Dream vision of tree in Daniel chapter 4. Again
in the book of Daniel we find a close parallel to Jesus’ use of the
word “times” with regard to “the nations,” or Gentile powers. And again
it is Nebuchadnezzar, the dethroner of David’s descendant Zedekiah, who
was given another vision interpreted by Daniel as relating to divinely
appointed kingship. The symbolic vision was of an immense tree; an angel
from heaven commanded that it be chopped down. Its stump was then
banded with iron and copper and had to stay that way among the grass of
the field until “seven times” passed over it. “Let its heart be changed
from that of mankind, and let the heart of a beast be given to it, and
let seven times pass over it . . . to the intent that people living may
know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that to
the one whom he wants to, he gives it and he sets up over it even the
lowliest one of mankind.”—Da 4:10-17; see 4:16, ftn.
Related to “appointed times of the nations.” The vision definitely had a fulfillment in Nebuchadnezzar himself. (See Da 4:31-35.)
Therefore, some view it as having direct prophetic application only to
him and see in this vision merely the presentation of the eternal verity
of ‘God’s supremacy over all other powers—human or supposedly divine.’ They acknowledge the application of that truth or principle beyond
Nebuchadnezzar’s own case but do not see it as relating to any specific
time period or divine schedule. Yet, an examination of the entire book
of Daniel reveals that the element of time is everywhere prominent in
the visions and prophecies it presents; and the world powers and events
described in each such vision are shown, not as isolated or as occurring
at random with the time element left ambiguous, but, rather, as fitting
into a historical setting or time sequence. (Compare Da 2:36-45; 7:3-12, 17-26; 8:3-14, 20-25; 9:2, 24-27; 11:2-45; 12:7-13.)
Additionally, the book repeatedly points toward the conclusion that
forms the theme of its prophecies: the establishment of a universal and
eternal Kingdom of God exercised through the rulership of the “son of man.” (Da 2:35, 44, 45; 4:17, 25, 32; 7:9-14, 18, 22, 27; 12:1) The book is also distinctive in the Hebrew Scriptures for its references to “the time of the end.”—Da 8:19; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9.
In view of the
above, it does not seem logical to evaluate the vision of the symbolic
“tree” and its reference to “seven times” as having no other application
than to the seven years of madness and subsequent recovery and return
to power experienced by one Babylonian ruler, particularly so in the
light of Jesus’ own prophetic reference to “the appointed times of the
nations.” The time at
which the vision was given: at the critical point in history when God,
the Universal Sovereign, had allowed the very kingdom that he had
established among his covenant people to be overthrown; the person to
whom the vision was revealed: the very ruler who served as the divine
instrument in such overthrow and who thereby became the recipient of
world domination by divine permission, that is, without interference by
any representative kingdom of Jehovah God; and the whole theme of
the vision, namely: “that people living may know that the Most High is
Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that to the one whom he wants to, he
gives it and he sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind” (Da 4:17)—all
of this gives strong reason for believing that the lengthy vision and
its interpretation were included in the book of Daniel because of their
revealing the duration of “the appointed times of the nations” and the
time for the establishment of God’s Kingdom by his Christ.
The tree symbolism and God’s sovereignty. The
symbolisms used in this prophetic vision are by no means unique. Trees
are elsewhere used to represent ruling powers, including that of God’s
typical kingdom at Jerusalem. (Compare Jg 9:6-15; Eze 17:1-24; 31:2-18.)
A stump’s being caused to sprout and the symbol of “a twig” or “sprout”
are found a number of times as representing the renewal of rulership in
a certain stock or line, particularly in the Messianic prophecies. (Isa 10:33–11:10; 53:2-7; Jer 23:5; Eze 17:22-24; Zec 6:12, 13; compare Job 14:7-9.) Jesus spoke of himself as both “the root and the offspring of David.”—Re 5:5; 22:16.
The fact is
evident that the key point of the vision is Jehovah God’s exercise of
irresistible sovereignty in “the kingdom of mankind,” and this provides
the guide to the full meaning of the vision. The tree is shown to have
an application to Nebuchadnezzar, who at that point in history was the
head of the dominant World Power, Babylon. Yet, prior to
Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Jerusalem, the typical kingdom of God
ruling out of that city was the agency by which Jehovah expressed his
rightful sovereignty toward the earth. It thus constituted a divine
block or impediment for Nebuchadnezzar in attaining his goal of world
domination. By allowing that typical kingdom at Jerusalem to be
overthrown, Jehovah permitted his own visible expression of sovereignty
through the Davidic dynasty of kings to be cut down. The expression and
exercise of world domination in “the kingdom of mankind,” unhindered by
any representative kingdom of God, now passed into the hands of the
Gentile nations. (La 1:5; 2:2, 16, 17)
In the light of these facts “the tree” is seen to represent, beyond and
above its application to Nebuchadnezzar, world sovereignty or
domination by God’s arrangement.
Renewal of world domination. God,
however, here makes clear that he has not forever delivered up such
world domination to the Gentile powers. The vision shows that God’s
self-restraint (represented by the bands of iron and of copper around
the stump of the tree) would continue until “seven times pass over it.” (Da 4:16, 23, 25)
Then, since “the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind,” God
would give world domination “to the one whom he wants to.” (Da 4:17)
The prophetic book of Daniel itself shows that one to be the “son of
man” to whom are given “rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the
peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him.” (Da 7:13, 14)
Jesus’ own prophecy, in which the reference to “the appointed times of
the nations” occurs, points definitely toward Christ Jesus’ exercise of
such world domination as God’s chosen King, the heir of the Davidic
dynasty. (Mt 24:30, 31; Lu 21:27-31, 36)
Thus, the symbolic stump, representing God’s retention of the sovereign
right to exercise world domination in “the kingdom of mankind,” was due
to sprout again in his Son’s Kingdom.—Ps 89:27, 35-37.
