Daniel 4:33

He was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen.

Broken Pride

This chapter, which is a rescript to all the provinces of his empire, was written by king Nebuchadnezzar. It is a frank, affecting, and instructive chapter of autobiography.

I. PRIDE WARNED. Success had crowned Nebuchadnezzar, and now he “was at rest in his house, flourishing (as a tree) in his palace.” But “a dream which made him afraid” came to him. Astonished to silence stood Daniel before the king. He hears the dream, and he knows the meaning of it. Wonder, pity, sorrow, as for a friend, locked Daniel’s lips in silence. At last he finds voice, and stammers out the wish that the strange impending doom had been for the king’s enemies rather than for the king. The cry of the holy one, “Hew down the tree,” was to find bitter fulfilment in the king’s experience. Strange warning for the ear accustomed to flattery. Daniel is more than a court official. He will be faithful adviser of the man. He would have him escape the coming doom. The cause of the approaching calamity was not physical, but moral. “Break off thy sins by righteousness,” etc. The Divine threatenings are conditional. If the sinner repent, punishment is averted. Nebuchadnezzar is warned. He has a year’s grace. Let him use it well.

II. PRIDE EXULTANT. The king was warned in vain. The year of grace left him as it had found him. “His heart was lifted up,” and his mind hardened in pride. As he walked on his palace roof, which overlooked Babylon, he cried, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” By his own might he has done it all. “God is not in all his thoughts.” What of us? Pride is not confined to king’s houses or bosoms. Of what are men not proud? Are we free from this sin? Let us question ourselves.

III. PRIDE BROKEN. A man, smitten with the melancholy madness known as lycanthropy, he imagined himself an animal, and that animal an ox. This form of insanity is still known to medical science. Insane upon one point, he may have been sane upon every other. With beast imagination, he may still have preserved his consciousness of personal identity. This strange double consciousness! He felt like an ox; he knew he was a man. And so, with beast-heart, he wandered an outcast from his glory. Till seven times (perhaps years) passed over him, he dwelt with beast-heart among the beasts, and then reason returned. He looked up--sign that it had returned. He praised the God he had forgotten. Humbled, he was humble. No proud boasting now. He makes his boast in the Lord. And what have we worth having that we have not received? Let us live in the constant recognition of God as the fountain of all our blessings, and so escape the ingratitude of pride. From this sin, as from every other, only One can save us. In the Almighty, the lowly Saviour, let us find our refuge. He can forgive us for the past. He can aid us to watchfulness for the future. He can--he waits--to aid us to resist this and every sin. (G. T. Coster.)

