The accounts within Daniel 2-4 are often considered some of the most well-known accounts in the entire book. Chapter 2 tells us the events concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that only Daniel could interpret. Chapter 3 details the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace after refusing to worship his golden image. Then, in chapter 4, we see Nebuchadnezzar struck with insanity after his pride got the best of him. While these stories are ones many of us have heard since we were little, a thread runs through them all that should be of particular interest to us today! While the setting and events change from chapter to chapter, we follow a crucial figure and a change that occurs in their life over time: King Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Really, it would seem as though these three chapters are meant to show the change in Nebuchadnezzar’s view of the Lord God. When we first meet Nebuchadnezzar, we see a king of the most powerful empire of the time. This fact alone would undoubtedly cause anyone to believe there could be nothing higher than them. Such is when Nebuchadnezzar is first introduced to the Lord of Israel. After Daniel interprets his dream, the king “fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. The king answered Daniel and said, ‘Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings…’” (Daniel 2:46-7 NASB). While King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges God as a high and powerful being, he only views Him as “a God of gods and a Lord of kings.” He does not consider the God of Israel as anything more than any other pagan gods. Instead, all he really recognizes is that God could do what he wanted to be done. He truly doesn’t understand how great and mighty God is.
After his introduction to the Lord in Daniel 2, we see Nebuchadnezzar beginning to gain a deeper understanding of who God is after Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are saved from the fiery furnace. This being the second time the king has witnessed God’s might, we see his view of God beginning to change. After the three friends come out of the fire, Nebuchadnezzar “responded and said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him…” (3:28). While he still does not recognize and accept God in his own personal life, Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God is more significant than just any god. He knows that God is the God of these three friends and even the nation of Israel.
The final chapter covering the life of King Nebuchadnezzar is perhaps the greatest of them all! At this point, he has not only been introduced to the God of Israel but has recognized His superiority to other gods. Now, as chapter 4 describes, Nebuchadnezzar finally understands what he had not before. After his period of insanity, the king says, “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…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” (4:34, 37). His worship and praise to God are true signs of the change in Nebuchadnezzar’s heart. The king of Babylon now knows the King of all creation.
After everything that he has experienced, Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most outstanding examples of the change that God can have in someone’s life. He starts off by only recognizing God as only one of a multitude. But the more the Lord comes into his life, the more the king begins to see that there is a Being far greater than he or anyone else—the King of heaven! The challenge that is now placed on us is simple. How are we going to view the King?
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