In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar recalls a 7 year experience he had in a letter written to his kingdom. His intro goes like this,
“To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:
May you prosper greatly! It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.”
Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon. In Daniel 1 the king besieged Jerusalem and took it’s people as captives back to Babylon. The king wanted to see if there were some outstanding Israelites that he could bring into his service and he found four men who rose high above the rest.
One day Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and this dream messed him up. He was so bothered that he could not sleep. The king called for all his wise men and demanded that not only must they interpret the dream but they must describe the dream. No one in the room was able to do that. The king became so furious that he ordered all the wise men in the kingdom to be killed. While the king’s order was being carried out one of the captives that came into the kings service asked for some time to seek out the content and interpretation of the dream. The man comes back and says to the king,
“No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days to come.”
And the man proceeds to describe and interpret the dream. The king responds to the captive with this revelation,
“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
Some time passes and the king builds a golden image and wants everyone in his kingdom to worship it. It’s normal practice for them to worship things they have created. It comes to the kings attention that there were three Jews who were in the kings service that didn’t worship the image. Disobeying the king is punishable by death and in this instance, death by fire. The king has these captives thrown in the furnace but strangely these men are not consumed by the fire. Not only where these men not burned up but there was a fourth man who appeared in the fire who the king described, “Is like the Son of God”.
After this crazy experience Nebuchadnezzar made a decree about the God of these captives,
“Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
With each encounter Nebuchadnezzar is discovering who God really is.
Nebuchadnezzar has another dream that only Daniel can interpret. And the interpretation is that God is going to do something to Nebuchadnezzar that will prove that “Heaven rules”. Nebuchadnezzar has this seven year experience were he gets run out of his kingdom and is given the heart of an animal. His hair grows out like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like birds claws and he eats grass like an ox. Quite the experience to be sure.
At the end of seven years Nebuchadnezzar describes what happened in his letter to his kingdom. He writes,
“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.”
Transformation is a process and a process that works. Nebuchadnezzar was not transformed at the first dream, or the fire experience, but those were stepping stones to knowledge and understanding. This is God at work with his people in the workplace.