Daniel then pleaded with the king that by repentance and restitution he should forsake his sins and dedicate himself to the pursuit of righteousness. Thus by showing mercy, he might receive grace and his iniquities be blotted out.
Twelve months later the prophetic dream was fulfilled. As the king strolled on the roof of his great palace, he surveyed the might of Babylon and boasted in his heart saying, “This great Babylon have I not myself built it; have I not erected this kingdom and this house by the might of my own power and for the honour of my majesty.” While this exalted boast was still echoing upon the king’s lips, there fell a voice from heaven which said that the hour of the fulfillment of the prophecy had come.
Madness fell upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he fled from the presence of men. Sleeping in the open fields and dwelling with the beasts of the earth, his hair grew as long as an eagle’s feathers and his nails became like the claws of a bird. During those seven years of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar, his faithful counselors administered his kingdom, apparently in the earnest hope that the reason of the king would be restored. Their confidence was justified, for at the end of seven years the king recounts that he lifted up his eyes to heaven and understanding returned to him. Thereupon he blessed the Most High God and swore that he would bless and honour Him that liveth forever. He confessed that the dominion of God is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is eternal. His psalm of praise exalted Almighty God above the reach of men.
When his reason had thus been restored, the king again occupied the throne of Babylon and profited by this experience. The glory and honour of his kingdom he henceforth attributed unto the majesty and kindness of God. The king testified personally that the words of God are true and His judgments righteous. He turned to monotheism, and became the greatest convert, perhaps, that Daniel had made in all of his ministry.
This brief account of those amazing seven years is given by Daniel in the fourth chapter of his great prophecy. The literal words of the king are preserved for us in that historical record. This is perhaps the most outstanding instance of critical repudiation of the text that we have in the Old Testament. The whole record was uncompromisingly declared to be a fabrication of a vivid imagination.
It fell to the lot of the great Sir Henry Rawlinson to find the original document wherein Nebuchadnezzar tells this episode exactly as Daniel had given it.
The most dramatic and astonishing vindication of the integrity of the text that the Book of Daniel has sustained, providentially occurred in that field of criticism which was supposed to be the strongest evidence that criticism possessed. This was in the realm of the historical accuracy of the Book of Daniel. The basis of the critical contention was right to a certain extent. Profane history possessed no record of a king in Babylon by the name of Belshazzar. When the period of anarchy in Babylon ended by means of the military coup that placed Nabonidus upon the throne, it took a short while to quiet the realm and reëstablish the authority of the crown. Nabonidus then gave himself to a period of construction and rehabilitation. In the course of his work on the fortifications of his capital city, Nabonidus was strengthening the walls at certain neglected points. Delving deeply, to buttress the foundations, he came upon the ruins of an ancient palace which had been built centuries before by Narum-sin.
The discovery so delighted king Nabonidus that he became a confirmed archeologist. He reconstructed this palace of Narum-sin and turned it into a museum of antiquity. The delight of discovery drove the energetic Nabonidus into expeditions far and wide. The administration of the kingdom became of secondary importance to him. He had a son whose name appears in the ancient records as “Belt-sar-utzar,” which is given in the record of Daniel as Bel-shazzar. Upon the thirtieth birthday of his son, Nabonidus made him regent, and the throne of Babylon was thenceforth occupied jointly by Nabonidus and Bel-shazzar. Because the more common form is familiar to our readers, we will from this point on designate him by the Biblical name of Belshazzar.
The decrees and laws were signed, of course, by the seal of Nabonidus, the senior monarch, but the practical administration was left in the hands of the regent. This will explain why Belshazzar, wishing to honour Daniel for the interpretation of the writing upon the wall, with which we shall deal later, offered to make him the third ruler of the kingdom. This, of course, is eminently unorthodox! It was always the custom in antiquity, if records can be trusted, to honour a man by giving him the hand of the king’s daughter in marriage and making him ruler over half the kingdom. Belshazzar could not go so far as this. Nabonidus, his father, was the number one ruler as long as he lived. Belshazzar, the regent, was the second ruler of the realm. Therefore, if Daniel became prime minister and had an office second in authority to Belshazzar, he would be the third ruler in the kingdom.
How amazing indeed is the historical accuracy of this ancient Book! These writers were faultless in their efforts to keep the Scripture in line with the historical facts. In this case they have been inspired even in their choice of numerical descriptions in the honours conferred upon their heroic characters.