The Fall or Nebuchadnezzar

“After twelve months,” saith Daniel, that is, twelve months after God had warned this king by dreams, and by Daniel, to repent his sins, he was strutting in his galleries, and thought what sin should be next, as though he had never heard of dream or prophet. By this computation of sin, wherein the months are observed so exactly, how long Nebuchadnezzar rebelled after he was warned, Daniel shows what reckoning God keeps of our months, and weeks, and days, which He gives us to repent, as He did Nebuchadnezzar, and what an account we shall make of them, as Nebuchadnezzar did. Daniel names there twelve months, as though he would speak of a great matter, and shows how worthy Nebuchadnezzar was to be punished, because he might have reformed his life since he was warned; for there were twelve months between his dreams and his punishment. When dream and Daniel had done what they could, now God calls forth His judgments, and bids them see what they can do, and commands them to chase Nebuchadnezzar, until he have lost his kingdom, until he be driven out of his palace, until he be fled into the wilderness, until he be degenerate like a beast, until his subjects, and servants, and pages make their sport, and gaze and wonder at him, like a fool which goeth unto the stocks, or a trespasser, which is gazed at upon the pillory; so the king was debased, when God heard him but vaunt of his buildings. Therefore, let us take heed and be careful after what sort we speak, and what words slip from us, lest God take us in our lies, or oaths, or slanders, or ribaldry, as he took Nebuchadnezzar when his tongue walked without a bit, for if he had supposed that God had been so near, and that He would have answered him as He did, he would have held his peace, and laid his hand upon his mouth, rather than pay so dear for a vain word, which did him no good when it was spoken. The second note is of the judge, “A voice came down from Heaven,” the controlling voice came down from Heaven. God is most offended with our sin, for Nebuchadnezzar might have spoken more than this, before any other man; and no man could control him, because he was king, and kings delight in greater vanities than buildings, yet no man saith, Why doest thou so? When the voice from earth spake vainly, the voice from Heaven spake judgment. Here is the King of Heaven against the king of earth; the voice of God against the voice of man; a Divine wrath warring with a human pride; the fire is kindled, woe to the stubble. Now he comes to the arraignment, and calls him to the bar: “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee be it spoken.” Here a king is arraigned in his own kingdom, and no evidence given against him; but as though he had witnessed against himself, as all sinners do, God condemneth him out of his own mouth, and to open his ears, he calleth him by his own name, “O king Nebuchadnezzar,” as the prisoner is called when he holds up his hand at the bar. How doth this speech differ from Nebuchadnezzar’s speech. His words were but words, but God’s words were, “He spake and it was done.” For “in the same hour that which was spoken was done,” saith Daniel, and whatsoever the voice threatened unto our sins, or unto the sinner, shall be done at first or at last. This voice came from Heaven, and, therefore, it spake home; not like them which glide by the faults of princes, and whisper behind their backs, as though they would reprove them if they durst, but for fear lest the prince, or councillor, or judge, or magistrate should take it as he means it, and think that he aims at them; which makes them speak in parables, as though they would cast a veil over their reproof, and eat their message before they have spoken it. The Holy Ghost teacheth us here to reprove, so that whosoever sinneth may know that thou speakest to him. Now the decree goeth forth that Nebuchadnezzar shall be king no more, “Thy kingdom is departed from thee.” Now followeth the execution of His judgment, for Daniel saith, “The same hour all this was fulfilled.” Then was fulfilled, “the pride of man shall bring him low.” Even in the hour that Nebuchadnezzar advanced himself more than before, in the same hour he was brought under all his subjects, all his servants and pages; so he which setteth up can pull down, he which gave can take, he which made can destroy. Therefore, let no man vaunt, though he were a king, of his house, or land, or farm, or children, but know that he should have nothing, if God did not regard him more than others; and think when thou dost read this story, whether thou be not as proud of thy wealth as Nebuchadnezzar was of his palace, whether thou be not as proud of thy children as Nebuchadnezzar was of his kingdom: whether thou be not as proud of thy parentage as Nebuchadnezzar was of his honour; whether thou be not so proud of thy learning as Nebuchadnezzar was of his train. If thou be so proud, then God doth say no more, “O king, to thee be it spoken,” but, O subject, to thee be it spoken, these blessings shall be taken from thee. For, hath God taken no man’s kingdom from him but Nebuchadnezzar’s? Now, if any man long to be resolved how this king was changed to a beast, he must not imagine any strange metamorphosis, as though his shape were altered, or his manhood removed, or that he put on horns and hoofs, as poets feign Actaeon; for the voice doth not say that he should become a beast, but that he should dwell with the beasts. Daniel cloth not say that his head, or arms, or legs were transformed; but that the hair of his head, and the nails of his fingers, did grow like eagles’ feathers, and like birds’ claws, as every man’s hair and nails will do if he do not pare them. Lastly, Nebuchadnezzar saith not that his shape was restored unto him, but that his understanding was restored unto him; all which declare he was not changed in body, but in mind, not in shape, but in quality. A savage mind came on him, like that which drove Cain from the company of men (Genesis 4:12), and he became like a satyr, or wild man, which differeth not from a beast but in shape; though he was not turned to a beast, yet this was a strange alteration to be so changed in an hour, that his nobles abhorred him, his subjects despised him, his servants forsook him, none would company with him but the beasts. Consider this, all that advance yourselves against God, and despise His word, as Nebuchadnezzar did. This was to show that God makes no more account of the wicked than of beasts, and, therefore, the Holy Ghost calleth them often by the name of beasts; showing now that sin and pleasure make them like beasts. When they have abused their wits often, and perverted their reason, at last God taketh their understanding from them, and they become like beasts, loathsome to themselves and others. Many such beasts we have still like Nebuchadnezzar, who were fitter to live in the desert among lions, where they might not annoy others, than in towns amongst men, where they infect more than the plague. (H. Smith.)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Distraction Considered and Improved

The great God, in order to describe his own power, calls upon Job to “behold everyone that is proud, and abase him. Look on everyone that is proud and bring him low, and tread down the wicked in their place; then will I confess unto thee, that thine own right hand can save thee “ (Job 40:11);thereby intimating that it is the prerogative or peculiar glory of God to humble proud oppressors, and that one look of His,ye can bring them down.

