₦airaland Forum

DANIEL 4:22

[Daniel 4:22 BSB] - You, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

[Daniel 4:22 GNB] - "Your Majesty, you are the tree, tall and strong. You have grown so great that you reach the sky, and your power extends over the whole world.



The Lord is that Spirit the filled the heavens and earth,but Nebuchadnezzar the king was that Tree whose greatness reached the heavens and whose dominion extends throughout the entire earth. Thus was the final establishment of the Link or Connection of the Tree in the Vision to the physical man. Not every man has been able to point the character or person in a mysterious vision, prophecy or revelation, to a man or woman in the physical. When the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, walked the earth, not every spiritual man was able to link or point to Him as He who was prophesied, foretold or revealed to come. Even those who knew the prophecy that Elijah must come first before Messiah comes, they were still preaching and teaching that while right under their nose John the Baptist was the Elijah to come and the Lord Jesus was the Christ or Messiah, but they still could not link those who were in prophecies/visions to those who they were neighboring with.

That is basic difference between "Having Knowledge/Understanding" and "Having Discernment" as an interpreter. Not all interpreters who have the understanding or knowledge also have the discernment to connect, link or recognise in physical what they already know in the spiritual. Discernment is the ability to know the physical or manifest linkage/connection to hidden, invisible or spiritual things/ideas/personalities.

My point here is that there may be interpreters who can explain the idea, theory or exegesis, of a vision, revelation, scripture or sign, but yet those interpreters cannot connect or link even the actors or characters in their theories to practical identification or recognition of them. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was walking with the two on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem; and the LORD Himself was explaining everything from books to books of the scriptures the things written about Him (Jesus) to the two, and they were understanding the link, but failed to know/discern on time the most important link of knowing the same Man talking to them is the Man in the revelations, prophecies, visions etc. It's like some who are good in mathematics but cannot apply his knowledge of mathematics into practical daily activities or like someone good in video games or movies but do not have same intuition in practical living as he does in virtual/abstract worlds.

Somehow, some of the people who condemned or rejected the Lord Jesus Christ were teachers or interpreters who knew the law and the prophets about Him but did not have ability of discerning or linking the Character in their ideal knowledge/doctrine to the Man manifest before them. Even now, there may be interpreters who understand the theories about the Antichrist, but that does not mean they can easily discern or point to any man on earth and say this man is that man in the vision or prophesy. Who was that disciple of the Lord that found Nathanael and said, "We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael asked him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" He was Philip of Bathsaida, who was able to link the Man in physical with the Man in Moses and the Prophets writings and prophecies.

Supposing two ministers of God, Mr. A and Mr. B, do give words of knowledge or interpretation:

*1* Mr. A would speak in the midst of a crowded congregation, saying, "The Lord says there is someone here, this and that happened or will happen to you." But Mr. A does not even know who he is talking about nor can he identify the person among the crowd assuming the Lord said that to him. And because there's probability or chance of such among the crowd so that even more than one person could fit that description, all the crowd would just shout Amen to that Mr. A's speech.

*2* On the other hand, Mr. B speaking in the midst of similar crowded congregation, saying the same thing but very precise, pointing out either the name, the marks, the personal identification, coloration or description of the person's identity in the midst of the multitude, without any ambiguity nor playing with chances.

Surely, Mr. B is better interpreter because he is not only able to link spiritual things to spiritual alone, but he is also able to link spiritual things to physical in the realities of flesh and blood.

Thus, Daniel a higher interpreter was able to link the spiritual or figurative to the physical, saying, "You, o king, are that Tree" (that was seen in the vision). And Daniel also explained the reason to be because "For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth." That tree was reflecting his achievements and what he had become in the heights and expanse of man's epitome of strength, greatness and dominion.

Talking about "Greatness and Dominion" as applied by Daniel here: Both grew, but they did not grow in the same axis or direction:

*A* Greatness grows Vertically - reaching through the heavens in height

*B* Dominion grows Horizontally - expanding in territories until reaching the ends of all the earth.

Greatness is measured in heights, and Dominion is measured in spans/spreads. And since there were not too many things in visions or dreams that either grew from earth to heavens in height or grew to cover the entire earth in spreads, let mention dreams or visions that had any of such in the bible.

1. The Flood of Noah [Both Greatness (height) and Dominion (spread)], the Smoking of the Fire and Brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah [height only], the Tower of Babel pursuing height or greatness.

2. The Ladder in Jacob's dream (Greatness with height reaching heaven) and the Stone in Nebuchadnezzar's first dream that grew in spread as a Mountain that covered the entire earth (Dominion/Kingdom of Heaven). Both that Ladder and the Stone link to the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. O Lord, Be You exalted above all heavens, and let Your Glory be above all the earth (Psalms 57:5,11), and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

4. In Revelation, the sins or iniquities of Babylon was so great that it reached the heavens in height having spread her fornication through out the world (Revelation 18:5). But in better contrast, the faithfulness and Righteousness of God reaches far more into the heavens than the sins of Babylon. As it is written,

LORD, Your stedfast Love extends to the heavens; Your Faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your Righteousness is towering like the majestic mountains; your Wisdom is like the depths of the sea. People and animals are in Your care. (Psalms 36:5-6)

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