Scripture:
Daniel 4:20-25
Wed, 17 May 2023

Nebuchadnezzar Eating Grass Like Cattle

Observation:

How do you understand the condition of Nebuchadnezzar as described in
verses 23 and 25a?

Deeper Reflection
The Bible is the Word of God given in the words of men in history.”36 Note “in history”. There are stories in the Bible that sound like the stuff of fairy tales, that may cause one to wonder about their historicity. The historicity of Bible stories can stand on their own without necessarily being verified by extra-biblical evidence.One such story is Nebuchadnezzar being “driven away from mankind… be given grass to eat like cattle” for “seven periods of time” (v.25). Nebuchadnezzar suffered from a mental illness, and “history is by no means silent” about it.37 Some three centuries after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, a Babylonian priest, Berossus, “preserved a tradition stating that Nebuchadnezzar was taken ill suddenly towards the end of his reign”38. This does correspond to verse 25a.According to Old Testament scholar R. K. Harrison, Nebuchadnezzar suffered from a rare form of deviant behaviour known as “boanthropy”, where he “imagined himself to be a cow or bull, and acted accordingly”39. While “a great many doctors spend an entire, busy professional career without once encountering an instance” of boanthropy, Harrison “actually observed a clinical case of boanthropy in a British mental institution in 1946”40 . A man “in his early twenties, in fine bodily health but decidedly anti-social, spent whole days from dusk to dawn outdoors on institutional grounds. He was limited in his ability to care for himself… They gave him water from a clean container so he wouldn’t drink from mud puddles. But as he wandered over the grounds, he would pluck up chunks of grass to eat; he never ate institutional cuisine with other inmates” 41 .
36 George Eldon Ladd, The New Testament and Criticism (Eerdmans, 1967), 12 37 R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 1969), 1114 38 R. K. Harrison, 1114 – citing Josephus, Against Apion, I, 20 39 R. K. Harrison, 1115 40 R. K. Harrison, 1116 41 Dale Ralph Davis, The Message of Daniel, The Bible Speaks Today (IVP, 2013), 59 – citing R. K. Harrison, 1115-1117
Application:

How can I know that a story in the Bible of a king eating grass like cattle to be historically true?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for leaders
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for the Generations: To believe that the Bible is truly the Word of God
  • Pray for self
 

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Daily Devo
Daily Devotional Journal
Scripture:
Daniel 6:1-10
Wed, 7 June 2023

Consistent Daily Devotion to God

Observation:

What does verse 10 tell us about Daniel?

Deeper Reflection
For Daniel’s distinguishing competency and character, and commitment to ensuring that the king suffered no loss in his empire, Darius “planned to appoint” him “over the entire kingdom” (v.3). But out of jealousy, Daniel’s fellow-commissioners and the satraps attempted to accuse him of “negligence or corruption” in “government affairs” (v.4a). They could find nothing, because Daniel was “faithful” (v.4b). So, they planned to make accusation against him “with regard to the law of his God” (v.5). And they maliciously instigated Darius to establish a law that “anyone who makes a petition to any god or man” besides the king “for thirty days, shall be cast into the lion’s den” (vv.6-9).Then, “when Daniel knew that the document was signed…he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously” (v.10). This was Daniel’s spiritual discipline with a structure of regular “three times a day”. He kept it daily. We can say that Daniel never missed his quiet time. The most important words in the verse may be “when Daniel knew that the document was signed”. They indicate the context of Daniel’s spiritual discipline: A discipleship challenge where his life was at stake. Daniel’s spiritual discipline was no mere religious ritual and routine. He could have skipped his quiet time “for thirty days” and be safe. He didn’t. Daniel’s spiritual discipline manifested his consistent daily devotion to “his God”: “he continued…three times a day…as he had been doing previously.” At the heart of this spiritual discipline was Daniel’s relationship and fellowship with “his God”.
Application:

How can I cultivate a consistent daily devotion to God?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for leaders
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for the Generations: That young people will seek to be devoted to God consistently
  • Pray for self
 

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