I. THE CALAMITY ITSELF. In order to show how awful and remarkable this was, it will be necessary a little to consider the dignity of this monarch, and the state of his affairs. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon, the capital city of the Chaldean empire. He had been engaged in successful wars against the Tyrians, the Jews, and other neighbouring nations. He had overrun almost all Asia, and carried his arms into Africa. He had brought the Chaldean empire to the highest pitch of power and grandeur, and enriched his capital with the plunder of all the neighbouring nations.

II. THE CAUSE OF THE CALAMITY. And that was his pride. This vice provoked God to make him such a miserable spectacle. This unhappy monarch was strutting about contemplating its grandeur, and thinking himself a god, surveying the glories of his own creation, when this mortifying change came upon him. He lived about a year after this restoration, and one would hope he kept in this good mind, and died under the serious impression of these important truths. And it was happy for him to have lost his senses for a time, if it was the means of saving his soul. Having thus viewed this very affecting and miserable spectacle, let us receive instruction from it; and endeavour to enter into the following useful reflections upon this surprising event.

1. Let us reverence the almighty power of God, so illustriously displayed in it. “Where the word of a king is,” saith Solomon, “there is power.” Nebuchadnezzar’s royal word had been accompanied with power to raise the grandeur of Babylon, and to conquer and impoverish whole nations. But when the royal word of the King of kings “fell from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom is departed from thee; the same hour was the thing fulfilled” (v. 31). And all his wise counsellors, skilful physicians, and mighty forces, could neither prevent nor remove the affliction. How easily can God bring down the highest! See how easily God can destroy the brightest genius, and confound the most subtle politician. This story is a glorious and everlasting proof of his supremacy and irresistible power. In this view let us consider it, and reverence the Almighty God. Nebuchadnezzar takes pains to inculcate these ideas of God upon all to whom this decree is made known.

2. See bow abominable prides is in the sight of God. It is the observation of a noble writer that this story is one of the finest, most humbling, and most instructive lessons to human vanity that ever was exhibited to it. It shows how detestable pride is in the sight of God, and informs us (they are Nebuchadnezzar’s own words) that “those who walk in pride, God is able to abase.” So his royal proclamation concludes; and it is a truth that we should never forget. “Pride was not made for man.” It is unreasonable and absurd for a creature weak, dependent, and sinful, to be proud, a creature who derives all from God, owes everything to Him, and lives and moves and hath his being in Him. There are other instances of the loss of understanding besides this of Nebuchadnezzar, which are very mortifying to human vanity; instances where the faculties decayed by age, and where there appeared no immediate hand of Providence in them. Are you proud of your wit and sprightly parts? Think of Swift, who, having been generally admired for them, though in some instances he had abused them to vilify human nature, insult our present happy establishment, and ridicule many serious and exemplary Christians, became at last a mere child, had not the sense of a brute to feed himself, and was shown by his servants, for gain, as a curiosity. Are you proud of great learning and profound skill in the sciences? Think of Swisset, a celebrated German mathematician, of whom it was said by his learned contemporaries that “his capacities were almost above human.” Yet in the advance of life he lost his understanding so far that he could scarce count twenty, and used to weep because he could not understand the arguments and demonstrations which he had published. Are you proud of honour, courage, conduct, and high reputation? Think of the great Duke of Marlborough, who, after he had been for so many years the pride of England, the terror of France, and wonder of Europe, became an idiot, and had not understanding sufficient to perform the common actions of life. Are you proud of wealth and power; your buildings, equipages, and attendants; the numbers who are submissive and obedient to you? Think of Nebuchadnezzar. Amidst such affecting scenes, let not our eyes be lofty, nor our hearts haughty. Let us remember that “we hold even reason itself, that ennobling quality, that boasted prerogative and distinguishing perfection of human nature, upon a very precarious tenure; and, as one expresseth it, something with a human shape and voice hath often survived everything human besides.” Let us attend to that charge of God by Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). We may learn:

3. How much are they to be pitied who have lost their understanding. After having considered the case of Nebuchadnezzar, let us think with compassion on others, who in this respect resemble him, that they are destitute of reason. This is the ease of those who are naturally idiots, and never discovered any considerable degree of rational thought, or manly actions. It is the case of those who, by violent disorders of body, are become delirious, or so overwhelmed with melancholy, that they think and judge wrong of themselves, and take everything by the worst handle. This is the case of many in the decline of life. Their faculties decay; they outlive even themselves, and become children a second time.

