Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Proverbs 16: 18 

One of the most difficult lessons to learn is how to walk humbly with our God. He alone is God. He is sovereign. Learning humility took me on the most difficult ride of my life. Recently a friend told me, “through much brokenness… I am learning who God really is.” Oh how my heart identifies, and how my soul resonates with that statement! Pride can stifle you. It can lie to you. It stunts growth. It’s poison to the soul.

So King Nebby has another dream, and these are his words to Daniel…


“I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve. Now tell me what my dreams means.” Daniel 4: 9

Chief of the magicians? The spirit of the holy gods is in you? King Nebby tended to forget the demonstrations of God’s power he witnessed. It appears King Nebby was the owner of a hardened heart. Uncontrolled pride is self-destructive.

He described his dream by first telling Daniel he was frightened and terrified because of the visions he had. He dreamed about a large tree that seemed to be the center of everything in the world. The tree was majestic, reaching high into the heavens. It had big green leaves, and was loaded with fruit that supplied the whole world with food. Wild animals lived in the tree’s shade, and birds lived in its branches. King Nebby then told Daniel there was a holy messenger that came down from heaven and shouted…

Cut down the tree and lop off its branches!
Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit!
Chase the wild animals from its shade
and the birds from its branches
But leave the stump and roots in the ground,
bound with a band of iron and bronze
and surrounded by tender grass.
Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,
and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field.
For seven periods of time,
let him have the mind of a wild animal
instead of the mind of a human.
For this has been decreed by the messengers;
it is commanded by the holy ones,
so that everyone may know
that the Most High rules over kingdoms of the world.
He gives them to anyone He chooses—
even to the lowliest of people.” Daniel 4: 14-18

Next, we shall see what the dream means.