Seven Symbolic Times. In
Nebuchadnezzar’s personal experience of the vision’s fulfillment the
“seven times” were evidently seven years, during which he became mad,
with symptoms like those of lycanthropy, abandoning his throne to eat
grass like a beast in the field. (Da 4:31-36)
Notably, the Biblical description of the exercise of world domination
by the Gentile powers is presented through the figure of beasts in
opposition to the holy people of God and their “Prince of princes.”
(Compare Da 7:2-8, 12, 17-26; 8:3-12, 20-25; Re 11:7; 13:1-11; 17:7-14.) Concerning the word “times” (from Aramaic ʽid·danʹ), as used in Daniel’s prophecy, lexicographers show it here to mean “years.” (See Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, by L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Leiden, 1958, p. 1106; A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, p. 1105; Lexicon Linguae Aramaicae Veteris Testamenti, edited
by E. Vogt, Rome, 1971, p. 124.) The duration of a year as so used is
indicated to be 360 days, inasmuch as three and a half times are shown
to equal “a thousand two hundred and sixty days” at Revelation 12:6, 14. (Compare also Re 11:2, 3.)
“Seven times,” according to this count, would equal 2,520 days. That a
specific number of days may be used in the Bible record to represent
prophetically an equivalent number of years can be seen by reading the
accounts at Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Only by applying the formula there expressed of “a day for a year” to the “seven times” of this prophecy can the vision of Daniel chapter 4
have significant fulfillment beyond the day of now extinct
Nebuchadnezzar, as the evidence thus far presented gives reason to
expect. They therefore represent 2,520 years.
It is a historical
fact worth noting that, on the basis of the points and evidence above
presented, the March 1880 edition of the Watch Tower magazine
identified the year 1914 as the time for the close of “the appointed
times of the nations” (and the end of the lease of power granted the
Gentile rulers). This was some 34 years before the arrival of that year
and the momentous events it initiated. In the August 30, 1914, edition
of The World, a
leading New York newspaper at that time, a feature article in the
paper’s Sunday magazine section commented on this as follows: “The
terrific war outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy.
For a quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press,
the ‘International Bible Students’ . . . have been proclaiming to the
world that the Day of Wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914.”
The events that
took place from and after the year 1914 C.E. are well-known history to
all, beginning with the great war that erupted, the first world war
in mankind’s history and the first to be fought over the issue, not of
the domination of Europe alone, nor of Africa, nor of Asia, but of the domination of the world.—Lu 21:7-24, 29-33; Re 11:15-18
As recorded at Luke 21:24, Jesus said: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations [“the times of the Gentiles,” King James Version] are fulfilled.” Jerusalem had been the capital city of the Jewish nation—the seat of rulership of the line of kings from the house of King David. (Psalm 48:1, 2) However, these kings were unique among national leaders. They sat on “Jehovah’s throne” as representatives of God himself. (1 Chronicles 29:23) Jerusalem was thus a symbol of Jehovah’s rulership.
How and when, though, did God’s
rulership begin to be “trampled on by the nations”? This happened in
607 B.C.E. when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians. “Jehovah’s
throne” became vacant, and the line of kings who descended from David
was interrupted. (2 Kings 25:1-26)
Would this ‘trampling’ go on forever? No, for the prophecy of Ezekiel
said regarding Jerusalem’s last king, Zedekiah: “Remove the turban, and
take off the crown. . . . It will not belong to anyone until the one who
has the legal right comes, and I will give it to him.” (Ezekiel 21:26, 27) “The one who has the legal right” to the Davidic crown is Christ Jesus. (Luke 1:32, 33) So the ‘trampling’ would end when Jesus became King.
When would that grand event occur? Jesus showed that the Gentiles would rule for a fixed period of time. The account in Daniel chapter 4
holds the key to knowing how long that period would last. It relates a
prophetic dream experienced by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He saw a
tree of enormous height that was chopped down. Its stump could not grow
because it was banded with iron and copper. An angel declared: “Let seven times pass over it.”—Daniel 4:10-16.
In the Bible, trees are sometimes used to represent rulership. (Ezekiel 17:22-24; 31:2-5)
So the chopping down of the symbolic tree represents how God’s
rulership, as expressed through the kings at Jerusalem, would be
interrupted. However, the vision served notice that this ‘trampling of
Jerusalem’ would be temporary—a period of “seven times.” How long a period is that?
Revelation 12:6, 14
indicates that three and a half times equal “1,260 days.” “Seven times”
would therefore last twice as long, or 2,520 days. But the Gentile
nations did not stop ‘trampling’ on God’s rulership a mere 2,520 days
after Jerusalem’s fall. Evidently, then, this prophecy covers a much
longer period of time. On the basis of Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, which speak of “a day for a year,” the “seven times” would cover 2,520 years.
The 2,520 years began in
October 607 B.C.E., when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and the
Davidic king was taken off his throne. The period ended in October 1914.
At that time, “the appointed times of the nations” ended, and Jesus
Christ was installed as God’s heavenly King.*—Psalm 2:1-6; Daniel 7:13, 14.
Just as Jesus predicted, his “presence” as heavenly King has been marked by dramatic world developments—war, famine, earthquakes, pestilences. (Matthew 24:3-8; Luke 21:11)
Such developments bear powerful testimony to the fact that 1914 indeed
marked the birth of God’s heavenly Kingdom and the beginning of “the
last days” of this present wicked system of things.—2 Timothy 3:1-5.
