Daniel 4:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, is a formal opening, like the kind used in royal writs, proclamations, or circular letters, Dan. 4:1. Nebuchadnezzar the king uses a plain and simple title, without pride or display. If he once filled his name with grand words, he now lays all that aside. He is older now, and he has just recovered from the madness that humbled him. He is also thinking deeply about God’s greatness and rule.

The letter is addressed not only to his own people, but to everyone who might read it, all people, nations, and languages throughout the earth. He is willing for all to hear what happened to him, even though it brings shame on himself. In fact, no one may have dared publish it if he had not done so himself, which is likely why Daniel preserved the original letter. Nebuchadnezzar also gives the usual greeting, “Peace be multiplied to you.” It is fitting for kings to send good wishes with their commands, since they should bless their subjects like fathers of the nation.

Second, here is the main point of the message. He wants to tell others about the works of God in his own life, Dan. 4:2. He says it seemed right to him to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God had done for him. He feels it is his duty and a proper thing to do. Now that he has recovered, he owes it to God and to the world to tell how rightly God humbled him and how kindly God restored him.

The nations had already heard about what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, but he thinks they should hear a clear account from his own mouth. Then they can see God’s hand in it and know how it changed him. The matter should be received not just as news, but as a lesson about God. These events were not only wonders to admire, they were signs to learn from. They showed the world that the Lord is greater than all gods.

We should also tell others how God has dealt with us, both in correction and in kindness. Even when the story brings shame on us, as it did here with Nebuchadnezzar, we should not hide it if it will honor God. Many people are quick to say what God has done for them because that brings them praise. They are less willing to say what God has done against them, or how they deserved his discipline. But we should honor God by praising him for mercy, confessing our sins, and admitting that the punishment was just.

Nebuchadnezzar also shows how deeply he was affected by what God had done, Dan. 4:3. When we speak of God’s word and works, we should do so with seriousness and concern. If we want others to notice God’s great acts, we should show that they matter to us as well. He first marvels at God’s works. He says with awe, “How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders!” Nebuchadnezzar was now an old man, had ruled for more than forty years, and had seen much of the world. Yet only now, after being personally struck by God’s hand, does he truly marvel at such events as God’s signs and wonders.

From that, he draws the right conclusion about God’s rule. He now confesses that God’s kingdom is everlasting, unlike his own kingdom, which was already moving toward its end. He acknowledges that God governs the world with full and unquestioned authority over all human affairs. The glory of that kingdom is that it never ends. Other kingdoms last for only one generation or a few, but God’s rule continues from one generation to the next.

Nebuchadnezzar seems to be thinking of Daniel’s earlier prophecy about a kingdom that the God of heaven would set up and that would never be destroyed, Dan. 2:44. Daniel spoke there of the Messiah’s kingdom, but Nebuchadnezzar seems to understand it more generally as God’s providential rule over the world. Even so, we may still profit from prophetic Scriptures we do not fully understand, by making a practical use of what is clear in them.