| Subject: Daniel 4 vss 4-9 Post #19 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:36:37 05/25/09 Mon
Daniel 4:4-9 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
Nebuchadnezzar now starts his narrative on the events that transpired so recently that altered his life forever. . As we read we need to realize that from verse 3 to verse 4 he is going back to relate the events that led to his letter to "all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth;". If we don't make this distinction we wind up with Nebuchadnezzar going back to his pantheon of gods instead of extolling the one true God.
Things are good with Nebuchadnezzar. He is not at war with nation nor self. He is at ease "in Zion" (Amos 6:1) and "flourishing". The palace could have been in Babylon or in Shushan which was in Elam and south east of Babylon. It is likely that this was the case as the year round weather was more conducive to vegetation growth. We will see the importance of this later in his narrative.
The opulence, wealth and peace conditions during this time caused Nebuchadnezzar to start reflecting on the cause of all the greatness of his kingdom. From the later events we can surmise that old Neb. was pattin' himself on the back and congratulating himself on his power and majesty. Pride had blossomed to the full in the king and he wasn't above braggin' about it.
As is true with all men, things change. In the night God starts talking to Nebuchadnezzar and the way God talks gets his attention. A dream or vision is sent to Nebuchadnezzar and the dream plus his meditations on what the dream could mean brought fear and great unrest to the king. The peace of mind he had is shattered and he couldn't rest until that peace of mind was restored.
Nebuchadnezzar seems to be a "slow study" about certain things. After the dream he starts gathering his almost useless advisors of the kingdom (like the ones we have in Washington) to tell him what the dream was all about. Magicians, astrologers and soothsayers are only good for the time they can keep you fooled so they were not able to help at all. "Interpretations belong to God" (Gen. 40:8) It is in verses 8 and 9 that we have revealed to us the spiritual state of Nebuchadnezzar at this time. In verse 8 we see: "But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods:" In verse 9 we read: "O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. "
Nebuchadnezzar recognizes his God "Bel" as being the one he turns to. He favored Daniel so much that he named him in part after his god. The name Belteshazzar according to Herbert Lockyear means "the lord's leader". Oliver Greene states it means "who Bel favors" or "who the Lord favors" which would be close to the same meaning. Names often cannot be nailed down precisely simply because they can be interpreted often in several ways. There were no vowels and how you supplied the vowels could easily change the meaning or translation of a name. My computer concordance says that it means "lord of the straightened treasure" whatever that's supposed to mean. What ever the full meaning of Belteshazzar all agree in the first part of the name as being Bel which means "Lord".
What is instructive is how Nebuchadnezzar sees his god and then the lesser gods. This is the way much of the world looks at it. The American Indians saw gods. The Hindu's hold to a pantheon. When you get down and look at their belief's even Mormons allow for God over lesser gods. The Greeks and Romans had gods for every occasion (war, fertility, rain, storms etc.) so it is not surprising that we find Nebuchadnezzar holding to this belief system. Realizing this we see that Nebuchadnezzar believes that the power of the gods he believes in rests in Daniel like no other. He calls him the "master of the magicians" not realizing that the true God who is working through Daniel is not a master of magic With God nothing is impossible and He acts through His unlimited power and ability to change natural law so that things take place which we call miracles. With God it is not a miracle. With God it just comes natural!
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