Introduction

I will be doing a series from the Book of Daniel. I believe it will be very useful to us at this time of a global health crisis.

Daniel & his friends/colleagues were caught up in a crisis of sorts back in their own day: the loss of their freedom & had to live & flourish under a different atmosphere.

Key Points from Chapter 4

• Nebuchadnezzar opens with a greeting to all people, and a praise to God. It seems that he is praising the God who indeed created the world, from the way it is written.
• He had a dream again, which also troubled him. He therefore sent for all the wise men of Babylon, you know, the usual horde. On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar remembered his dream.
• He told it to the wise men, but they were unable to provide him with an interpretation.
• Finally, Daniel met with him, was told the dream and went on to interpret it clearly.

Concluding Thoughts

• Some people hold the view that Nebuchadnezzar himself wrote Daniel 4. From the style of writing, in the 1st person approach, it is tantalizingly believable. It is also possible that it was written by a scribe under the direct instruction of Nebuchadnezzar. If so, that is instructive. That God can use others who don’t necessarily identify as his follower, for his purposes in such a way.
• Given that Daniel solved his last major dream related challenge, I would’ve thought he would send for Daniel straightaway.
• God rules supreme in the kingdom of men [the nations of the world today], and he gives it to whomsoever he will, “and sets over it the lowest of men”. This is very important.
• Nebuchadnezzar strongly believed Daniel could deliver the answer. He had no doubt about this. The dream really troubled him.
• The meaning of the dream troubled Daniel too. However, he still provided an accurate interpretation. That was courage. Courage matters.
• God really wanted to teach Nebuchadnezzar some important principles. My take is that God cared about Nebuchadnezzar. He learned them in full upon his restoration, when his understanding returned to him. He went on to praise and extol the “king of heaven.” Nebuchadnezzar may not have known him the way we do, but he clearly knew who he was talking about.
• Daniel once again was faced with a challenge, and he applied his gift/knowledge/ability to the situation to bring about clarity/understanding.

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O.J