AFTER THE BLAZING FURNACE OUR LAST CHAPTER CONCLUDED WITH AN ORDER MADE BY KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR TO (AS HE MODESTLY PUTS IT) EVERYONE IN ALL THE EARTH. THIS ESSENTIALLY ORDERED ALL OF HIS SUBJECTS (WHO HE ARROGANTLY THOUGHT WAS EVERY LAST BEING ON THE PLANET) TO SHOW RESPECT FOR THE ALAHIM OF SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO - AN ALAHIM THAT THE KING CURRENTLY CALLED THE MOST HIGH ONE (MEANING THE HIGHEST ONE IN THE PANTHEON OF GODS AND GODDESSES).
SO AS A RESULT OF THE KING’S EXPERIENCE OF WATCHING THESE 3 JEWISH LADS MIRACULOUSLY EMERGE FROM THE SUPERHEATED FURNACE UNSCATHED, HE WANTED TO HONOR THEIR ALAHIM WHO RESCUED THEM, BY NAMING HIM THE MOST HIGH ALAHIM.
REMEMBER YAHUAH REMOVED HIS NAME FROM HIS PEOPLE WHILE IN BABYLON, WHICH IS WHY WE SEE NO USE OF IT.
BUT THE PECKING ORDER OF THE MANY GODS OF ANCIENT CULTURE CHANGED REGULARLY, SO IN A FEW MONTHS (PROBABLY LESS), HE WOULD DROP THAT AND DESIGNATE ANOTHER GOD/ALAHIM/MIGHTY ONE AS MOST HIGH! (JUMP 20 YEARS - DANIEL IS 50)
THIS CHAPTER TODAY FOCUSSES COMPLETELY ON NEBUCHADNEZZAR, TAKES PLACE MANY YEARS AFTER HIS STATUE DREAM AND THE WHOLE ACCOUNT IN GIVEN BY HIM IN THE FIRST PERSON. B-CONTEXT NEEDED !
D A N I E L . 4
1King Nebuchadnezzar sent this letter to the many peoples, nations and languages living around the world: “Greetings: 2I’m very happy to tell you about the signs and wonders that the Most High Alahim has worked for me. 3O’ how great are His signs and mighty are His wonders. His Kingdom continues forever and His ruleship will last for all generations.
4I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, happy and successful in my palace. 5Then I had a dream that freaked me right out. The thoughts I had while lying on my bed, and the visions in my head, completely alarmed me. 6So I gave an order that all the wise men of Babylon be brought to me to tell me what my dream meant. 7When the astrologers, magicians and Chaldeans came, I told them about the dream, but they couldn’t tell me what it meant.
THE KING EXPLAINS THAT HE WAS CONTENT, HAPPY, ENJOYING LIFE AND THE LUXURY OF HIS PALACE, AND LIFTING HIMSELF UP ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HAVING CREATED THE LARGEST EMPIRE THE WORLD HAD EVER KNOWN. HIS EMPIRE WAS AT PEACE, OPERATING LIKE CLOCKWORK. EVERY RACE, LANGUAGE, TRIBE AND ETHNIC GROUP OF THE SCORES OF KINGDOMS AND NATIONS THAT FORMED HIS ENORMOUS AND DIVERSE EMPIRE HAD SWORN ALLEGIANCE TO THE ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT OF BABYLON (AND THEREBY TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR) BY MEANS OF THE EMPIRE-WIDE CEREMONY OF THE DEDICATION OF THE GOLDEN
STATUE (THE ONE THAT NEARLY COST SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO THEIR LIVES). SO THE IDEA IS THAT THE KING WAS UNDER NO STRESS OR PARTICULAR ANXIETY BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO HIM, THINGS WERE GOOD! (FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE) - HE WAS RELAXED, AND THEN SUDDENLY, FROM NOWHERE, COMES A TROUBLING SERIES OF DREAMS. BUT THAT WASN’T ALL - THE DREAMS WERE FOLLOWED UP WITH VISIONS, WHICH MEANS HE WAS RECEIVING THIS MESSAGE BOTH WHILE SLEEPING AND AWAKE ... SO HE COULDN’T ESCAPE IT !!
8So finally, Daniel came to me. (I gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar to honor my deity). The Spirit of the set-apart Alahim is in Daniel, so I told him about my dream.
