I Am Delivered

Shrieks, again, the King must’ve had another nightmare. I sat up slowly on my mat and looked around to see the other women stirring awake too. No one was very eager to get out of bed to attend to the King. We sighed together, dressed, and went about our tasks. On a normal day, our King was content in the palace, he had prospered over everyone and had everything he could ever want. But his dreams seemed always to scare him because of their meaning.
As with his previous nightmare, he ordered that the magicians and sorcerers come to hear it and interpret it for him. “We cannot understand it, Your Majesty.” The dozens of wise men stood, heads down, ashamed that they had failed the King again. I didn’t like to see them this way, so proud and yet so ashamed. I looked out into the hall from my place by the middle column, I saw the great Israelite man Daniel. He looked serious, yet calm. "Belteshazzar,” the King called out to him. “No mystery is too difficult with you. Listen to my dream and tell me what it means.” Daniel bowed his head and listened as we all did, a second time. The King’s mighty voice shook as he spoke. He seemed, however, to be trusting that Daniel could again tell him what it meant, as he had in the past. It was almost funny to see the King Nebuchadnezzar reclined on his throne, ruler of all, putting his trust in a small captive man from Israel who

was sitting cross legged on the marble floor. It was like a lion trusting a mouse. I almost laughed aloud, but I caught myself so that I could hear the dream again.
“There was an enormous tree, large and strong, touching the sky, and reaching over the whole earth. It was beautiful and bore fruit. Under it their were animals for shelter and all animals were safe and provided for. Then I saw a messenger from heaven. And he said ‘cut down the tree, strip off the leaves and throw away the fruit. Let the animals run away. Let only the stump remain in the ground. Let the stump be covered in rain.” The King’s voice changed slightly as he got to this part, “The messenger said ‘And let him live like an animal. Let his mind be changed from the mind of the man into the mind of an animal.’ Can you tell me what it means, Belteshazzar? Who is the man? Why is he
like a tree? Why did the messenger say these things?”
Daniel did not lift his head to answer and for hours we stood waiting in silence.

I was relieved when I heard the King’s voice, “Well Belteshazzar? You have told me what my dreams have meant before, can you do it again? Will your God help you?”
I noticed then that Daniel’s lips had been moving silently, as though he was whispering to himself. He looked up at the King. There was pain in his face. He bowed his head again.

The King was bothered, “Belteshazzar, do not be worried! Just tell me what it means.”

Slowly, Daniel pulled himself to his feet, I shifted my own weight from my heels to my toes. “My lord, I only wish that this dream was about your enemies.” He paused. “Your Majesty, you are the tree.” Nebuchadnezzar nodded, listening.

Daniel continued, “You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your ruling powers extend to much of the earth.” The King nodded, and surveyed all of his attendants, we bowed our heads to him. “The meaning, Your Majesty is that the God of Heaven has issued a decree against you.” I listened with disbelief as Daniel explained what would happen to our proud and mighty King. He told Nebuchadnezzar that the King would be driven away from people and would live among the wild animals. He would eat like the cows, he would exposed to the rain, his hair would become like feathers, and his nails would become like the claws of a beast. All of this would continue until the King acknowledged the Most High God as ruler over all kingdoms on the earth.

“Your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that it is the God of Heaven who truly rules.” Daniel continued as the King shook his head.
“Your Majesty,” Daniel looked sad as he spoke, “Please listen to me: acknowledge your sins and stop them. Do what is right. Give up your wickedness by being kind to the people you have pushed down and walked all over. It may be then that you will be given grace.”

By this time, Daniel was on his knees begging the King, but Nebuchadnezzar waved Daniel out of his throne room. The soldiers escorted him out. Daniel walked slowly and mournfully. His pleas had been so genuine, I hoped the King would listen.
Everyday I waited to see if the interpretation would come to pass. Was Daniel right? Was his God the true ruler of the world? If so, what would happened to us if our King lost his power?

One day, as we walked with the King on the roof of the royal palace he proclaimed, “I have done amazing things. By my mighty power and for own reputation, I have built the most incredible kingdom.”

As I looked over the roof, I couldn’t argue. The hanging gardens were breathtaking. The palace alone was magnificent, but that wasn’t where his rule ended. He was a powerful man who went into war and destroyed others. He was like a mighty lion. He was like a god. The King stopped walking and we all gazed at the beauty. Then loudly he shrieked, covering his ears. “NOOOO!” He screeched. “No, don’t do that to me. Please!” He fell on his hands and knees like an animal. We rushed toward him, but he tore his cloak and pushed us away with such aggression that we could not help him. “Don’t touch me. Don’t come near me.” He snarled like an animal caught in a trap. We stepped back in fear. He stood then and still screaming, he retreated from us. Some men tried to follow him, but they lost him in the thick hedges surrounding the castle.

The palace was in chaos for weeks. Nebuchadnezzar had disappeared. Search parties went out, but we could not find him. I heard rumors of a beast in the nearby wilderness that looked as though it used to be a man. Anyone who saw it gave out a cry and ran from it. It was hideous, eating like a beast, with claws growing from his hands and feet. When I heard this I knew that there was no denying that Daniel’s interpretation of the King’s dream had been true.

