Book Study Wk 13 9/19: pg 89-97 The Tree Dream's Initial Fulfillment
THE DREAM’S INITIAL FULFILLMENT
15 Nebuchadnezzar remained proud. Walking about on the palace roof 12 months after his tree dream, he boasted: “Is not this Babylon the Great, that I myself have built for the royal house with the strength of my might and for the dignity of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:28-30) Nimrod had founded Babylon (Babel), but Nebuchadnezzar gave it splendor. (Genesis 10:8-10) In one of his cuneiform inscriptions, he brags: “Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, the restorer of Esagila and Ezida, son of Nabopolassar am I. . . . The fortifications of Esagila and Babylon I strengthened and established the name of my reign forever.” (Archaeology and the Bible, by George A. Barton, 1949, pages 478-9) Another inscription refers to about 20 temples that he renovated or rebuilt. “Under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule,” says The World Book Encyclopedia, “Babylon became one of the most magnificent cities of the ancient world. In his own records, he rarely mentioned his military activities, but wrote of his building projects and his attention to the gods of Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar probably built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.”
16 Boast though he did, proud Nebuchadnezzar was about to be humiliated. Says the inspired account: “While the word was yet in the king’s mouth, there was a voice that fell from the heavens: ‘To you it is being said, O Nebuchadnezzar the king, “The kingdom itself has gone away from you, and from mankind they are driving even you away, and with the beasts of the field your dwelling will be. Vegetation they will give even to you to eat just like bulls, and seven times themselves will pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.”’”—Daniel 4:31, 32.
17 Nebuchadnezzar promptly lost his reason. Driven away from mankind, he ate vegetation “just like bulls.” Out among the beasts of the field, he certainly was not sitting idly in the grass of a virtual paradise, enjoying refreshing breezes daily. In modern-day Iraq, where Babylon’s ruins are located, temperatures range from a high of 120 degrees Fahrenheit [50°C] in the summer months to well below freezing in wintertime. Unattended and exposed to the elements, Nebuchadnezzar’s long, matted hair looked like eagles’ feathers and his uncut fingernails and toenails became like birds’ claws. (Daniel 4:33) What humiliation for this proud world ruler!
18 In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the great tree was felled and its stump was banded to prevent growth upward for seven times. Similarly, Nebuchadnezzar “was brought down from the throne of his kingdom” when Jehovah struck him with madness. (Daniel 5:20) In effect, this changed the king’s heart from that of a man to that of a bull. Yet, God reserved Nebuchadnezzar’s throne for him until the seven times ended. While Evil-merodach possibly acted as the temporary head of government, Daniel served as “the ruler over all the jurisdictional district of Babylon and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.” His three Hebrew companions continued to share in administering that district’s affairs. (Daniel 1:11-19; 2:48, 49; 3:30) The four exiles awaited Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration to the throne as a sane king who had learned that “the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.”
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S RESTORATION
19 Jehovah restored Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity at the end of seven times. Then acknowledging the Most High God, the king said: “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up to the heavens my eyes, and my own understanding began to return to me; and I blessed the Most High himself, and the One living to time indefinite I praised and glorified, because his rulership is a rulership to time indefinite and his kingdom is for generation after generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are being considered as merely nothing, and he is doing according to his own will among the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth. And there exists no one that can check his hand or that can say to him, ‘What have you been doing?’” (Daniel 4:34, 35) Yes, Nebuchadnezzar did come to realize that the Most High is indeed the Sovereign Ruler in the kingdom of mankind.
20 When Nebuchadnezzar returned to his throne, it was as though the metal bands around the dream tree’s rootstock had been removed. Concerning his restoration, he said: “At the same time my understanding itself began to return to me, and for the dignity of my kingdom my majesty and my brightness themselves began to return to me; and for me even my high royal officers and my grandees began eagerly searching, and I was reestablished upon my own kingdom, and greatness extraordinary was added to me.” (Daniel 4:36) If any court officials had despised the deranged king, now they were “eagerly searching” for him in complete subservience.
21 What “signs and wonders” the Most High God had performed! It should not surprise us that the restored Babylonian king said: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and glorifying the King of the heavens, because all his works are truth and his ways are justice, and because those who are walking in pride he is able to humiliate.” (Daniel 4:2, 37) Such an acknowledgment, however, did not make Nebuchadnezzar a Gentile worshiper of Jehovah.
IS THERE SECULAR EVIDENCE?
22 Some have identified Nebuchadnezzar’s madness with lycanthropy. Says one medical dictionary: “LYCANTHROPY . . . from [ly´kos], lupus, wolf; [an´thro·pos], homo, man. This name was given to the sickness of people who believe themselves to be changed into an animal, and who imitate the voice or cries, the shapes or manners of that animal. These individuals usually imagine themselves transformed into a wolf, a dog or a cat; sometimes also into a bull, as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar.” (Dictionnaire des sciences médicales, par une société de médicins et de chirurgiens, Paris, 1818, Volume 29, page 246) The symptoms of lycanthropy are similar to those of Nebuchadnezzar’s demented state. Since his mental illness was divinely decreed, however, it cannot specifically be identified with a known disorder.
23 Scholar John E. Goldingay cites several parallels to Nebuchadnezzar’s madness and restoration. For instance, he states: “A fragmentary cuneiform text apparently refers to some mental disorder on Nebuchadnezzar’s part, and perhaps to his neglecting and leaving Babylon.” Goldingay cites a document called “The Babylonian Job” and says that it “testifies to chastisements by God, illness, humiliation, seeking interpretation of a terrifying dream, being thrown over like a tree, being put outside, eating grass, losing understanding, being like an ox, being rained on by Marduk, nails being marred, hair growing, and being fettered, and then to a restoration for which he praises the god.”
