In a previous study, I suggested that there is a theme running through the Book of Daniel, chapters two through four. This theme has to do with Nebuchadnezzar’s recognition that the God of the Jews is supreme over all, including the king. I also suggested that the king’s advisors engaged in political intrigue in order to undermine the king’s recognition of the God of the Jews as the Most High God of gods. Moreover, these political conspiracies also included trying to destroy Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (Daniel 3:8-9, 12) and probably Daniel, as well (cp. Daniel 6:1-5). When their conspiracies were finally put down by the king’s decree (Daniel 3:29), it seemed that Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was turned fully toward the Lord God of the Jews, but this wasn’t entirely so (cp. Daniel 4:30). Therefore, the Lord once again came to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream to correct the king, finally bringing him to understand that the Lord God reigns over all the earth, including the king, and this is the subject of Nebuchadnezzar’s praise at this point in our study.
The sense of power is a destructive factor of man’s existence, which men of all walks of life seek to possess in an effort to control life, at least as life affects them. The desire for power is what drove the wise men of Babylon to influence the king in their favor. It is also behind their effort to destroy Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (and undoubtedly Daniel eventually). Power is almost synonymous with the word king, and for one king to be able to control the will and efforts of another king is an experience that’s almost unimaginable, especially among men in the lower ranks of society, who find it difficult to have power over the next moment of their existence. King Nebuchadnezzar had supreme power in Babylon, but not only there. He held power over the kings and governors of other nations. He created an empire! The problem was, how could he really “enjoy” his accomplishments, if the power, he thought he possessed, was really not his own? How should he respond to the idea that, what he imagined was his own strength, his own sense of accomplishment, was, in reality, the product of another Power or another King? Who really controlled whom? After all is said and done, should Nebuchadnezzar think of himself as a puppet king, whose strings are controlled by another?
Chapter four of the Book of Daniel begins at the end of the matter considered! That is to say, the event, concerning which Nebuchadnezzar praises God, had already occurred. Therefore, the king sat down in his home and wrote to the people of his kingdom, intending to describe what had occurred to him, and how everything turned out in his favor. Not only so, but Nebuchadnezzar decided that he should tell the people about the great signs and miracles that the God of the Jews had performed upon him (Daniel 4:1-2). Thus, the king’s repentance of his attitude toward God is implied, due to the fact that, later in his letter, the king would describe in vivid terms how he was humiliated before everyone who knew him. He wanted to believe that he, and he alone, built up and ruled the kingdom of Babylon. Nevertheless, he ends his letter by praising the Lord, even at the expense of revealing his own embarrassing circumstances. Therefore, the king shows that he is now ready to fully embrace the Lord God of the Jews as his God. He is the God of gods and Lord of kings (Daniel 2:47) and is able to make the king’s words null and void (Daniel 3:28).
The king now praises the God of heaven (Daniel 4:3) for his ability to cause his own word to come to pass (Daniel 4:29-33), and that no one could prevent him from doing so. Yes, God’s word is not as Nebuchadnezzar’s word or command to slay Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, and the Lord stepped in to make the king’s command null and void (Daniel 3:28). Moreover, Nebuchadnezzar praised God for his mighty miracles, which the king and other witnesses had seen done (Daniel 3:24-26). Finally, Nebuchadnezzar confessed in praise to God that he now truly believed what was told him in the very beginning, vis-à-vis the Kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom and the Lord’s sovereignty over all, even the kings of the earth, is from age to age (Daniel 4:3; cp. Daniel 2:44-45).
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