atpollard
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Daniel Explains the Second Dream
Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation
It has been suggested that Daniel 4:27 is a verse about God blessing people for giving alms to the poor and it has even been suggested that almsgiving will remove sin (with this verse sited as an example). So let’s read the verse in context and see what Daniel really wrote and what God actually had to say. Does Daniel teach charity as a means to forgiving sin? I think not.
Prior to verse 19, the king received a vision in a dream and called on Daniel to interpret it. From 19 to 26 we have Daniel presenting an interpretation outlining a prophetic curse upon the king. Then we pick up at the critical verse 27.
“Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to thepoor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
First observation: THEREFORE. It is not a general admonition to the people from God, this is a specific message from Daniel to the king delivered because of a specific reason … because of what has come before the “THEREFORE”. In this case, what follows is advice for anyone that God has provided with the specific prophecy that Daniel has just delivered. So if God gives you the dream that God gave the king, then the THEREFORE of Daniel 4:27 is meant for you. If the prophecy does not apply to you, then the THEREFORE in response to that prophecy does not apply to you either.
Second observation: “let my advice”. This is advice to the king in response to the prophecy. Just like the THEREFORE predicted. Advice to the king to avoid a curse is not a universal command of God to all men. That should not require too much thinking to understand the difference.
So what is this advice:
From verses 28 to 33, we catch a glimpse of the heart of the king as he rejects the advice of Daniel and continues on his course. A believer in the Doctrines of Grace might point to this as yet another example of natural man being incapable of accepting the GOSPEL in his own power. Only when God intervenes and restores his mind can fallen man finally truly acknowledge God as his God. Of course, nobody would ever believe something like that. Everyone knows that God is depending on men to help save themselves … right?
Just ask Nebuchadnezzar.
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.”
Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!
20 “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, 21 whose leaves werelovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23 “And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him’; 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.
26 “And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to thepoor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you 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 chooses.”
33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
It has been suggested that Daniel 4:27 is a verse about God blessing people for giving alms to the poor and it has even been suggested that almsgiving will remove sin (with this verse sited as an example). So let’s read the verse in context and see what Daniel really wrote and what God actually had to say. Does Daniel teach charity as a means to forgiving sin? I think not.
Prior to verse 19, the king received a vision in a dream and called on Daniel to interpret it. From 19 to 26 we have Daniel presenting an interpretation outlining a prophetic curse upon the king. Then we pick up at the critical verse 27.
“Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to thepoor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
First observation: THEREFORE. It is not a general admonition to the people from God, this is a specific message from Daniel to the king delivered because of a specific reason … because of what has come before the “THEREFORE”. In this case, what follows is advice for anyone that God has provided with the specific prophecy that Daniel has just delivered. So if God gives you the dream that God gave the king, then the THEREFORE of Daniel 4:27 is meant for you. If the prophecy does not apply to you, then the THEREFORE in response to that prophecy does not apply to you either.
Second observation: “let my advice”. This is advice to the king in response to the prophecy. Just like the THEREFORE predicted. Advice to the king to avoid a curse is not a universal command of God to all men. That should not require too much thinking to understand the difference.
So what is this advice:
- “Break off your sins” ... that means “stop sinning”. That is good general advice for anyone and both the OT and NT canon would agree. However, “stop sinning” is very different advice than “make a large charitable donation so that God will forgive your sins”.
- ”by” … what follows is explicit advice about HOW the king can stop sinning. It would seem that the king was sinning by doing the opposite of what Daniel is telling him to do.
- ”being righteous” … the way to break off your “sins” is by “being righteous”. Note the word for “sin” here comes from a root meaning “to miss the mark” and the word for “righteous” comes from “doing or being morally right”.
- ”and your iniquities” … the king had both “sins” (missing the mark) and “iniquities”. The word for “iniquities” comes from a word meaning “perversity” with a root meaning of “bent or twisted”. The king was not only “missing the mark” (not being good), he was “bent, twisted or perverse” (doing evil).
- ”by showing mercy to the poor” … Daniel lists “showing mercy to the poor” as the cure for the kings “iniquity” (bent, twisted, perversity).
- Thus the advice to the king is to STOP avoiding doing right (like honoring God) and STOP abusing the poor but rather show mercy to the poor.
From verses 28 to 33, we catch a glimpse of the heart of the king as he rejects the advice of Daniel and continues on his course. A believer in the Doctrines of Grace might point to this as yet another example of natural man being incapable of accepting the GOSPEL in his own power. Only when God intervenes and restores his mind can fallen man finally truly acknowledge God as his God. Of course, nobody would ever believe something like that. Everyone knows that God is depending on men to help save themselves … right?
Just ask Nebuchadnezzar.