Scripture Daily

Context No. 648 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 4:23-27: in context

23“Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, ‘Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky. Let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him.’ 24“This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come on my lord the king: 25that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will. 26Their command to leave the stump of the roots of the tree means your kingdom will be sure to you, after you will have known that the heavens do rule. 27Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”

Daniel is interpreting a troubling dream for King Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest ruler of his age. The dream is a warning: the great tree will be cut down, and the king will be driven from human company to live like a beast in the fields until, in Daniel's words, he learns that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will. It is a message about pride, about a man so exalted he has forgotten there is anyone above him, and the humbling that will teach him otherwise. But it is Daniel's closing counsel that is worth pulling out, because of how concrete it is. Break off your sins, Daniel urges the king, by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.

Look at what Daniel does not say. He does not tell the proud king to feel more remorse, or to have better private thoughts about God, or to perform some grand religious gesture. He tells him that the way to break with his sin runs directly through mercy to the poor. Genuine repentance, especially repentance from the sin of pride, does not stay locked inside as a feeling; it shows itself in how the humbled sinner now treats the lowly. The man who has been brought to see that he is not above everyone begins to bend down toward those beneath him. Turning from sin takes the concrete shape of mercy to the needy.

That tests the reality of my own repentance. It is easy to keep repentance abstract, a private sorrow, a moment of feeling bad, an inward resolve that never touches how I actually treat people. Daniel told a king that breaking with sin looks like showing mercy to the poor, that real turning bends outward toward the lowly. When I repent, does it stay a private feeling, or does it take the concrete form Daniel prescribed, showing itself in actual mercy to the poor and the lowly around me?

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