In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and after calling upon his magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers who were unable to tell him what his dream meant, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Thus were the visions of my head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, … I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven” and in chapter four and verse fourteen of his book Daniel said Nebuchadnezzar shared about, “a watcher and an holy one” where we read,
He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
The verse reads, “He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves,…” Daniel began with the words, “He cried aloud” or “he, the angel, shouted loudly”, “and said thus” which means “and uttered, declared and proclaimed the following”, “Hew down the tree” or “cut down the physical tree”, “and cut off his branches” which means “and clip or cut away his, the tree’s, bough”, “shake off his leaves” or “strip away his, the tree’s, foliage”. Daniel shared how King Nebuchadnezzar said the angel shouted loudly to cut down the “tree”, clip away the bough and strip off the foliage of the “tree”.
The verse goes on to say, “… and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:” Daniel continued with the words, “and scatter his fruit” which means “and spread wide his, the tree’s, fresh, young and greening fruit”: “let the beasts get away” or “and allow the animals to leave and depart” “from under it” which means “from beneath it, the tree”, “and the fowls from his branches” or “and the birds to separate from his, the tree’s, bough”. Daniel shared how King Nebuchadnezzar said the angel also gave instructions to spread abroad the fresh fruit of the tree, to allow the animals to depart from beneath it and the birds to separate themselves from the bough of the “tree”.
When we think through the words in this verse, we discover through Daniel how King Nebuchadnezzar said the loud shout of the angel that descended from “heaven” was concerning the cutting down of the “tree” with it’s bough and foliage being stripped and the spreading of it’s youthful “fruit”. The animals were to depart and the birds were to separate from it’s bough. In other words, the “tree” that was flourishing was now non-productive. We shall see what all this means in the verses ahead, but for now let us consider that what was once prosperous no longer was. God is able to add and subtract to our lives, and when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and equipped with His Holy Spirit so regardless of whether things and people are added or removed, He will assure us that He is with us and always in control. (See Matthew 28:20)
Next time Daniel shares how Nebuchadnezzar declares how the watcher says, “leave the stump of his roots in the earth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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