God’s Word for You
Daniel 4:15b-18 the decree of the watchers
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, October 6, 2025
“Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let him live with the animals in the grass of the land. 16 Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let an animal’s mind be given to him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This proclamation is by the decree of the watchers, the matter is the command of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. He gives them to whomever he will and he sets over them the lowliest of men.’ 18 This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And now you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to tell me what it means, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
In verses 15-16, the words of the angel change, completely abandoning the imagery of the tree, just as God was going to abandon the king. The words describe the king directly, and although Nebuchadnezzar did not understand any of this yet, the words have left the dream and are presented as the king’s judgment.
“Wet with the dew of heaven” means nothing else that the king would be living in such a way that he would be covered in dew every morning. Anyone who has slept outside all night without any tent or shelter knows that morning dew comes pretty close to having a morning shower.
“Let him live with the animals in the grass of the land.” The Aramaic word doesn’t necessarily mean “wild animals,” but critters in general. The king was going to live like a beast, but whether this would be like a wolf or a bear or a cow is not identified by the text. Here we see that “grass” truly means “grass” and nothing less. He would be exiled away from home and live outdoors.
How long would that exile last? The angel says, “Let seven times pass.” It seems like this probably means seven years. It was a certain period known to God, but perhaps not fully known to us. Since it is not so specific here, Professor Jeske’s thoughts about the matter seem best: “For a definite period of time the man on whom this judgment would fall was going to have to live like a beast of the field” (People’s Bible, Daniel, p. 77).
In verse 16 we see the means that God would use for making this change. The king’s mind was going to be changed. Since his human ability to think, understand, and reason, were to be removed, he would be left with nothing but the mind or instinct of a brute beast, thinking of nothing but food, warmth, a dry place to lie down, and whatever impulse overtook him from moment to moment. The mind of an unbeliever is not all that far from the mind of an animal already, but Nebuchadnezzar was going to be shown first hand just how far a man would plunge when he sinned against God.
For this king could say about his victories, “O God, you made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes” (Psalm 18:40). And he might show some pride in his achievements. But he would soon find out that “the Most High God rules over the kingdom of men and he sets over it anyone he wants to” (Daniel 5:21). We mentioned that Nebuchadnezzar’s successor was not at all the son that everyone expected, but a son from down the list of his sons, one that no one would have thought would become king over Babylon. “Daniel is simply saying,” Luther teaches us, “that the temporal government is purely and solely a gift and grace of God, which no man can establish or maintain by his own wisdom or strength.”
Here the law of God condemns our sins and our arrogance, our constant transgressions of setting aside his will for our opinions, our self-gratification, our desire for treasure or power or prestige or possessions or even for revenge. What petty and sinful criminals we all are. How grimly our God looks down upon us as he did at Nebuchadnezzar. The fantastically powerful and wealthy king of Babylon who was nothing but a poor wretch with nothing on his account to hold up before God on Judgment Day. Nebuchadnezzar had the excuse of being a heathen, a pagan, who learned idolatry on his mother’s lap when he was a little child. Our excuse is worse than his. Our sins may seem less terrible than those of the king of Babylon. I, for one, have never tossed an enemy or a person who disagreed with me into a blazing fiery furnace. Well, not with my actions, perhaps. Not so much with my words. But haven’t we all been fed up with someone, some enemy, someone who disagreed with us or even someone who was oppressive and hateful to us, and we have failed to love them? Here the law comes in the soft words of our gentle Savior. He said, “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).
Lord God, forgive us our sins of hatred, of anger, of frustration, of impatience, and all of the other things that make us guilty of breaking the Fifth Commandment and all of the other Commandments. Forgive us. And motivate us by your love and grace not to hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.