HE'S OBVIOUSLY TRUSTING HIS ADVISORS ALOT MORE NOW AND ACTUALLY TELLING THEM WHAT THE DREAM IS ABOUT FIRST! NOW WE ALL HAVE DREAMS EVERY NIGHT BUT IN THIS ERA DREAMS REALLY MEANT SOMETHING, AND FOR A KING TO HAVE A REPETATIVE DREAM THAT MAY AFFECT HIS KINGDOM, IS SOMETHING HE NEEDED ADVICE AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT!
9I said, 'Belteshazzar, (DANIEL) you are the most important of all the men of magic. I know that the Spirit of the set-apart Alahim is in you and that there is no secret that is too hard for you to understand. This was what I dreamed. Now please tell me what it means. (ALAHIM = ONE OF MANY TO HIM)
THE KING HAD PUT DANIEL IN CHARGE OF HIS CHALDEAN SEERS, SO CONVINCED THAT HE'S CONNECTED TO THE RIGHT GOD OR GODS, THE KING SETS ABOUT TELLING HIM HIS DREAM ...
10These are the visions I saw while I was lying in my bed: I looked, and in front of me there was a tree standing very tall and mighty in the middle of the earth, 11and the top of the tree touched the Heavens. (THEY THOUGHT THE EARTH WAS FLAT AND ROUND AND THE SKY WAS LIKE A GLASS BOWL TURNED UPSIDE DOWN ON THE EARTH. This tree could be seen from anywhere on earth. 12The leaves of the tree were beautiful. It had much good fruit on it. And there was plenty of food for everyone on the tree. The wild animals found shelter under the tree, and the birds lived in its branches. Every animal ate from the tree.
FOR NEBUCHADNEZZAR, BABYLON WAS THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, AND IN LATER PROPHECIES (INCLUDING REVELATION) BABYLON IS SEEN AS THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (AS FAR AS COMMERCE AND GOVERNMENTAL POWER IS CONCERNED). THE IDEA OF EVERY PERSON OVER THE ENTIRE PLANET (OR AT LEAST THROUGHOUT THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE) BEING ABLE TO SEE THIS AMAZINGLY TALL AND MAJESTIC TREE MEANS THAT IT AFFECTS EVERYONE WHO SEEKS ITS SHELTER, AND THAT (AT THE LEAST), EVERYONE ON EARTH IS AWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THIS POWERFUL AND UNMATCHED TREE. (GLOBAL SYSTEM OF BEHAVIOUR!)
SPEAKING THROUGH THE PROPHET ISAIAH, YAHUAH USES TREES AS SYMBOLS REPRESENTING THE LOFTY PRIDE OF MAN WHICH WILL BE BROUGHT LOW IN THE DAY OF YAHUSHA.
ISAIAH 2:12-17
"FOR THE DAY OF YAHUAH OF HOSTS WILL COME ON EVERYTHING PROUD AND LOFTY, ON EVERYTHING HIGH AND LIFTED UP—AND IT WILL BE BROUGHT LOW—ON ALL THE CEDARS OF LEBANON THAT ARE HIGH AND LIFTED UP, AND UPON ALL THE OAKS OF BASHAN; UPON ALL THE HIGH MOUNTAINS, AND UPON ALL THE HILLS THAT ARE LIFTED UP. THE LOFTINESS OF MANKIND WILL BE BOWED DOWN, AND THEIR HAUGHTINESS WILL BE BROUGHT LOW, FOR YAHUAH ALONE WILL BE EXALTED IN THAT DAY".
THE JUDGMENT OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PRIDE IN THIS CHAPTER IS A SHADOW OF THE GENERAL JUDGMENT OF MANKIND’S PRIDE AT THE TIME OF THE END. SPEAKING OF KINGDOMS AND REIGNS, YAHUSHA DRAWS FROM THESE 'TREE-SHADOWS' IN HIS PARABLE CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF YAHUAH:
MATTHEW 13:31-32
"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED, WHICH A MAN TOOK AND SOWED IN HIS FIELD, WHICH INDEED IS THE LEAST OF ALL THE SEEDS - BUT WHEN IT IS GROWN IT IS GREATER THAN THE HERBS AND BECOMES A TREE, SO THAT THE BIRDS OF THE AIR COME AND NEST IN ITS BRANCHES".
