The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. (Dan 4:20-22)
The Tree King. Nebuchadnezzar is a world ruler and his kingdom has filled the then-civilized world. Daniel begins his sad message to the king by rehearsing in detail what has just been told him by the king. This reminds us that the Bible often uses this style of communication. The Bible repeats and repeats and repeats because God designed it that way. God is the great communicator. In our day of hurry we work hard to achieve economy of words for speeding up communication. Say it one time and move on! Parents are so stressed out that they want to tell their children a thing but once. If they don't get it, the parent is frustrated and goes into orbit. It may not be the child's fault.
If advertisers did that, they would never sell anything. People who want to sell stuff on TV and radio know that they have to repeat the same message over and over again and exercise their simple message through our full range of moods and mental states until at last something sticks to the wall. I have read statements by "experts" that many things have to be repeated at least seven times to get through a dazed mind. Some say that we must repeat a new thing twenty eight times before it is remembered. Who knows!? But we do know that saying something one time is not going to get the job done if we really want to communicate.
God is the great communicator. If you read the Law of Moses you will see God repeating passages many times. The prophets and the psalms repeat God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt—many times. Read Stephen's great rehearsal of Jewish history in Acts 7 before they stoned him to death. The Lord generously and repeatedly sends out His message because He wants people to understand what He is saying.
Not only does the Lord repeat His message many times, He alters the way He says it slightly so that if we don't understand it with one set of words, we will get it with another set of similar words. This pattern is very pronounced throughout the Bible. For example, have you ever wondered why there are four gospels and not just one? They are all slightly different in their emphasis so as to complement each other.
Allow me to take a passage out of the context of the future kingdom age to illustrate God's interest and ability at communicating to us. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein (Isa 35:8).
God wants us to know His will, so He often repeats and repeats and repeats. If you are a Bible reader this is easy for you to understand and accept. If you are not a Bible reader you may think I have gone off my rocker on a minor point. But, it is NOT minor point!
God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to understand, so Daniel repeats the message and carefully explains to him what God is doing. He also wants us to understand this story today because several things about the story are essential to our understanding of God's will and God's program.
Things are not out of control today. God is still in charge and in His own time and using His own methods, He is going to bring an end to this world-wide mess of sudden population growth and the intense struggle the human race is making for energy to fuel its industrial and economic efforts. Every nation wants its share of the good-life pie. Every nation wants to grow and become more powerful just like Nebuchadnezzar succeeded in doing. It ought to be very comforting to know that God has a plan that is going to override every effort of nations to be the top dog.
In reading Nebuhadnezzar's own biography of himself in chapter four, let's remember the central verse he gives us that we may understand his purpose in writing this down: …to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (Dan 4:17).
It may be very frustrating at times but that's exactly the way it is and God wants us to know it. Let's be patient as we go through this chapter verse by verse and let it soak in. Walk with the King today!
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