God was gracious to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar about his foolishness and intended punishment. As Nebuchadnezzar was resting, he had a dream. (Daniel 4:18-27) The tree seen by Nebuchadnezzar was large, green, and flourishing. The gardener or an angel explained the fate of the tree. It was chopped down, lost its beauty, size, and strength. The tree represented a man. Like the tree that was chopped down, this man would be given the heart of a beast. The man will be confined or protected, and will not be free. The man had to realize that the Most High is the sovereign ruler of the whole earth.
As none of the wisemen of Babylon were able to interpret the dream, he summoned Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar requested Daniel to declare the interpretation of the dream. Daniel was shocked hearing the dream. In fact, Daniel was troubled about the interpretation of the dream. Sensing Daniel’s reluctance, Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel to state the interpretation without hesitation.
As Nathan confronted David: “You are the man,” Daniel also confronted Nebuchadnezzar: “It is you – O king.” (II Samuel 12:7) Daniel confronts Nebuchadnezzar by advising him: First, he should break off from sins, i.e., to repent. Second, he must follow righteousness. Third, repentance should be evidenced in showing mercy to the poor and being generous to them. Four, if so, perhaps the Lord will lengthen your prosperity and need not go through humiliation. As King of Nineveh did at the preaching of Jonah, Nebuchadnezzar should have also repented. (Jonah 3)
Nebuchadnezzar was given twelve months to repent but did not. As he was commending himself for the great city of Babylon including the Hanging Gardens, he heard the voice with the same words as in dream. He was afflicted by a rare disease: Boanthropy, the delusion that one is an ox from 582 BC to 575 BC. The sufferer believes s/he is a cow or an ox. They try to live like a cow or an ox; walking on all fours, eating grass, often stop talking, start mooing and join herds of cows or oxen.
Am I proud of my accomplishments?