Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Tree

Although there are many things that I will never understand about God, one of the most perplexing to me is how some people appear to get more chances in life than others.  It seems as if God has more patience with some people than others.  This may only be my limited human perspective and everyone may get equal opportunities to respond to the gospel.  But if God does give some people more chances than others, I’m certainly not in the position to question this.

Daniel 4 tells the incredible story of where Nebuchadnezzar is humbled.  Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man on the planet and because of this he had become extremely proud of all that he had accomplished.  If there ever were a man who had the right to be proud of what he had accomplished, it was Nebuchadnezzar.  He had built a mighty empire, defeated nations, and built the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  But the problem was that Nebuchadnezzar did not do it alone; he had done it with God’s help and he never acknowledged God.

So Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a tree.  Daniel is called in to interpret the dream.  In it, a decree was made to cut down the tree but leave the stump and roots.  Daniel interpreted that the tree was Nebuchadnezzar and that he would go made until he acknowledged God as the authority over him.  Then he would be restored to his throne.

Despite Daniel’s warnings to repent so that God would bring about this calamity, about a year later it came to pass.  Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity is one of the more interesting footnotes of the Bible.  It has been documented historically by several other writers.  All of them back up the story of Daniel.

The actual illness that Nebuchadnezzar was struck with seems like sheer fantasy but it is true.  Nebuchadnezzar had lycanthropy.  This is the disease that the legends of werewolves come from and the name literally means wolf man.  True to Daniel interpretation, Nebuchadnezzar acted like a wild animal.

At the end of seven years, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God as the Lord of his life.  He was restored to his throne and just like Job, he received even more than what he had before.

Even though Nebuchadnezzar had seen the power of God several times before, he did not submit to it.  But God would not let Nebuchadnezzar continue in his sinful ways.  This shows us that God cares about the salvation of the world’s mightiest men as well as the lowliest of people.  One day every knee will bow before His throne, both mighty and lowly.  Nebuchadnezzar, the mightiest of all, acknowledges that God is above him.  The rest of us must do likewise.