King Nebuchadnezzar Lived with the Wild Animals and Ate Grass Like an Ox!

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4:28

All that was decreed to happen in the interpretation of his dream would come to pass.

ONE YEAR AFTER THE DREAM WAS INTERPRETED

Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 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?”
Daniel 4:29-30

Babylon was built in the form of a square, 14 miles on each side, and of enormous magnitude. The brick wall was 56 miles long, 300 feet high, 25 feet thick with another wall 75 feet behind the first wall, and the wall descended 35 feet below the ground. It contained 250 towers that were 450 feet high. A wide and deep moat encircled the city.

Babylon’s vast double wall stood on both sides of the Euphrates River with 8 gates. The Ishtar Gate in the wall of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was claimed by some to be greater than any of the listed Wonders of the Ancient World.

From the Ishtar Gate ran the Processional Way – a wide paved road flanked by walls decorated with glazed and gilded bricks showing lions and dragons, which led to the Temple of Marduk and the adjacent Tower of Babel ziggurat which reached to 300 feet high. There were 4 other temples, and west of the Ishtar Gate stood 2 palace complexes.

The Euphrates River also flowed through the middle of the city. It contained ferry boats and a 1/2 mile long bridge with drawbridges that closed at night

The famous “Hanging Gardens” (one of the wonders of the ancient world) received its water from the river by hydraulic pumps. The gardens were planted on top of a building and served both to beautify and to keep the building cool from the heat of summer. They probably were in view of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace.

Yes, Babylon was a great city that contained the king’s royal residence. The city of Babylon was regarded as the symbol of his power and majesty; and he spared no expense or effort to make it the most beautiful city of the world. If the construction of a great city, magnificent in size, architecture, parks, and armaments, was a proper basis for pride, Nebuchadnezzar was justified. What he had forgotten was that none of this would be possible apart from God’s sovereign will. The king’s prideful boasting was heard from above. He had not heeded the warning dream and one year later the decree pronounced on him was fulfilled.

PRIDE GOES BEFORE THE KING’S FALL

Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Daniel 4:31-33

Seven times will pass either is a reference to seven years or seven seasons. In Mesopotamia, the solar year was divided into two seasons, the “summer,” which included the barley harvest in the second half of May or in the beginning of June, and the “winter,” which roughly corresponded to today’s fall-winter. The decree lasted either seven years or three and a half years.

Pride and self-conceit are sins that beset so-called self-made successful men. They are likely to glorify themselves instead of honor and thank God. While the proud word was in the king's mouth, God pronounced His verdict. One minute the king was strutting on the roof of his palace boastfully like a peacock, and the next minute he became irrational and fell to all fours like a dumb ox.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PUNISHMENT

Boanthropy means ox-man. Boanthropy is a rare psychological disorder in which a human believes himself or herself to be a bovine – a cow or an ox. They prefer to live outside, crawl on all fours, and eat grass or vegetables only.

The king’s body was drenched with the dew of heaven. The temperature range in this part of the world is 120 degrees in summer to below freezing in winter. One can imagine the physical stresses Nebuchadnezzar’s body endured as he lived outdoors the year round.

Logically it would have been Daniel, who the king had made ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men, who directed the affairs of the government until the king emerged from his insanity. It is probable that Nebuchadnezzar was hidden away from view and kept in the palace gardens.