seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Daniel 4:19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds— 22 Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.
23 “Your Majesty saw a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’
24 “This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
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Here's a link to the commentary I read.His thoughts troubled him: Daniel genuinely cared for Nebuchadnezzar and was clearly affected by the meaning of the dream. He didn’t want it to be true of his friend Nebuchadnezzar.
Drive you from men… make you eat grass like oxen… wet you with the dew of heaven: When Daniel explained this to Nebuchadnezzar, the king probably couldn’t guess just how literally it would be fulfilled.
After you come to know that Heaven rules: This was God’s intended purpose for Nebuchadnezzar. The king could have avoided this humiliating fate if he genuinely humbled himself.
Break off your sins: The right reaction to the threat of judgment is a humble repentance. Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar did not do this. He should have followed the example of the repentance of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3).
We might think that Nebuchadnezzar had more reason than most to be proud — after all, he was a great king. Still, he should have remembered the principle Benjamin Franklin put forth in one of his proverbs: “The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is obliged to sit upon his own rear end.”
Break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor: Nebuchadnezzar was not only counseled to stop sinning, but also to practice righteousness and generosity.
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I'm tempted to post the rest of the chapter, but that would make this post way too long.
Maybe those "magicians" the king supported couldn't earnestly understand the dream. I mean how could you get "you're going to go insane" out of "here's a tree that will be cut down, not out, and bound to its roots".
When I read the part where it says "all the world could see", I was reminded of the flat earthers. How could one tree grow big enough for the whole world to see it if the earth is round?
According to an online search I did, Pythagoras figured out the math to prove the earth was round about 500BC. However, another online search shows that Nebuchadnezzar was king from 605 BC to 562 BC. That's about 150 years before Pythagoras came up with his theory.
So, Nebuchadnezzar and his scribe must have been flat earthers!
We already read that the king had a statue constructed that was about 90 feet tall. Is that what Daniel was saying? Was he talking about Nebuchadnezzar's big ideas about being the king of the world? Was Daniel talking about Nebuchadnezzar's "god complex" being that tall?
Truely a 90' tree could be seen for quite a distance. Is it possible "all around the world" really means "all around the Persian empire"? Would it have been more accurate for the scribe to write "as far as the eye could see"?
Guess what! There are [were] a couple trees that grow to 90' in the Persian Empire back then. According to the online search I did, the Persian Ironwood and the Caucasian Oak. So, a tree could reach the height of the statue Nebuchadnezzar had built for people to worship.
So, considering the times the scribe and Nebuchadnezzar were transcribing this chapter, there could be a tree so tall "the whole earth" could see it.
If the whole world could see Nebuchadnezzars' statue to bow down to it, they could also see the splendor of God's great trees.
Now what does this beautiful tall tree have to do with the king and his dream????
Well first we had to understand that this was no pretty little dogwood.
This tree had its own ecological environment! Birds and animals depended on the tree every minute of every day.
The people of "the world" depended on Nebuchadnezzar! That's a lot of pressure for one man to handle!
Daniel interpreted the dream but I still can't see how it will play out in real life.
The second nightmare was about a tree!
A tree!
