Chopping Trees
The pattern we detected in Daniel continues:
- ch.1-STANDING UP against culture - Daniel and diet
- ch.2-VISION - Weakening statue and rock - Culture is not forever
- ch.3-STANDING UP when all bow down - Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue and commands everyone to bow down. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse and are thrown into the furnace, but God delivers them.
- ch.4-VISION - A big tree - If you try to be a god you'll get the chop!
This is what Daniel 4 is all about. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a great tree that will be chopped down. Daniel interprets it for him: The tree is Nebuchadnezzar and the sober warning is that he needs to humble himself or he will go insane and land up living like a wild animal for seven years.
Nebuchadnezzar does not heed the warning and the rest of the chapter shows how he becomes so arrogant that he considers himself a god (I think it is safe to assume that the statue in ch.3 was of himself!) With that he goes insane, eating grass and living like an animal until he finally acknowledges God.
Those who want to be worshipped are on a slippery slope. Their time comes and sanity is always at risk. History has repeatedly shown that despots, pride and a belief in one's own infallibility are a perfect recipe for a downfall.
Those who want to be worshipped have - by history's standards - a short lifespan. Leaders, organisations, and "pop" stars all lose the plot at some point unless they discover humility and acknowledge the God who gives them what they have.
| I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all... I looked, and there before me was a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. He called in a loud voice: Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. (Daniel4:10-13) |
