The Ax at the Root: God's Sovereignty and Man's Sanity Text: Daniel 4:4-18
Introduction: The King Who Wrote a Chapter
We come now to a most remarkable portion of Scripture. The fourth chapter of Daniel is not written about a king, but rather by a king. This is an official state document, a royal encyclical, issued by Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man on the planet at that time, to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth. And what is the subject of this imperial decree? It is a raw, unflinching testimony of his own humiliation and subsequent conversion. It is a confession, written on the king’s letterhead, that Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew exiles, is the true King of Heaven, and that all earthly rulers are merely tenants on His property.
This is utterly without parallel in ancient literature. Kings wrote about their victories, their building projects, their might, and their glory. You can read Nebuchadnezzar’s own inscriptions, and they are filled with monumental pride. He was not a man given to introspection or self-criticism. Yet here, in the inspired canon of Holy Scripture, we have this pagan emperor telling the whole world how God Almighty drove him insane, made him eat grass like an ox for seven years, and then restored him to his right mind only after he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of God.
The central issue of this passage, and indeed of the entire book of Daniel, is the collision of two kingdoms: the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God. The kingdom of man is represented by this great tree, this flourishing empire of Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar as its proud heart. The kingdom of God is represented by the quiet, authoritative voice of a heavenly watcher. The central sin is the pride that says, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built... by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30). The central lesson is stated plainly in the text: "the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes and sets up over it the lowliest of men" (v. 17).
This is not a lesson our modern world is eager to learn. We live in an age drunk on the same wine of pride that intoxicated Nebuchadnezzar. Our political leaders, our academic elites, our cultural tastemakers all operate on the assumption that man is the measure of all things. They believe they are building their own great Babylon, and they have no room for a sovereign God who gives and takes away kingdoms as He pleases. But the lesson of Daniel 4 is that sanity and sovereignty are inextricably linked. To deny God’s sovereignty is the very definition of insanity. True reason is not found in autonomy, but in submission. You cannot have a right mind until you bow the knee to the King of Heaven.
The Text
"I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream, and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my head kept alarming me. So I gave a decree to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I said the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. But at last 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 said the dream to him: ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is difficult for you, say to me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation. Now these were the visions in my head 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. 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. 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 thesky inhabited its branches, And all flesh fed itself from it. I was looking in the visions in my head as I lay on my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He called out loudly and said thus: “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. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the earth, 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. Let his heart be changed from that of a man, And let the heart of a beast be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass over him. This edict is by the resolution of the watchers, And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind And gives it to whom He wishes And sets up over it the lowliest of men.” This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, say to 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.’"
(Daniel 4:4-18 LSB)
The Disquiet of a Flourishing King (vv. 4-9)
We begin with the setting. Nebuchadnezzar is at the absolute apex of his power and prosperity.
"I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace." (Daniel 4:4)
He is secure. He is comfortable. He is successful. But into this bubble of self-satisfied ease, God injects a holy terror. A dream comes, and it makes him fearful. This is the first point we must grasp. God is sovereign not just over armies and thrones, but over the subconscious mind of a pagan king. He can bypass all the palace guards, all the imperial pomp, and speak directly to a man’s soul when he is most vulnerable. The world’s power cannot insulate you from the voice of God. Your prosperity is no shield. Your ease is no fortress. God can trouble the mind of any man, at any time.
What is the king’s first response? He does what powerful men always do. He throws resources at the problem. He summons his brain trust, the "magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners" (v. 7). This is the collected wisdom of Babylon, the best and brightest of the world’s premier empire. And they are utterly useless. They are impotent before the mystery of God. This is a recurring theme in Daniel. The wisdom of man, in its most refined and credentialed form, is foolishness before God. They cannot interpret the dream because the dream is not from their realm. It is a message from outside their entire system.
Finally, Daniel is brought in. Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s description of him. He calls him Belteshazzar, "according to the name of my god," yet he acknowledges that in Daniel is "a spirit of the holy gods" (v. 8). The king is still straddling the fence. He is trying to fit the power of Yahweh into his pagan categories. He sees that Daniel has something the others do not, but he has not yet understood the source of that power. He sees Daniel as the "chief of the magicians," a sort of super-pagan, rather than a servant of the one true God who stands in opposition to all magic and divination. This is a picture of a man on a journey. He recognizes the supernatural, but he has not yet surrendered to the sovereign.
The Vision of the Great Tree (vv. 10-12)
The dream itself is a magnificent picture of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. It is a world-tree, a common motif in ancient near-eastern mythology, but here it is repurposed by God.
"behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 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... in it was food for all." (Daniel 4:10-12)
This is a picture of an ideal kingdom. It is strong, visible, and provides shelter and sustenance for all. It brings a kind of order and peace. This is not altogether a bad thing. Civil government, even pagan civil government, is an institution ordained by God to restrain evil and provide a platform for human flourishing (Rom. 13:1-4). Nebuchadnezzar’s empire, for all its idolatry and brutality, provided a measure of stability. God is not condemning the existence of the tree. He is the one who allowed it to grow. The problem is not the tree’s size, but the tree’s pride. The problem is when the king who tends the tree begins to think he is the one who made it grow from nothing.
