King
Nebuchadnezzar to everyone, everywhere—every race, color, and creed: Peace and
prosperity to all! It is my privilege to report to you the gracious miracles
that the High God has done for me. His miracles are staggering, his wonders are
surprising. His kingdom lasts and lasts, his sovereign rule goes on forever.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home taking it easy in my palace,
without a care in the world. But as I was stretched out on my bed I had a dream
that scared me—a nightmare that shook me. I sent for all the wise men of
Babylon so that they could interpret the dream for me. When they were all
assembled—magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, witches—I told them the dream.
None could tell me what it meant. "And then Daniel came in. His Babylonian
name is Belteshazzar, named after my god, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit.
I told him my dream. "'Belteshazzar,' I said, 'chief of the magicians, I
know that you are a man full of the divine Holy Spirit and that there is no
mystery that you can't solve. Listen to this dream that I had and interpret it
for me. "'This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big
towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and
strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of
the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for
everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches,
everything living was fed and sheltered by it." 'And this also is what I
saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a holy watchman descend from
heaven, and call out:
Chop down the tree, lop off its branches, strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.
Chase the animals from beneath it and shoo the birds from its branches.
But leave the stump and roots in the ground, belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow. Let him be soaked in heaven's dew and take his meals with the animals that graze. Let him lose his mind and get an animal's mind in exchange,and let this go on for seven seasons. The angels announce this decree, the holy watchmen bring this sentence, so that everyone living will know that the High God rules human kingdoms. He arranges kingdom affairs however he wishes, and makes leaders out of losers.” 'This is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. It's your turn, Belteshazzar—interpret it for me. None of the wise men of Babylon could make heads or tails of it, but I'm sure you can do it. You're full of the divine Holy Spirit.'
Chop down the tree, lop off its branches, strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.
Chase the animals from beneath it and shoo the birds from its branches.
But leave the stump and roots in the ground, belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow. Let him be soaked in heaven's dew and take his meals with the animals that graze. Let him lose his mind and get an animal's mind in exchange,and let this go on for seven seasons. The angels announce this decree, the holy watchmen bring this sentence, so that everyone living will know that the High God rules human kingdoms. He arranges kingdom affairs however he wishes, and makes leaders out of losers.” 'This is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. It's your turn, Belteshazzar—interpret it for me. None of the wise men of Babylon could make heads or tails of it, but I'm sure you can do it. You're full of the divine Holy Spirit.'
How often have you looked at the stars in the
sky, the majesty of mountains, the beauty of a simple flower or the perfection
of a newborn baby and recognized it as the work of God? As Nebuchadnezzar wrote this portion of
scripture it looks like he is again acknowledging Daniel’s God as the Most High
God. He recognizes that Daniel is full of the Holy Spirit—and thus guided by
God to be able to interpret his dream when the wise men of his kingdom could
not.
At least this time, Nebuchadnezzar told the wise
men and Daniel about his dream and only asked for an interpretation. With his
earlier dream he wouldn’t share the dream—he wanted the wise men to tell about
the dream and the interpretation. At first glance this seemed like a delightful
dream about a tree—but it has some weird nuisances and we’ll have to see what
Daniel has to say in his explanation. The tree seemed to be massive in size if
it touched the sky and the idea of a tree providing abundant fruit for everyone—man
and beast—would be a wonderful dream. He states that the “Most High is
sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wished….” Nebuchadnezzar
is confident that Daniel can solve the mystery of this dream. But will Daniel
want to tell King Nebuchadnezzar all about the dream? Have you ever been in a
position where you had to tell another person about a dreadfully difficult
situation?
Lord, Thank you for the
awesome world that you created just for us and please give us grace to point
others to You.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Scripture from The Message, except where noted.
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