A Mind of His Own

19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21 whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23 And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24 this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25 that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. – Daniel 4:10-33 ESV

In the earlier episode, when forced to reveal and interpret the king’s dream, Daniel took the matter to God. He gathered his three friends together and they prayed, asking God to tell them the content of the dream and its meaning, and God obliged. This time, however, there is no indication that Daniel utilized prayer to discern the interpretation of the king's second dream. It appears Daniel knew the meaning of the dream as soon as the king described it, but he hesitated and was  “dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him” (Daniel 4:19 ESV). No explanation is given for Daniel’s disturbed state of mind but when the king sensed his reluctance to speak and encouraged him to reveal what he knew, Daniel replied, “I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you!” (Daniel 4:19 NLT).

Daniel may have been well into his 50s by the time this incident occurred. He would have spent decades in Nebuchadnezzar’s employment, serving as the chief of all the king’s wise men. It’s likely that, during that time, Daniel and the king would have developed a close relationship. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, the two men would have shared a mutual respect and affinity for one another. Daniel’s hesitancy to reveal the dream’s meaning was born out of his care and concern for Nebuchadnezzar, not a fear of repercussions.

Buoyed by the king’s kind words of encouragement, Daniel broke his silence and said, “That tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth” (Daniel 4:22 NLT). That part of the dream would have been easy to deliver because it was what Nebuchadnezzar wanted to hear. But it was the second half of the interpretation that had disturbed Daniel and caused him to hesitate. The blissful, happy image of the king’s reign would not end well. The watcher in the dream was a bad omen that signaled an unpleasant and unavoidable end to the king’s fame and fortune.

“Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.” – Daniel 4:24-25 NLT

Daniel had to be the bearer of bad news but he didn’t deliver his message with any sense of joy or vindictiveness. He found no comfort in informing Nebuchadnezzar of his fate. Daniel seems completely aware that Nebuchadnezzar was going to get what he deserved. After all his years in the king’s employment, Daniel knew from personal experience that Nebuchadnezzar had a pride problem. He would have regularly witnessed the king’s growing arrogance and overconfidence in his own self-worth. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world and he had built an empire that was second to none. But Daniel knew that God was about to send a powerful and irrefutable message to his pride-filled boss.

What’s interesting to note is the focus of God’s judgment. He chooses to mess with Nebuchadnezzar’s mind, not his might. God could have dealt a death blow to the kingdom of Babylon but, instead, he threatens the king with temporary insanity. Babylon posed no problem for God. He was not intimidated by Babylonian supremacy and their reputation as an invincible superpower. As Daniel reveals in his interpretation of the dream, “…the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses” ( Daniel 4:25 NLT). God had chosen to use Babylon as His instrument of judgment against the nation of Judah. He had raised Nebuchadnezzar to power for the sole purpose of fulfilling His promise of divine discipline against His disobedient children.

“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.” – Jeremiah 25:8-9 ESV

But Nebuchadnezzar had grown overconfident and self-assured. In his eyes, he was a self-made man who took full credit for his own success and saw no end to his dream of world dominance. But God had other plans. Little did Nebuchadnezzar know that his 15 minutes of fame would one day come to an end. God had given Jeremiah a second part to the divine plan for Babylon’s future.

“Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” – Jeremiah 25:10-14 NLT

But that prophecy was to be fulfilled at a later date. Nebuchadnezzar faced a much more imminent problem – the loss of his mind, not his kingdom. What God had in store for him was going to be personal and painful. His kingdom would remain intact but his sanity would be removed for “seven periods of time” ( Daniel 4:25 NLT). Most scholars believe this is a reference to years. If so, then the king was going to go through a protracted period of unprecedented insanity. He would live like an animal with no recollection of his former status as king and no interaction with other humans. The once great and greatly feared king of Babylon would become a madman, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening.

There is no indication that Nebuchadnezzar could forestall the inevitable. He had no power to prevent God Most High from fulfilling His edict. Daniel will plead with the king to change his ways, but even he does not seem confident that it will do any good.

“King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.” – Daniel 4:27 NLT

God knew Nebuchadnezzar’s heart better than Daniel did. He knew the king would never bow the knee or renounce his pride and arrogance. Even the threat of losing his most precious possession, his mind, would not be enough to cause Nebuchadnezzar to repent.

But there was good news. While God would destroy Nebuchadnezzar’s mind, it would only be for a season. In time, God would relent and restore the king’s sanity. But it would only happen when the king had learned his lesson. God had Daniel inform Nebuchadnezzar of the meaning behind the stump in his dream.

