In the Book of Daniel, Chapter Four is narrated, after the events of the chapter, by a much-changed Nebuchadnezzar. In the internal sense, the story shows both the Lord's mercy in leading us, and also the depths of despair to which we sink before we willingly open our minds to the Lord and pray for His leadership.

At the beginning of the story, Nebuchadnezzar's idleness imitates the sense of complacency when things seem to be going right, when no temptations darken our skies, and essential selfishness asserts itself once again. Our mind is its house, its palace. We come into this state after a temptation or battle against our sense of selfishness, when we put the struggle aside and rest on our laurels. We are oblivious to the fact that regeneration is an ongoing state, that one temptation succeeds another, and that once conscience has been established in our thought processes, it will not be too long before the lethargy of selfishness is challenged.

While Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his house, he had a disturbing dream, one unknown to him. As before when he did not understand his dreams, he called the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers, who, once again, could not interpret the dream.

Often we feel that we face the same temptations over and over again. We might wonder if we will ever regenerate. This is because we fall into a state of selfishness, represented by the king at rest. But when we encounter resistance to that selfishness, we turn back to all our old thought patterns to help us.

Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar called Daniel to tell him his dream. As he recounts the story after the seven years of illness, he uses the words he had spoken before. He addresses Daniel as Belteshazzar, because that is how he saw him before the temptation. Even so, he recognized the presence of the Spirit of the Holy God within him, acknowledging Daniel's power to explain dreams and give interpretations.

The king's second dream took the image of a great tree, planted in the earth, so high it could be seen from the ends of the earth. This parallels the image of the great statue, whose head was gold. As we saw earlier, this image represents the initial state of perfection, followed by a decline as a person turns away from this ideal. The statue shows how self love takes dominance in our lives if unchecked, and brings us into a final state of spiritual destruction.

In this new dream, the tree in the midst of the earth is a reference to the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden of Eden. Both trees symbolize wisdom. The Tree of Life represented the perception the Most Ancient people had from love (Arcana Coelestia 103), but Nebuchadnezzar's tree is from the love of self and the different perceptions people have when motivated by that love (Apocalypse Explained 1029:6).

But when Nebuchadnezzar saw the tree in his dream, it was lovely. Everything in the dream which normally has a good and beautiful significance, instead takes on a negative meaning. The leaves and flowers, which should have been a picture of guiding truths (Arcana Coelestia 9553), represent the opposite, as the falsities which mislead us. We saw how the king called his false guides: the magicians, soothsayers, astrologers, and Chaldeans.

The birds represent the false thoughts from selfishness (Arcana Coelestia 5149). These give credence to selfishness, to justify it and find new ways to express it. So the tree takes on an intellectual picture of the selfish mind. But the mind is made up of both intellect and emotion. There were also beasts sheltering under the tree representing the things we care about.

When selfishness rules in us, just as Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, all the lesser loves take their cue from this leading love. Thus the beasts of the field, were drawn to the tree for food and shelter.

After this scene is set, Nebuchadnezzar sees "a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven." The introduction of the indescribable watcher is the turning point in the dream, marking the beginning of the end for this marvel reaching up to heaven.

In a state of selfishness, we are spiritually asleep, just as Nebuchadnezzar was asleep when he dreamed. But the Lord never sleeps. Truth in our minds is always vigilant, looking for ways of bringing itself to our consciousness to lead us out of our selfish state. Just as everything seemed right in Nebuchadnezzar's world, he became aware of a watcher—the truth.

In an instant, the king's serenity was changed: a force greater than himself commanded the destruction of the tree, and there was nothing he could do about it. These words make it clear just how vulnerable our selfish states are. At their height, they seem so powerful, but in the face of truth they are shown for the sordid little nothings they are. Truth has the power to expose evil, and we should not be afraid to allow it to do so in our own lives. To stand indicted of selfishness is not the end of life, as it may feel, but the beginning of a new life of liberation.

But we still need some sense of self. There is nothing wrong with being concerned with our own well-being; it is vital to our lives. Selfishness is a part of us, but it needs to be kept under control, subordinated to the higher loves of serving the Lord and our neighbor.

This is why the watcher did not order the complete destruction of the tree: the stump is all that is left of a rampant selfishness, the bands of iron and brass represent thoughts and feelings which originate in selfishness, which can be used to keep it under control (Apocalypse Explained 650:32).

