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

10

Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great.

11

The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.

12

The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed from it.

QUERIES

a.

What does Nebuchadnezzar understand about the spirit of the holy gods?

b.

Was Daniel a magician? Doesn-'t the Law of Moses forbid this?

c.

Why did God choose to use a tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream?

PARAPHRASE

But when they came inall the scholars, astrologers, wise-men, and divinersand I told them the dream, they could not interpret it. At that moment Daniel came inthe man I named Belteshazzar after my godthe man in whom is the spirit of the holy deity, and I told him the dream. O Belteshazzar, chief of the wise-men, I said, I know that the spirit of the holy deity is in you and no secret is too difficult for you-behold! my dream that I have seen. Tell me what my dream means: I was-' dreaming and suddenly I saw a tree right in the center of the world all by itself and its height was very great. The tree was growing and becoming strong, and its height was reaching higher and higher into the sky until it could be seen by everyone in the world. Its leaves were fresh and green, and its branches were weighted down with fruit, enough for everyone to eat; wild animals rested beneath its shade and birds from all over the sky rested in its branches and all the people of the world were nourished from it,

COMMENT

Daniel 4:7 THEN CAME IN THE MAGICIANS. ETC. All these titles refer to the same general class of personsthose considered to be endued with superhuman wisdom; who were supposed to be qualified to explain remarkable occurrences, to foretell the future, and to declare the will of the gods from dreams, signs and wonders. It is not strange to find the occult in that age when there was yet a limited revelation; when so much of the world's population dwelt in darkness and self-induced moral perverseness (cf. Romans 1:18 ff); and when the boundaries of science were not as extended as they are today. But in the age of enlightenmentwith the Christian revelation and explosion in scientific knowledgeit is almost incredible that so many people today are becoming enmeshed in the superstitious and credulous web of the occult. Popular songs (Aquarius) and books by the thousands are hawking the wares of the mystic revolution all over the 20th century world. One weekly U.S. news magazine estimates that 10 million Americans are hard-core adherents to astrological forecasting. Another 40 million, it reported, dabble in the subject: It appears clear that what was once regarded as an offshoot of the occult is a rapidly evolving popular creed, it said. One American magazine publisher puts out some 30 separate horoscope magazines. During 1968 it sold 8 million copies of one edition. The executive editor of Doubleday & Co., said in the N.Y. Times of August 11, 1968, American publishers have discovered of late that there is a great deal of money to be made in convincing readers that the fault is not in themselves but in their stars. The public interest has been way ahead of the publisher's response.. People in general want to read about these things. After all, there is the possibility of discovering the meaning of life. We can-'t get enough good books on the subject.

In astrology, says the president of a well-known astrological organization, the earth is at the center of the universe and the individual is the center of attention. Everybody's favorite topic is himself. A 22-year-old Boston girl put her finger on this point when she said, Astrology. is a very personal tying of the individual to the universe. Science led us away from God and now science (meaning astrology?!) will bring us back. The astrologer holds out the vision of a world ruled by forces operating with clockwork regularity. These forces supposedly guide the individual to greater heights of achievementthey help him succeed, attain, understand. When things go wrong, one can blame the stars. When good things happen, you thank your lucky star. Astrologers tell people what they WANT to hear. The thing that is so incredible is that 20th-century-man would have laughed at the way the soothsayers and diviners exploited the superstitions of Nebuchadnezzar, not realizing that they are being exploited in the same way today. Nebuchadnezzar learned that in the God of Daniel, Jehovah-Godthe God who has revealed Himself in history by miraculous deeds and direct propositional revelations in human language to selected prophets, is the only source of immutable truth. AND THAT IS STILL TRUE FOR 20TH-CENTURY-MAN! Daniel's God is omnipotent and immutableHe changeth not!

Daniel 4:8. AT THE LAST DANIEL CAME IN. IN WHOM IS THE SPIRIT OB THE HOLY GODS. Why Daniel was not with the other wise-men when they came into the presence of the king we do not know. Leupold suggests two possibilities: (a) he may have been busy assemblying. the wise men and could not come earlier; (b) he may have chosen to defer his coming, timing it carefully to coincide with the moment when the failure of the Chaldeans was most evident.

