The Nebuchadnezzar Syndrome

Daniel 4:19-37 ¹⁹Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was horrified for a moment, and his thoughts troubled him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream and its meaning trouble you.

Belteshazzar answered, “My Lord, if only the dream were about your enemies and its meaning about your foes! ²⁰The tree which you saw grew and became strong. Its height reached to heaven, and it was visible to the whole earth. ²¹Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit was abundant, and food for all was on it. The wild animals lived under it, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches. ²²You are the tree, Your Majesty. For you have grown, and you have become great, and your greatness has increased and reached to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.

²³“And you, Your Majesty, saw a watcher, who was a holy one, coming down from heaven, and he said, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it. However, leave the stump of its root in the ground, with an iron and bronze band around it. Let it be with the grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew from the sky, and its place will be with the wild animals, until seven times pass over it.’

²⁴“This is the interpretation, Your Majesty: It is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord, the king. ²⁵So you will be driven away from humans, and your dwelling will be with the wild animals. And you will have to eat plants like bulls do, and you will be wet with the dew from the sky. And seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whomever he wishes. ²⁶And because they said to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will remain yours when you know that Heaven rules.

²⁷“Therefore, Your Majesty, let my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins with righteousness and from your guilty deeds by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be extended.”

²⁸All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹At the end of twelve months he was walking on top of the palace of his kingdom in Babylon. ³⁰The king said, “Isn’t this the great Babylon that I built for a royal residence by my mighty power and my majestic glory?”

³¹While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven, “It is announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom has been taken away from you. ³²You will be driven away from humans, and your dwelling will be with the wild animals. Grass will be fed to you as grass is fed to bulls, and seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives it to whomever he wishes.”

³³Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from humans. So he ate grass as bulls do, and his body was wet with the dew from the sky until his hair grew long like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴At the end of the set time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. So I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever, because his dominion is an eternal dominion and his kingdom lasts forever and ever. ³⁵All of the inhabitants of the earth are considered nothing, and he does as he wishes with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. So there is no one who can hold back the hand of the Most High and say to him, “What have you done?”

³⁶At that time my reason returned to me, and my splendor and glory returned to me for the honor of my kingdom. So my counselors and nobles looked for me. I was reinstated over my kingdom, and I became even more majestic than I was before. ³⁷Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, because all his works are true, and his ways are just. All who walk in arrogance he is able to humble.

King Nebuchadnezzar is living the Babylonian dream. He has become the man, the myth, the legend. He has everything anyone might desire. He is a gifted and ambitious ruler. He is at the peak of his greatness with his empire extending to present-day Turkey to the east, present-day Syria to the north and even controlling Egypt to the south. He looks out from his palace terrace to see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Nebuchadnezzar is a rock star, business CEO, international celebrity, military general and popular royalty all rolled into one.

One night, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. It is a disturbing dream. It is a very real dream. He doesn’t know what the dream means, but it doesn’t feel good.

 So, the king calls in Daniel to interpret the dream. There is irony in the Babylonian name - Belteshazzar - the king gave to Daniel years earlier. Belteshazzar means “May Bel protect you.” Bel is the powerful chief god of the Babylonians. But Belteshazzar is going to tell the king that Bel has no power. Only Daniel’s God, the true God has power. And Nebuchadnezzar is going to feel that power.

And it won’t feel good.

Nebuchadnezzar dreamt about an enormous tree whose top reaches the sky. It is visible to the ends of the earth. All the birds and beasts feel under this tree.

Daniel is very blunt in telling Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream. “You are the tree, Your Majesty. For you have grown, and you have become great, and your greatness has increased and reached to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. You saw a watcher, who was a holy one, coming down from heaven, and he said, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it.’”

Everything the king treasures will be trashed. Under God’s judgment, King Nebuchadnezzar’s mighty tree will come crashing to the ground.

That’s not all. “You will be driven away from humans, and your dwelling will be with the wild animals. And you will have to eat plants like bulls do, and you will be wet with the dew from the sky. And seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whomever he wishes.” The king will be driven from his kingdom. He will live like an animal – chewing on grass, drenched by dew because he won’t have the sense to seek shelter, having the mind of a beast.

Daniel bravely warns the king to repent, to show mercy to the poor and to demonstrate righteousness. “Therefore, Your Majesty, let my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins with righteousness and from your guilty deeds by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be extended.”

But the king is deaf to Daniel’s plea.

For the next 12 months nothing changes. His life is still smooth sailing. He is living the plush lifestyle of the rich and famous. Then one day, as Nebuchadnezzar is strolling atop his royal palace, he scans his splendid metropolis and lets his ego do the talking. “Isn’t this the great Babylon that I built for a royal residence by my mighty power and my majestic glory?” He looks at everything in his kingdom and takes the glory that belongs only to God and makes it his own.

No sooner do the words come out of the king than the real King’s judgment comes down from heaven.

Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is really just a sandcastle that is washed away in the flood of God’s wrath. The psalmist is prophetic: “The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath” (Psalm 110:5).

Nebuchadnezzar begins living his nightmare.

This once smug king, this narcissistic Nebuchadnezzar loses everything – his kingdom, his throne, his family – even his senses. He immediately is struck with a strange syndrome called boanthropy. This is a real medical condition of insanity where a person believes himself to be a bovine – a cow or an ox.

“Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from humans. So he ate grass as bulls do, and his body was wet with the dew from the sky until his hair grew long like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

Yet, it is here in the low of lows that this heathen king is reconciled with the High of Highs.

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that though his mighty tree would be cut down, the root would remain. When the king raises his eyes to heaven in recognition of the true King, he will have his sanity restored. And that’s exactly what happens. After an unspecified period of time, the king raises his eyes to the true God of heaven and his sanity returns. He praises the Most High, honoring and glorifying him who lives forever. His nobles and advisors find him, clean him up and dress him in his royal robes. He is removed from the dirt and replaced on his throne.

Nebuchadnezzar ends the story himself when he says, “Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, because all his works are true, and his ways are just. All who walk in arrogance he is able to humble.”

“All who walk in arrogance he is able to humble.” Mary said something similar to her cousin, Elizabeth. “He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. He has lifted up the lowly” (Matthew 1:51-52).

Nebuchadnezzar was filled up with pride. He needed to be emptied with humility. He was on top of the world in his palace. He needed to be brought low into an animal pasture. In New Testament terms, God laid a cross on Nebuchadnezzar. God crucified him. God put this proud man to death so he could raise Nebuchadnezzar to a new kind of life. God humbled the king to show that Bel was no god at all, but the Lord is the Most High whose dominion is eternal and whose kingdom is forever (Daniel 4:34). The king was emptied so God could fill the void with himself.

What can we learn from this account of Nebuchadnezzar? We are no kings or queens. We live in Racine, Sturtevant and Mt. Pleasant, not in Babylon. We are no rock stars, professional athletes or business CEOs. What do we possibly have in common with King Nebuchadnezzar?

We commoners suffer from the very common Nebuchadnezzar syndrome. His insanity was only the result of his syndrome. His pride and arrogance were the symptoms that needed to be treated with repentance.

A syndrome is a group of symptoms that are characteristic of a specific disorder or disease. We suffer from the Nebuchadnezzar syndrome because each of us has the symptoms of pride and arrogance.

We are all kings and queens of our own little kingdoms. Our home is our castle. Our workplace is our domain. We take great pride in our homes, vehicles, yards, kids, promotions and accomplishments. We bemoan our busyness at the same time we brag about our busyness. We sprain our shoulders patting ourselves on the back for all we have built – our home, family, business or retirement fund. We compete on social media for the best family, best friends, best pictures, best vacation and best meals. We look out at our sprawling kingdom we have created with our hard work and efforts instead of looking to heaven at the Most High who has given to us everything we have.

That all sounds a lot like the same syndrome as Nebuchadnezzar.

Every guy who has ever lived has said, “I got this.” Guys don’t ask for help. They refuse to ask for directions. They ignore the instructions. It has to be done his way, so he has to do it himself.

Women have the same flaw. It just comes in a different form. “Aw, you shouldn’t have.” Ladies really mean that. Because when someone does something nice for a lady, she feels guilty and has to do something in return. She needs to be even.

For both men and women, the symptom is pride. Pride refuses help from others. Pride wants everything to be even.

Pride is the symptom of our Nebuchadnezzar syndrome.

When you get sick with the flu or an infection or a disease, your physician will do a few things for you – he’ll give you a diagnosis, a prescription, a diet and assign exercise.

Jesus is the Great Physician of body and soul. His diagnosis is that you are sick with the sin of pride. You don’t know how sick you are until you take the time for a spiritual checkup. To remind you to examine yourself, Jesus allows you to suffer. He lays his cross on you. He crucifies you. He humbles you. He brings you low. You need to see that you can’t do it alone. You need God’s help. You need to see you can’t ever get even with God.

Jesus gives you a prescription of forgiveness. Your mom used to put drops in your ears. Take the medicine of absolution in your ears. When you’re not feeling well, you take a hot bath. Soak in the bath of your baptismal waters. My grandma would give me tea and honey for my sore throat. Eat the body of the Lord and drink his blood for your sin-sick soul.

Eat a healthy diet to prevent future illnesses. Eat the bread of life, which is Jesus. Drink the water of life, which is also Jesus. He is the sole meal of the Father. Jesus is the exclusive food and drink who nourishes you as nothing else can, for he is the flesh and blood embodiment of the Father’s love.

Last Saturday, we were setting out all of nativities in our home. We have a lot of them. One of the nativities was missing Jesus. I reminded my girls of the old hymn, “Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus, can my heartfelt longing still.” That is the prescription we need for all we need – Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus.

The doctor also prescribes exercise. The divine Physician also wants you to exercise your faith. Don’t be a fat and lazy Christian who only sits around. Be active in your faith. Ask for something to do in church. Get involved at WLS. Look for opportunities to help your elderly neighbor or volunteer at a shelter or offer to babysit so parents can go on a date.

One of the best ways to overcome your pride is to humble yourself. Humble yourself before the Lord humbles you.

The symptoms of the Nebuchadnezzar syndrome are pride, arrogance and glory in ourselves. Listen to the advice of your Divine Physician for your prescription of repentance, your medicine of forgiveness, your diet of Jesus, and the exercise of your faith. Make your life a life that doesn’t revolve around you and your kingdom. Make it a life that revolves around the Lord and others in service of his Kingdom. Amen.