10.
The Fulfillment of the Dream (4:28-33).
A narrative shift: these verses,
relating to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, are appropriately written in
the third person, as opposed to the first. When reason returns,
the King again resumes his first-person narrative.
v. 28: "All this happened to
Nebuchadnezzar the king.”
o A grim and most
pregnant introduction to the events that follow. Failing to repent, all of
these things happened because the King failed to yield unto Daniel’s godly counsel!
v. 29a: "Twelve months later…”
o The King was granted
the “grace period” of a full year to respond to Daniel’s call for
repentance! Sadly, in his unregenerate state, he refuses to bow before the Lord
and avail himself of this gracious opportunity—despite being the
beneficiary of such dark and terrible warnings from the mouth of a man that he
respected as a true and accurate interpreter of Divine communications (cf.,
2:46-47, 4:18). Such bears witness unto the hard, stony, and utterly
impenetrable heart of natural man (Eph. 2:1; 1 Cor. 2:14, Jer. 17:9).
Jer. 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
o This recalls the
principle of grace before judgment (cf., Gen. 6:3).
Gen 6:3: Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall
not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
o Such a delay of Divine
Justice is usually unheeded by men, who typically misinterpret God’s patience
and make the temporary deferral of God’s wrath an occasion to further harden
their hearts and perhaps even make sport of the Lord’s forbearance and
restraint.
2 Pet. 3:3-4: “…knowing this first of all, that
scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful
desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the
fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning
of creation.”
Eccl. 8:11: “Because the sentence against an evil
deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to
do evil.”
But nonetheless, judgement still falls!
2 Pet. 3:9-10: The Lord is not slow concerning his
promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a
great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the
earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
o The failure of men to
avail themselves of the opportunity to repent in and of itself confirms the
very justice behind Divine Judgment!
v. 29b: “…he was walking on the roof of the
royal palace of Babylon.”
o There were no less than
three royal residences within the confines of the great city. This
doubtless refers to the primary royal palace located in conjunction with the
fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which would have provided an awesome and
spectacular vantage point from which to view the entire city. This grand palace
was known alternately as “The Marvel of Mankind,” “The Center of the Land,” “The
Shining Residence,” or “The Dwelling of Majesty.”
v. 30a: "The king reflected and said,
'Is this not Babylon the great…?”
The King’s boast in the splendor of his
refurbished and re-invented capital city was not without merit!
o Located some 50 miles
south of modern Baghdad, Babylon was a city of great antiquity, associated with
the infamous post-diluvian Hamite monarch Nimrod (Gen. 10:10) and the Tower of
Babel (Gen. 11:1-9), serving as the capital of the Old (or First) Babylonian
Empire (c. 1894 BC–1595 BC). Nebuchadnezzar, however, would raise the city to
new heights and unprecedented grandeur as the capital of his Neo-Babylonian (or
Chaldean) Empire.
o Babylon was the largest
and most populous city of antiquity, with an estimated population of some
1,200,000 individuals.
Isa. 13:19a: “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans…”
The city was essentially a vast square,
measuring approx. 15 x 15 miles, surrounded by a deep, wide moat. Laid out in
orderly fashion, the city featured wide streets and boulevards, enhanced by great
public monuments and numerous buildings—as well as by cultivated farm land
& orchards that helped serve the city’s agricultural needs!
o The ancient Greek
historian Herodotus records that Babylon’s impregnable double walls measured
some 56 miles in total length and extended to an overall width of 80 ft. (comparable
to modern 6 lane highway!), allowing four-horse chariots to ride abreast on the
top. Measuring some 320 feet in height, the wall system featured some 260
individual towers.
o The wall system and its
massive gates were decorated with royal blue ceramic tile and golden-colored
animal figures (lions, bulls, and dragons). Notable was the famous Ishtar Gate,
made of beautifully crafted blue glazed bricks at the end of the wide and
spectacular Procession Street.
o The city also featured
an impressive system of levees and canals that drained excess water from the
Euphrates into the Tigris, preventing flooding. A 400 ft. bridge spanned the
Euphrates (which bisected the city), joining the eastern and western halves of
Babylon.
o The city featured some
53 temples, many of which housed formidable golden statues. The Temple of
Marduk (Nebuchadnezzar’s patron deity) was 288 ft. high, situated on top of the
seven-story Tower of Babylon, which was built of 60 million fired bricks.
Inside the temple was a solid gold statue of Marduk, weighing some 52,000
pounds.
o Perhaps the grandest
achievement was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon—one of the Seven Wonders
of the World—which was located in conjunction with the King’s primary
residence, the Grand Palace. Essentially a 400-foot-high man-made mountain, the
Gardens were an ascending series of terraces that featured running water (a
triumph of hydraulic engineering) and all manner of trees and vegetation. The
King built this marvel for his beloved wife, Queen Amytis (cf., Dan. 5:10-12?),
who, as a native Median princess, had missed the fertile green hills of her
homeland.
