Daniel 4:34,35–“Looking Up”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³⁴And to the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to the heavens and my understanding returned upon me and to the Most High I blessed and to the Living One of the ages I praised and I glorified that His dominion [is] an everlasting dominion and His kingdom [is] with generation and generation, ³⁵and the all of the dwellers of the earth [are] ones reckoned like nothing and like to please Him [He is] One doing in the armies of the heavens and [in] the dwellers of the earth and none there is who can hinder in His hand and say to Him, “What are You doing?”

As I have studied, I suspect the passage before us is perhaps one of the most remarkable, one of the most instructive passages in the entire Bible. Here we have the words of a man, arguably the most powerful man who ever lived, as he emerges from seven years of insanity. Here is the man before us whose very soul overflowed with the sin of pride, and, in a sense, rightly so. Yes, this was the great Babylon that he had built. Yes, he has conquered the civilized world. Yes, throughout his lifetime, he has been master of every single other human being (and the animal world too!). If ever there was a king who really did appear a god, it was this man. If ever there was a man who possessed everything the rest of us could ever dream of in this world, it was this man.

Carefully should we consider his words. For seven years he has been insane, but then, in a sense I would suggest he has always been insane. For a mere, fragile, utterly dependent human being to think he doesn’t need God is nothing short of the worst form of madness. Here before us is a man who has lived his entire life breathing God’s air, eating the produce of God’s earth, garnering the gifts of other peoples’ efforts, and yet utterly failing to see in the midst of it all, his own frailty, his own man-ness.

And what are the very first words of this man as the very first gleam of real sanity breaks upon his mind?

“But at the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, 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 is from generation to generation.”

Note it again: “I praised and honored Him who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.”

What was he struck with? God’s eternality. As the very first glimmer of sanity broke upon his mind, what most impressed him? God’s eternality.

This is precisely the point at which I think we should all pause and ponder deeply his words. I also think we should note this was, in a sense, not the lesson he had to learn. The specific lesson he was to learn was that “the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men,” repeated four times: vv.17, 25, 26, and 32. He does go on in v.35 to acknowledge this. He did learn that lesson. But the very first thoughts that explode out of his mind concern God’s eternality.

Why?

Maybe there are a million different answers, but here is what I think: Nebuchadnezzar is not a cow, but what he had to see is this: God is not a man. What do I mean? Nebuchadnezzar was born into a culture that worshipped a pantheon of “gods,” but those gods were all really just super people. They were created, they could die, and they were subject to lusts and passions just like people. The stories about the gods really weren’t much different than Stan Lee’s superheroes. Really they were men (and women) – super men (and women), but still men like Nebuchadnezzar.

That said, with whatever sliver of sanity and reason he possessed, as he might have pondered his plight of being stuck in this “cow” mentality, it was basically another man he was wrestling with – a super man, a god-man perhaps , but still just another man. This king is so proud and stubborn he will not cry, “Uncle!” to any man, no matter how badly he’s whipped. He’d rather die – or go on being a cow – than to admit defeat to any other man.

…Until the realization swept over him: This is not a man. This is God. This isn’t just a god. This is God. This is the God. This is not just a super man, not even a god-man. This is God. This is not just the “most high” in the sense of being the most powerful, the one who always wins. Again, that is what he has to learn: “the Most High rules,” but, what matters is knowing who is this Most High? He is God. We believers don’t capitalize “Most High” for nothing.

May I suggest that this is what Nebuchadnezzar is expressing as he bursts out with God’s eternality? “Then I praised the Ever-Living One.” Our God is not just a super man. He is not a created being. He does not die. He is not one of us. (Yes, He became one of us to purchase our redemption, but He is not a man. He is God). The king doesn’t have to cry “Uncle!” to another man. He needs to bow before the ever-living, eternal God. It’s not just a super man before whom he must accept defeat, it is the very Creator and sustainer of life itself, the One who exists outside of and above our created world.

Nebuchadnezzar finally met God. It’s not irrelevant that he says, “I lifted my eyes to the heavens…” He finally realized it wasn’t a matter of looking around. It was a matter of looking up.

This is precisely what I meant when I said earlier, “I suspect the passage before us is perhaps one of the most remarkable, one of the most instructive passages in the entire Bible.” If we would benefit from the passage we must realize it’s not a story about a king long ago. It’s about you and me – today. We all need to stop looking around and start looking up. We must meet this One who is the Ever-living One. He’s not just a character in our religious stories. He’s not just another man – albeit even a very, very big man. No, no, no. He is not someone. He is Someone. We live in time and space. He inhabits eternity. We live here. He fills all the universe with all of His being and is everywhere present at the same time. We know only in part. He not only possesses wisdom. He is wisdom. We receive life. He is life. He is the life-giver.

To meet Him is to live. But how many ever do? How many are happy to know about Him but never know Him? I hope for anyone who might stumble across these feeble scratchings that perhaps you might even for the first time actually look up. I hope you won’t make the Lord turn you into a cow for seven years before you’ll realize it’s this simple. Look up.