As old as the trees

(sorry for delay and will have new article this evening now)

Chapter 4 in the Book of Daniel is what’s called “the tree vision” and it’s a rather odd account in Nebuchadnezzar’s life.

“What you have is a picture of Nebby’s insanity,” explains Richard Jordan. “He had bats in his belfry. He was a dingbat. He was an insane ruler and I’m sure they kept it quiet, and I don’t know if you know much about history or monarchs, but down through the ages, folks, many of them have been lunatics, and some of the most brilliant geniuses who have ever lived, militarily and politically, have been wacko in their private life and Nebby was one of them and he had these spits of insanity.

“They don’t come on him all the time. They come in and they go out and he has one in this chapter here that’s of divine origin. God sends it upon him.

“What you see here in the chapter is a foreshadowing of the pride and the madness and the downfall that’s going to be the characteristic of the Gentile time. And then the restoration of Nebby is a picture and a foreshadowing of the restoration of certain Gentile nations to enter in to the kingdom.

“What you have here is not just a tragic picture of a monarch gone bad, but rather you’re having here a picture of the course of the Gentile nations.

Nebby is the head of that image in chapter 2. He’s the first king who reigns supreme in the times of the Gentiles, and in Nebby’s pride that lifts him up, and the madness that followed that pride, and in the tremendous fall he takes because of that, you see the course and the characteristics of what make up the Gentile powers.”

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Daniel 4: 1-3 says, [1] Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
[2] I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.
[3] How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.”

“What you’ve got here, and you notice in the first three verses, is that this chapter is really the Babylonian state document. This is an official governmental decree and proclamation that Nebuchadnezzar sends out to the whole world.

“Verse 1 says he was king over all of them. Babylon ruled over everything and he sends his proclamation and this thing literally is a confession of his sin of pride and of his subsequent conversion to the most high God.

“You’ll notice in Daniel 2 that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar is converted to Daniel’s God. And in chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar gives evidence of genuine conversion to the Lord. He gives a personal testimony about how God had been dealing in his life.

“You know what the greatest testimony in the face of unbelief is? A personal testimony about what you know.

“It’s SOME dream and Nebuchadnezzar’s troubled by that thing. The thing that bothers him, no doubt, is not so much that he sees the tree, but it’s the fact that when you get on down there to the interpretation, or rather to the watcher coming down and talking about it, it says, ‘He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.’

“See, Nebuchadnezzar knows that that tree represents somebody; it’s not just a tree, it’s a HIM! It’s a personification. So Nebby’s got a problem. He’s all worried and shook up about the thing, and so he gets Daniel. He says, ‘Dan, nobody else can do it, but I know you can, man. You’ve come through before. God’s with you.’

[19] Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
[20] The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
[21] 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:
[22] 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.

“Daniel’s going to give him the interpretation and 'astonied’ is an old English word that means astonished. Daniel was shook up by the thing too. He was ‘astonied’ for one hour. Old boy was just speechless for about an hour. And his thoughts troubled him. He got worried about the thing.

“ ‘The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.’ In other words, don’t keep to yourself. Don’t be afraid to tell me what it is. If it’s bad news, that’s okay.

“ ‘Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.’

“In other words, this is going to be bad news. The dream is to your enemies. That is, it’s to their advantage. It’s for their good. They’re going to like it and you’re not going to like it.

“Verse 20: [20] The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

“The tree then is who? Now wasn’t that hard to get? See. You know, folks, the Bible is that way. If you’ll keep reading, the Bible will tell you what it means. And when you don’t understand something,  you know what you ought to do? Just keep reading!

“There’s always a verse to explain a verse you don’t understand. And if you’ll make that the basis of your philosophy and Bible study, you’ll begin to understand God’s Word.

“Now a tree in the Bible is used to represent a man (Psalm 1). It’s used to represent nations. Ezekiel 31:3 is almost a parallel passage to Daniel 4 because it’s the same type of a tree. You see how the Assyrian is likened unto a tree? The leader of a nation.

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“Trees are oftentime used in the Bible to describe nations and in Daniel 4, this tree represents Nebuchadnezzar and it’s a foreshadowing, folks, of God’s dealings. This is how God’s going to deal with the Gentile nations.

“You see Nebuchadnezzar the head of gold in Daniel 2—you watch how God’s going to deal with him now and you’re going to see how the course of the Gentiles is going to go. So Nebuchadnezzar is the tree. Now notice the madness that follows . . .”

The olive tree, the fig tree and the vine tree are all in the Garden of Eden. The olive tree is the Tree of Life, the vine tree is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the fig tree is the source of Operation Fig Leaf (Adam and Eve).

“Those trees have special meaning. They carry a thought system with them all through Scripture. They become representatives of the nation Israel, because God’s purpose with man becomes centered in the nation Israel.

“The great events and stories that carry throughout the Old Testament--all these great and historical things God put in the Bible because those things carry a social narrative that represents the doctrine--well, these trees are that way.

“Gideon is a great example of what goes on with Israel. There are some fantastic things in Judges 6-8 about Gideon and his 300 men. They go out and defeat the Midianites and so forth, but then to see what happens to his family and how they end up back in complete total apostasy.

“Judge 9:8 says, ‘The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.’

“In the Scripture, trees are often used to represent nations. The trees are going to look for a leader so they go to the olive tree and say, ‘Reign over us,’ but the olive tree said, ‘Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?’

“The tree’s saying, ‘I mean, shall I leave what I’ve got and give to you? I don’t think so.’

“The passage goes on, [10] And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
[11] But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
[12] Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
[13] And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

“It’s as though the nations come to Israel and there’s these three different facets of the nation. The appeal to Israel to is, ‘Come and take who God has made you and bless us with it, reign over us, let us enjoy who God has made you,’ and yet Israel at each stage, when the nations do this, saying, ‘We need you!’ responds, ‘Ain’t no way! They’re MY blessings! And I’m not going to share them with YOU!’

“And the result is verse 14, ‘Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
[15] And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

“Isaiah 28 calls it ‘a refuge of lies.’ Imagine trusting in a shadow. There’s no substance there. The bramble tree is the thorny bush, barren of any fruit. Then it says, ‘and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

“In other words, it’s ‘turn or burn!’ I’ll either rule you or ruin you. Now that’s the apostasy that results when the nation Israel doesn’t function in the capacity God’s given them. Those three trees represent the three roles that the nation Israel is designed to play in the earth.”

“All the other nations are separated. For example, when Solomon builds the temple, the door into the holy place, into the presence of God in there--you know what they made it out of? Olive wood. Because that olive tree to Israel represents access. It represents the special set apart access; no other nation has it.

“Here’s this position of spiritual privilege and they fail with it. The bramble tree represents Israel in idolatry; Israel under the curse. It represents Israel under the reign of the Antichrist.

"What you’re seeing is a picture prophetically of the future; historically of the satanic policy of evil of seeking to corrupt them at every point. What Satan’s policy wanted to do is to take Israel and destroy her in every area that God had established the nation for. They were to be His prophets, His priests and His kings and Satan’s going to destroy them in every capacity.”