In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, greets all the people reading the story by saying, "Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me." (Daniel 4:1-2)

This is quite a statement from someone who, just in the previous chapter, was executing three men because they did not worship him instead of the real God. I was struck by the actuality of Nebuchadnezzar's words and the simple claim that God's work can be accomplished.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, represents the love of self in some of its worst forms. In the chapter before, he listens as his counselors tell him, "These men, O King, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up." (Daniel 3:12) In other words, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego did not bring the image of self into every thing they did, nor cower before their propriums. Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded his soldiers to bring the three men to him. Who has not experienced the rage and fury of the proprium (a term that Swedenborg uses meaning one's own, or self-hood) when it is not being served? The king then demands of the men, "You fall down and worship the image which I have made" or "you shall be cast…into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." (Daniel 3:15).

Just recently my brother, Tom, who does not believe in God, was in a discussion with another brother, Joe, a born-again Christian. Within five minutes the discussion got onto religion. This was no surprise. It got heated, and eventually the discussion got onto the good that we do. Joe kept claiming it was from God and Tom was adamantly denying it. When Joe asked Tom where he thought the good that he does comes from, Tom's fingers gripped the table between them, his eyes bulged, his face reddened, and his voice got hoarse. He leaned forward and rasped, "From me."

In Daniel, chapter 4, at the beginning, Nebuchadnezzar says, "I was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace." (Daniel 4:3) Here the king of Babylon is telling us about his contentment in life. From his words I get a sense of a man (more particularly myself), really believing that this world is everything, and he's made a good life for himself amidst worldly riches and activities.

But something happened to him to trouble his ideal existence. The king says, "I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me." (Daniel 4:5) His thoughts are so stirred up that he can't sleep, and the pictures he gets in his mind are so disturbing that his rest is gone. Odd that they didn't seem to disturb him earlier when he was ready to kill three men for not submitting to his control and worshiping the images he brought forth. But now his thoughts and visions are troubling him. Wrong thinking and reasons always brings trouble, first to other people and then to ourselves.

I really had to stop to realize that when I want control of other people, as Nebuchadnezzar did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, I don't care how much I disturb their life - just so long as my ideal life is not tampered with. Could one aspect of it be why we want control, because we have an ideal in our minds that we don't want to have disturbed, and that we will do anything to accomplish that ideal?

Because of his troubled mind, Nebuchadnezzar made a decree, telling his counselors "to bring all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of (my) dream." (Daniel 4:6) But those he considered wise could not do it. They were wise in flattering self and explaining how the world works, and not about spiritual things. When the Lord decides this is the time for you to learn about Him, then the mind is chaotic, like Nebuchadnezzar's. "But at last Daniel came before me, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods." (Daniel 4:8)

I can almost feel the relief in the king's voice. Nebuchadnezzar tells Daniel his dream. This is a picture of the love of self in us so distraught, it is driven to try the true religion as a last resort. Daniel says in the story, "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High," (Daniel 4:24) meaning, "This is the way life is, O king, there is a spiritual, and there is no other way to interpret it. You can no longer believe that you are the source of all good. There is a spiritual life after this one, and all your palaces and accomplishments and control of things and people in this world is not going to change it. You have to look beyond this natural life and reflect on yourself, because you are the problem." Daniel says, "It is you, O king, you are grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown, and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the end of the earth." (Daniel 4:22) This inward zeal of dominating, you have to let go of, for the heavens and the earth really are under someone else's control.

Daniel then tells Nebuchadnezzar that he needs to be worried, for all the things he saw in his dream will come true: "They shall drive you from men…your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you to eat grass as oxen." (Daniel 4:25) In addition to the spiritual doom, the literal is describing a feral state - that is, of turning back from a tamed state to a wild, animal one. My daughter, Kelley, recently had a cat that was tame but turned to hunting as its primary way of getting food. It refused to eat cat food and in the house would only eat food that she cooked. Worse than that, it was very aggressive about getting the food she was cooking, meowing in a nasty way, demanding food. It climbed into the trash container, meowing and rummaging. Its coat was dirty and shaggy, and it didn't clean itself much anymore. In addition, it had a diseased look. She couldn't let her two year old near it, for the cat always looked on edge, like it was going to scratch the little one. The way it was acting left no alternative but to take it away from the "company" of people.

