Daniel 4:17, commentary and pictures

The decree from the heavenly watchers announced the downfall of the proud king so that all the living might learn that the supreme God governs the kingdoms of men and no kingdom is independent of Him. He gives ruling power to whomever He chooses, even to the lowliest and basest of men, and He takes it away to humble pride. The decree came in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great tree cut down to a stump, showing that he would be driven from men to live as a beast until he acknowledged that his greatness, prosperity, and reason were gifts from God. The watchers who issued the decree continually observe every word, action, and hidden motive, weighing conduct with perfect justice. Nations likewise are permitted to hold power only for a period of testing to fulfill the Watcher's purpose, and when they fail they lose glory and give way to another, until God sets up His everlasting kingdom.

Dream Setting and Outcome

This decree of the watcher and holy one comes as the close of the second dream given to Nebuchadnezzar to warn him against exalting himself. It was another dream God gave him after he failed to continue walking in the light from the deliverance of the three Hebrews and lost the holy impression made on his mind.

In that dream the lofty tree represented his greatness and prosperity, with nations living under his sovereignty and his kingdom firmly established in the hearts of loyal subjects. His prosperity and power as the greatest ruler of the time had been given him by God for the glory of God, which caused his kingdom to be designated the head of gold. The troubled king could get no interpretation from his wise men and called Daniel, in whom was the spirit of the holy gods. Daniel was much troubled when he saw the significance, yet told the king plainly what would befall him.

The watcher cried to hew down the great tree that fed all flesh, to cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, scatter its fruit, and drive away the beasts and fowls. Yet the stump of its roots was to be left in the earth bound with iron and brass, wet with dew, with its portion with the beasts and with a beast's heart, till seven times passed over him. The fate of the tree was emblematic of Nebuchadnezzar's own downfall if he failed to heed the warning. He himself would be driven from men to dwell with the beasts of the field, eat grass like oxen, be wet with the dew of heaven, lose his reason and the wisdom and mind that were gifts from God, forsake the abodes of men to find a home with the beasts of the field, and remain in that condition seven years until he learned that the Most High rules.

Daniel urged the proud monarch to repent, to break off sins by righteousness and iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it might lengthen his tranquility and avert the calamity. The light from heaven was not accepted and exerted no saving influence on his character. Those who receive light must change their course of action or the work of the Lord will become less and less palatable until it is finally set aside, and neglecting God's instruction brings judgment and costs benefits that could have been received.

The dream was a very striking and explicit warning from God meant to lead him to trace out the end of all earthly things and the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. But in pride he turned the warning against himself and followed the imaginations of his proud heart, thinking his kingdom should become more extensive and powerful than it was. Like the irrevocable decree of the holy Watcher that cannot be appealed or averted, the divine judgment upon Judah meant that the Chaldeans would return, destroy Jerusalem, and carry the remnant into captivity, where adversity would teach lessons they had refused to learn in more favorable circumstances.

Watchers and Holy Ones

The matter stands by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones, and that decree announces the felling of the lofty tree and the coming adversity upon the king in order that the living may know that the Most High rules over human kingdoms, gives them to whomever He wills, and can set even the lowliest person over them. Heavenly watchers and holy beings witness events on earth and declare that rule. They observe human words and actions as they occur.

A Watcher is present in every assembly and stands beside every soul. He guards the interests of all men and sees all that is done. Every individual is before Him, with not a thought of the heart unnoted and not a plan or imagination unseen, and His ear hears secret whispering while every secret thing is brought into judgment.

The holy Watcher sees every word and action, every transaction and hidden motive. He records them and weighs motives and conduct with perfect justice and truth before God. This weighing includes what is said and decided in counsel.

This watching rests in a special sense upon responsible men entrusted with God's work who have had great light and great opportunities, so that if they turn from God's word to human ideas and plans they are without excuse. A Watcher is in the midst of God's workers, inspecting all that is planned and carried on, so that all work is done under the eyes of the heavenly host. In that oversight the Lord reveals Himself as a God of judgment.

Most High Rules Kingdoms

The decree is given to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and governs the kingdoms of the world, and no kingdom is independent of His authority and supervision. The world is not without a ruler, and the program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord, who has the destiny of nations as well as the concerns of His church in His own hands. Those who understand the laws God established for His subjects and His governing laws yet refuse to obey them come under condemnation. He gives the kingdom to whomsoever He will and sets up over it even the basest of men, and He can raise even the lowliest person to power. He also gives power and takes it away to humble pride, so that Nebuchadnezzar's humbling made his punishment a lesson in sovereignty, showing his power and position came from God and could not overrule God by prideful misuse.

