32and from the man ones driving
away you and with the animals of the field your dwelling [will be]. The
grass like oxen they will feed you and seven times will pass over upon
you until you know that Master [is] the Most High in the kingdoms of the man
and to whomever He pleases, He gives it.”
This is, of course, a terrible judgment. This is the third
time Nebuchadnezzar has heard these words, but now the ax has fallen. We should
probably pause and consider that this is perhaps one of the worst possible judgments
any one could suffer – to lose your mind. What I mean is, the Lord just said,
in v. 31 that his kingdom has been taken from him. That would be a terrible blow
to this very proud monarch, but as crushing as it would be, if he still had his
mind, he would immediately begin plotting how he would somehow get it back. Such
a loss would not humble this man. It would rather enrage him!
But to lose the ability to respond at all is probably one of
the most painful afflictions we intelligent, responsible human beings could
ever suffer. I’m thinking, at this point, we should be like Daniel and actually
pity this man, rather than allow any feelings of triumph that this cruel tyrant
is “getting his deserts.” Tyrant he may be, yet he is still a man. God’s heart
would be longing for his repentance and restoration. Ours should be too. We
need grace, just like him!
That said, there are some other things I’d like to note from
this verse. First of all, see the places above in my translation where I
underlined the word “you.” In v. 30, Nebuchadnezzar had boasted, “Is not this
the great Babylon which I have built?” There I underlined the pronoun “I”
because it is emphatic in the Aramaic. There was no question Nebuchadnezzar
meant “I.” Now, as the Lord speaks to him from heaven, notice He is also being
emphatic, “You will be driven away and you will eat grass like an
ox!” The king, in a sense, thought he was alone. He was sitting on the throne
of the universe boasting, “I!” But Someone was listening who responds, “No,
you…” Someone far greater than him was listening. Someone knew
Nebuchadnezzar and that Someone held his very life in His hand. What we should
all note is that our relationship with God is about “you and I.” It is
personal. But the key is understanding who is the you and who is the I. That is
precisely what the king had never learned – but he is about to.
There is another thing I think is notable and which bears on
our own relationship with God. The Lord’s intended lesson for Nebuchadnezzar is
repeated three times in this chapter: first as Nebuchadnezzar relates the dream
and specifically in v.17, then as Daniel recalls the dream (and specifically in
v.25), and now here in v.32 with the Lord Himself declaring it. All three are
letter for letter identical saying the lesson to be learned is “that the Most
High rules in the kingdoms of men and gives them to whomever He pleases.” Straight
from the angels, it was said it was for the purpose that “all the living might
know,” then in vv.25 & 32 it was addressed specifically to the king, “until
you know.”
But the lesson itself is in each passage identical. Word for
word. Letter for letter. Identical.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not
pass away.”
When the Lord says it, He means it.
The Bible is full of this, but two examples jump into my
mind: The Lord told Jonah, “Go to the great city of Nineveh…” Jonah ran away,
got thrown in the ocean and swallowed by a fish, then got spit up on the beach,
until finally the word of the Lord came to him, “Go to the great city of Nineveh.”
After all of Jonah’s machinations, the Lord’s directions to him did not change.
When the Lord says it, He means it. We also see this where Ahab jails the prophet
Micaiah, whose last words in I Kings 22:28 were “Listen, all you people.” About
100 years later, God raised up the prophet Micah, whose name is just an abbreviated
form of Micaiah, in the same way that, over time, Thomas becomes Tom or
Katherine becomes Kathy. In 100 years, Micaiah had become Micah. What is
amazing is that Micah’s first words to the people were “Listen, all you people”
(Micah 1:2). Once again, in Hebrew, they are the exact same words which were
Micaiah’s last. We see Ahab and his kind thinking they can imprison God’s
prophets and silence His message. But suddenly another prophet (in this case
with the same name) pops up to pick up right where the last one left off.
When the Lord says it, He means it.