4. How thankful should we be for the continued exercise of our reason. “There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty hath giver him understanding.” It is God’s constant visitation that preserveth that spirit, and continueth the exercise of our faculties. Whoever seriously considers the intimate connection between the soul and body, and how easily and frequently the faculties of the mind are affected by the disorders and injuries of the body, will see constant cause to magnify the goodness of God, that there are not more persons deprived of their understanding; or who have it weakened to such a degree as to render them useless and burthensome to others. It is really astonishing that there are not more idiots and mad people, considering how tender and delicate the texture of the brain is, which is the seat of the soul and its sensations; considering how many accidents children are liable to, even under the care of the loudest mothers, much more while in the hands of mercenary nurses, from whom tenderness for other persons’ children can never be expected, after they have put off all tenderness for their own. If our understandings remain, and our spirits are not wounded, we have ten thousand times more reason for thankfulness than complaint.

5. How careful should we be to preserve our reason, to improve it, and employ it to the best purposes! Understanding and knowledge is the highest natural perfection. Reason is the distinguishing glory of men above the brutes; and we should carefully avoid everything that tends to destroy or impair it. In this view I must solemnly warn you against gluttony and drunkenness. Every excess hurts the soul. It was Nebuchadnezzar’s punishment to have “a beast’s heart given to him”; it is a pity that any rational creatures should make beasts of themselves. There is nothing which is a greater enemy to the understanding than idleness. The faculties of many rust away for want of use or employment. They doze away their senses and become stupid and unprofitable. Finally, let us be careful to improve our understandings continually, by reading and reflection, by conversing with the wise and good, and especially by meditation on Divine things, and daily fervent prayer to the Father of lights and wisdom. Let us employ our faculties in a manner becoming rational creatures. Reason was given us that we might know God and ourselves; that we might contemplate His works and consider His doings; that we might know and practise the duties of our connections and relations in life, and especially study the glorious Gospel, which is able to make us “wise unto salvation.” (Job Orton.)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Mania

The mental alienation of Nebuchadnezzar was undoubtedly the form of madness known as “lycanthropy,” in which the habits of animals are in some form assumed by the insane person. (Lycanthropy means literally the change of a man into a wolf.) Instances of those afflicted in this way eating grass, leaves, twigs, etc., like the great king, are familiar to medical men. Nor is it uncommon for the mind to lose its balance in some direction, in one raised so far above all other men as a mighty despot, and so irresponsible. Many of the Caesars undoubtedly suffered this terrible penalty of solitary greatness, nor are theirs the only instances of the kind in history. That any allusion to such a humiliating calamity should be found recorded in the Babylonian annals is not, however, to be expected. It would be carefully guarded from the knowledge of chroniclers as a state secret. But that some terrible illness seized Nebuchadnezzar is strangely proved by the recent discovery of a bronze doorstep, presented by him to the great temple of El Saggil, at Borsippa, one of the suburbs or divisions of Babylon. It speaks of his having been afflicted, and of his restoration to health, and may well have been a votive offering to the gods on his recovery from the attack mentioned by Daniel. Nor is this at all inconsistent with his recorded homage to Jehovah. Though he honoured the whole of the gods, his inscriptions show that, in a restricted sense, he always worshipped one god especially. While he built temples to various divinities, and acknowledged not only the “great gods,” but at least thirteen besides, he also speaks constantly of the “Chief of the gods,” the “King of the gods,” the “God of gods.” He might, therefore, have, for a time, transferred to Jehovah, perhaps as another name for Merodach, the homage hitherto rendered to the Babylonian idol. (Cunningham Geikie, D.D.)

A King Eating Grass

1. What an incongruous thing it is for a king to be eating grass. It is good for cattle, but not fit for man. Yet the scene is as common as daylight. When I see a man of regal nature made to rule in realms of thought, capable of all moral elevation, besotting his faculties, attempting out of low sensualities to satisfy his immortal energies, coming down off his throne of power into brutalities, sacrificing his higher nature to his lower nature, coming down, and coming down, until all his influence for good is gone, I cry out, “There is a king eating grass like an ox.”

