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The Tree in the Garden

You got that right, Connie. This was the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon on the Euphrates River, just outside what we know as modern Baghdad in Iraq, about 600 years before Christ. God gave the king this dream to warn him of the perils of personal pride.

In his dream the king saw the garden Connie just described, a picture of perfect bliss and tranquility. the kind of life the King wanted to achieve. But the Bible continues. I’m reading Daniel 4:13 and on:

"In the visions I saw . . . a holy one, coming down from heaven. He called in a loud voice: 'Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals . . . Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.’ This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar [that’s Daniel’s Babylonian name] tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

As Daniel looked across the golden throne room, he saw Nebuchadnezzar sitting forward expectantly, a look of half fear, half anticipation, on his face. Daniel knew the reverberations that would come as he explained what God meant by giving the king this dream. But with only the briefest pause he continued: “The meaning of the dream will make your enemies happy.”

With a directness that showed a complete indifference to the consequences, Daniel continued. I imagine him saying something like this: “You are the tree. You have grown famous in the eyes of the world. You provide for every one of your subjects. Yours is a kingdom that spans the world. But God has decreed that because you are not humble, because you do not give honor to the God of heaven, because you will not receive from God a new heart of humility and dependency, you must learn a lesson.

“So you are about to receive a new heart, an animal’s heart, one that lives by instinct not reason. And you’ll live with the other cattle of your farms, and be exposed to the elements like your cows, and sheep, and horses, and you’ll be in this state until seven times pass over you. In this way God will convince you that He rules in the affairs of this world and He gives kingdoms to whomever he chooses.

“But your majesty, it doesn’t have to be this way. If you were to repent, today, God wouldn’t have to do this. Just say ‘Yes,’ to God now, and it won’t happen. But if you don’t respond, the kingdom will be lost to you for now. However, God will preserve it for you until the lesson is over.”

And according to the king’s own words, this all happened precisely as Daniel predicted. I’m reading Daniel 4: verse 29 and on:

Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 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?" The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.”

The king’s staff found him later that morning. They saw a human figure acting like a friendly household pet. In time his hair grew long and shaggy, his nails grew like claws, the Bible says (recording the king’s own words) that he ate straw for breakfast, straw for lunch, and straw for supper. And so it continued to the shame of Babylon. Until, as predicted, Nebuchanezzar received a human heart and mind again, God restored his kingdom, and he continued until his death as the regent of Babylon.

What a tale! Why does Daniel include this epic in his book: most importantly the twin stories of this chapter and the previous one about the gold statue, are included to give us a clear interpretive clue to the meaning of the later prophecy in Daniel 9 about Jesus when He came as the Messiah to save the world. More about that a few days from now when we come to Daniel 9. But there are other important reasons that this story finds its way into Scripture as well.

There’s rich symbolism here. First, we saw the play on the expression, “a new heart.”

Skillfully the story reminds us that we all need a transforming experience, not once and for all, though it must be done once, but something to do at the start of each new day. It’s a once-a-day work, not a once-in-a-lifetime work to give your life, your heart, to God.

And there’s rich symbolism in the numerals. They are used in apocalyptic literature to express qualities. That’s the Eastern way of usage. In the West, if you say a numeral you think quantity. But this is an Eastern book, with Eastern thought and expression, and we need to get into the minds of those that wrote it, and those that first read it, if we’re to understand it the way intended.

In this story the number 7 jumps out at us, as it did in the previous chapter. But don’t think of a length of time. We don’t know how long this condition lasted. But the qualitative meaning of the numeral 7 comes from creation week, and the fact that after labor come rest and peace with God. Through this dream, God invited the king to find the same rest Daniel had found. That’s the main significance of the use of the 7 in the story. And God’s unending, unchanging uninterrupted invitation to every person born into this world has always been the same. As Jesus put it, “Come to Me and find rest.”

So in this wonderfully simple symbol, Daniel paints the great contest between good and evil, between the true God and all false gods, between Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom and God’s kingdom. But there’s even more:

The theme of the chapter is a tree in a garden, a tree of incredible size and productivity, providing for the whole world. It has something for everybody. That’s Daniel 4. But instantly my mind goes to the first garden made at creation, and the tree planted by God and designed to give life. He called it the Tree of Life. If you kept eating that fruit, you’d live forever in the company of God your Creator and your extended family. It was God’s original plan to draw every person in the world to this tree, and have them eat the fruit and enjoy the cooling shade. It would be the gathering place of all people, of all families, forever.

But in that garden God placed another tree, a companion tree in one sense. He called it the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It also spread its branches and grew delicious fruit. It guaranteed to bring to anyone who dared to eat it a knowledge of evil. Our first parents had to decide what fruit they’d eat, which kingdom they’d belong to: the kingdom of good or kingdom of evil.

In an important way, life has never changed. Just like Nebuchadnezzar, and Adam and Eve before him, you have to choose your kingdom: life and peace; or evil and restlessness. Metaphorically you have to choose your tree. And literally, you have to choose your God.

Do you see how close this story cuts to the bone? This is about your life and mine today. It’s God’s invitation to see the tree, to feel the leaves, to eat the fruit, to meet our friends, and to meet the Lord under its majestic bows in the hereafter.

But there’s still more. For there’s another garden, another giant Tree of Life we must visit as we conclude. This garden is called Gethsemane. At first glance the tree looks kind of rough and dwarfed compared with the tree in Eden. But don’t be fooled!

Yes, it has just a single, slender trunk, and two short gaunt branches, the bark beaten off. At first glance there are no leaves, no fruit, no inviting shade--except the dark clouds gathering and swirling overhead. It looks repulsive, not inviting, to see God’s Son hanging on this terrible lifeless tree.

But again, don’t be misled! Things are rarely what they appear to be! This tree will grow quickly until it reaches heaven. Leaves will sprout from the stubby, splintery limbs sufficient to provide shade for whomsoever will come and sit here at the foot of this tree. It will soon become a sanctuary for all earth’s inhabitants, and its fruit and leaves will nourish everyone who comes. And the One who hung on that tree will be there to greet you, and invite you to enter His kingdom of rest and peace, and His smiling face will ensure everything is right, in fact “perfect,” which only God can do.

When Daniel once stood before king Nebuchadnezzar and described the tree that reached heaven, he invited the monarch to put God first in his life. And today from the tree in Gethsemane where Jesus canceled the debt of all our sins as He became “sin for us,” the Savior invites you and me to come, and in His presence find a peace and security that has no end.