Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries by Major Michael Ramsay, 01 February 2026
Chapters 1-4 of Daniel are primarily
about the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the brutal leader of a
Superpower and as Susan said last week, maybe a megalomanic like maybe another
world leader today that we all know. Daniel Chapter 4 is the final chapter in
the Nebuchadnezzar story. Chapter 4 comes in 3 distinct parts:
1.
God
gives King Nebuchadnezzar another dream to inform him of the future
2.
Nebuchadnezzar
seeks Daniel to reveal God’s message
3.
God’s
message comes to fruition
Part 1: God Gives Nebuchadnezzar a Dream
(Daniel 4:1-18)
4 King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race
and nation and language throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders
the Most High God has performed for me.
3 How great are his signs,
how powerful his wonders!
His kingdom will last forever,
his rule through all generations.
4 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living in my palace comfort and
prosperity. 5 But one night I had a dream that frightened me; I saw visions
that terrified me as I lay in my bed. 6 So I issued an order calling in all the
wise men of Babylon, so they could tell me what my dream meant. 7 When all the
magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers came in, I told them the
dream, but they could not tell me what it meant. 8 At last Daniel came in
before me, and I told him the dream. (He was named Belteshazzar after my god,
and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)
9 “I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know
that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for
you to solve. Now tell me what my dream means.
10 “‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a
large tree in the middle of the earth. 11 The tree grew very tall and strong,
reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 12 It had fresh green
leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its
shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree.
13 “‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger, a holy one,
coming down from heaven. 14 The messenger shouted,
“Cut down the tree and lop off its branches!
Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit!
Chase the wild animals from its shade
and the birds from its branches.
15 But leave the stump and the roots in the ground,
bound with a band of iron and bronze
and surrounded by tender grass.
Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,
and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the
field.
16 For seven periods of time,
let him have the mind of a wild animal
instead of the mind of a human.
17 For this has been decreed by the messengers;
it is commanded by the holy ones,
so that everyone may know
that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.
He gives them to anyone he chooses—
even to the lowliest of people.”
18 “‘Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar,
had. Now tell me what it means, for none of the wise men of my kingdom can do
so. But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’
Does this passage sound familiar to you?
This is very similar to chapter 2 that we looked at two weeks ago with the
dream. One difference we should notice though is that this chapter is read in
the voice of the king himself – this is important. He is telling the story. He
is sharing his testimony to the whole world; the king personally here is
telling the ‘miraculous signs and wonders’ the Lord has done for him. Chapter 4
is Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony Sunday.
King Nebuchadnezzar has this dream and
-again like chapter 2- the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and
fortune-tellers were unable to interpret it. This time though, unlike chapter
2, the king from experience has faith that God will use Daniel to interpret the
dream that God gave the king to tell him about what God is going to see done in
Nebuchadnezzar’s life.
Part 2: Daniel Relays God’s Message
(Daniel 4:19-27)
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.”
This dream is very similar to
Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier dream, (as well as the ways that we have already
mentioned) in that the King is this wonderful tree in the dream like he is the
head of gold in the earlier dream. And then like the statue falls so the tree
is cut down – but this new dream’s message, instead of relating to those who
will inherit his kingdom, this new message is a very personal message to
Nebuchadnezzar. It is giving Nebuchadnezzar a heads up about what is going to
happen in his own life personally – and why, and what to do about it.
I find it interesting as well that Verse
19 says Daniel was ‘perplexed’ and ‘terrified’. God is reaching out to
Nebuchadnezzar with a very scary warning – so much so that when Nebuchadnezzar
finally convinces Daniel to tell him what the dream means, Daniel replies, “My
lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your
adversaries!” Daniel then tells the king what will happen to him. The king
“will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals... eat
grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven”.
This reminds me of some of the folks we
live and work with at TSA shelter and soup kitchen at the Bread of Life Centre.
Think of folks who are homeless, addicted, and suffering from mental health
issues. Nebuchadnezzar becomes like some of our friends that we walk with every
day (for literally for 7 ‘seasons’... maybe years, weeks, months). Many of our
friends led “normal” or “successful” lives until addiction, mental health or
something else got a hold of them. God says that Nebuchadnezzar will suffer all
of that and then Nebuchadnezzar will “acknowledge that the Most High is
sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes” and he
will be returned to sanity and to his position safe in the knowledge and
comfort that “Heaven rules”. Daniel then offers Nebuchadnezzar this advice
before any of this happens, Verse 27, he says, “Your Majesty... 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.” God has patience
for an entire year, allowing the king every opportunity It seems, but Nebuchadnezzar
still does not do this, thus...
The Dream Is Fulfilled (Daniel 4:28-37)
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months
later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30
he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by
my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven,
“This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has
been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with
the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. 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.”
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was
fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body
was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an
eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes
toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I
honoured and glorified Him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal
dominion;
His kingdom endures from
generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the
earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the
earth.
