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| Dan. 4:10-12 |
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Lesson # Dan. 4:10-12 Study Material - Dan. 4:10-12 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Dan. 4:10-12 10 'Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 'The tree grew large and became strong, And its height reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 'Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it. Nebuchadnezzar became heir to the throne after his father, Nebopolassar. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon and the Chaldean empire for 43 years from approximately 604 B.C. To 561 B.C. He neither began the empire nor ended with it, but inherited it from his father and continued building the empire until his final battle against Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish, then there was a period of extended peace throughout the empire for a few years, including the period of silence in Nebuchadnezzar's life where he suffered from his mental breakdown as we will see in the remainder of this chapter. 'In his bed...', the King was in his bed when these dreams came on him. These were not night dreams one has while sleeping, but day dreams. Nebuchadnezzar was not in his office doing what Kings do from 8 to 5, but rather his life was out of joint somewhat. He was taking a lot of time off due to the instabilities of his thinking. We saw in the last chapter that he flew off the handle in a rage at the slightest of provocation's. From the time that he first met Daniel, his mental health has gone down hill. Not due to genetic deficiencies, but to his extended life in mental sinning. People who reject Bible doctrine will inevitably suffer mental problems later in their lives. The soul is the residence of your human life. Not your body. Just as the body has its problems with disease, with infirmities, with aging, with genetic problems and so forth, so also the soul has its needs in order to maintain a healthy state. Bible doctrine in the soul is that nutrition which maintains a healthy soul. Application of Bible doctrine to ones life is that exercise which maintains a strong soul. Take away that nutrition and exercise, and your soul goes down hill. If you do not wash your body regularly, then you bring on many other types of physical problems from the filth and stench of yourself. People don't want to have anything to do with you. Likewise in the soul, your confession prayer is that washing of the soul with respect to the sin in your life and cleanses you up for fellowship with God. Apart from that you simply stink and God will have nothing to do with you. So now Nebuchadnezzar stinks. He has had many years of success. He has had divine revelation given to him verbally and demonstrated to him dramatically, but he resisted Gods word. But by Gods grace, and through Gods omniscience, God knew that Nebuchadnezzar would come around and believe in Christ, but only after loosing everything he had, including his mental health. So the dream. There was a tree. Trees have stumps, or roots in this case. These roots are the beginnings of the tree. The root is Nebuchadnezzar's father who began the empire. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar who grew up in and with the empire. The spreading out of the branches and great height of the tree is the Chaldean empire itself. It was in the middle of the earth and grew such that the whole earth could see it. The Chaldean empire promoted commerce to the four corners of the earth. Known all the way to China, into Asia in the north, and to the west into Europe and south into Africa. Commerce is the best method of promoting communication of information. Since Nebuchadnezzar was about to make an announcement concerning his faith in the God of Israel, this news would carry throughout the world by means of this system of commerce. This is a good principle to note. The promotion of commerce is one of the best methods of spreading the Word of God to the four corners of the world, and with it the knowledge of freedom and liberty follow. If you wish to defeat an enemy who is anti-God, then free commerce is the best way to get the attention of the citizens of a Godless nation. From within, the Godless nation will collapse and a God fearing population will arise. Not a shot is fired. Nebuchadnezzar is about to live a seven year stretch as a low life no better than the animals of the field, in total humiliation as God disciplines him and wakes him up to the truth that it is God who appoints and dismisses as he pleases, not man. The empire was prosperous with lots of commerce, lots of employment, lots of abundance. The wealth was beyond the basic needs of the people because we read that the foliage (non-food items) was grand. People were more than cared for. The animal life was well protected also. The empire had freedom within reason and along with it, prosperity. It was known throughout the world. But there was a problem, arrogance. The arrogance of a sole ruler. Nebuchadnezzar had been going downhill and in so doing he began to deny the rights of the people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the previous chapter were a classic example of that denial of due process. Nebuchadnezzar attempted to strip them of their very lives by means of a furnace that was not constructed for their exclusive execution but was already in use when they were accused. Nebuchadnezzar had been violating the authority he had been given by God. This abuse of his office will result in his being charged and convicted himself, by not only God but by angelic 'watchers' which we will see in the next verse. We are all under scrutiny from God. We all have been appointed something in life in which we will be held accountable by God. Regardless of your situation (and you do not have to be king of the world) you have responsibilities and you will be evaluated by God. Remember that you have been given doctrine, time, and volition. What you do with these three is up to you, but God will watch you closely and if you abuse these priceless assets that God has given you (that is reject His Word, ignore His Word, aren't interested in His Word), then you are only laying the foundations of your own misery. Nebuchadnezzar was his own worst enemy. His negative attitude for many years were his own undoing. He was warned on many occasions, and even in this dream the warning should have hit home in a more direct manner, but it will be a year of opportunity for His conversion before God will finally drop the hammer on him. Warning always precedes disaster. Disaster can always be avoided if the warnings are taken seriously and appropriate preparations made. Your consistent daily Bible study is your preparation for life. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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