To help the king Daniel advises, "If it may be a lengthening of your tranquility," "let my counsel be acceptable unto you, and break off your sins… and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." (Daniel 4:27) To Nebuchadnezzar, who represents the exalted love of self and the world, the poor here probably means people who are in less wonderful states than him. Conceit is so grand. It drives us to do big and wonderful things. In Genesis, it drove the ancients to build a tower so high they thought it could reach heaven. (Genesis 11)

I guess the king listened to Daniel for a while, but after a time forgot all about his teaching, for "At the end of twelve months, he (Nebuchadnezzar) walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spoke and said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built… by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30) His (our) abilities appear so great that we drive out of our minds all thought of the Lord's hand in them. The story continues, "While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, "O king, Nebuchadnezzar…the kingdom is departed from you." (Daniel 4:31) Uh, oh.

"That same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, 'til his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds claws." (Daniel 4:33) One of the images here is of a wild bird, hair long and feathery, his nails overgrown and wrapped around. Birds correspond to the understanding, and one of the things talked about here is that Nebuchadnezzar's understanding had gone astray, and had not been giving him any true understanding about who God is, who he is, and the ratio or proportion between God's power and abilities and his. In other words, he is so far gone astray that he is not rational anymore. He is so addicted to power and the world's glory that he couldn't be with people anymore. In spiritual things, the feral state is called profanation. The king has gone so far astray that his false reasoning can't even serve him anymore and has driven others to not want to be around him.

The Word continues the story of the king of Babylon living alone in a wild state by saying, "At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me." (Daniel 4:34) What a time of joy this is - Nebuchadnezzar's reason returned to him. It is like the addict's relief - to be able to think and not do that addictive thing anymore - to not be impulsively addicted to power, or control, or alcohol, or sex, or co-dependency. His happiness is real. He can think when he is oppressed by the love of self.

I am struck by the simplicity of this story. Nebuchadnezzar does not describe the terrible things that happened to him, whether an army came and cast him out, or his people turned against him in rebellion, or influential, rich people wouldn't support his state, etc. The Word simply says he was driven from men. Nebuchadnezzar only says, "I… lifted my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned to me." He has gone through a tremendous change and doesn't even describe the details. He is not fixated on the bad things that happened. He has done something new. He has lifted his eyes up to heaven. The story continues, "and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion." (Daniel 4:34)

Nebuchadnezzar's story is one of gaining humility. And of letting go.

Nebuchadnezzar then tells us he can no longer look to people for an assessment of his worth; he has gotten a distorted view from them, or from the way they treated him as king. In this state of coming down from such aggrandizement and flattery, he says, "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing." (Daniel 4:35) People have failed him, and he has failed people. Neither side has been perfect. It is God's will that prevails. What Nebuchadnezzar has learned about God is that "He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth…" The difference is that God does this with love. "And none can say to Him, 'What doest thou?'" (Daniel 4:35)

What does God do to Nebuchadnezzar after all this? The king says, "The glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness, returned to me." (Daniel 4:36) Slowly the Lord has returned Nebuchadnezzar's life to him, purified, losing what was from proprium, or self and the world, and having heavenly things in their place instead. Nor has the king lost with people, either. He says, "And my counselors and my lords sought unto me." (Daniel 4:36) Where before he may have forced his way on them, now others willingly were seeking out his thinking and counsel. "And I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me." (Daniel 4:36)

This story and the one before it of the burning fiery furnace are of Nebuchadnezzar learning who to worship. The king says, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgement: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase." (Daniel 4:37)