No one can hold back His
hand
or say to Him: “What have
you done?”
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and
splendour were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and
nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater
than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of
Heaven, because everything He does is right and all his ways are just. And
those who walk in pride He is able to humble.
This is Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony, his
salvation story.
To recap: We remember the first 3
chapters of this book; what is happening. Chapter 1, God brings His servants
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego into the service of King Nebuchadnezzar.
Chapter 2, God reaches out to King
Nebuchadnezzar via a dream that he can’t interpret and possibly can’t even
remember. The king asks his advisors, wise men, to tell him his dream and what
it means; they can’t. God then tells Daniel the dream and Daniel tells the
dream and its meaning to the king. God reveals Himself to Daniel, his friends
and the king. The King then realizes that God is the God Most High and orders
people to serve Daniel’s God.
In that first dream, as we’ve already
said, Nebuchadnezzar is represented as a head of gold on a giant statue, and
that is good; it represents a powerful leader and nation. In the very next
chapter, chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar sets up a giant nine story / 90 ft / 30 m
tall and wide statue. It is almost like he took the gold head from his dream in
Chapter 2 and made it into a whole gold statue in Chapter 3, one without the
flaws of the dream. (trying to rectify the problems of the dream himself – at
least symbolically)
He then asked all the officials to bow
down to it. This would be like if the statue was this building here (and maybe
had a mural of the PM on it) and the Prime Minister came to town and ordered
all the government officials and all the government employees from all the
branches of government to come out for the dedication of the building and then
asked everyone to pay respect to the building, the statue. It would be like...
If anyone here goes to sporting events... you know how before the game, we are
all supposed to stand up and take our hats off and sing a song praising our
country (and a foreign country if we are playing an American team).
Some people then notice Shadrack,
Meshack and Abednego in the crowd – that they did not do their culture’s
equivalent to removing their hats and standing up; they did not bow down, and
they tell the king. The king is upset at this defiance – their words seem
rather defiant too! It would be even worse than if we refused to stand and take
our hats off for the national anthem and then when we were asked why, answered
“we only stand and take off our hats for God, not for the national anthem, not
for this country, and not for you” to the PM.
Nebuchadnezzar was mad! ...and threw
them into a fire. God –right in front of Nebuchadnezzar - miraculously saves
their lives and then it seems that Nebuchadnezzar begins again to understand
what God is telling him. God can save anyone AND God decides who lives and
dies, not Nebuchadnezzar or anyone else.
Susan compared Nebuchadnezzar to Trump
in that he seems to be a megalomaniac and showed us pictures of ICE and ICE
protests last week. God loves Nebuchadnezzar, even though he was the President
of their era, leading the USA of their era.
Even more, these first four chapters
remind me of the Exodus story. Do we remember why God said that he sent the
plagues to Egypt? He could have just freed the Hebrews but He did it this way
so that Pharoah – who did all the bad stuff that Pharoah did – and all the
Egyptians might know God. In Daniel 1-4, God makes Nebuchadnezzar – who
threatened to kill all his advisors and all the wise men, who threw 3 leaders
into the fire, who did so much more
– God gives him dreams that God
interprets and God sends an angel to protect Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego
from the flames and then God, fulfills a personal dream to the king by making
Nebuchadnezzar live like an animal. God does all this so that Nebuchadnezzar
may know the Lord, humble himself before Him, repent, and experience salvation.
So if God loves Nebuchadnezzar this much
and God loves Pharoah this much and as God probably loves world leaders today
this much, then how much does God love every one of us – the parables of Luke
15: the 99 sheep who did not go astray, God loves them too; the coins still in
the wallet, God loves them too; and all the non-prodigal children, God loves them
too. I do think of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Maybe
leaders of superpowers then, now, and always are those lost ones... Maybe we
are.
My encouragement to us from the message today is twofold: 1) Let us not let hate for world, our, or other leaders overtake us. God loved Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar. God loves the world leaders today (pick your favourite villain, if not Trump then maybe Carney, Putin, Zelinsky, Netanyahu, whomever) and 2) God loves us. Just like God went out of his way to show Nebuchadnezzar the way to salvation, so too He does not wish that a single one of us – or any of our loved ones or anyone else - will be lost; so I encourage us to keep praying for the salvation of our loved ones, our leaders, and our adversaries; and I encourage each of us to live a life worthy of repentance because God loves you just like he loves everyone – even you know who, whomever ‘you know who’ is to you – John 3:16-18: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
I believe this. And I believe that as chapters 1-4 of Daniel show the great extent to which God goes to secure the repentance and salvation of Nebuchadnezzar; so too God will do whatever it takes; giving each of us, and all our family members, and all our friends, and all our enemies, everything that we need so that we all, like Nebuchadnezzar, can humble ourselves, repent, and experience God’s Salvation both for now and forever.
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