2. Conviction is not conversion. Who is this man who makes the boast about Babylon? The very man who, under the revelation of dreams that

Daniel made from Heaven, deeply humbled himself while he confessed that God is a God of gods cad a Lord of lords; yet behold that humbling and arousing did not result in a radical change. Conviction is merely a sight of sin; conversion is a view of pardon. Conviction is the pain, conversion is the messenger that cures it. Thousands have experienced the former who never experienced the latter.

3. Pride is the precursor of overthrow. He who is down cannot fall.

4. What a terrible thing is the loss of reason! In this world of sad sights, the saddest is the idiot’s stare. Strong drink is the cause of more insanity than anything else.

5. How quickly turns the wheel of fortune, from how high up to how far down went Nebuchadnezzar. Of all fickle people in the world, Fortune is the most fickle.

6. Learn the comforting truth, that afflictions are arrested as soon as they have accomplished their mission; and

7. Connected with the most distressing judgments of God where are displays of Divine mercy. God might justly have left Nebuchadnezzar in the field, but infinite compassion brought him back to the palace. (T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.)

Mental Faculties Suspended

There is no ground for concluding that the king was turned into an ox--that is absurd--or that he was made literally a beast of the earth; but that his reason was taken from him. God laid his finger on the brain, and all its intellectual and moral action was instantly suspended. When we think what a delicate structure the brain is, and what an immensity of things depend upon it, we wonder that it does not give way oftener than it does. The king’s last thoughts were connected with his first. I have read somewhere that when persons had lost, or had suspended for a season, the power of reasoning, or had become what is commonly called maniacs, as soon as they are restored by the removal of the pressure that prevents the action of the mind--for it is not the mind but its physical channels that are disordered by mania--the last thought that they had before they were struck with mania is the very first thought that occurs the instant they recover; and that, though a period of years has elapsed, they are utterly unconscious of their flight or number, and refer to old events as recent. I have read of a sailor, a portion of whose brain was carried away by a shot; the part of the brain injured I cannot specify. This man was for years a maniac. After some six years he recovered, and the first words he uttered were, “Is the ship ashore?” When he was struck the ship was nearly on shore; the orders at the time referred to this, and of this he was speaking. So his last words were the first he uttered on recovering, and he was entirely unconscious that years had elapsed. In Nebuchadnezzar’s case there was a suspension of the faculties of the mind. (John Cumming, D.D.)

History of Nebuchadnezzar

I. THE LEADING EVENTS IN HIS HISTORY. Nebuchadnezzar was the son of Nabopollassar, and succeeded that monarch in the government of Chaldea in the year of the world 3399. He attacked and overcome Jehoiakim, robbed him of his treasures, and afterwards subdued and destroyed him 2 Kings 24:1). He also took Zedekiah captive, put out his eyes, and bound him in chains, arbor having put his sons to death in his presence. He plundered Jerusalem of its riches. The vessels of the temple he placed in the temples of his idols at Babylon.

II. THE MORE STRIKING FEATURES OF HIS PERSONAL CHARACTER.

1. He was a public notorious idolater. Yea, he was a maker and patroniser of idols (Daniel 3:1).

2. He was noted for his relentless cruelty. Case of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7). Also casting into the fiery furnace the Hebrew children (Daniel 3:22).

3. He was distinguished for his insatiable ambition.

4. He was also proud, haughty, and impious. Hence his language respecting his gods (Daniel 3:14; Daniel 4:30).

III. AS THE SUBJECT BOTH OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT AND MERCY. God brought His judgments upon him. His affliction:

1. Was insanity.

2. Was Divine. God‘ entered into the lists with him.

3. It was severe. Loss of property, of friends, of health, reputation, etc., often distressing.

4. It was singularly appropriate to his crimes. He made himself as God; God made him as a brute. He boasted of his glory; God made him utterly despicable.

5. Limited and followed by Divine mercy. Had it not, he would have been utterly consumed. God’s mercy did not utterly forsake him.

6. Produced reformation. Hence he blessed God; and praised and honoured him that liveth for ever. Learn:

1. The universal government of God.

2. The wickedness of pride.

3. The greatness of Divine mercy.

4. The importance of the Divine favour. (J. Burns.)