3301. 'A hairy garment' means the truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tunic' as something that clothes another thing - that something being in this case truth because this serves to clothe good (for truth is like a garment, 1073, 2576, or what amounts almost to the same, truth is the recipient vessel for good, 1469, 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and also from the meaning of 'hairy' as the natural as regards truth. Hair, or the hair on the head, is mentioned several times in the Word, and in those places means that which is natural, the reason being that hairs are outgrowths on the most exterior parts of a person, as also is the natural in relation to its rational and to the interior parts of the rational. During his lifetime it seems to everyone as though the natural within him is all there is to him, but this is so far from being true, that the natural is rather an outgrowth from the internal parts of him, like hairs from the parts of the body. They also stem from internal parts in almost the same way. This also is why people who have been wholly natural during their lifetime are seen in the next life to have faces covered almost entirely with hair when a visual presentation is made of that state. What is more, man's natural is represented by 'the hair'. When it is an outgrowth from good it is represented by attractive and neatly arranged hair, but when it is not the outgrowth from good by unattractive and dishevelled hair.

[2] It is from this representation that in the Word 'hair', or 'the hair on the head' is used to mean the natural, especially as regards truth, as in Zechariah,

It will happen on that day, that the prophets will be ashamed, [every] man on account of his vision when he has prophesied. And he will not put on a hairy garment in order to deceive. Zechariah 13:4.

'The prophets' stands for people who teach truths, here for those who teach falsities, 2534. 'Vision' stands for truths, here for falsities, 'hairy garment' for the natural as regards truth. But because it was not truth but falsity the phrase 'in order to deceive' is used. Such clothing was worn by the prophets so that truth, being external, might be represented by them. This also was why, dressed in a similar way, Elijah the Tishbite is called a hairy man, 2 Kings 1:8, and why John, the last of the prophets, had a garment of camel hair, Matthew 3:4 - 'camels' being facts in the natural man, see 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, and facts being the truths of the natural man, 3293.

[3] That 'the hair' meant the natural as regards truth is quite clear from the Nazirites who were commanded not to shave their heads with a razor all the days of their Nazirite vow, not until their days of abstinence to Jehovah had been completed. Then they were to let down the hair on their heads and at the door of the Tent of Meeting were to shave the head of their Naziriteship and put the hair on to the fire which was beneath the eucharistic sacrifice, Numbers 6:5, 18-19. They represented the Lord's Divine Human, and from this the person belonging to the celestial Church, who was a likeness of the Lord, 51 - representing that person's natural man by 'the hair'. When they were being sanctified therefore they were to lay aside their old or previous natural man into which they had been born and were to assume the new. This was meant by the requirement, when the days of abstinence to Jehovah had been completed, to let down the hair on their heads and to put it on to the fire beneath the sacrifice. For the state of the celestial man is a state in which good is present in him and from that good he has a knowledge of all truths. He never thinks and talks from truths about good, still less from facts about good, see 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246. Furthermore those who are celestial are of such a nature that before they lay aside that state into which they were born their natural has become so powerfully equipped with truth that they are capable of fighting with the hells; for it is truth, never good, that goes into battle. The hells cannot make even the remotest approach towards good. That truth is of such a nature, and good of such a nature, see 1950, 1951.

[4] From this it is evident how it was that Samson had strength from his hair, referred to as follows,

The angel of Jehovah appeared to Samson's mother, saying, Behold, you will conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come up over his head; the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb. Judges 13:3, 5.

Later on he revealed to Delilah that if he were shaved his strength would leave him and he would be rendered powerless. And immediately he had been shaved, his strength did leave him and the Philistines seized him. And when subsequently the hair on his head started to grow again, where he had been shaved, his strength returned to him, enabling him to dislodge the pillars of the house, Judges 16:1-end. Who does not see that this description holds a heavenly arcanum within it, and that nobody knows what that arcanum is unless he has been taught regarding representatives, that is to say, that a Nazirite portrayed the celestial man, and as long as he had his hair he portrayed the natural part of that man, with whom, as has been stated, such strong and powerful truth was present? And Samson had such strength because at that period of time all representatives which the Lord had commanded had such force and effect. But he was not a consecrated Nazirite like those mentioned above, that is to say, someone who had put on a state of good instead of truth. The chief reason why the ultimate existence of his strength lay in his hair was so that he might represent the Lord who from the natural man as regards truth was to fight the hells and overcome them. This He did before putting on Divine Good and Truth even as regards the natural man.

