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The Book of Daniel Chapter 4 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1984-2001 by Dr. Richard W. Fry Published by Promise of Life Ministries. Printed in the United States Of America. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or database, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photocopying, recording, manual, or otherwise, or disclosed to third parties without the express written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Making copies of any part of this publication for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws.
Verse 1 This is Nebuchadnezzar’s autobiography. He now believes and trusts in God. He wants everyone to hear his testimony.
Verse 2 The Signs & Wonders: This refers to the dream and the interpretation. God Hath Wrought Toward Me Nebuchadnezzar is no longer taking credit or giving it to the wrong people.
Verse 4 At Rest He was secure and prosperous. Nebuchadnezzar gives this account of God’s warning which preceded his judgment. All The Wise Men: He did not learn much from his last dream and his encounter with the wise men of Babylon. It is not very surprising that he did not immediately call for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
Verse 7 These wise men are a waste of skin. They had boasted with great confidence and assurance that, if they were given the substance of the dream, they could give the interpretation without fail (2:4, 7).
Verse 8 But At The Last: This is usually when God is sought out. Mature believers will recognize the need for an individual to go to the bottom before turning to God.
Verse 9 And No Secret Troubleth Thee: Because God does all of the work for him he has not troubles.
Verse 10 A Tree:
Verse 15 God, in his judgment, remembers mercy. The banding of the stump with iron and brass is to prevent the stump from being split, splintered, and trodden into dust.
Why the heart of a beast? Because a beast has no God-consciousness.
Verse 17 The
Watchers: Watchers are one of the ranks of angels.
Verse 19 It seems clear that Daniel is visibly shaken by this dream.
The king could clearly see his consternation and suspects that Daniel may be loathe to speak due to the gravity of what he knows. He therefore tells Daniel not to let the dream or the interpretation bother him, but to speak plainly and honestly.
Daniel shows great concern for Nebuchadnezzar in his opening remark, “My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.” Even though Daniel is about to speak ill concerning Nebuchadnezzar, he wishes this ill on others.
Verse 27 God’s grace always precedes his judgment. With grace comes the opportunity to repent (be acceptable).
Daniel’s counsel is simple and direct: Break off the course of sin that he is in and reform his life.
Verse 29 We do not see Daniel pleading with Nebuchadnezzar to repent on a daily or even on a regular basis. Daniel had stated to Nebuchadnezzar what needed to be done; he speaks no more about it.
Daniel realizes that it is not his responsibility to bring Nebuchadnezzar to a place of repentance. That responsibility lies entirely with Nebuchadnezzar.
Verse 30 This is an ego problem.
Verse 34 The first thing Nebuchadnezzar does after regaining his mind is to praise and to bless God.
Verse 37 Nebuchadnezzar is no longer extolling himself. All glory is being given to God. We have an entirely new Nebuchadnezzar. He is not commanding that anyone worship God. He is worshipping God and is giving the reason for his love and praise of the Most High.
Those Who Walk In Pride He Is Able To Abase The king is qualified to make this declaration. Nebuchadnezzar lived another two years after he penned this autobiography. His reign lasted 45 years. |
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