Daniel 4:9, commentary and pictures

This is another dream that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, recorded in the fourth chapter of Daniel. God had already revealed Himself by the dream of the great image with Babylon as the head of gold, sending Daniel to explain what should be hereafter, and by delivering the three Hebrew captives who refused to worship the golden image set up in the plain of Dura from the burning fiery furnace, where the king saw the form of the Fourth and was convinced that their God was the living God. Because the king did not continue to walk in that light he lost the holy impression made upon his mind, and God saw fit to give him this further dream.

Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest and most powerful ruler of his time, whose prospered kingdom God had given him for God's glory and designated as the head of gold. The dream Daniel was asked to explain was explicit about the king's kingdom and pictured his greatness and prosperity: the lofty tree represented Nebuchadnezzar, while the creatures sheltered by it represented the nations under his sovereignty and the kingdom established among his loyal subjects. The magicians, astrologers, soothsayers and Chaldeans could not make the dream known or tell its interpretation.

Nebuchadnezzar addresses Daniel as Belteshazzar, master of the magicians and chief of the wise men, calls him into his presence, relates the troubling visions, and asks him to recount them and declare the interpretation. He does so because he knows that the spirit of the holy gods and divine wisdom is in Daniel and that no secret or mystery troubles him, so that Daniel can disclose and explain mysteries the king's magicians and astrologers could not explain and can reveal hidden matters. The king turned to Daniel remembering that in early acquaintance Daniel alone had given him relief in perplexity and help in explaining mysteries, so when this later perplexing vision was given he remembered Daniel and called him.

The king's words bear testimony that the servants of God understand the things of God, while those who do not love and fear God cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and cannot approach the throne of Him who dwells in light unapproachable, so the things of God remain mysteries of mysteries to them. Daniel told the dream and its interpretation before the king because he was esteemed for unswerving integrity, for faithfully honoring God at all times and in all places, for unexcelled wisdom, and for refusing with his fellows any compromise to gain court position or even to preserve life when God's honor was involved. The episode belongs to the history Belshazzar knew: Nebuchadnezzar had received light from God, was humbled by God, then converted and miraculously restored, but Belshazzar disregarded the lessons of the king's experience and his neglect of that light brought calamity on Babylon.

God gives such lessons to lead people to reform, and neglecting and failing to practice them brings judgment. The record of Nebuchadnezzar's life in Daniel 4:1-37 warns against trusting in oneself and one's own wisdom and cautions against making human strength one's support. The case of Nebuchadnezzar is presented to workers in God's vineyard as a direct reproof for a course bringing in principles the Lord will not sustain or favor.