And this all leads me to another instructive
observation. The words of the Lord directly to Nebuchadnezzar here in v.32, are
even more identical to Daniel’s in v.25, than they are to the angels’ message
in v. 17. What I mean is that the basic message that “The Most High rules…” is
identical in all three, yet, when Daniel said “and seven times will pass over
you until you know that the Most High rules…,” those get repeated word for word
by the Lord Himself!
In v.25, Daniel honored the Lord by faithfully
and accurately communicating His message to the king. Now in v. 32, the Lord
honors Daniel by repeating his words
exactly. God says, “I will honor them that honor me” (I Sam. 2:30). Daniel was
faithful to the Lord, now the Lord is being faithful to Daniel.
Along these same lines, another
interesting verse in the Bible is I Sam. 3:19, where it says, “And the LORD was
with Samuel…and he let none of his words fall to the ground.” What is
interesting is that there is no way to know whether it was Samuel not letting
any of the Lord’s words fall to the ground, or if it was the Lord not letting
any of Samuel’s words fall to the ground! The 3rd person “he” and “his” can apply to either. I
would suggest the Lord’s ambiguity at this point was deliberate, that, just
like with Daniel, when a person is faithful to stand for God’s Word, the Lord
will in turn stand for their words too. No doubt it didn’t take long before
people in Israel were saying, “You’d better listen to Samuel! What he says
comes true!” You and I can live with that same quiet assurance as we would
sincerely try to speak for the Lord – if we let none of His words fall to the ground,
He’ll do the same for us!
Finally, one last observation, and
this is one of my “for whatever it’s worth” contributions. Everyone basically
assumes Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment lasted seven years, but then almost all
commentators acknowledge that it actually says seven “times.” He was warned his
judgment would last seven “times.” Here is what I think: The Lord was actually
giving Nebuchadnezzar the choice how long it would last. It is still squarely under
God’s control, since, no matter what the king chooses, it will somehow occur as
seven of something, but, still, it is up to Nebuchadnezzar how long this
lasts.
I’m saying it literally could have
been seven seconds. If the instant he
felt his mind going, he would have humbled himself, it could have been over
that quickly. Or perhaps it would take seven minutes for him to realize this is
really happening, exactly as he was warned, and he needs to humble himself, or
even seven hours. After seven days it could have been obvious to him this is
really, really happening and it is really bad – after he spent seven nights
sleeping on the ground, waking up soaked, with grass in his mouth. Perhaps
because he is very proud and stubborn it would take seven months of such
misery? Or…could it take seven years???
I personally think it was seven years,
particularly (now allowing myself to read ahead) because, when he finally does
repent his hair has gone as ragged as birds’ feathers and his fingernails are
like claws. I don’t think that would be the case even after just seven months.
Seven years, yes.
There would be much we could all glean
from this. First of all, we should all humbly praise God that He treats us with
such dignity as to grant us the honor of choice. Even within the very exercise
of His total sovereignty over our lives and this universe, He grants us the
freedom to choose. And can it be? Yes. Choice started in the Garden and, if we
have eyes to see, it is the very present warp and woof of God’s relationship
with every human being. It’s your choice. The Most High rules, so choose well,
but it is your choice.
Second, may we all be horrified by the
enormity of our evil pride. Seven years???
When it only had to last seven seconds?
Oh, wow. What a stubborn, foolish, hardened heart. But, is that not your life
and mine? How many years of misery have we all brought on ourselves until
finally we’re willing to hear the Lord and let Him humble us? There He was,
waiting, even wanting to bless us,
but we would not. Truly, the heart of
man is “desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.” May we all include
in our prayers the constant request, “Lord, deliver me from my pride!” I can’t
see it. It hides itself from me. But it is my utter ruin. It robs me of the very
blessings You want me to enjoy! “Lord, deliver me from mine enemies, for they
are too strong for me!”
It always has been, and always will be
true that “God resists the proud, but gives His grace to the humble.
God help me to be humble!
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