Dan 4:13 | KingComments | STEP | It is as if Nebuchadnezzar takes a breath after the description of the tree. There is more to come. Something will happen to the tree. This is made known to him in the continuation of his vision or dream. He tells Daniel that he sees in his dream that “an [angelic] watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven”. It seems that we have to think of an angel. The angel says what to do with the tree. This is not done with a soft voice, but with a powerful exclamation. The power with which it is spoken matches the content of what is said. Force has to be applied to the tree. The tree must be chopped down, and any blessing attached to the tree must be stopped. There should be nothing left of this impressive stature that is visible all over the world. Everything that the tree provides for shade, habitat and food must disappear. This is how it will be with all the prosperity on which man relies. But the chopping down of the tree does not mean the final end of the tree. This is shown by the command that the stump with its roots must be left in the ground. This contains the promise of a future restoration (cf. ; ). Until then, the trunk is kept under control by “a band of iron and bronze” around it to prevent premature flowering. Until then, the stump stands “in the new grass of the field”. Nothing is left of the tree that rises far above the grass. It has become equal to the grass and as dependent on the dew for the continuation of life as the tender, perishable grass. The trunk is thus reduced to its original nullity. “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever” ( ). That makes the transition in from the picture of the tree to a human and a beast less strange. The tree, which represents the man Nebuchadnezzar, has a mind. But because his mind is not directed toward God, his mind must change into the mind of a beast. The chopped down tree, of which only the stump is left, is comparable to a beast. A tree is connected to the earth. A tree also has no sense of God at all. So it is with a beast. A beast is connected to the earth and has no knowledge of God. That is what Nebuchadnezzar must experience for himself ( ). In that situation he will remain seven times, which means seven years. A perfect – the number seven is the number of perfection – period will elapse before Nebuchadnezzar will be restored. The discipline of God must have a complete effect.

‏ Daniel 4:13

What Happens to the Tree

It is as if Nebuchadnezzar takes a breath after the description of the tree. There is more to come. Something will happen to the tree. This is made known to him in the continuation of his vision or dream. He tells Daniel that he sees in his dream that “an [angelic] watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven”. It seems that we have to think of an angel. The angel says what to do with the tree. This is not done with a soft voice, but with a powerful exclamation.

The power with which it is spoken matches the content of what is said. Force has to be applied to the tree. The tree must be chopped down, and any blessing attached to the tree must be stopped. There should be nothing left of this impressive stature that is visible all over the world. Everything that the tree provides for shade, habitat and food must disappear. This is how it will be with all the prosperity on which man relies.

But the chopping down of the tree does not mean the final end of the tree. This is shown by the command that the stump with its roots must be left in the ground. This contains the promise of a future restoration (cf. Job 14:7-9; Isa 6:13 ; Isa 11:1). Until then, the trunk is kept under control by “a band of iron and bronze” around it to prevent premature flowering. Until then, the stump stands “in the new grass of the field”. Nothing is left of the tree that rises far above the grass. It has become equal to the grass and as dependent on the dew for the continuation of life as the tender, perishable grass.

The trunk is thus reduced to its original nullity. “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever” (1Pet 1:24-25). That makes the transition in Dan 4:16 from the picture of the tree to a human and a beast less strange. The tree, which represents the man Nebuchadnezzar, has a mind. But because his mind is not directed toward God, his mind must change into the mind of a beast.

The chopped down tree, of which only the stump is left, is comparable to a beast. A tree is connected to the earth. A tree also has no sense of God at all. So it is with a beast. A beast is connected to the earth and has no knowledge of God. That is what Nebuchadnezzar must experience for himself (Ecc 3:18).

In that situation he will remain seven times, which means seven years. A perfect – the number seven is the number of perfection – period will elapse before Nebuchadnezzar will be restored. The discipline of God must have a complete effect.