Nebuchadnezzar: Power and Pride Humbled
Read Daniel 4
I praised the Most High; I honored
and glorified him who lives forever. Daniel 4:34
The Moody Bible Commentary describes
Babylon as “the most glorious city of the ancient world . . . Nebuchadnezzar
was a great builder and expanded the city . . . He also beautified it with
magnificent buildings, temples, and palaces . . . On the northwest corner of
the king’s primary palace sat one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the famed
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. . . Perhaps it was on the roof of the Hanging
Gardens with a view of his glorious city that Nebuchadnezzar became filled with
pride.”
God had warned Nebuchadnezzar in a dream that his pride would be
humbled. He even specifically warned him that he would have the “mind of an
animal” (v. 16). Through God’s judgment, the prideful king, pictured as an
enormous tree, would be chopped down and learn the hard way about God’s
greatness (vv. 17, 25). Daniel interpreted the dream and advised Nebuchadnezzar
to “renounce your sins” and seek God’s mercy (v. 27). The king may have
responded in the short term, but a year later he arrogantly asserted his own
glory and brought judgment upon himself (vv. 29–32). For seven years, he
suffered mental illness, apparently “boanthropy,” before he learned his lesson
and was restored to the throne.
Today’s reading is a letter from Nebuchadnezzar narrating these
events, and he intended it to be read throughout his empire. It’s essentially a
public confession, no doubt influenced by Daniel. Praise for God opens and
closes the letter, emphasizing His impressive attributes of eternality,
sovereignty, and omnipotence (vv. 2–3, 34–35). The Old Testament repeatedly
emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all nations, as we’ve seen throughout our
study this month. As Nebuchadnezzar’s case shows, not even the ruler of an
empire can oppose the King of kings (vv. 37–38)!
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