Daniel 4:20 Commentary and Bible Study

Daniel gives the interpretation: The tree that you saw is you, O king. It is perhaps what Nebuchadnezzar dimly sensed and was afraid of, but he still needed the interpretation and certainly did not understand the detail. From the greatest elevation on earth, he is about to be brought down to the lowest possible state, the least of men, less than a man, behaving like an animal, not fit to be kept in the company of men. The greatest natural capacity that man has – his reason – is about to be taken away from him. What is man without the gift of reason? How foolishly men like to think of themselves as just higher animals, when God has given such exalted gifts exclusively to mankind! How easily God is able to humble any one of us! What an enormous delusion the great ones of this world labour under! They look at themselves, and they see what they have achieved. They deliberately ignore the many providences over which they had no control, which allowed them to reach such heights, and they think vainly in their minds, as if they had organised and brought together all the different events which resulted in their elevation. But all this, God can remove so easily, and sometimes he does it very suddenly, in a moment. This happens so that all men see that God intervenes in the affairs of mankind. Death will be one such sudden judgment, and what follows will convince them that they were under delusion all their lives. Nebuchadnezzar, who in another vision was the head of gold, the greatest of earthly rulers that the world has known, will be instantly reduced to nothing. Just as he lifted himself up in the sight of the world, so he will be unwillingly humiliated before men. The praise of men is worth so much to the proud. It is not evaluated honestly or accurately, but, without it, human pride feels that there is nothing to prop it up. The proud man too easily judges that the opinion of the masses is right and well grounded when they pour praises into his ear, for the whole business is a powerful act of self-delusion. How careful the believer needs to be to constantly evaluate himself aright, knowing the tendency of the human heart to gather falsehoods to itself. Again, as we go through the narrative we are not told precisely how long. We are given a mysterious number: it's just seven ages or seven times. It could be seven years; it is less likely to be seven weeks, but the very use of the number seven shows that we are not being given an exact figure but that it was a long time: seven seasons or ages, long enough for King Nebuchadnezzar to grow extremely long hair and talons or fingernails.