God alone is exalted above all things and alone is great, while human agencies must be kept in their proper limited place as merely human. All human authority is to be treated respectfully, yet even the highest and most learned monarchs and statesmen are as dust in the balance. The human agent is to be kept out of sight, hid in Christ, while the Lord God of heaven and His law are exalted, exposing how poor, frail, short-lived, erring, and guilty man is in lifting up his soul unto vanity. Even heathen kings and idolaters remain subject to His will, and God deals with them according to their evil ways and deeds. Even the most exalted rulers remain subject to His supreme control and under His jurisdiction whatever their position, and rulers who make laws opposed to God's law will answer to God.

By His might and power God exalts whom He will to carry out His purposes, casting down one mighty ruler and setting up another in his place. As Monarch of an everlasting kingdom, the Ancient of Days, the living omnipotent Ruler, He wills to do and accomplishes His purposes and directs human affairs. He is the Eternal One of infinite resources who stands to meet agencies opposing His purposes and commandments, and in His own time He will subject every opposing force to humiliation. He is revealed as monarch of the universe, about to set up His everlasting kingdom, the living God, the source of all wisdom, the ruler of the present and the revealer of the future. The earth is God's and He has committed all things to His Son, so Christ remains the rightful King of the world. Adam was only God's vicegerent to reign subject to Christ, not by independent rule, and when Adam betrayed his sovereignty into Satan's hands Christ still remained the rightful King.

Satan's dominion was only what he wrested from Adam, so his boast that the world's kingdoms were delivered to him to give as he pleased is true only in part, for he can exercise his usurped authority only as God permits. The titles My servant, Israel, and servant of the Lord mean anyone the Lord may select and appoint to do a certain work. He makes them ministers of His will, though some who are selected may be as ignorant of His will as Nebuchadnezzar was.

Nations Tested and Judged

Nations are permitted to occupy their appointed place on earth so that it may be seen whether they will fulfill the purpose of the Watcher and the Holy One. Each great empire is granted a period of testing, and earthly nations and rulers hold their power and their time of rule only by God's permission for that test. The rise and fall of empires in turn belongs to this proving, for each is tried as to whether it will carry out His purposes.

God directs the affairs of human kingdoms and works out His own purpose in their rise and fall, ruling over them, giving authority to whomsoever He will, and able to raise even the lowliest person to power. History is therefore to be studied with attention to His agency in human affairs. The Majesty of heaven holds the destiny of nations as well as the concerns of His church in His own hands, the world is not without a ruler, and the program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord.

Each empire fails, loses its glory and power, and gives way to another when it fails its test. The rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and other nations demonstrate that God's authority extends over the kingdoms of humanity and that no nation's power continues after it fails.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream taught him that his Babylonian empire, though then universal, would eventually fall and other kingdoms would rule in its place. It points beyond those earthly powers to God's kingdom, which would replace them all and never be destroyed. In this God is revealed as monarch of the universe, about to set up His everlasting kingdom, the Ancient of Days, the living God, the source of all wisdom, the ruler of the present and the revealer of the future, who casts down one mighty ruler and sets up another.

The verse calls for close study of Daniel to see this truth in the history of the kingdoms there represented. There statesmen, councils, and powerful armies are displayed while God works to abase the pride of men and lay human glory in the dust. That laying low exposes how poor, frail, short-lived, erring, and guilty man is in lifting up his soul unto vanity, for God alone is great and the human agent is to be kept out of sight, hid in Christ, while the Lord God of heaven and His law are exalted.

God is supreme ruler over every earthly kingdom, none is independent of His authority and supervision, and all are under Him. Those who understand the laws He established for His subjects and His governing laws but refuse to obey them come under condemnation.

Humbling Pride Exalting God

Nebuchadnezzar's humbling was decreed by heaven as a lesson in divine sovereignty, that the Most High rules human kingdoms, gives authority to whomever He wills, and can place even the lowest person in power. His power and position came from God, and his prideful misuse of them could not overrule God's rule, so despite his pride and ambition his kingdom was taken from him until he acknowledged God's rule. His sin was pride in placing himself where God should be, when lifted up by prosperity he gloried in his own power and majesty for building great Babylon by the might of his power for the honor of his majesty. At once the sentence was issued, his blessings were removed and his reason was taken away, and he was driven from men to dwell with the beasts of the field until he knew that God rules.

