Daniel 4:27
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
Daniel closed his interpretation of the king's tree dream — the great tree cut to a stump being Nebuchadnezzar himself in his greatness, to be driven from men to live with beasts for seven times until he learned that Heaven rules — with a second warning to break off sins by righteousness and iniquities by mercy to the poor, that his peace and prosperity might be lengthened and the sentence averted. The counsel called him to abandon wrongdoing and oppression for right conduct, compassion and care for the needy because pride had lifted him to forget God as the source of his strength. He was put on trial for twelve months, but the warning left no lasting change, and in an unguarded moment of boasting over great Babylon built by his own power the tree was felled, his reason taken and he was banished among the beasts. Afterward he acknowledged God's sovereignty as the living God, was converted and miraculously restored with his kingdom restored to him. It is a lesson to every earthly ruler that authority comes from Heaven and continued peace depends on turning from sin to do justice and show mercy to the poor. For the guilty man that breaking off of sin means earnest reform without delay in living union with Christ by active faith, utter dependence, humbling of heart and painful detachment from pride and selfishness until character is transformed, which brings pardon, peace and acceptance.
Dream Setting and Counsel
The counsel belongs to Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a lofty great tree cut down to a stump, where the tree is the king himself in his greatness, prosperity, power and glory, with the nations under his rule. It was a further dream God gave after the king had acknowledged from the furnace miracle that the God of the Hebrews is the living God, but he did not continue to walk in the light and lost the holy impression made on his mind. Daniel declared that the great tree was the king himself and that the Most High had decreed he would be driven from men to live with beasts for seven times until he knew that God rules the kingdom of men and that heaven rules, and that his kingdom would be restored to him when he learned this.
The coming judgment was because of pride, arrogance and self-exaltation, for he did not acknowledge God as the source of his strength and ability, and his prosperity elevated and deceived him. Daniel had a solemn duty to tell this dreadful truth plainly and personally without flattery or seeking favor, whatever the consequences might follow, and the verse closes his interpretation as a second warning to the king. It urges him to break off sins by righteousness and iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, to abandon wrongdoing and practice right conduct, and to replace oppression and selfishness with compassion, kindness and care for those in need. It calls the self-exalted ruler to stop sinning by doing what is right and to turn from wrongdoing by being merciful to the poor instead of continuing in his course.
The counsel is conditional and offers a chance before the announced judgment falls, holding out that if he repents and changes conduct his tranquility, peace, security and prosperity may be lengthened. Such turning to righteous living and kindness to the poor could avert the threatened calamity, delay the threatened judgment, and keep the threatened sentence from being fulfilled.
Probation and Fulfillment
Daniel's counsel placed the king on a twelve-month probation, during which his actions were weighed while he was tested and proved, and for a time he was genuinely impressed by the warning. The judgment was thus delayed to give him space to repent by turning from sin to righteousness and mercy to the poor, so that his peace might be prolonged and the threatened sentence delayed or not fulfilled. That forbearance, however, was dismissed as commonplace and had no lasting or saving effect on character. Because his heart was not fully transformed, self-indulgence and inordinate ambition remained, he soon lost the impression of the Spirit, persisted in pride and vanity, lost confidence in the interpretation, and returned to boasting of his own power.
In an unguarded moment he exalted himself for great Babylon as built by his own power and for his own honor. In that instant sentence was issued and the tree was felled: the blessings bestowed upon him were removed, his reason and wisdom were taken away, and the mighty ruler was banished from human society and driven from men to find his place among the beasts of the field. That degradation lasted seven years. Afterward he acknowledged his wrong and God's sovereignty, was converted and miraculously restored, with his kingdom restored to him, having learned to acknowledge the living God who has power to create and destroy.
Belshazzar knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar yet ignored the lessons it should have taught him. Light is given to lead to reform, and neglecting or refusing to practice that light brings judgment, and his calamity followed such disregard of the light given to Nebuchadnezzar.
Lessons for Rulers and Believers
Authority comes from Heaven, and the counsel to break off sins by righteousness and iniquities by showing mercy to the poor is a lesson for every earthly ruler that success and continued peace depend on how rulers use the power God gives them, by turning from sin, living righteously, doing justice and judgment, and being merciful to the poor. The conditional promise is that doing so may prolong peace, tranquility, security and prosperity, while refusal to heed brings removal of human ability and the uprooting and confusing of ambitious projects, and repentance with humbling the heart before God brings pardon, peace, acceptance and another trial and proving. The king was warned because he did not acknowledge God as the source of his strength and ability and was pursuing self-exaltation that would bring divine judgment, after the interpretation of the dream of the great tree cut down to a stump. For twelve months he was tested and proved while his actions were weighed, yet the warning from God was dismissed as commonplace.
The plain, personal counsel spoken directly to the self-exalted king in his high place, warning him to stop sinning by doing what is right and to turn from wrongdoing by showing kindness to the poor so that peace and prosperity might be prolonged before judgment falls, stands as the pattern and example for future opportunities for God's servants to speak plainly and give personal warning and counsel to repent to those who stand in high places of the earth and have influence and authority. If such persons repent and are converted, God can use them in His cause. The counsel holds lessons of vital importance for all connected with the work of God, and in a special sense for those entrusted to receive sacred truth and reveal it to the world, who are far more accountable than the king of Babylon because his course is laid out before them to learn from. It reveals God working to change even the heart of a heathen king, with a Watcher taking cognizance of human works, and sets the solemn duty to tell the truth without flattery or seeking favor.
The case stands as a warning to a leader in God's work who is bringing in principles God will not sustain and carrying on the work by human wisdom. Such a one is not to trust in self or human strength or make human strength a support, not to exalt and magnify self, not to take unauthorized authority and power over God's heritage, and not to control, criticize and condemn fellow workers who do not meet his ideas. Breaking off sins by righteousness and iniquities by turning to the Lord means putting forth most earnest effort to form a lasting alliance and living union with Christ by living, active faith whose permanence is the condition of union, where Christ is chosen as first and last and best in everything and through which alone the proffered blessings are attained. Turning from sin therefore involves righteous living, repentance, thorough reformation, and turning to the Lord to form a living union with Christ that depends on cherishing a living, active, enduring faith.
That union costs utter dependence, feeling need of the atoning blood of Christ, change of heart, submission of the will to the will of God, painful detachment from pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness and sin in all its forms, humbling the heart before God and continuing until character is transformed, with struggle against outward and internal obstacles. For a guilty man the verse means making reform his lifework with no delay, righting past cruel wrongs to wife and children as far as possible and showing mercy to the oppressed, which evidences the character of those who will be clothed in white and walk with Christ and receive the seal of the living God. Refusal leaves selfishness, appetite and oppression unovercome and brings the foretold judgments as they came upon Nebuchadnezzar, with dealing without sympathy, without mercy, without compassion.