Although there were moments of fear about what would happen to us, there were many moments of laughter and joy without our King. One afternoon as some of us sat basking in the sun, we spoke of the day Daniel interpreted the King’s dream. One of the older women said, “If only Nebuchadnezzar had listened, if only he had humbled himself before the Great God of Daniel, he wouldn’t have been turned into a beast.” Daniel had explained to us the week the King went missing that it was Nebuchadnezzar’s pride that caused him to turn animalistic. Nebuchadnezzar thought he was greater than he was and therefore he became less. The King had thought that it was he who had gained and earned all that he had, but Daniel explained that it was God who had given it all to him. The kingdom had been like a gift that had been delivered to him. “What do we do now?” We had asked Daniel.

“Now, we pray that King Nebuchadnezzar repents of his pride and accepts that God the of Heaven is Lord over all, not himself.”

I do not know how many days had passed since then. Now, one of the women moved into the shade and replied to the older woman who had been talking. “If old Nebby prays to Daniel’s God, do you think he will be delivered back to us?”

The older woman looked at her, “What did Daniel say?”
“What’s that over there?” One of the women pointed.

Another woman gasped, “What is that?!” She sounded disgusted.

In the distance, we saw what looked like a beast crawling towards one of the palace gates. The guards rushed out to meet it. We heard their far off shouts to one another. We all rushed back inside and waited to hear what was happening. The King had returned. That night the palace was full of excited talk and preparations for welcoming the King back to his place. We all tried our best to prepare ourselves for the worst. Was he still like an animal? Would he know how to speak? Would he be angry? Would he be sane?
Morning came and we rushed into the throne room, as if nothing had changed. Daniel, as well as all the nobles and King’s advisors were filling the hall. They all wanted to hear for themselves whatever it was that the King might say.
“I have been delivered.” The King spoke softly to the audience, although he had been groomed all night, he looked different. He was darker, older, and seemingly softer, kinder.

“I have been delivered from myself and from the wilderness.” There was applause, he held up his hand to stop our clapping. “If you praise, then praise the Most High; honor and glorify him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. Us people are like nothing compared to Him. He does everything He deems good with all rulers on earth. No one can stop Him and no one can question Him.”

…

From that moment on I served a different King. Nebuchadnezzar gained more respect, and more gold, but I never heard him say again that it was he who was great. We did however hear him repeat aloud to all the which people he ruled over that He praised the King of Heaven. When one of the whisperers questioned Nebuchadnezzar on why the people were no longer made to worship him the King said: “Why should they worship anyone other than the God of Heaven? He gave me grace again and again. The God of Heaven saw me as I walked in my pride, and he was able to humble me. He is greater than all else.”

…

King Nebuchadnezzar accepted the grace that Daniel’s God offered him and he was restored. If only the King’s son had accepted the same grace, perhaps he would’ve lived. I was there when the new King Shaz brought in all gold and silver from the Israelites old temple. I watched as he and his prostitutes worshiped the gods of silver and gold. They sang to things instead of to the God of Heaven.
But all the golden cups they drank from fell to the ground one night as a human hand with no body appeared by the wall and began to write. The King watched, he grew pale, I even saw his knees shaking, some of the prostitutes and nobles fainted.
“Bring someone in who can read these things to me!” The King demanded. I was reminded of when Daniel had been brought into Nebuchadnezzar to interpret dreams, there was the same fear and anger inside of Shaz. I was not the only one who remembered Daniel, the queen told her husband how Daniel was wiser than any other man they brought in and that his father had trusted Daniel. So Daniel was brought before the King.
“So Daniel,” the king said, “I have heard that you can solve difficult problems. Tell me what these words say. I will give you wealth and status.”
“Keep them for yourself, I will read to you what it says.” Daniel again was the picture of humility in the face of a proud king. “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father all the power and wealth in this kingdom. You know what happened to him, how he became an animal in his pride, it was only when God humbled him that your father learned to worship the true God. It is the God of Heaven that rules over all things, even your reign.” Daniel spoke confidently, loudly for everyone to hear. “But you, Shaz, you have not humbled yourself, instead you fight the God of Heaven for power. And this is what God says to you. Your days are numbered, your reign is about to end.” We expected that night that King Shaz would repent as his father had done, but he did not. Instead, he was murdered in his sleep by an invading kingdom. And I saw firsthand the other kingdom rise over ours. By this time I knew all of what Daniel had taught, I believed it for myself.

The God of Heaven is the One True God. He delivers those who repent. He delivers those who are humble before him. He did not have to restore Nebuchadnezzar, but he did. He is greater than all Kings past, present, and future. He is so great that he could show grace to all who would say yes to it, no matter how many times they failed Him.

I knew even before Daniel was delivered from the pit of hungry lions, I knew that he served the God who wants to deliver anyone who will repent and receive his grace.