Whoever is lifted up by his own ability and trusts in human strength and wisdom will be brought down and overcome, to teach utter weakness and need of divine aid. The purpose is that he may learn that the Lord alone is to be exalted and that glory belongs in Christ and Him crucified alone, and Nebuchadnezzar's life stands as a warning not to trust in oneself or one's own wisdom. God punishes pride in many ways, and punishment surely follows wherever pride is indulged, while rejecting heaven's warnings will bring punishment. Unless those who bear responsibilities humble their hearts before Him they will make grievous mistakes.

God chastises His people not merely to separate the sin from the sinner but by His own light to reveal the sin which led the soul away from God and would be its ruin unless corrected. Through severe discipline Nebuchadnezzar learned that his own scepter was subordinate to God's supreme rule, and that God's kingdom is everlasting and His dominion extends through every generation. His banishment and restoration demonstrated that he was subject to God's decree and that earthly rulers must learn their responsibility to obey God, yet Belshazzar knew these lessons but ignored them. No man is given authority and power over God's heritage to exalt and magnify himself. The case warns against acting that proud part by standing to require everyone to understand and carry out one man's mind, to investigate and criticize and condemn work that does not meet his ideas, to discourage those striving in simplicity, and to reveal supremacy in making laws and pledges for the future.

Living Under Watchful Eye

God rules over all kingdoms and is more powerful than earthly rulers. In providence He joined Daniel and his companions to the great men of Babylon so those men might become acquainted with the religion of the Hebrews and know that God rules. Daniel faithfully did his work as a statesman while steadfastly refusing any work against God, and that course stirred discussion that brought his faith before the king of Babylon. God had light for Nebuchadnezzar, and through Daniel the king was shown things foretold concerning Babylon and other kingdoms, so that by the interpretation of the dream Jehovah was exalted above earthly rulers and through Daniel's faithfulness God was honored. In the same way publishing houses are to keep in touch with the world and witness for God.

There is a God who rules over all, and humanity is to be given this testimony in the great crisis before us. God will work through His servants to declare it as He worked through Daniel, and churches bear the solemn responsibility to give youth who desire to become workers for God opportunity to obtain a knowledge of Bible truth for this work. The world is not without a ruler and the program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord, for the Majesty of heaven holds the destiny of nations as well as the concerns of His church in His own hands, so His servants in great emergency are not to trust to themselves. The lesson reaches also to people through whom God works: they must recognize that the living, ever-present God remains supreme. Nebuchadnezzar learned through severe discipline that his own scepter was subordinate to God's supreme rule, and that God's kingdom is everlasting and His dominion extends through every generation.

A Watcher stands by the side of all who fill positions of trust, ready to reprove and convict of wrongdoing and to answer prayers for help. He watches to see whether those privileged to bear responsibility will look to God for wisdom and use every opportunity to perfect character after the divine similitude. If they turn aside from straightforward rectitude God turns from them, and if they do not earnestly strive to understand His will concerning them He cannot bless or prosper or sustain them. This watching rests in a special sense upon responsible men entrusted with God's work who have had great light and great opportunities, for the heavenly universe is acquainted with all the works of men and a Watcher is present in every assembly. If such men turn from God's word to human ideas and plans they are without excuse.

God abominates the spirit of selfishness, self-exaltation and pomposity coming into councils and committees, and He who sits in the heavens requires a different spirit to control their proceedings. The Watcher will not long bear perversity in those who practice principles detrimental to all within their sphere, for such character development will leave its possessor with no place among the redeemed. A holy watcher in heaven observes human conduct and its consequences, including how money spent to gratify pride could instead have been used to glorify God and carry the gospel to others.

A Power ruling among humanity defeats plots against God's people: although enemies secure a decree through falsehood, God commissions angels to protect His people and the scheme turns back upon the adversaries. In the days of Queen Esther this reigning Power meant the enemy's plots against the Jews were defeated, for in providence Esther, a Jewess who feared the Most High, had been made queen of the Medo-Persian kingdom so that she and her relative Mordecai could appeal to King Xerxes in behalf of their people in their extremity. Over this world and all earthly potentates God rules with supreme power as a mighty power of infinite resources, the Eternal One who stands to meet the agencies opposing His purposes and commandments. Those who fight against the truth with satanic zeal, losing true courtesy, Christian politeness, and meekness, do not know and understand this reality, yet in His own time God will subject every opposing force to humiliation.