Finally, with the tree destroyed, Nebuchadnezzar himself had to be changed. The watcher commanded that the king is given the heart of an animal for seven years. In substance abuse recovery programs, it is said that an addict cannot change until they hit rock-bottom—when they realize the full necessity of change. In spiritual life, this rock bottom is a point at which we almost lose our humanity, we are so dominated by selfishness, greed and the lust of dominion that we lose our ability to think rationally. We become animals. The difference between humans and animals is our ability to think and act in freedom. Self-love destroys that freedom, thus destroying all humanity within us.

In this prophesy, we see a descent: from man, to beast, to ox. People are human because they are created in the image and likeness of the Lord. Thus human beings have the ability to think and act according to reason. This is the essence of our humanity (Arcana Coelestia 477, 2305, 4051, 585, 1555). When these are in tune with truth and goodness from the Lord, then we are truly human, because the image of the Lord is in us.

So again, we see this slide from an ideal to a lesser state: from man, the king became a beast. From rationality and freedom, he entered slavery. This fall appears earlier in the Word: when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they were cast out.

Finally he was told that he would eat grass like oxen. In a positive sense, oxen represent our affections (Arcana Coelestia 5198, 5642, 6357), or our love of the things of this world. But the opposite meaning of 'ox' is the perversion of goodness (Arcana Coelestia 9083), and the affection for injuring others (Arcana Coelestia 9094).

This humbling of the king represents the proper use of the love of self, and shows that the Lord does not eradicate it, because it is the foundation of true relationships with other people and the Lord Himself. But before it can become useful, selfishness needs to be converted into a humbled love of self, and we must return from the ox state.

As Daniel explained the meaning of the dream, he offered the king counsel: 'break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.' This is the next step in spiritual awareness. Seeing our selfishness, coupled with an increased awareness of the Lord, we reach the point where thoughts must become actions. At first glance, the concept of 'sins and iniquities' may seem redundant. But in the Word, pairs of synonymous words reflect two internal senses: the celestial and the spiritual (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 80). The celestial relates broadly to goodness, and the spiritual to truth. Together they make one.

Daniel's advice to Nebuchadnezzar is to repent. Repentance is the only way out of the quicksand of selfishness. The Lord taught that we should love one another as He loves us (John 13:34, John 15:12). To love ourselves alone, and to wish to control others is not in keeping with the Lord's teachings. The only solution is to listen to the voice of our conscience and allow ourselves to be guided by the truth.

In spite of everything, Nebuchadnezzar's pride was not reduced. As he walked around his palace, his heart was filled with pride: 'is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?'

A selfish person believes that everything they own or have accomplished is by their own power. There is no place for God or anyone else. When people do not listen to the Lord's teachings and reject His counsel, there is nothing the Lord can do but allow the person to reap the consequences of their choice.

The king remained in this ox-state until seven times passed over him, which illustrates that the Lord leaves us in this state until it runs its course. Sometimes it takes us a lifetime to see how our selfishness hurts others, and ourselves. Yet the Lord never leaves us. The promise of the root of the tree, bound with bands of iron and bronze is always there. The Lord works unceasingly to bring our selfishness under control until it can serve the higher loves of our neighbor and the Lord Himself.

Forgiveness begins in the recognition that we are in sin. In his ox-like state, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven. Eyes represent understanding (Arcana Coelestia 2975, 3863), and to lift them to heaven is to lift our understanding to the truths the Lord has given us. The king had been given some truths in his dreams and in the interpretation of them. He knew from Daniel's advice that he needed to repent and change his ways. As he did so, his understanding and appreciation of the Lord grew. He realized how small he was in the grand scheme of things. The inflated ego of selfishness was deflated by the recognition that all things had been given to him by the Lord.

His story is our story. We each build our empires in one way or another. We hold the power of life and death over others in a figurative sense—do we not decide who we like and dislike, who is admitted out our 'inner circle' and who is beyond the pale? The warnings the Lord gave to Nebuchadnezzar apply to us, and like the king, we can also ignore them. The consequences in our lives are the same, as we are reduced to a merely animal-being, wet with the dew of heaven.

Yet can we hear the Lord's voice calling, for unless we do, we will remain in that state. Can we lift our eyes to heaven and search for the truth leading to the greatest declaration one can make, provided it is done with the heart and not with the lips:

Now I … praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and his ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.

483. And shall guide them unto living fountains of waters, signifies in Divine truths. This is evident from the signification of "living fountains of waters," as being Divine truths, "living" signifying living from the Divine, "fountain" the Word, and "waters" truths therefrom. "Living waters" are often mentioned in the Word, and by them are meant truths that come from the Lord and are received. These are living, because the Lord is Life itself, as He Himself teaches, and that which comes from Life itself is living; while that which comes from man is dead. That the Lord may give life to truths, He flows into them through good, and good makes alive. The Lord also flows in out of the higher or interior parts, and opens the spiritual mind, and imparts to it the affection of truth; and the spiritual affection of truth is the very life of heaven with man. This life is what the Lord insinuates into man by means of truths. This makes clear what is meant here by "living fountains of waters," and by "living waters" in the following passages.