13I was looking at those things in the vision while lying on my bed. And then I saw a set-apart watcher (ANGEL) coming down from Heaven. 14He spoke very loud and said, ‘Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches. Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit around. The animals that are under the tree will run away and the birds that are in its branches will fly off. 15But let the stump and roots stay in the ground. Put a band of iron and bronze around it, for the stump and roots will stay in the field with the grass all around it.BEAR GOOD FRUIT
It will live among the wild animals and plants in the fields. It will become wet with dew. 16Let his heart be changed from a man’s to the heart of a beast. That’s right, he will not think like a man any longer, but will have the mind of a beast. And seven times (SEASONS) will pass while he is like this.’ (LIKE ADAM, WHO WAS GIVEN RULE OVER THE ANIMALS - THIS KING WAS TO BECOME LIKE ONE!)
'HEART' IN HEBREW IS 'THE PLACE OF REASONING, THOUGHT & UNDERSTANDING' (WHAT WE'D CALL THE MIND TODAY) - 'THE SEAT OF MORAL REFLECTION, CHOICES OF THE WILL AND PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOUR. IT INCLUDES NOT ONLY MENTAL PROCESSES BUT ALSO THE FEELINGS, AFFECTIONS AND EMOTIONS, ALONG WITH ALL THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS LEADING TO DECISIONS AND RESPONSES TO LIFE SITUATIONS'. LET HIM BE GIVEN THE HEART OF A 'BEAST' - THE SAME ANIMAL-NATURE-BEHAVIOUR USED TO DESCRIBE THE CONDITION OF THE WHOLE WORLD IN THESE LAST DAYS.
NOT ONLY WOULD THE KING BEHAVE LIKE THE BEASTS HE WAS GIVEN DOMINION OVER BY YAHUAH, HE WOULD LOSE THE ABILITY TO RECOGNISE AND RESPOND TO YAHUAH, WHICH IS THE VERY ASPECT THAT SEPARATES MANKIND FROM ANIMALS! RELATIONSHIP!
17Set-apart watchers announced this punishment so that all the people on earth may know that Alahim Most High rules over human kingdoms. Alahim gives those Kingdoms to whoever He wants, and He chooses the lowest of men (HUMBLEST PEOPLE - 'A CLASS OF PERSON LACKING RESOURCES') to rule them.
YAHUSHA HAS CHOSEN TO ELEVATE THE BASE, SIMPLE PEOPLE TO POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE THROUGH HIS SUPERNATURAL HEART OPERATION!
18That is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. Now, Belteshazzar (DANIEL), tell me what it means. None of the wise men in my Kingdom can tell me what my dream means. But Belteshazzar, you can interpret the dream because the Spirit of the set-apart Alahim is in you.”
DANIEL IS LOYAL TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND WISHES HIM WELL, BECAUSE NOT ONLY IS HE AND HIS JEWISH MATES BEING TREATED DECENTLY IN BABYLON, BUT HE ALSO KNOWS THAT THIS KING IS YAHUAH’S CHOICE FOR 3 GENERATIONS. SO WHEN DANIEL HEARS THE DREAM HE AT ONCE UNDERSTOOD THE SUPERNATURAL MESSAGE, AND WAS AWESTRUCK, AND SHOCKED, FOR IT WAS UNEXPECTED AND NOT GOOD NEWS - YET HE MUST TELL THE KING FORTHRIGHTLY AND HONESTLY THE HARSH TRUTH:
THAT YAHUAH'S DIVINE JUDGMENT ON THE KING WAS COMING !
19Then Daniel (Belteshazzar) became very quiet for a while, for what he was thinking bothered him. So the King said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”
So Belteshazzar answered the King, “My Master, I wish the dream were about your enemies, and the meaning of the dream were about those against you. 20-21You saw a tree in your dream. The tree grew large and strong.
Its top touched the Heavens, and it could be seen from all over the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, and it had plenty of fruit. The fruit gave plenty of food for everyone. It was a home for the wild animals, and its branches were nesting places for the birds. You saw that tree. 22O’King, you are that tree! You have become great and powerful. You are like the tall tree that touched the Heavens and your power reaches to the farest parts of the earth.
