| Story III
Historical Setting:
Time: A few years after 580
B.C.
Place: Babylon
Persons:
Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel
Scriptures: Daniel 4
Remember how Nebuchadnezzar had a dream
about a statue, and then forgot what the dream was? Daniel
told him his dream and then told him what it meant. For that,
the great King Nebuchadnezzar gave Daniel a promotion.
Next, Nebuchadnezzar built a large image of himself, just
like the image in the dream. He made a law that everyone was
to fall down and worship the statue. If they didn’t they would
be cast into the fiery furnace. And then it happened.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, because they wouldn’t worship
the statue, were cast into the fiery furnace. But the Son of
God was with them in the furnace, and protected them. King
Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by this that he made a
declaration that no one in the nation must speak a word
against these men, or against their God? And then he promoted
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to even higher positions that
they already had.
Now, let’s see what happens next to this great king.
Nebuchadnezzar praised God for a while, but he soon forgot
God again. And then he had another frightening dream. (In
those days God often spoke to people in dreams) When
Nebuchadnezzar woke up from his dream he was trembling all
over. Again he called in all the wise men of the land to
interpret his dream, but again, they could not. So he called
in Daniel and told him the dream.
"Oh Daniel,” he said, “I know you are the greatest magician
in all the land. Here is the dream I had. I saw a huge tree
growing, right in the middle of the world. It reached all the
way up to heaven and everyone could see it. It had bright
green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit, which everyone
could eat. Wild animals lived in the shade of its trees, and
birds nested in its branches.
“As I lay there dreaming, I saw an angel come from heaven.
The angel shouted, ‘Cut down that tree. Saw
off its branches. Shake off the fruit, and chase all the birds
and animals away. But leave the stump and roots. Put a band of
iron and bronze around the stump, and let the grass grow all
around it. Now, let the stump be covered with the dew from
heaven, and let it live like an animal in the fields. Let this
stump have the mind of an animal, instead of a man.’
“Oh, Daniel, that was my dream. Please tell me what it
means, as none of the other wise men could tell me, and it is
troubling me.”
Daniel sat with his head bowed while Nebuchadnezzar told
him the dream. He knew right away what the dream meant, but he
was saddened by its meaning. He didn’t want to tell the king.
But King Nebuchadnezzar said to him, “Oh Daniel, do not be
afraid to tell me the meaning of the dream. I know that God
has revealed it to you.”
Daniel replied, “Oh King, I do wish that this dream was
meant for someone else. I wish it were to your enemies that
this would happen. But this dream is about you. It is about
things that are going to happen soon to you. You see, YOU are
the tall tree. You have grown strong and great. Your power
reaches to the heaven, and your rule goes to the end of the
earth.
“This is what the dream means. The Most High has declared
that you will be driven from human society, and you will live
with the wild beasts of the fields and eat grass like a cow,
and will be wet with the dew of heaven for seven years. This
is so that you will learn that the Most High rules over all
the earth and gives power to those whom He chooses to give
power, and knocks down those whom He chooses to knock down.
The stump and roots that were left in the ground means that
the Most High will give you back your kingdom after you have
learned that God in Heaven is the Ruler of all the earth.”
Daniel stopped telling about the dream. And then he said,
“Oh King, please listen to me. God wants you to stop sinning
and do what is right. Take pity on all the poor people, and
stop all your cruelty to your citizens. If you do, then God
will be merciful to you and you will continue to prosper.”
A year later, King Nebuchadnezzar walked around on the
terrace of his palace, looking over the large city of Babylon.
And he started to brag: "Look at this wonderful city I have
built! It shows what a great king I am. I built it with my own
power. Everyone in this great city owes his life to me. I am
the greatest king that ever lived.” As he walked back and
forth, he puffed his chest out, and flung his arms toward
heaven. He had forgotten all about his dream and what Daniel
had told him would happen to him if he didn’t turn to the true
God and worship the One who had given him all this power.
Suddenly, he heard a voice from heaven. “Oh King
Nebuchadnezzar, I have a message for you. You are no longer
king over this great kingdom. You are going to be chased out
of your kingdom. You are going to live in the fields with the
wild animals. You are going to eat grass, just like the cattle
do. This is going to last for seven years, until you recognize
that The Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. You
would not listen when Daniel told you all these things. He
told you that it is God, the Most High, who sets kings up and
throws kings down. Well, now I am going to throw you down.”
It wasn’t even an hour later that Nebuchadnezzar went out
of his head, and his people chased him right out of the
palace, into the fields. He began to eat grass like a cow, and
at night the dew drenched him. His hair grew long and looked
like eagle’s feathers, and his fingernails and toenails grew
as long as birds’ claws.
After seven years had passed, Nebuchadnezzar looked toward
heaven and his mind became as the mind of a man again. He
started to praise God and worship the Most High, who lives
forever.
And then a wonderful thing happened. All the people who ran
the king’s court went out to look for Nebuchadnezzar. They
found him in the field, drenched with dew, covered with hair
like eagle’s feathers, with fingernails as long as claws. But
they saw him kneeling, with his hands raised to heaven. And
they noticed that he was no longer crazy. His mind had
returned to him. They led him back to the palace and helped
him to get cleaned up. Then everyone in the palace had a party
because they got their king back.
And the great King Nebuchadnezzar praised and glorified
the King of heaven from then on.
© Helen Dowd
Continue
with Chapter 4
|