Weekly Bible Commentary by Wes Woodard – Daniel 4 – “King Nebuchadnezzar Does Not Listen to Daniel’s Advice”

The king had another dream about a tree that would be chopped down. Daniel interpreted the tree to be King Nebuchadnezzar. He advised the king, “Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” The king did not heed Daniel’s advice and exactly one year later he was walking around on the roof of the palace and said these words to himself, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built…. by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” At this point the king lost his sanity and had to be placed in a field because he thought he was a cow! It must have been a good pasture because his hair and fingernails grew very long. Verse 2 says that he would stay in the field with the cows for seven periods of time. No one knows whether this was seven days, seven months, or seven years. A friend of mine suggested that most likely it was seven years since the Babylonian Empire was so vast in size that it would take that long for all the citizens to see how their king had been humbled by Daniel’s God. Fortunately God was very gracious to this mighty king even though he was very proud. In the Living Bible, Ken Taylor says in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” That is exactly what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. However, the story has a good ending. King Nebuchadnezzar explained in this way, “I raised my eyes toward Heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.”