SEVEN TIMES THAT AFFECT US
24 As represented by the great tree, Nebuchadnezzar symbolized world rulership. But remember, the tree stands for rulership and sovereignty far grander than that of Babylon’s king. It symbolizes the universal sovereignty of Jehovah, “the King of the heavens,” especially with respect to the earth. Before Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians, the kingdom centered in that city with David and his heirs sitting on “Jehovah’s throne” represented God’s sovereignty with reference to the earth. (1 Chronicles 29:23) God himself had such sovereignty chopped down and banded in 607 B.C.E. when he used Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem. Exercise of divine sovereignty toward the earth by a kingdom in the line of David was restrained for seven times. How long were these seven times? When did they begin, and what marked their end?
25 During Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, “his very hair grew long just like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.” (Daniel 4:33) This took longer than seven days or seven weeks. Various translations read “seven times,” and alternatives are “appointed (definite) times” or “time periods.” (Daniel 4:16, 23, 25, 32) A variant of the Old Greek (Septuagint) reads “seven years.” The “seven times” were treated as “seven years” by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, Chapter 10, paragraph 6) And certain Hebrew scholars have viewed these “times” as “years.” “Seven years” is the rendering in An American Translation, Today’s English Version, and the translation by James Moffatt.
26 Evidently, Nebuchadnezzar’s “seven times” involved seven years. In prophecy, a year averages 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each. (Compare Revelation 12:6, 14.) So the king’s “seven times,” or seven years, were 360 days multiplied by 7, or 2,520 days. But what about the major fulfillment of his dream? The prophetic “seven times” lasted much longer than 2,520 days. This was indicated by Jesus’ words: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24) That ‘trampling’ began in 607 B.C.E. when Jerusalem was destroyed and the typical kingdom of God ceased to function in Judah. When would the trampling end? At “the times of restoration of all things,” when divine sovereignty would again be manifested toward the earth through symbolic Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.—Acts 3:21.
27 If we were to count 2,520 literal days from Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C.E., that would bring us only to 600 B.C.E., a year having no Scriptural significance. Even in 537 B.C.E., when the liberated Jews were back in Judah, Jehovah’s sovereignty was not manifested on the earth. That was so because Zerubbabel, the heir to David’s throne, was made not king but only governor of the Persian province of Judah.
28 Since the “seven times” are prophetic, we must apply to the 2,520 days the Scriptural rule: “A day for a year.” This rule is set out in a prophecy regarding the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 4:6, 7; compare Numbers 14:34.) The “seven times” of earth’s domination by Gentile powers without interference by God’s Kingdom therefore spanned 2,520 years. They began with the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem in the seventh lunar month (Tishri 15) of 607 B.C.E. (2 Kings 25:8, 9, 25, 26) From that point to 1 B.C.E. is 606 years. The remaining 1,914 years stretch from then to 1914 C.E. Thus, the “seven times,” or 2,520 years, ended by Tishri 15, or October 4/5, 1914 C.E.
29 In that year “the appointed times of the nations” were fulfilled, and God gave rulership to “the lowliest one of mankind”—Jesus Christ—who had been considered so base by his foes that they even had him impaled. (Daniel 4:17) To enthrone the Messianic King, Jehovah loosened the symbolic iron and copper bands around the “rootstock” of his own sovereignty. The Most High God thus allowed a royal “sprout” to grow from it as a manifestation of divine sovereignty toward the earth by means of the heavenly Kingdom in the hands of David’s greatest Heir, Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 11:1, 2; Job 14:7-9; Ezekiel 21:27) How we thank Jehovah for this blessed turn of events and for unraveling the mystery of the great tree!
WHAT DID YOU DISCERN?
· What did the great tree of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream symbolize?
· What befell Nebuchadnezzar in the initial fulfillment of his tree dream?
· After his dream’s fulfillment, what acknowledgment did Nebuchadnezzar make?
· In the major fulfillment of the prophetic tree dream, how long were the “seven times,” and when did they begin and end?
[Study
Questions]15. (a) What attitude did Nebuchadnezzar continue to manifest? (b) Inscriptions reveal what about Nebuchadnezzar’s activities?
16. How was Nebuchadnezzar about to be humiliated?
17. What happened to proud Nebuchadnezzar, and in what circumstances did he soon find himself?
18. During the seven times, what took place with regard to Babylon’s throne?
19. After Jehovah restored Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity, what did the Babylonian king come to realize?
20, 21. (a) How did the removal of the metal bands around the dream tree’s rootstock find a parallel in what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? (b) What acknowledgment did Nebuchadnezzar make, and did this make him a worshiper of Jehovah?
22. With what disorder have some identified Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, but what should we realize regarding the cause of his deranged state?
23. What secular testimony is there to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity?
24. (a) The great dream tree symbolizes what? (b) What was restrained for seven times, and how did that come about?
25, 26. (a) In Nebuchadnezzar’s case, how long were the "seven times," and why do you so answer? (b) In the major fulfillment, when and how did the "seven times" begin?
27. Why would you say that the "seven times" that began in 607 B.C.E. did not end 2,520 literal days later?
28. (a) What rule must be applied to the 2,520 days of the prophetic "seven times"? (b) How long were the prophetic "seven times," and what dates mark their beginning and their end?
29. Who is "the lowliest one of mankind," and what did Jehovah do to enthrone him?