Scripture

Daniel 4:19-37

Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”

Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds— Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.

“Your Majesty saw a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’

“This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;
    his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the peoples of the earth
    are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
    with the powers of heaven
    and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
    or say to him: “What have you done?”

At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

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Renounce Your Pride, Regain Your Crown

by Rev. Cory Bradford-Watts

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In the ancient Hebrew book of Daniel, we see a continuation of the universal spiritual teachings that this book uplifts – with King Nebuchadnezzar falling from his kingship due to his pride and arrogance. In all of our beauty and personal gifts it’s easy to fall into similar vanities, but our feelings of pride only serve to undermine these empowerments from Divinity – the seed of consciousness called by many names, and they lead to our own fall. But although being cast down may seem like a setback for the king (it does speak to his need for change) we’re shown that even this failure can be viewed from the light of God as a necessary lesson for the healing of Nebuchadnezzar’s soul. May we each look at our own setbacks similarly: accepting the invitation to renounce our pride, regaining our crowns.

We continue our walk through Daniel with a very different story than the last three, with the king being told that his new dream describes his own fall, but also, his hope for redemption and a return to his kingship. In this community we often talk about letting go of selfishness, but don’t always speak to the pride that’s often involved even we feel like we’re becoming more giving, more at peace, and less self-centered. Whatever our tradition, when we feel like things are going well spiritually, career-wise, for our bodies, or for our families, we tend to take personal pride in these accomplishments and our progress. Further, our pride can even reach up to King Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in a way when we truly believe that everything we are and have done is from ourselves: when even after we think we know better, our hearts betray us because they feel, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

But to realize this often takes quite the honest look at ourselves, as this type of feeling can be quite silent as it’s something we tend to carry from an early age. We must ask, in what ways is God telling us to relinquish our pride today? How often do we have a false sense of ownership and proprietorship over our work, communities, our gifts, and on? In Daniel 4, God tells us in explicit terms: these things are heaven’s, they’re his, and he can raise anyone up, as well as cast them down and back up again.

As in many redemption stories in the Bible, we see King Nebuchadnezzar cast into the wilderness as he strives to overcome his temptations of being prideful. We can see parallels to this with the Israelites’ 40 years, as well as the Arc and Christ’s 40 days going through trials, and similarly, all of these depict (in parable) the process for ourselves as we start to grapple with and confront our pride. They also describe perhaps quite literally what must often happen to us to truly transform: we must lose our place in society, we must go through hard lessons, and spiritually: we must humble ourselves and our hearts, realizing that none of this is ours, but Divinity’s.

This means that we must also, “Renounce [our] sins by doing what is right, and [our] wickedness by being kind to the oppressed,” which is anyone in a dismissed, downtrodden, or hurt state, in-need of rehabilitation and change. (Daniel 4:27) And although we often ignore it, this has been God’s message from the very beginning – as we see showcased beautifully in this ancient Hebrew text, as well as in the ancient Christian gospel, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.

I think that is also what’s needed culturally around the world: letting go of our arrogant pride as countries, organizations, and cultures, while deeply and primarily accepting the charge to uplift the oppressed. It doesn’t take a religious point-of-view to acknowledge the necessity to renounce arrogance on the world stage in this dire age, or even as a corporation – empowered and uplifted by our communities, societies, environments, and ultimately the world – even though we often think competitively and are incentivized to do so. This competitive, divisive worldview is at the heart of the king’s arrogance in his majesty, and is exactly what is challenged when he’s forced to live in the wilderness “until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” (Daniel 4:33)

We instead think that we’re always right, shirking our responsibility as humans for the glory of a moment’s pride. We override the lives of others, thinking that our own sentimental point-of-view is all there is and gloss over the trials of the downtrodden. Indeed, we come up with excuses as to why others don’t deserve rehabilitation, a second chance, and the compassion of God.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow our hard-learned truths, and yet, scripture tells us that they eventually become like honey. It’s not easy to start the process of letting go of pride and accepting that a deeper providence and will is at work, but if we follow in the steps of this king, we eventually find that unlike our own will, God’s will transcends our disappointments and leads us to a kingdom and heavenly peace everlasting.

Like Nebuchadnezzar, if we take this bitter blue pill, we eventually are led back to our birthright: a humane humanity, uplifting creation in the image of Divinity and empowering each other in care, kindness, and love. When we realize that “the Universe” is the source of our greatness and our goodness, we no longer struggle in the midst of our egoic needs, but start to let go of the stilted structures of the past and find a wilderness that leads to renewed royalty in God.

Story after story, this king was confronted with the reality of God, and yet, this wasn’t enough to truly convince him of the Holy One’s supremacy. Unfortunately, for most of us, it takes that time described in this chapter of feeling downtrodden and forsaken to realize that we never really were, that in both the bad and the good times we were uplifted and empowered by a God beyond understanding, and yet teaching us lessons on how to become more human and humane than we could ever imagine. Funny enough, when we feel truly disempowered and let go of our pride, we finally know where our power comes from: Heaven, the Word written in the depths of our souls, the deep truth and energy of the universe, Consciousness Itself. And that’s when we regain our crown.  

Peace and blessings to you,

Rev. Cory