Dan 4:4 | KingComments | STEP | After his introductory proclamation about the greatness of God, Nebuchadnezzar explains what has happened to him. He goes back to the moment when he lives at ease in his house and is flourishing in his palace. He seems to have everything under control. He has nothing to fear from his enemies, for they have been conquered. In his palace, that is to say his government, everything is going well. Also, internally everything is in order. His rule is well established. He is at the height of his power. At the same time, a state of rest is a dangerous state (cf. ; ), if that rest is attributed to one’s own effort. Then God must show that He is there. He does so through a dream. Nebuchadnezzar is disturbed in his ease and prosperity. This is not done by an outside enemy he has overlooked or by a confidant who unleashes a palace revolution, but by Someone he has not taken into account at all. A person can have everything under control, but in his mind, in an unconscious state neither he nor any other person has control. The only one who can approach the spirit of a man against his will is God. He can do that in different ways. Here He does that through a dream. It is often the case that “the dream comes through much effort” ( ). That is not the case here. God enters his life again through a dream. The previous dream, which is in Daniel 2, is about his empire. The dream he gets now is about himself personally. This man who is very robust, is overcome by fear because of the visions he sees. On his soft bed, which will be well guarded, Someone, gets through to him to tell him something. If God wants to approach a person, He penetrates the most inner being of that man, no matter how much that person has equipped himself with defense mechanisms to prevent God from ‘bothering’ him.

‏ Daniel 4:4

Nebuchadnezzar Sees a Dream

After his introductory proclamation about the greatness of God, Nebuchadnezzar explains what has happened to him. He goes back to the moment when he lives at ease in his house and is flourishing in his palace. He seems to have everything under control. He has nothing to fear from his enemies, for they have been conquered. In his palace, that is to say his government, everything is going well. Also, internally everything is in order. His rule is well established. He is at the height of his power.

At the same time, a state of rest is a dangerous state (cf. Eze 16:49; 2Sam 11:1-4), if that rest is attributed to one’s own effort. Then God must show that He is there. He does so through a dream. Nebuchadnezzar is disturbed in his ease and prosperity. This is not done by an outside enemy he has overlooked or by a confidant who unleashes a palace revolution, but by Someone he has not taken into account at all.

A person can have everything under control, but in his mind, in an unconscious state neither he nor any other person has control. The only one who can approach the spirit of a man against his will is God. He can do that in different ways. Here He does that through a dream. It is often the case that “the dream comes through much effort” (Ecc 5:3a). That is not the case here. God enters his life again through a dream. The previous dream, which is in Daniel 2, is about his empire. The dream he gets now is about himself personally.

This man who is very robust, is overcome by fear because of the visions he sees. On his soft bed, which will be well guarded, Someone, gets through to him to tell him something. If God wants to approach a person, He penetrates the most inner being of that man, no matter how much that person has equipped himself with defense mechanisms to prevent God from ‘bothering’ him.