Some time has passed since Chapter 3. How much, we’re not sure. We’ll see in this chapter 12 months and “seven times” have at least transpired. Most Bible scholars and commentators believe the “seven times” mentioned in verse 16 are seven years and I agree with that for two reasons. First, later on in Daniel, in Chapter 7 verse 12, the same Aramaic word for “time” is used (the word iddan) however its used right next to another word that means “season” and that word is “zeman.” So we see the use of an entirely different Aramaic word for the word season later in Daniel and therefore I lean towards the correct translation of this “times” in Daniel Chapter 3 to be “years.”

Also, in Daniel Chapter 7, specifically verse 25, we see a picture of the Anti-Christ and Daniel writes that “the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” So in other words, for three and a half times. We know from our verse-by-verse study through Revelation and other Old Testament prophecies that the Anti-Christ, when he emerges as the one world leader, will establish peace for three and a half years but then, at the mid-point of the Great Tribulation, he will defile the temple and proclaim himself to be God and therefore exalt himself above the One True God and with that he will go after the saints hard core. So in light of what we know from our studies, I lean towards translating Chapter 7 verse 25 as three years and a half years.

So I tend to lean towards the agreement that Chapter 4 comprises at least an eight year period (12 months plus seven times). And as we’ll see, a lot changes…

Daniel Chapter 4 Verse 1

• Whoa! Is this the same guy? Peace? And not only that, peace be multiplied? Chapter 1 Verse 1, “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.” Chapter 2 Verse 5, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap!” Chapter 3 Verse 15, “Fall down and worship the image that I have made and if you don’t, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace!” Chapter 4 Verse 1, “Peace be multiplied to you!?”

• What has happened to this guy? To go from rage-aholic and self-exaltation and cruelty and hardness and offense to gentle and desiring peace to be multiplied to all peoples, nations and languages!? Simple, he got saved man. That’s what happens! A heart change. A life change. You see before, he thought he was in control. He thought he reigned…but we’ll see later in this Chapter, he came to know the truth. That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.

• All that he was, and all that we are…all that he had and all that we have…belongs to God and can be taken in an instant, why? That’s not fair! You sure about that? It’s not yours! What is yours? Not even the beating of your heart man! It’s all His. But we claim it don’t we? We claim our lives. Our stuff. Our spouses. Our jobs. And then once claimed, we start to reign. “Don’t touch my stuff. Don’t talk to me like that! Treat me with respect! Do for me! Serve me!” We need to know truth man…because it will set you free! That all you have, you’ve been given and it’s the Lord’s.

• He is the Lord’s, she is the Lord’s, your kids are the Lord’s, your house is the Lord’s…it’s all His. He created it all! He’s the one holding the title. And here’s the deal. You can either figure that out and burst with freedom and joy over all that you’ve been given or you can stay ignorant and suffer man…

• Nebuchadnezzar has been educated. He has finally surrendered to the true King and realized that the mirror ain’t where it’s at…and so all this besieging, all this cutting into pieces, all this casting folks into fires…gone! Now…peace! The same in the life of a new believer man…

• And so he writes a new decree. A letter to everyone! And Daniel sees fit to snag a copy and include it by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the deathless Word of God for all generations!

Daniel Chapter 4 Verse 2

• Notice, Nebuchadnezzar in a moment will reminisce of a seven year trial. Of when his kingdom and everything, even his mind was taken from him…(I know we haven’t gotten there yet, we will in a moment but hopefully you read ahead). Yet notice what he says, “the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.” Amazing. The outcome was freedom. Liberty. Peace. Salvation. And so what happened to him wasn’t what God did “to” him, it was what God did “for” him. See what I’m saying?

• I want the things that God does for me to be wonderfully rich blessing. To rain down grace and flood me with peace and my heart is for that to come about as I walk in wisdom, in obedience to His Word and ways…but I know that if there is a lesson that I refuse to learn that way, that He will bring it about in trial and testing…for me. For my freedom, liberty and peace. And so I pray for a heart that loves wisdom man…know what I’m saying?

