II. God’s Sovereignty
seen in His Control over World Empires (chs. 2-7).
C.
The Dream of the Great Tree and the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar (4:1-37).
1. Various themes & emphases of the
narrative.
a. The culmination of the unfolding story
of God’s personal spiritual dealings with King Nebuchadnezzar.
b. A lesson in the folly of pride,
the mother of sins.
c. A study in God’s gracious, redemptive correction—as opposed to chapter
5, where
Divine punishment is purely punitive.
d. As the representative
Gentile world power, symbolizing the Kingdom of Man in all of its sinful
manifestations, judgment upon Babylon’s ruler (and upon the Neo-Babylonian Empire
itself in ch. 5) foreshadows, in the typical-sense, the termination of
the Times of the Gentiles with final downfall of the End-Time Antichrist.
e. Chapters 4 & 5 together—through the
experiences of the first (Nebuchadnezzar) and last (Belshazzar) kings of the first
world-empire associated with the Times of the Gentiles—serve as a reminder that
ultimately one day Gentile rulers will acknowledge that
ultimate sovereignty belongs to the Most High (Phil. 2:10-11)!
2. Various literary characteristics &
distinctives of the narrative.
a. One of the lengthiest chapters in
the Book of Daniel.
b. Unusual authorship: for
the most part, essentially an extended first-person autobiographical narrative & edict coming from the mouth
of King Nebuchadnezzar himself (!)—with perhaps some degree of editing by
Daniel in passages where the King is referred to in the third-person (vv.
28-33).
o It is possible that the
King employed the aid of Daniel and/or others in its composition; note, for
example, similarities to Ps. 145:13.
o In antiquity, royal
officials were sometimes authorized to write official decrees in the ruler’s
name (e.g., Esther 3:12, 8:8-10).
o Inspiration demands
that this official and universally broadcast edict from Babylon’s King has been
faithfully & accurately recorded by Daniel (cf., Ezra 1:2-4, Acts 23:26-30).
Its inclusion here is God’s will!
o It must be remembered
that God can speak through whatever vessel He sovereignly appoints! (Num. 22:28,
30; John 11:49-52).
c. Chapter 4’s
relationship to Daniel’s literary pattern of employing chiasm.
i. A Chiastic structure, or pattern, is a literary
device employing symmetrically
arranged, corresponding narrative patterns (i.e.,
a mirror image). For example:
A:
Idea “A”
B: Idea “B”
C: Idea “C”
C: Idea “C”
B: Idea “B”
A:
Idea “A”
Gen. 9:6a is an example of a
chiasm found within a single verse:
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man
shall his blood be shed…”
A: Whoever sheds
B: the blood
C:
of
man
C:
by
man shall
B: his blood
A: be shed
The chiastic structure underscores the central
point: i.e., the law of retributive justice is to be upheld (“blood”-“blood”),
in that the Divinely-prescribed corrective for the chaos of human violence
is the orderly administration of justice—which is to be administered by human
government (“man”-“man”), in harmony with Rom. 13.
ii. Chiasm is involved in Daniel’s overall
literary construction: chs. 1-7 & 8-12.
o
There
are varying approaches to organizing the outline of Daniel, including:
1) Literary Content/Genre: the Historical
Narrative sections (chs. 1-6) vs. the Prophetic/Visionary portions (chs.
7-12);
2) Linguistic: the Aramaic
sections (chs. 2-7) vs. the Hebrew (chs. 1, 8-12).
o
Many,
focusing upon the Linguistic approach, have detected a chiasm in
Daniel’s overall structure.
o The thematic chiasm of
the Aramaic portions (chs. 2-7) is quite self-evident.
o Some would suggest that
Daniel’s entire structure is based upon a sort of double-chiasm.
o In this organizational
pattern the Aramaic portions (chs. 2-7) would form a chiasm, and Hebrew
sections (chs. 8-11) would also form a second chiasm. Both sections are generally
viewed as being connected and bracketed by a Hebrew Prologue & Epilogue
(chs. 1 & 12).
o The Hebrew portions
(chs. 8-12) might be outlined with different variations and with more-or-less
detail, depending upon the student, but the chart below provides the reader
with the basic and general idea:
iii. Within
the context of the Aramaic-chiasm (chs. 2-7), Dan. 4 parallels Dan. 5.
Dr. John Walvoord, Daniel:
Structurally, chapter 4 is parallel to
chapter 5 and sits at the center of the chiasm formed in the Aramaic section of
the book. Chapters 2 and 7 highlight the certain coming of God’s kingdom
following the rise of four successive Gentile powers. Chapters 3 and 6 focus on
the need for God’s people to remain faithful despite opposition and persecution
as they await His kingdom.
Thus, God’s humbling of proud Nebuchadnezzar
stands as a parallel to the humbling of his grandson, the proud
Belshazzar—though with greatly differing personal outcomes!
iv. Literary analysis has also detected various
other chiasms within Daniel
(e.g., The Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Dan.
