35 Fhe WATCHTOWER.
5On a former oceasion Daniel, at the request of
Nebuchadnezzar, told him of his peculiar dream and
gave him the interpretation thereof. Nebuchadnezzar
for that reason had confidence that Daniel was the
servant of the Holy One. (Dan. 2:1-45) Again
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and again the magicians
of Babylon had been called and had failed to interpret
the dream of the king, and again the king caused
Daniel to be brought before him. Then Nebuchad-
nezzar told Danicl his dream concerning ‘a great tree’
in these words: ‘‘I saw, and, behold, a tree in the
midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof
reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end
of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and
the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all:
the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the
fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and
all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head
upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one
came down from heaven. 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. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots
in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass
[copper], in the tender grass of the field; and let it
be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be
with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart
be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be
given unto him; .and let seven times pass over him.’’
Daniel 4; 10-16.
‘That dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and which was
recorded in the book of Daniel, being a prophecy,
must some day have its fulfilment. Since the Scrip-
tures declare that whatsoever things were written
aforetime were so written that God’s faithful people
might in patience and comfort have hope, and that.
this greater enlightenment would come to those at the
end of the world, we may be sure that the Lord God,
sometime while the remnant is on earth, would give
to them an understanding of that prophecy and that
such understanding would be had before the day of
Armageddon. (Rom. 15:4) Jehovah God brings
about the events that fulfil these prophetic visions,
and they cannot be understood until his due time to
have them understood. It now seems to be Jehovah’s
due time to permit his people on earth to have an un-
derstanding of the prophetic dream concerning the
“tree in the midst of the earth’’, as recorded in the
fourth chapter of Daniel’s prophecy. The under-
standing of this has come only at God’s appointed
time and gives consolation to those who love him.
PROCLAMATION
™The fourth chapter of Daniel’s prophecy opens
with a proclamation which appears to be made by the
king of Babylon. That proclamation was made and
published after Nebuchadnezzar had gone through the
Brooxtyn, N. Y.
humiliating experience of the ‘‘seven times’’, as stated
in the prophecy, and after the king had been fully
restored to his right mind and was again upon his
throne. That proclamation foretold and foreshadowed
another far more important proclamation to be made
and issued by earth’s rightful King. The vision or
dream fulfilled makes known that the ‘seven times
of the Gentiles’ had ended and that no longer will
Satan be permitted to exercise unhindered the over-
lordship of man, It discloses the further and more
important fact that Jehovah’s kingdom has come and
that he has placed his beloved Son upon his holy hill
in Zion, that the Son is sent forth to rule in the midst
of his encmies, and that the time has come for the
vindication of Jehovah’s name. The proclamation
opens thus: ‘‘Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all peo-
ple, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth;
Peace be multiplied unto you.’’ (Dan. 4:1) Nebuchad-
nezzar here pictures Christ Jesus enthroned in 1914,
which is the end of the Gentile times, and his work
that follows, particularly from the time of his coming
to the temple of Jehovah. The name Nebuchadnezzar
means ‘‘Nebo (that is, The Prophet) is the protector
against misfortune’. The name properly applies to
Christ Jesus, Jehovah’s great Prophet, and the one
who is the protector of God’s people against their foes.
It is to Jehovah’s faithful remnant that the Lord has
committed ‘‘the testimony of Jesus Christ’’, and for
this reason Satan goes forth making war against
them; and Satan would suceced in this warfare were
it not for the fact that the Greater Nebo, Christ Je-
sus, shields and protects them. The time has come for
the vindication of Jehovah’s name, and those who
will have a part with Christ Jesus in that blessed
work must suffer at the hands of Satan and his agents;
but, now being with Christ in the temple, they have
an assurance of his protection and complete deliver-
ance from the enemy’s assaults.
- The proclamation says (R.V.), ‘‘Unto all the peo-
ples, nations, and languages,’’ and corresponds exact- ly to the command of Christ Jesus upon coming to God’s temple, to wit: ‘‘And this gospel of the king- dom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come.’’ (Matt. 24:14) ‘‘And the gospel must first be published among all nations.’? (Mark 13:10) It is the time when the peoples of the earth must be told that Jcho- vah is the Almighty God and that the time has come for his judgment to be executed by his mighty right Arm, and that all who would live must worship him who is the Giver of life. ‘‘And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gos- pel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’’—Rev. 14: 6, 7.