“…the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules.” – Daniel 4:26 NLT

Nebuchadnezzar’s mind would be bound by God until he was willing to admit the reality of God’s sovereignty. There was only one King and He alone rules and reigns over all the kingdoms of Earth. And despite Daniel’s desperate pleas for Nebuchadnezzar to repent, the king will continue in his stubborn, pride-filled ways.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Jehovah-Rapha

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. – Exodus 15:22-27 ESV

YHWH-rāp̄ā' – “The LORD Who Heals.”The Hebrew word, rāp̄ā' has many connotations, including “rāp̄ā' “to cause to cure, heal, physician, repair, make whole” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). Throughout the Old Testament, it is used in a variety of ways. In Genesis 20, Moses describes the occasion when the prayer of Abraham resulted in the healing of a pagan king named Abimelech.

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed [rāp̄ā'] Abimelech, and also healed [rāp̄ā'] his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. – Genesis 20:17-18 ESV

The context is important because Abraham had “ journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar” (Genesis 20:1 ESV). While in Gerar, Abraham convinced his wife Sarah to pass herself off as his sister. His reasoning was simple. He believed that if it was discovered Sarah was his wife, one of the polygamous Gerarites might kill him so he could claim her as his own. Abraham had tried this ploy before and it had failed miserably (Genesis 13:10-20).

This instance did not fair any better. Abimelech, the king of Gerar, believing Sarah to be a single, unmarried woman, took her to be his wife. But that night he had a dream in which God threatened him with death.

“Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” – Genesis 20:3 ESV

The Gerarites, while polygamous, did respect the sanctity of marriage. So, Abimelech was appalled to hear that he had taken a married man’s wife into his harem. He was also petrified to hear a disembodied voice warn him of his pending death and that of all his people. Abimelech pleaded his innocence, claiming to have acted on the words of Abraham. He had been told that the woman was unmarried and, fortunately, had not yet touched her. God assured Abimelech that He was aware of the circumstances and had a way for the king to make things right.

“Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” – Genesis 20:6-7 ESV

There is no indication that Abimelech was suffering any malady. God did not strike him with a deadly disease or life-threatening illness. But he was facing the loss of his life and he would not be alone. The fate of his entire family and, possibly, that of his nation, was in the hands of the very man who had lied to him.

When Abimelech approached Abraham, he expressed his dismay at having been put in this predicament by Abraham's deceitfulness. He begged to know what had possessed Abraham to do such a thing. Faced with the blunt-force anger of Abimelech, Abraham didn’t sugarcoat his answer.

“I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.” – Genesis 20:11-12 ESV

Abraham had been in the wrong. Not only was he guilty of deceitfulness but he had failed to trust the faithfulness of Yahweh. For the second time in his life, Abraham displayed his distrust of Yahweh’s protection and provision. But God was watching over His disobedient and distrustful servant. He protected Sarah and preserved the purity of the woman who would ultimately bear Abraham the son who would fulfill all the covenant promises (Genesis 12:1-3).  

There is so much going on in this story. In an effort to assuage God’s anger and persuade Abraham to pray for him, Abimelech showered Abraham with 1,000 pieces of silver, as well as sheep, oxen, and male and female servants. Abraham was going to walk away a rich man. But not only that. Abraham would leave the scene with his marriage and his wife’s purity intact. God had healed what was on the verge of being broken. He had graciously repaired what Abraham had damaged. Had God not intervened and interrupted Abimelech’s sleep with a dream, the king would have ultimately consummated his relationship with Sarah. It was just a matter of time. But Jehovah-Rapha stepped in and made whole that which was fractured and falling apart. God cleaned up the mess that Abraham had made.

But God also “healed” [rāp̄ā'] Abimelech and his family. God graciously called off His plan to take Abimelech’s life. Abimelech was not sick, but he was under a curse. His fate was sealed unless he obeyed the words of Yahweh. But because he did, he experienced wholeness instead of brokenness. He was given the gift of life rather than death. God had protected Sarah from being sexually violated by a pagan. He had protected Abraham from becoming a single man with no hope of seeing the promises of God fulfilled. He had protected Abimelech from touching Sarah and from having to suffer death for a sin he had committed in ignorance.

Throughout this story, God’s grace and mercy are on full display. None of the actors in this dark drama deserved what they received. But the LORD Who Heals stepped in and remedied the situation and preserved the integrity of His own plan and the lives of those who were integral to its fulfillment.

Back to the story in Exodus. Moses was attempting to lead the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. But along the way, they experienced various trials and difficulties. One of the first took place at Marah, an oasis in the desert that contained bitter, undrinkable water. The people had been walking for three days and the joy of their miraculous deliverance from the Egyptians and their inexplicable crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground had worn off. They were tired, thirsty, and in a far-from-happy mood. They complained to Moses and he took the issue to God, who quickly responded and gave Moses a solution.

