Interesting Points from Daniel 4

The Most High Ruler in the Kingdom of Men and giveth a kingdom to whomsoever He will and putteth down whomsoever He will.

Nebuchadnezzar was far and away the greatest emperor of his day. He called his just about all of the known or desirable parts of the earth.

Ancient history tells some interesting details to this story in Daniel 4 and a teacher of Bible stories to children can make dramatic use of such background and color.

Nebuchadnezzar in his conquests had brought home from India not only many jewels but a jewel of a princess that he favored and wanted to impress. But in Babylon she soon got homesick. The king learned she had said,He has powerful armies but this is not a very beautiful palace.

Babylon's fertility was a rather narrow strip along the Tigris-Euphrates river, which had to supply pasture for the cattle and food for the population. There had not been much thought of beautiful gardens. In contrast the princess had explained her home was in a palace surrounded by streams, waterfalls, and flowering plants of every shade and variety.

When Nebuchadnezzar heard of this his dusty city in a sort of pain and frustration. Am I not the greatest king of all the world, but cannot have the garden beauties of that tribe in India whom I conquered so easily?

Then he put thousands of servants and slaves to work to make a mountain in the midst of the city. They made the sloping sides into terraces, forming delicate waterfalls between exotic plants.... only they had no water. No problem if you have thousands of slaves and servants. When they finished all the super landscape gardening and needed more water than that dry area would provide by rain, the king set the slaves to carry the water from the river to the top, also building waterwheels where men would move their feet as though climbing all day long, only they never moved, only the wheel turned, carrying water to a higher. Soon there were rivulets, pool, waterfall, fountains and all amid terraced exotic plants brought from the ends of the earth.

The princess was amazed, it was all so beyond her dreams. The king glowed with pride, but in the night he had a dream, a vision that his fortune tellers and wisemen could not interpret, though perhaps some of them guessed, but were afraid to speak out so boldly to that despot king.

Only one, Daniel, had both the vision and the courage to tell the truth and the whole truth.

The great tree which was to be cut down was Nebuchadnezzar himself. The part about 7 Times meant he was to live like a wild ox, eating herbs and grass for 7 years. And Daniel added, Oh King, Humble yourself before God who raiseth up whomsoever He pleases to put them on a throne and sets aside whomsoever He wills. And Oh King, KEEP humble.

Nebuchadnezzar resolved to be more humble before the God of Daniel...for a time.

But as the months went by more and more people travelled from all parts of the world to see the super marvels of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It was regarded as on of the Wonders of the World and is regarded as one of the Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World.

With all these merchants and tourists, kings and queens oh- ing and ah-ing in astonished wonder, old King Nebuchadnezzar forgot about his resolution to keep humble and began to bask in the bright glory of it all: "Is this not Great Babylon which I..I have built!!"

And the angel of God visited Him, "You have been warned and you have had your chance. Now must be fulfilled the prophecy>"

The King had a nervous breakdown, went mad, loco. The people were very superstitious about mad people and would do them no harm, so let him wander about where he would. He roamed the wildland and woods for 7 years.

After that he lifted up his head in understanding and began to praise the Lord. Kings think they have won a throne by the force of their arms, or the strategy of their election campaign, but there is a Most High God watching over the affairs of men who raiseth and putteth down whom He will according to prophetic times and the prayers of His people and the sins of those in Sodom. Stories and prophecies of Babylon have an ancient and a modern fulfillment. In our day there is a very proud class of atheists who call themselves "humanists" who do not believe in looking to God for any guidance or help. They say, Look at all our modern science has accomplished. All we need is a social dictator to build a social order atop of our industrial base, and we'll have Utopia.

Thinking themselves wise, their foolish hearts already darkened will soon be in a complete breakdown. For 7 years the Horseman of the Apocalypse will be rampant, stampeding in Tribulations sent by God.

Let us keep very apart from that luxurious and godless modern Babylon, so as to be ready for His Call and the Rapture of His Saints. the Lord