Daniel 4:10-17 – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
“The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’ This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw.”
If the Tree were a picture of Jesus, one could conclude that He, like the tree, remains at the center of the earth, visible for all to see. The Tree is fruitful, and a shelter to all living things (Psalm 9:9; Isaiah 4:6.) The food of the world comes from this Tree; the nations of the World enjoy the fruit that Jesus gave through His sacrifice as He made atonement for all. He was cut down, His branches (John 15:5) removed and His fruit was scattered (Matthew 26:56.) His stump and roots were left in the ground, and He himself grew from a dried root (Isaiah 53:2.) The dew that drenches the Tree is reminiscent of Song of Solomon 5:2, where the head of the Bridegroom is wet with dew. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the Tree is sent into the wilderness to live among the wild animals; in Matthew 4:1, the Lord is led into the wilderness to live among the wild animals for 40 days, after His baptism. His head is still wet with the baptismal water.
In Daniel 4:17, The sentence is decreed by the holy ones, so that the world may know that the Most High rules over the Kingdoms of the world. Jesus’s death is the most powerful testimony of God’s dominion over all things. Especially because He Himself laid down His life, of His own accord – no one else had the authority to take it from Him. And the Kingdoms of the world were given to whoever He pleased, and the Father was well pleased to give them to His Son.