February 13, 2019: Day 74 – Daniel 4

We go on a journey with King Nebuchadnezzar where he explains what happened to him during the whole dream sequence where Daniel came to his aid and really bailed out the wise men of Babylon.  He has his own perspective on how it went, the dream is different.  Instead of a man of bronze and gold and steel you have a tree which is cut down.  

But Daniel’s interpretation of this dream is very different from what we had before.  He calls the tree the king and that he will be cut down one day.  He will be driven away from society and eat grass and basically become a beast in the field.  I’m thinking if I were the king who was known to be a bit ruthless and my wise man gave me this interpretation, I would probably be looking for another wise man.  But Daniel finishes by telling the king to repent and atone for his sins and to show mercy to the oppressed.

It doesn’t happen often where the ruler of a land is confronted with their sin, feels convicted, and atones of their sin for persecuting the oppressed.  It doesn’t happen in this case either.  The king finds himself without a kingdom, he dwelt with the animals of the field, he was eating grass, and his body was washed from the dew.  But then in vs.34 we read that he snapped out of it.  

When he snaps out of it he begins his new phase by praising the Most High.  In vs.36 we read that his reason returned to him and he was restored to his kingdom and then in the inimitable Job fashion more greatness was added to him.   As a result of this blessing and seeing the work of Daniel the king of Babylon turns to worship the King of Israel, that would be Almighty God.