Summary

Nebuchadnezzar’s life continues after the dream and its interpretation. It seems like nothing is wrong. He is still king; still as powerful as he had been. It is not like his heart has turned into that of an animal or that he is acting like one. Will the thing that Daniel had said really come to pass? Is it the case that change is still possible at that point? We do well to note that God’s punishment does not come immediately. It does not come until a year later when Nebuchadnezzar confirms and shows that he is still continuing to exalt himself. Those twelve months of which we read here show that the Lord still gave the king of Babylon time to repent. There was also time for him to come to the acknowledgment that the Lord, the Most High, gives kingship to men and no one else, and that everything is under the government of the Lord and he must be honoured for this. What Nebuchadnezzar saw in the dream is not inescapable. This is also pointed out by Daniel’s call to repentance in Daniel 4:27.

There are several times that the Lord works with the announcement of his judgment as a strong warning. One can think of Nineveh. Jonah tells the inhabitants of the city that after forty days the city will be destroyed. The reason for this is the sins of the Ninevites. Jonah delivers this message and eagerly waits for the destruction of this city. But something happened in that town. The people are startled and come to repentance. The Lord has accomplished his purpose with this announcement of his judgment, and therefore in his kindness he spares Nineveh.

This is the way that the Lord works in history. He is faithful to his word. The Lord says very clearly in Jeremiah 18:7–10 that this is how he works, If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. This is how the Lord works! Nebuchadnezzar gets twelve months to repent—a year-long period of grace.