I raised my eyes toward heaven and reason returned to me

Daniel 4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound! ² It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.

³ “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.

⁴ “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. ⁵ I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. ⁶ So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. ⁸ But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, ⁹ ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

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.

¹³ ‘I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.

¹⁴ ‘He shouted out and spoke as follows: Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches.
¹⁵ “Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it
In the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ “Let his mind be changed from that of a man And let a beast’s mind be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass over him. ¹⁷ “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.”

¹⁸ This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

¹⁹ “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries! ²⁰ The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth ²¹ and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged— ²² it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. ²³ In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,” ²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: ²⁵ that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. ²⁶ And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. ²⁷ Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’

²⁸ “All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. ²⁹ Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. ³⁰ The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ ³¹ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, ³² and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ ³³ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴ “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵ “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’

³⁶ At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

They say there is a fine line between genius and insanity; that a human mind operating at a higher level of function will be contrary to social and societal norms in many ways. In today’s text we see that there also can be a fine line between sin and insanity. I in no way want to deny or lessen the struggle that many people have with chemical imbalances or psychological disorders, but there is also at times a matter of choosing. There are consequences for every decision we make and every action we take. When we choose to continue on a path that we know is not right, our minds begin to justify our choices. We become desensitized to the wrong we do. Our hearts become hardened.

In today’s text the king, Nebuchadnezzar, was given a warning in a dream. He was told what would happen if he continued on the path he was on, a path of self pride. Nebuchadnezzar, as many people do, ignored the warning, even though he himself said of Daniel:   since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation;  although he acknowledged God, he did not heed the warning from God.  Daniel said:    O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.      

When we ignore the word of God and the revealed will of God, choosing instead to continue on our own path, we become subject to the consequences of our choice. James 1:13-15 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.        For most people who are involved in heinous criminal activity, deviant immorality (if our culture even recognizes anything as immoral) or addictions of any kind, there was a process of choosing to follow that path. Most people don’t begin with the worst possible choice, they progress or digress as they continue to heed to the temptations of their own lusts.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12, Paul declares a strong warning to everyone about the deception brought on by unrighteousness.       Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;  that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.   There is a delusion that comes from continuing in unrighteousness, against the revealed will and word of God. Jesus Himself says:  “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:17-21)   

Our society, our culture and modern psychology deals with abnormal behavior by justifying it, by taking the responsibility for an individual’s choices and actions and shifting the blame to someone or something else. They deny God and so deny the existence of sin and its consequences.   In today’s text it says:   Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.    Certainly the king was insane. He received, in his mind and body, the consequences of his choice. The text tells us what it was that restored his sanity:      “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.”     There is a clarity, a logic, a right mind that comes to those who acknowledge God. Again I’m not saying that it is as simple as that for every situation. I would never encourage one who needs medication to stop taking it without counsel.  

In the text it says:  “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, I too honor the King of heaven, for all Your works are true and Your ways are just. Thank You that as I humble myself and acknowledge my own lusts, but also acknowledge You and the finished work of the cross; You raise me up and restore me to all that You intended, that I would be, and live as one created in Your image and likeness.   Amen