20The tree which you saw which
grew great and grew strong, and the height of it reached to the heavens and the
appearance of it to the all of the world, 21the foliage of it lovely
and the fruit of it abundant and food to the all [was] in it; under it was
dwelling the animal of the field and in the branches of it dwelt the birds of
the heavens. 22You [are] it, O king, because you grew
great and you grew strong and the greatness of you grew great and reached to
the heavens and the dominion of you to the end of the earth 23and as
the king looked, a watcher and a holy one descending from the heavens and
saying, ‘Hew down the tree and destroy it but the stump of it in the earth let
alone and with a fetter of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field and dew
of the heavens be wetted and with the beast of the field, the lot of him until
seven times pass upon him.’
24This is the meaning, O king,
and the decree of the Most High [is] this which has come upon my lord, the
king, 25and you are one being driven away from the man and
with the animals of the field shall be your dwelling and with the grass like
oxen you will be fed and the dew of the heavens you one being wetted and
seven times shall pass upon you until you know that Master [is] the Most High
in the kingdoms of the man and to whomever He wishes He gives it, 26and
because they said to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom to
you [will be] enduring after you know that the heavens [are] mighty.
27Therefore, O king, my counsel
let be seemly to you and your sin by righteousness remove and your iniquity by
showing grace [to] the poor ones if the duration will be to your prosperity.”
Notice here what we have. In verse 19, Daniel had been
stunned by the dream and began, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your
enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!” Now in verses 20-27, he relates the
salient details of the dream, then interprets it, then offers his counsel to
the king.
One thing I’m trying to do is to stay “in the moment.” In
other words, I want to realize as I’m reading that neither Daniel nor
Nebuchadnezzar know any more than what has been revealed to this point in the
story. I want to glean what I can from what they are doing and saying, knowing
what they know at this point. It’s
easy to run ahead and talk about how Nebuchadnezzar did not take Daniel’s
advice, how he really did go down in pride, what happened to him, how he
ultimately did repent, etc. But that isn’t how we live our lives. We don’t know
the future. We have to live in the moment, based on what we do know – and that
is where we find Daniel and the king.
Given that’s the case, what do Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar see
right now? Here stands Daniel. The king tells him the dream and Daniel is
immediately struck by the horrors it holds. Here he stands before his king with
bad news to tell him. We’ve already seen that Daniel harbors no bitterness or
ill-will against this tyrant king, that he treats him with respect and loyalty.
I would suggest, as a godly man, Daniel actually loves the king, that he has
prayed for him and constantly sought to serve him well, believing that he is
king because God placed him there.
I have served under some pretty difficult bosses over the
years and have experienced for myself the love the Lord will put in a believer’s
heart for such men. As you sincerely try to serve them faithfully, the usual
pattern I’ve found is that they know it and appreciate it. It has been fun to
help them solve problems and deal with situations and know they appreciate it.
They’re used to people brown-nosing them, hiding from them, making excuses, and
all the rest. It is truly different for them to have a real believer working
for them – someone who genuinely seeks to do them good, who is honest with them
– and even if they’re not a good person themself, still the believer can
actually develop a close relationship with such a leader.
I do not doubt at all that is what we have here. Only now suddenly
Daniel’s job is to give him bad news.
For many people, they would fear this tyrant king’s temper if they tell him the
truth. Most of us would probably have that to deal with. But I don’t think that
is the case with Daniel. I think it really is personally painful for him to see
his king hurt.
But our Daniel has long been practicing faithfulness and so
he tells the king the truth.
Also note how much Daniel is struck with the fear of God. He
understands the message and is literally terrified at what the Lord is
threatening. At this moment in the situation, we do not know how Nebuchadnezzar
will respond, but one thing we know for sure – Daniel is a man who rightly
fears the Lord. How often is that true that believers see the hand of God’s
judgment and feel its terror, while people around them go on unmoved? And that
is true even when the judgment is intended for those very people. A true
believer fears for them! As Proverbs
tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It is often hard
for us believers to see people we love not
fearing the Lord, knowing where it’s going to get them.
And in this case what does Daniel’s proper fear of the Lord
move him to do? He does the one thing probably no one has ever done in the life of this man named Nebuchadnezzar – he calls
him to repent of his sins! I can almost imagine gasps in the room as others
hear his words. NO ONE corrects Nebuchadnezzar! But our Daniel does. In verse
22, his says like Nathan of old, “You’re the man!” Then here in verse 27, he
actually urges the king to repent of his cruelty to the poor!
Once again, we could be awed by Daniel’s courage, realizing
the king could easily fly immediately into a violent rage, but I rather think
we ought to be awed by his love. I believe it’s his love that makes him brave.
Because of the love God has given him, he has for years been praying for this
king, sincerely trying to do him good – and now, in this moment of both danger
and opportunity, Daniel’s love moves him to do what he’s always done: sincerely
try to do the king good.
At this moment, for Daniel, the whole world hangs in
suspense. How will the king respond? One thing I believe we can say, even not
knowing how the king will respond, is that what Daniel has just done was right –
and I don’t particularly mean his calling the king to repent so much as the
respect and loyalty and love Daniel communicates as he does so. Here is a
classic case of I Corin. 13, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels
and have not love…I am nothing.” If there is any chance at all that this king
might listen to the truth, everything in Daniel’s manner is making it easy, is
softening the blow of this brutal truth. Daniel’s manner (which is simply an
expression of the love he’s been practicing for years) is providing a safe
place for the king to repent. And, again, that is the right thing to do.
So, in this moment, will Nebuchadnezzar fly into a violent
rage and shout, “I’ll have you cut into pieces and your house turned into a
pile of rubble!” Or will he actually be humble himself enough to accept Daniel’s
counsel and perhaps even avoid this awful judgment?
In this moment, Daniel doesn’t know. But he stands there
knowing he’s done right, knowing he has loved, and trusting this same Most High
God who rules in the lives of men and nations.
Like your life and mine, Daniel has to live in the moment,
trust God in the moment, and simply seek to do right and to love…in the moment.
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