This is the great temptation of all earthly power. Men build something great, a business, a nation, a cultural movement, and they forget that their strength, their wisdom, their very life is a borrowed thing. They forget that they are building with God’s materials on God’s land. The tree reached to the sky, a picture of its hubris, its attempt to storm the heavens. This is the sin of Babel all over again. Man, when blessed by God, tends to use those blessings to build a monument to himself.
The Decree of the Watchers (vv. 13-17)
Just as the king is admiring this great tree, the dream takes a terrifying turn. A divine being descends with a dreadful message.
"behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He called out loudly and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches...'" (Daniel 4:13-14)
A "watcher" is an angel, a messenger from the divine council. This emphasizes that what is about to happen is not a random turn of fortune or a political coup. It is a judicial sentence, handed down from the courtroom of heaven. The language is stark and violent. Chop it down. Cut it off. Strip it. Scatter it. The glorious empire is to be leveled. The security and provision it offered will be gone, and all who depended on it will be sent fleeing.
But notice the crucial exception: "Yet leave the stump with its roots in the earth, But with a band of iron and bronze around it" (v. 15). This is a word of severe judgment, but it is not a final judgment. The stump is left, which means there is a possibility of regrowth. The band of iron and bronze is a fascinating detail. It serves two purposes. On the one hand, it prevents the stump from splitting apart and rotting away completely. It is a preserving agent. On the other hand, it constrains any new growth. It is a symbol of God’s binding, restrictive judgment. This is judgment mixed with mercy. God is going to cut Nebuchadnezzar down to size, but He is not going to destroy him utterly. He is preserving him for a future restoration.
Then the metaphor shifts from the tree to the man it represents. "Let his heart be changed from that of a man, And let the heart of a beast be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass over him" (v. 16). The punishment fits the crime perfectly. The king who exalted himself above men, acting as though he were a god, will be degraded to a state below men, living as a beast. His pride was an act of profound irrationality, so God removes his reason. He wanted to be autonomous, so God makes him an animal, driven purely by instinct. This is what sin does. It dehumanizes. It turns men made in the image of God into something beastly.
The Purpose of It All (v. 17)
The dream concludes by stating its purpose with absolute clarity. This is not random cruelty. This is divine pedagogy. This is a lesson for the whole world.
"In order that the living may know That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind And gives it to whom He wishes And sets up over it the lowliest of men." (Daniel 4:17)
This is the thesis statement of the book of Daniel. God is not a regional deity, the tribal god of the Jews. He is the Most High, the sovereign over the entire kingdom of mankind. He is the one who installs and deposes presidents, prime ministers, and kings. Their authority is not their own; it is derivative. They are tenants, and He is the landlord. And He can evict them at any time. The kingdoms of men are not autonomous; they are accountable to the King of heaven.
And notice the beautiful irony. God demonstrates His sovereignty not just by giving kingdoms to the mighty, but by setting up "the lowliest of men." He can take a shepherd boy like David and make him a king. He can take a captive exile like Daniel and make him a prime minister. And He can take the most exalted emperor on earth, Nebuchadnezzar, and make him the lowliest of men, a beast in the field, in order to show that all exaltation comes from Him alone. This is the great reversal of the gospel. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
The Gospel According to Nebuchadnezzar
This story is a vivid Old Testament illustration of the human condition and the nature of God's grace. Like Nebuchadnezzar, every fallen man is a king on a throne of pride. We are at ease in our own house, flourishing in the little palace of our own making. We survey the landscape of our lives and say, "Look what I have built, by my power, for my glory." We are the great tree, providing for ourselves, sheltering ourselves, sufficient unto ourselves. We are, in a word, insane.
And the gospel begins when the watcher from heaven comes with an axe. The law of God comes and chops down our tree. It cuts off our branches of self-righteousness. It strips away our foliage of self-justification. It scatters the fruit of our dead works. It exposes us for what we are: a stump. Helpless, humbled, and bound.
But the gospel does not leave us there. It leaves the stump with its roots in the earth. It preserves us in our humiliation, not for destruction, but for restoration. And then, after a period of time, God does for us what He did for this pagan king. He causes us to lift our eyes to heaven (v. 34). And in that moment, when we finally look away from ourselves and look to Him, our reason returns. We are restored to our right mind. And what is the first thing a man in his right mind does? He praises, and exalts, and honors the King of heaven (v. 37).
The story of Nebuchadnezzar is the story of every conversion. It is a story of pride humbled, of sanity restored, and of a sovereign God who is willing to go to extreme lengths to save a proud rebel. He will drive us mad to make us sane. He will make us beasts to make us men. He will chop us down to the ground so that we might, for the first time, bear fruit for His glory. And He does this all through a greater King, one who was not brought low for His own pride, but who humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, and was cut down and crucified, so that proud stumps like us might be grafted into Him, the true vine, and live forever.