Chopping Trees

The pattern we detected in Daniel continues:

• ch.1- Standing Up against culture - Daniel and diet
• ch.2- Vision - Weakening statue and rock - Culture is not forever
• ch.3- Standing Up when all bow down - Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue and commands everyone to bow down. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse and are thrown into the furnace, but God delivers them.
• ch.4- Vision - A big tree - If you try to be a god, you'll get the chop!

This is what Daniel 4 is all about. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a great tree that will be chopped down. Daniel interprets it for him: The tree is Nebuchadnezzar, and the sober warning is that he needs to humble himself or he will go insane and land up living like a wild animal for seven years.

Nebuchadnezzar does not heed the warning, and the rest of the chapter shows how he becomes so arrogant that he considers himself a god (I think it is safe to assume that the statue in ch.3 was of himself!) With that, he goes insane, eating grass and living like an animal until he finally acknowledges God.

Those who want to be worshiped are on a slippery slope. Their time comes, and sanity is always at risk. History has repeatedly shown that, for despots, pride and a belief in one's own infallibility are a perfect recipe for a downfall.

Those who want to be worshiped have a short lifespan by history's standards. Leaders, organizations, and "pop" stars tend to lose the plot at some point unless they discover humility and acknowledge the God who gives them what they have.