9:25-27, Dan. 6).
v. Daniel 4 is, in-and-of-itself a chiasm.
Dr. John Constable, Expository Notes on
Daniel:
The structure of the chapter is
essentially ABBA, chiastic. It begins and ends with praise of God (Dan. 4:1-3;
Dan. 4:34-37), and in the middle there is the narration of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream (Dan. 4:4-18), and its interpretation and fulfillment (Dan. 4:19-33).
Thus, in accordance with the above:
A: King
Nebuchadnezzar praises God (4:1-3)
B: Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream: its substance (4:4-18)
B: Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream: its interpretation and fulfillment (4:19-33)
A: King
Nebuchadnezzar praises God (4:34-37)
Some would offer a more detailed chiasm:
A: Prologue: The King
praises God (4:1-3)
B: The RECEPTION of
the Dream (4:4-7)
C: DIALOGUE with
Daniel (4:8-9)
D: The Dream RELATED (4:10-17)
E: DIALOGUE: The King
to Daniel (4:18-19a)
E: DIALOGUE: Daniel
to the King (4:19b)
D: The Dream
INTERPRETED (4:20-26)
C: DIALOGUE with the King
(4:27)
B: The FULFILLMENT of
the Dream (4:28-33)
A: Epilogue: The King
Praises God (4:34-37)
3. The Prologue: the King Praises God (v. 1-3).
v.1a:
“Nebuchadnezzar the king…”
o The King’s testimony is
probably to be dated circa 562 BC. This proclamation represents our final word
from what may have been the greatest Gentile sovereign of antiquity—possibly delivered
shortly before the end of his long reign of 43 years (605-562 BC) at the age of
80.
o Accordingly, the dream
itself probably occurred a decade or less before the King’s death (c. 572 BC),
allowing for the year graciously allotted to him to heed Daniel’s call for
repentance (4:26, 29), and for the seven years of madness (4:16, 25, 32).
v.
1b: “to all the peoples, nations, and men…”
o Written in the style
and form of an official public document—a royal proclamation.
o The previously
vainglorious monarch places the story of his disgrace and humiliation into the open
public record—speaking with the sense of urgency and missionary zeal that
characterizes a new convert!
o An analogy: imagine a powerful Head
of State of our own day repenting of his sins and then calling an internationally
televised press conference to testify as to his own native foolishness and to
the saving-power of Jesus Christ!
o David Jeremiah, in his
commentary The Handwriting on the Wall, labels this chapter “The Gospel
according to Nebuchadnezzar.”
o “to all the
peoples…”
Customarily, hyperbolic universal language was commonly used by rulers
of great empires—even though they did not literally enjoy universal
dominion (Dan. 3:29, Luke 2:1).
o Ancient Mesopotamian tradition—extending
back to Sumerian times & pre-dating Nebuchadnezzar by many centuries—commonly
defined the perimeters of meaningful civilization to the general proximities of
the ancient near east.
o However, the
Neo-Babylonian empire was in fact ethnically diverse, representing many
different races, tribes, kindreds, and tongues.
o Furthermore, King
Nebuchadnezzar was in fact granted a hypothetical & potential universal sovereignty
at the Hands of God! His sovereignty is spoken of in Jer. 27:5-8 & 11
in terms that recall the dominion of Adam exercised in the early Earth. Apparently,
it was only his own pride that limited him and kept him from achieving &
realizing worldwide dominion.
Jer. 27:5-8: "I have
made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My
great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is
pleasing in My sight. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild
animals of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son
and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and
great kings will make him their servant. It will be, that the nation or the
kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which
will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that
nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence," declares the
LORD, "until I have destroyed it by his hand.”
Jer. 27:11: "But the nation which will
bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let
remain on its land," declares the LORD, "and they will till it and
dwell in it."
o The address to a
universal audience, however, may represent something more than a
hyperbolic expression. The King may be proclaiming the Good News of his
redemption even unto those members of the human race who were not directly
under the immediate auspices of his scepter (cf., Matt. 28:19).
v.
1c: "May your peace abound!”
o A common oriental
salutation
(cf., Ezra 4:17), corresponding to the Hebrew “Shalom!” The idea is expressed that
the person addressed might be preserved from all that may potentially disturb him
and experience well-being.
o However, coming from
the mouth of the Elect, it suggests a more meaningful usage, as when it
was adopted by the early Christian community (Titus 1:4, 1 Pet. 1:2, 2 Pet.
1:2) in which the ultimate Shalom is to be found in experiencing peace and reconciliation
with God (Luke 2:14, Rom. 5:1).
v.
2a: "It has seemed good to me…”
o It was deemed seemly, highly
becoming, morally decent, and a matter of ethical responsibility, to publicly
relate all of God’s acts of graciousness and benevolence unto him.
o Question: Do WE, as
Christians, feel the same evangelistic burden?
Matt. 5:14-16: “You are
the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to
all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that
they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