[5] From this it is also evident why the high priest, on whose head the anointing oil had been poured and who had been consecrated ¹ to wear the garments, was commanded not to shave his head or to rend his garments, Leviticus 21:10. And in a similar way where the new Temple is referred to the Levitical priests were commanded not to shave their head or to let their hair grow long, Ezekiel 44:20; that is to say, they represented the Lord's Divine Natural as regards truth that is derived from good and is called truth grounded in good. That 'hair' or the hair on the head means the natural as regards truth is clear also from the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Ezekiel,

I gave you to be like the seed of the field, from which you grew up and became tall to full beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Ezekiel 16:7.

This refers to Jerusalem, which is the Ancient Church here and which in process of time became perverted. 'Breasts were formed' stands for natural good, 'hair which has grown' for natural truth.

[6] In Daniel,

I saw, until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire. Daniel 7:9.

And in John,

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts. His head however and hair were white, like white wool, like snow; but His eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:13-14.

'Hair white like pure wool' stands for the Divine Natural as regards truth. In the Word, and in the religious observances of the Jewish Church, truth itself was represented by 'white', and because truth is derived from good is called 'pure wool'. The reason why truth was represented by 'white' and good by 'red' was that truth is akin to light and good to fire, the source of the light.

[7] As with everything else in the Word 'the hair' also has a contrary sense and means the natural as regards truth when perverted, as in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord will shave by means of a razor hired at the crossing-places of the River - by means of the King of Asshur - the head and the hair of the feet; and it will consume the beard also. Isaiah 7:20.

In Ezekiel,

Son of man, take for yourself a sharp sword, use it as a barber's razor which you shall run over your head and over your beard. Then you are to take balances and you are to divide it. A third you are to burn with fire in the midst of the city; a third you are to strike with the sword round about it; and a third you are to scatter to the wind. You shall take from it a small number, and bind it in your skirts. Finally you are to take from these again and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them with fire, and from this, fire will come forth to the whole house of Israel. Ezekiel 5:1-4.

All this, by the use of representatives, describes how natural truth, interior and exterior, meant by 'the hair' and 'the beard', ceased to exist any longer. Its destruction by lusts is meant by its being burned with fire, by reasonings by its being struck with the sword round about the city, by false assumptions by its being scattered to the wind. These statements are similar in content to what the Lord teaches in Matthew about some seed, which is the truth, falling among thorns, some on stony ground, and some along the path, Matthew 13:1-9.

[8] That 'the heir' means the unclean truths and the falsities belonging to the natural man was also represented by the requirement that when a woman from among enemies who had been taken captive was to be married to [an Israelite], she was to be brought to his home, the hair on her head was to be shaved off, her nails were to be pared, and the garments of her captivity were to be removed, Deuteronomy 21:12-13. Also when Levites were consecrated, the water of expiation was to be sprinkled over them, they were to pass a razor over their entire flesh, and to wash their clothes, and so be pure, Numbers 8:7. Also, Nebuchadnezzar was driven from among men so that he ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet from the dew of heaven, till his hair grew to be like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws, Daniel 4:33. In the case of leprosy they were required to note the colours of hair and beard, whether these were white, reddening, yellow, or black. They were to look for the same in garments. And the person who was cleansed from leprosy was required to shave all the hair on his head, his beard, and his eyebrows, Leviticus 13:1-59; 14:8-9. The latter meant the unclean falsities that result from unholiness, which is leprosy in the internal sense.

[9] 'Baldness' however meant the natural when no truth at all is present in it, as in Isaiah,

He is going up to Bayith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep over Nebo; and Moab will howl over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isaiah 15:2.

In the same prophet, Instead of well-set hair there will be baldness, branding instead of beauty. Isaiah 3:24

The children who said to Elisha, Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead! and who were torn apart by the bears out of the forest, 2 Kings 2:23-24, represent people who blaspheme the Word as though it had no truth within it; for Elisha represented the Lord as regards the Word, 2762. From this it is also evident how prevalent representatives were at that period of time.

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