…the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. – Exodus 15:25 ESV

God “healed” the waters. He performed another miracle and transformed the bitter water into sweet, refreshing, life-giving water. But the water was not the only thing that was bitter. The Hebrew word is mar and it can also refer to discontentment. The people of Israel were bitter about their circumstances; they didn’t like the way things were turning out. Their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea had turned into an unpleasant and weariness-producing crossing of a trackless and waterless desert, and they were not in a good mood.

God’s solution to the problem was a simple one. He instructed Moses to take an ʿēṣ and throw it into the water. The Hebrew word is fascinating because it is the same word used in the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis.

…out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree [ʿēṣ] that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree [ʿēṣ] of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree [ʿēṣ] of the knowledge of good and evil. – Genesis 2:9 ESV

More than 162 times in the Old Testament, the word ʿēṣ is translated as “tree.” There is no reason not to translate it the same way here. The text doesn’t give the variety of tree that was used, but the outcome is quite clear. When Moses threw the tree in the water, it produced life. The bitter water was transformed. What had been undrinkable and incapable of sustaining life was divinely altered and imbued with life-giving properties. That which was unacceptable become acceptable.

There was more to this miraculous transformation than the Israelites realized. They were content to have their thirst quenched but God had so much more He wanted them to see. Moses writes, “It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him” (Exodus 15:25 NLT).

God wasn’t content to satisfy their craving for water. He wanted to teach them a lesson about faithfulness and trust. He knew they would get thirsty again. Temporary solutions to temporal problems never produce eternal results. As long as they focused their attention on their physical needs they would never learn the spiritual lessons God wanted them to learn. So, along with the water, God gave Moses a message to deliver to his bitterness-prone people.

“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.” – Exodus 15:26 NLT

It’s important to note that God threatens His people with disease if they fail to obey while referring to Himself as their healer. At this moment, they are healthy, whole, and no longer suffering from thirst. But He is warning them that a fate worse than thirst awaits them if they refuse to “do what is right in His sight.” This would not be the last time they complained about a lack of water. There would also be occasions when they grumbled about their less-than-satisfactory diet and their unhappiness with the manna that God provided for them.

What they failed to realize was that their complaining was a source of disobedience. They didn’t trust God. They allowed their circumstances to determine their view of God and dictate the degree of their adoration toward Him.

What’s important to note in this story is that there was water, but it was undrinkable. Their problem wasn’t a lack of something, but it was that the solution to their need was “bitter.” It was plentiful but undrinkable. It wasn’t that the water was non-existent but that it was worthless in its current condition. And this non-potable water contained a powerful lesson for the Israelites.

The Hebrew word translated as “bitter” is מַר (mar), which can also be translated as “angry” or “discontented.” Little did the Israelites know that the water was a symbol of their own spiritual condition. Despite all God had done to set them free from their bondage in Egypt, they were a bitter and discontented people. In a sense, they were unusable. Instead of displaying gratitude for all that God had done, they quickly resorted to anger and blame, and their blatant displays of dissatisfaction were evidence that their hearts were bitter and in need of change.

So, God took this opportunity to teach the Israelites a much-needed lesson on how He was going to transform the bitter condition of their hearts. Hundreds of years later, the prophet Ezekiel would record the following promise that God made to His people.

“I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” – Ezekiel 3626-27 NLT

From the very beginning, God revealed His desire to transform the hearts of His people. Their real problem had never been slavery; they suffered from a heart condition that left them bitter, angry, and discontented. Their 400-year separation from God had reduced them to a state of spiritual stagnation and impurity. They had become polluted by the culture and robbed of their ability to be a source of life to the nations around them. So, God was going to intervene and, over time, begin His miraculous plan of heart transformation.

God used a tree to transform bitter water into a life-giving source of sustenance. He had just proven, yet again, that He could meet all their needs. Thousands of years later, God would use another tree to heal the sins of mankind. The apostle Peter spoke of the life-transforming and spiritual-healing properties of this tree when he addressed the religious leaders of Israel.

“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” – Acts 5:30-31 ESV

Peter would later deliver the same message to a gathering of Gentiles.

“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:39-43 ESV

Jehovah-Rapha is The LORD Who Heals. But He wants to do far more than heal our temporal and physical problems. He can provide for all our needs and is more than willing to do so, but His greatest desire is heal our hearts and restore us to a relationship with Him so that will satisfy our thirst for true life and meaning.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” – John 7:37-38 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.