Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you.”
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever…
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me… Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
How close can we come to the Truth without it changing our lives? Is it enough to hear the truth, to know about the truth, to even believe it is true or do we need to actually act upon it, take it to heart? Nebuchadnezzar is a case study in how not to ‘know’ the Truth.
Nebuchadnezzar has had dream experience with the Lᴏʀᴅ before but has a tendency to live with a short memory of what he knows. Daniel is called upon for the interpretation and explains the lengthy details of what is coming into the King’s life, the Why it is coming. Daniel realized the urgency and begins the interpretation with the preface, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!” 2 You can read the interpretation in Daniel 4:20-26. When Daniel concludes this interpretation, it is with his personal plea to Nebuchadnezzar,
But as with many, this urgent warning from God loses its urgency with time. ‘At the end of twelve months…’ Neb’ is thinking to himself as he walks on the roof of the palace in Babylon,
By Nebuchadnezzar’s own recounting of what happened next, that is exactly what happened to him and for how long it took him to repent of his arrogance. It was only when he acknowledged God again that he was restored.
So much truth, so much honesty about himself and God. Sounds so much like submission, appreciation of God. Close enough that many would want to declare the King a believer. After all, he said all the right things and then there’s the outcome:
For everything that Nebuchadnezzar gets right, the Bible does not tell us of a lasting change of heart. His ‘return of reason’ with the knowing and speaking do not become living from the heart. His pattern of going his own way continues.
For us, as dramatic as this history is, how much more direct is what the Lᴏʀᴅ has said to us in the whole of the Bible? We have more than dreams and interpretations—we have the Bible, the Word of God, and it includes the Final Chapter of each of us. What shall we do?