Day 257 (Daniel 4-6) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble (0:01)

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

King Nebi of Babylon kicks us off today with a letter he's written to his people praising Yahweh, the God Most High. This letter shows an unexpectedly humble side of Nebi, because if you think of all he had lined up yesterday with the statue and the calling in all the foreign dignitaries, he's actually praising God for thwarting his plans.

Nebi goes on to talk about another perplexing dream he's had. He calls in the dream team, but no one can interpret it until Daniel shows up. Why didn't Nebi just go to Daniel first? Some commentators think he was testing the others on the dream team, and others say that this is a sign he isn't fully committed to Yahweh because he's still seeking help from his familiar wicked resources.

In his dream, a tree grows big and strong, and its impact, which is mostly positive in this dream, reaches the whole earth. Then a messenger of Yahweh shows up and commands that the tree be chopped down and stripped of its branches and fruit, but that its stump, which represents a man, should be left to soak in the ground for seven years. Daniel is like, yikes, I wish this dream were for your enemies, but it's not. So buckle up. This isn't going to be easy to hear. You and Babylon are the tree. Your reign is going to get chopped down, and you're going to be relegated to living in the fields for seven years among the beasts. This dream is definitely going to happen, and you can't avoid it. But if you want my advice on how to delay getting stumped, turn from your sins and show mercy to the oppressed, because God might postpone the chopping for a later date. A year later, Nebby is walking on his roof, writing a praise song to himself, when a voice from heaven yells, Timber! So if he did repent, it wasn't for long. His pride has come back full force. Then, after seven years of eating grass, he's sufficiently humbled. And just like God said through Daniel, his reign is reinstated. Nebby sings another praise song, but this time it's for Yahweh. His closing statement in the chapter blows my mind, because these words came from the man who toppled Jerusalem and the temple. Verse 37 says, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, for all his works are right and all his ways are just, and those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.

In chapter 5, we meet Belshazzar, who is probably King Nebby's grandson. He's throwing a big party, and when he tastes the wine, he says, ooh, this is the good stuff. We need to serve it out of those awesome antique glasses I inherited. He's well aware that these are the same goblets Nebby stole from the temple before he destroyed it. Belshazzar and his crew are drinking it up while having a pagan worship ceremony until God breaks through the fourth dimension and shocks everyone. Belshazzar almost passes out because he sees the hand and the writing. If you've ever wondered where the phrase, I saw the writing on the wall, comes from, now you know. Belshazzar calls in his wicked interpreters, but they can't make sense of it. Either they understand the words but not the meaning, or maybe it's written in a foreign language, like Hebrew. A woman who is probably Belshazzar's mom tells him about how Daniel helped King Nebi all those years ago. So they call him in to figure things out.

King B opens with a backhanded compliment. He knows who Daniel is and praises his wisdom, but he refers to him as an exile, not by the title King Nebi gave him. Then he promises to promote Daniel to third in the kingdom if he can interpret the writing. And of course, we know he's got what it takes, because what it takes is Yahweh. But it's also clear in Daniel's response that he doesn't really like King B. Not only does he say he doesn't want the king's gifts, but he also leaves off the traditional Oh King, live forever in his greeting. Then Daniel says King B isn't ignorant of what happened with Nebi. He's just proud and foolish. He doesn't pull any punches in accusing him. After he rebukes him for using the holy vessels and worshiping pagan gods, he ends by saying, The God in whose hand is your breath and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. By the way, when Daniel says God's ways are all King B's ways, he's not saying King B follows God, obviously. He's pointing out God's sovereignty over everything King B does. When Daniel interprets the message, he boils it down to this. God has deemed you an unworthy leader, and he's going to remove you and divide your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians. And signs point to it happening quickly because the word that means numbered is doubled. Despite the bad news, King B gives Daniel the promised gifts, then he dies later that night, and the kingdom is given to Darius the Mede. Something that isn't in the text here is that many commentators believe this is the very night the Medes invaded, and they're the ones who killed King B.