Daniel Chapter 4 Verses 3 – 9

• Twice now Nebuchadnezzar has said to Daniel that the Spirit of the Most High God is in him…and notice Daniel doesn’t correct him and so we have here one of the rare occasions in the Old Testament where we see the Holy Spirit indwelling a man.

Daniel Chapter 4 Verses 10 – 12

• Now birds and beasts speak of inferiority and weakness and of course it’s quite interesting that this tree also fed all flesh. So it’s a magnificent tree. High, great, lovely, abundant and yet it was, by the description of birds, beasts and flesh, wrought with disease. Evil and dark…

Daniel Chapter 4 Verses 13 – 14

• Interesting point here. Nebuchadnezzar calls this “watcher” a “holy one.” The implication is that there are also not so holy ones…and of course we know that to be true. And also interesting is that he calls this angel per se a “watcher.” The writer of Hebrews would call angels, “ministering spirits” but here we see that thought, the understanding of the angelic realm, added to a bit by Daniel…(I know you’re thinking, “you mean Nebuchadnezzar,” but this is Daniel’s Book, he put this in here…he could have changed it, but he didn’t). And so we see the angelic realm, two thirds holy, one third unholy, and they watch…and sometimes they act…

Daniel Chapter 4 Verse 15

• Interesting, don’t do away with him completely. Leave the stump. But bound the stump with iron and bronze, the metals of government and judgment. And you may know this but binding a stump will cause it to rot…and now the picture changes in the dream from a tree to a beast…

Daniel Chapter 4 Verses 16 – 17

• What kind of man is set over the kingdom of men? The lowest. Oh Matt, that’s not how it is though…I disagree. The leaders are not the ones with the suits and titles necessarily. The leaders are the dads that make their families and their wives and their little boys and little girls their priority. The leaders are the ones that work while others sleep. The leaders are the ones that stand when others cannot…the ones whose lists of unappreciated actions are long…those are the leaders, recognized by the only King that truly has any authority and truly matters…

• Jesus said, “you want to be great, you want to lead, be the servant of all man…”

Daniel Chapter 4 Verses 18 – 19

• Obviously Daniel is distraught. To the point that Nebuchadnezzar actually comforts him! And then Daniel says something interesting. “My lord, may this dream not be about you.” What? Don’t you know this is the guy that demolished your home, took you captive and threw your homies into the fire? “My lord!” What are you nuts? Not at all, just faithful. You see Daniel trusts in God man. His entire life is secure in the palm of God’s hands alone and so that allows him to be free man…free to love and free to serve…

• And here we see he is genuinely concerned about Nebuchadnezzar.   Why? Could it be that Daniel knows that only God appoints kings? Could it be that Daniel’s heart is just broken for the lost? Either way, this is astounding.

• Jesus said that “you’ll know My disciples by their love.” Stay on the lookout. That’s the key. And what kind of love is this? Think of it this way. Let’s just say that someone came and ransacked America and took you to his country…made you his personal servant. And then got into the habit of threatening you and your friends. Then he makes a run at your besties, to kill them but only by a miracle is he not able to…and now this person is troubled…what’s your heart?

• What’s your heart towards those that haven’t done these things? Your wife? Your husband? Your parents? Your inlaws? If they got a bit of their come-up-ins…would you say “serves you right” or would your heart be to say “let this come upon your enemies…not you.” What if it’s you that’s their enemy? Heavy questions I know but this is revelational. The love of Christ compels us man…compels us to what? To freedom!

• Freedom to care for folks that don’t much care for you…genuinely care for them…and then the only one locked in the prison of bitterness and dissatisfaction…is them. Oh the liberty that is to be had in the laws of the Most High…why not trade in all that hatred and all that dissatisfaction and all that disrest and all that weakness and junk and be free…?