Although the judgment of God was revealed against Nebuchadnezzar, it didn’t have to occur, as the king dreamed it would. The Lord never punished his people without offering them a grace period, in which they could repent. In fact, this is what occurred to the king of Assyria in the days before Assyria made war against Israel and destroyed Samaria, and took the children of Israel captive. In the Book of Jonah, the prophet was sent to preach to Nineveh and warn the city of the Lord’s intended judgment. The king of Nineveh called for a fast and the city repented, so God repented of the evil he had predicted would occur. Jonah prophesied in the days of Jeroboam II prior to the Lord’s judgment upon Samaria (2Kings 14:23-25). As the Book of Jonah reveals, God’s judgment didn’t fall upon Nineveh in the days of Jonah. Instead, the Lord didn’t judge Nineveh, until the days after Israel’s fall to Assyria, when the prophet called Nahum preached.
As we saw in my previous study, Daniel advised Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his sins, and do good and be merciful to the poor, perhaps pointing to the captives of Jerusalem the king had recently taken to Babylon after he had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of God. In any case a full twelve months had passed, giving Nebuchadnezzar ample time in which to repent. Nevertheless, he didn’t use the time wisely, and all those things which were predicted in his dream came upon Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (Daniel 4:28).
Just prior to those things, which the king dreamt, fell upon him, Nebuchadnezzar had been walking upon the roof of his palace in the city of Babylon (Daniel 4:29; cp. 2Samuel 11:2). At that time, probably in the cool of the evening, the king looked over the city and mused, “Is this not great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).
While the king was still speaking the words recorded in the text, a voice was heard, coming out of heaven:
“O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you. And you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills” (Daniel 4:31-32).
The text speaks of a “voice out of heaven,” but let’s take a moment to consider the context. Nebuchadnezzar was walking upon the roof of his palace, which was within the walls of Babylon and towered over the walls and everything else. Babylon had two walls, an outer wall which was eleven feet thick and stood about 75 feet high and extended forty-two miles around the city. The inner wall was 21 feet thick, about the same height and had towers on the wall every 60 feet around the city. Nebuchadnezzar walked on the roof of his palace above all this and observed what he had built, and a voice came out of heaven above him.
There was nothing above him except the heavens, and at that point and in the context of his attributing all the wonders of his accomplishments to himself, alone, the Lord God judged him! In other words, towering far above the king’s walls and towers, which were created for his defense, The Lord God took the king out of the way, thus, implying Nebuchadnezzar had not taken Daniel’s advice to do good for those poor souls, who seem to be Daniel’s brethren, the Jews, whom the king had taken captive and judged without mercy, after he had destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple.
Therefore, the timing of the Lord’s judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar, if the above is logical and true, would have been soon after Judah was judged by the Lord, destroying it as a nation by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, at the very time the king thought to apply all this to himself, he lost his mental faculties and was driven from men, as though he were mad. He became like the beasts of the field and lived, as they did, eating grass, like the oxen. This was his routine for “seven times” (years? or smaller periods of time?) and eventually his unkempt hair resembled eagles’ feathers and his uncut nails resembled bird claws (Daniel 4:33). In his heart, Nebuchadnezzar professed himself to be wise, and he became a fool (Romans 1:22).
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