Most commentators insist that Nebuchadnezzar's statement, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, is an explicit expression of his polytheism. However, Young believes that the phrase is only rightly interpreted when the word god is made singular, god or deity, as in our paraphrase, The king was very much aware that the God of Daniel was different from his own gods, so, he reasons, The power or wisdom which is from the highest deity is to be found in Daniel. Young says there is a wealth of philological evidence (linguistic material) to support the position of a singular god, (cf. Genesis 41:38).

Daniel 4:9 O BELTESHAZZAR. TELL ME. THE INTERPRETATION. It is evident from the following context that the emperor does not this time insist that Daniel relate to him the content of the dream, for the emperor tells Daniel the details of the dream. He wants Daniel to tell him the meaning of the symbolism he dreamed.

For comments on Daniel's Babylonian name, Belte-shazzar, see our notes on Daniel 1:7. Leupold claims that the translation chief of the magicians does not accurately represent to the modern mind the position of Daniel. In our day magicians are thought of as purveyors of slight of hand magic. This meaning was never connected with the Greek word magoi from which we get the word magician or, as the magi (wise-men) in the account of the birth of Christ. Leupold thinks a better translation would be chief of the scholars.

We are informed of the absolute confidence Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel's possession of divine wisdom! This does not seem to be for the purpose of proving to the king that Daniel has such abilities (as in Daniel 2). It almost seems as if the king had deliberately refused to hear Daniel until he was forced by necessity to turn to him as a last resort. Young believes that this is actually the caseIf others can interpret the dream, he will go to them rather than to Daniel. With this God, Nebuchadnezzar, as yet wanted no dealings. Calvin also believes that it was extreme necessity which compelled the ruler to turn to Daniel for interpretation of his dream. And hence we gather that no one comes to the true God, unless impelled by necessity. (Calvin) It is most certainly true that no one comes to God by accident! We are convinced more and more that most unbelief is due to moral resistance, not to intellectual ignorance. Every man has sinned and sinned because he deliberately chose to resist the moral light he possesses! (Romans, Chapter s 1, 2, and 3 and John 3:19-21)

Daniel 4:10-11. I SAW, AND, BEHOLD, A TREE IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH. The phrase is progressive. The king was contemplating or studying the dream as he was dreaming. Not only so, but the tree was in the process of growing as he was dreaming. This tree was occupying a central position on the earth. Its centrality was to indicate its preeminence and importance for the entire earth. It grew until it reached into the sky, towering to the heavens, sending out its branches afar. It was a sight to behold to everyone in the earth.

Trees were figurative, especially in Oriental dreams, of monarchs. Ezekiel 31:3 ff compares the Assyrian monarch with a cedar of Lebanon (cf. also Ezekiel 17:1 ff; Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 10:18-19; Jeremiah 22:7; Jeremiah 22:23). Barnes notes, Nothing is more obvious than the comparison of a hero with a lofty tree of the forest, and hence it was natural for Nebuchadnezzar to suppose that this vision had a reference to himself. Herodotus relates a dream of Xerxes, who, ready to set out against Greece, beholds himself crowned with an olive shoot, the branches of which stretch out over all the earth; of Croesus that he will destroy the men of Lampascus like a fir since this tree when cut down, sends forth no fresh shoots, but dies outright; of Astyages the Mede who dreamed of a vine growing from the womb of Mandane, his daughter, and spreading over the entirely of Asia, the vine being Cyrus. This should in no way imply that the dream of Nebuchadnezzar was not unique. The record of Daniel is plain to indicate that the Babylonian monarch's dream was a divinely imposed dream, a revelation from God. It was supernaturally imposedit was unique.

Daniel 4:12. AND IT WAS FOOD FOR ALL. All who lodged in the tree found fruit upon it. All living things on the earth are represented as finding sustenance and security in this great, towering, affluent tree. A really imposing sight! But this is not all of the dream. And what perplexed the king most was the remainder of the reverie!

QUIZ

1.

What is so surprising about finding a popularity of the occult today?

2.

What is meant by the spirit of the holy gods?

3.

What confidence did Nebuchadnezzar have in Daniel's abilities?

4.

Why did the king wait until the last resort to seek Daniel's interpretation?

5.

How great was the tree in the king's dream?

6.

Why would this portion of the dream not be so perplexing to the king?