23O'King, you saw a set-apart watcher (ANGEL) coming down from Heaven, saying, ‘Cut the tree down and destroy it. Bind it with a band of iron and bronze around the stump and leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Leave it in the grass in the field. It will become wet with dew. He will live like a wild animal. Seven times (SEASONS) will pass while he’s like this.’ (CRAZY PEOPLE ARE BOUND UP ALSO FOR PROTECTION!)
24“King, this is the meaning of the dream: The Most High has commanded these things to happen to my Master the King: 25Nebuchadnezzar, you will be driven away from people and forced to live among the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle, and you will become wet with dew of the sky. Seven times (SEASONS) will pass, and then you will learn that the Most High rules over human Kingdoms and gives them to whoever He wants.
26The command to leave the stump of the tree and its roots in the ground means this: Your Kingdom will be given back to you. This will happen when you learn that the Most High rules your Kingdom. 27So, King, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and be obedient - stop your lawlessness and be kind to the poor people. Then you might continue to be successful and favoured.”
THIS GLOBAL SUPER-POWER OF THE WORLD (FIRST SHOWN AS A STATUE AND NOW A TREE) IS A SHADOW-TEACHING FOR THE KINGDOM AND RULE OF SATAN IN PEOPLE'S HEARTS. JUST LIKE THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE CITY OF YAHUSHA, BABYLON IS DEPICTED AS THE `COSMIC TREE OF LIFE AND PROSPERITY' - BUT IT IS A LIE, A FALSE TREE, IN A FAKE GARDEN, WHOSE CITY AND MAKER WAS NIMROD (AND NOW KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR). SO THE ONLY WAY OUT OF SERVING THIS EVIL TREE (AN ORGANISED SYSTEM OF WALKING DEAD BEHAVIOUR) ... IS TO BECOME JOINED TO THE TRUE VINE - THE REAL TREE OF LIFE THAT STANDS AT THE CENTRE OF YAHUSHA'S KINGDOM. THIS TREE WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN GENESIS, AND STOOD NEXT TO THE WATERWAYS (AND ONE OF THESE RIVERS - THE EUPHRATES - FLOWED OUT TO BABYLON AND NOURISHED IT....THIS TREE BECAME A MAN AND WAS CUT DOWN ... ON A TREE (TO CONNECT DIMENSIONS AGAIN) ... THIS SYMBOLISM IS NOT LOST ON JOHN, FOR IN REVELATION HE SEES THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY, WHICH IS FOR HEALING ... SO THERE'S TWO TREES - ONE CHOICE ! ...
REMEMBER IN REVELATION WHERE FUTURE BABYLON IS “FALLING”? THIS SAME TREE IMAGE IS BEING USED AND EVEN SPEAKS OF HOW BABYLON WILL BE A HOME FOR UNCLEAN BIRDS. THE ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT, OPERATED BY A PAGAN KING, WILL BE CUT DOWN AND FALL AND THE ENTIRE WORLD WILL SEE IT. AND WE’RE TOLD HERE IN DANIEL THAT THE BRANCHES THAT (AT ONE TIME) WERE A HOME FOR BIRDS ARE NO LONGER SUITABLE FOR THE BIRDS’ NESTS BECAUSE ALL OF THE TREES LEAVES WILL BE STRIPPED AWAY. IT'S HAPPENING!
YAHUSHA ALWAYS WARNS US AND GIVES US TIME TO REPENT AND ADJUST OUR BEHAVIOUR, HOPING TO HOLD OFF ON HARSH CONSEQUENCES ... BUT CLEARLY THE KING TOOK NO NOTICE OF THIS REBUKE :
28And all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar ... 29-30A year after the dream, the King was walking on the flat roof of his palace in Babylon, and the King said, “Look at Babylon! I built this great city. It is my palace. I built this great place by my power. I built this place to show just how great and awesome I am.”
ESSENTIALLY, HE DEFIED YAHUAH IN A SIMILAR WAY THAT NIMROD DID WHEN HE CLIMBED UP THE TOWER OF BABEL, SHOT AN ARROW
TOWARDS THE HEAVENS, AND DARED YAHUAH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WELL, IN BOTH CASES, YAHUAH TOOK UP THE CHALLENGE :
31And the words were still in the King’s mouth when a voice shot down from the Heaven, saying,
“Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your power as King has been taken away from you. 32You will be forced to go away from people and live with the wild animals and eat grass like an ox. Seven times (SEASONS) will pass, then you will learn that the Most High rules over human kingdoms and gives them to whoever he wants.”
