“I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His domain is from generation to generation…All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand, or say to Him, ‘What have You done?'”…Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
Daniel 4:2-3, 35, 37
The years-long battle in Nebuchadnezzar’s life finally reaches an end; in this chapter, the king’s great pride is finally brought low. He gloried in his possessions and power so much that he thought he did not have to submit to anyone, and so God stepped in after the testimonies of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are observed by the king but ultimately fail to convince him to accept God as his King. Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, is driven insane and lives for seven years like a beast, and it is after God has restored him that Nebuchadnezzar is writing to his renewed subjects, to explain the reason why he underwent this ordeal. Like Moses, he had taken credit for what God had done, and like the prophet, the king paid the price for his pride and rebellion.
Finally, Nebuchadnezzar is convinced of God’s superiority and sovereignty over all; he now fully understands the statue dream from chapter 2 and is living according to the truth of it – that everything is subject to God, and that only the kingdom that God establishes lasts forever. This also extends to those who rule it – we have seen this all through the Old Testament, from Saul and David all through to the last kings of Israel and Judah. The only way to be established before God is to establish Him as your number one priority.
The events are a picture of both judgment and grace; the king of an empire is made as low as the animals, but his sanity, power, and wealth are returned to him by God. I cannot help but sense a kindred experience with Job; while he is not charged with any wrongdoing, Job is still in need of refinement to remove self-righteousness from his character. Perhaps the most important point is that Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that God is justified in all that He does, and He is fully capable of dealing with anyone who would raise voice or hand against Him. In short, God has touched Nebuchadnezzar’s heart, and he is now a changed man, letting the world know who God is and how this change has come about.