33And these things happened immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people. He began eating grass like an ox. He became wet from dew. His hair grew long like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails grew long like the claws of a bird.
34"Then at the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward Heaven, and I was in my right mind again and my understanding returned. Then I gave praise to the Most High and gave honor and esteem to Him who lives forever, and Whose Kingdom and rule continues for all generations. 35People on earth are not really important, for He does what He wants with the powers of Heaven and the people on earth. No one can stop His powerful hand or question what He does.
No one can accuse Him saying `What have You done?’ 36And at that time my understanding returned to me again, and He gave back my great honor and power as King. My advisors and the royal people began to ask my advice again. I became the King, even greater and more powerful than before. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise, honor, and esteem to the King of Heaven. Everything He does is right. He is always fair, and He is able to humble those who walk in PRIDE!
THIS IS THE MESSAGE FROM A PROUD PAGAN KING AFTER BEING SENT INSANE BY THE SPIRIT OF YAHUSHA FOR A TIME - TO HUMBLE HIM!
MANKIND WITHOUT YAHUSHA'S SPIRIT HAS HAD THEIR HEARTS REPLACED WITH THAT OF A BEAST DUE TO THE CORRUPT SEED !
(HEBREW)
SUPERNATURALLY-CHARGED MENTAL ILLNESS THAT COMES FROM EXTREME CASES OF PRIDE, ARROGANCE, AND GREED ARE PRESENTED IN THE SCRIPTURE (AS WITH KING SAUL AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR), AND WE SEE IT ALL AROUND US TODAY, BUT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS DOESN’T ALLOW US TO LABEL IT FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS - YAHUSHA-INFUSED INSANITY (the Demon-Locusts) :
( BECAUSE THEY HATE THE TRUTH )
FALLEN HUMAN NATURE IS BEASTLY!
BEFORE COMING TO YAHUSHA AND RECEIVING A NEW HEART AND SPIRIT, WE ARE JUST LIKE NEBUCHADNEZZAR: WE THINK HIGHLY OF OURSELVES UNTIL YAHUSHA REVEALS OUR PRIDE AND SINFUL BEHAVIOUR TO HIS WORD.
ROMANS 7:18
“BUT SINFUL MEN ARE FULL OF SIN; PRINCIPLES AND ACTS OF SIN - THEIR GUILT IS LIKE GREAT MOUNTAINS, HEAPED ONE UPON ANOTHER TILL THE PILE IS GROWN UP TO HEAVEN. THEY ARE TOTALLY CORRUPT, IN EVERY PART, IN ALL THEIR FACULTIES - IN ALL THE PRINCIPLES OF THEIR NATURE, THEIR UNDERSTANDING, AND WILLS - AND IN ALL THEIR ATTITUDES AND AFFECTIONS. THEIR HEADS, THEIR HEARTS, ARE TOTALLY DEPRAVED - ALL THE MEMBERS OF THEIR BODIES ARE ONLY INSTRUMENTS OF SIN AND ALL THEIR SENSES, SEEING, HEARING, TASTING, ETC, ARE ONLY INLETS AND OUTLETS OF SIN, CHANNELS OF CORRUPTION. THERE IS NOTHING BUT SIN & EVIL - NO GOOD AT ALL".
SCRIPTURE DEPICTS NATIONS AS BEASTS. LIKE NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WE ARE INITIALLY CONVINCED OF OUR SELF-RIGHTEOUNESS. BUT UNTIL WE ACKNOWLEDGE OUR SINFUL PRIDE, REPENT AND CHOOSE TO GIVE OVER OURSELVES TO THE PROCESS OF DYING TO THE FLESHLY DESIRES - WE WILL NEVER HAVE PEACE AND HAPPINESS! IF WE STAY IN PRIDE WE ARE RAISING OUR FIST TO THE SKY, SHOOTING THE ARROW FROM THE TOWER AND DECLARING TO YAHUSHA THAT WE OWN OURSELVES AND WILL DO WHAT WE WANT! ... AND THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STANCE TO TAKE IN THESE LAST DAYS WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!