[2] In Isaiah:

When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains will I place in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters (Isaiah 41:17, 18).

This treats of the saving of the nations by the Lord, who are called "poor and needy" from the lack and ignorance of truth; their desire to learn truths from those who are in the church, where there were no truths, is described by "they seek waters and there are none, and their tongue faileth for thirst," "water," meaning truth, and "thirst" the desire for truth. That the Lord will instruct them is signified by "I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains will I place in the midst of the valleys;" "to open rivers" meaning to give intelligence, "on the bare heights" meaning in the interior man, "in the midst of the valleys" in the exterior man, and "to place fountains" to instruct in truths; "to make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters" signifies abundance of truth with those who before were in the lack and ignorance thereof, "wilderness" meaning where there is no good because there is no truth, and "dry land" where there is no truth and thence no good; a "pool of waters" and "fountains of waters" signify abundance of the knowledges of truth. This makes clear that "waters," "fountains," "springs," "rivers," and "pools of water," are not here meant, but the knowledges of truth and intelligence therefrom, whence comes salvation.

[3] In the same:

Behold your God will come for vengeance, and will save you. Then the dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty place springs of water (Isaiah 35:4, 7).

This, too, is said of the instruction of the nations in truths, and their reformation by the Lord when He should come into the world; and "the dry place shall became a pool, and the thirsty place springs of waters," has a similar signification as "the wilderness shall become a pool (or collection) of waters, and the dry land springs of waters," in the passage above.

[4] In Jeremiah:

They shall come with weeping and with supplication will I lead them; I will make them go unto the brooks ¹ of waters in the way of right, they shall not stumble in it (Jeremiah 31:9).

This, too, treats of reception of the Lord by the Gentiles; that He would instruct them in genuine truths is signified by "He will lead them unto brooks of waters in the way of right, they shall not stumble in it." In Isaiah:

They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat or the sun smite them; for He that hath compassion on them shall guide them, and unto fountains of waters shall He lead them (Isaiah 49:10).

This also is said of the instruction of the Gentiles by the Lord; instruction in truths is meant by "unto fountains of waters shall He lead them." (What "to hunger" and "to thirst" signify see above, n. 480; also what "heat" and "sun" signify, n. 481)

[5] In Joel:

It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down must, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the water-courses of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah and shall water the brook of Shittim (Joel 3:18).

What is signified by "the mountains shall drop down must, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the water-courses of Judah shall flow with waters," may be seen explained above n. 433; and that "a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah and shall water the brook of Shittim" signifies that there shall be truth out of heaven from the Lord illustrating the knowledges and cognitions that are in the natural man.

[6] In David:

Before Thee thou art in travail, O earth, before the God of Jacob; who turned the rock into a pool of waters, the flint into a fountain of waters (Psalms 114:7, 8).

"Pool of waters" and "fountain of waters" here mean truths in abundance, by means of which is the church; for "thou art in travail, O earth," signifies the commencement of the church, which is said "to be in travail" when truths are brought forth therein, "the earth" meaning the church.

[7] In the same:

Jehovah sendeth forth springs into the brooks; they go between the mountains. They give drink to the wild beast of the fields; the wild asses quench their thirst. By them the fowl of the heavens dwell (Psalms 104:10-12).

"To send forth springs into the brooks" signifies to give intelligence by means of truths from the Word; "they go between the mountains" signifies that truths will be from the good of love; "the springs" meaning truths from the Word, "the brooks" the things that are of intelligence, and "mountains" the good of love. The instruction of those who are in the good of the church is signified by "they give drink to the wild beast of the fields;" the instruction of those in the church who desire truths is signified by "the wild asses quench their thirst;" that the understanding is thus perfected is signified by "the fowl shall dwell by them." "The wild beast of the fields" mean in the spiritual sense the Gentiles that are in the good of life, "the wild asses" natural truth, "thirst" the desire for truths, and "the fowl of the heavens" thoughts from the understanding.

[8] In the highest sense, a "fountain" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth or Divine truth from the Lord, consequently the Word, as can be seen from the following passages. In Jeremiah:

My people hath done two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no waters (Jeremiah 2:13).

Here Jehovah, that is, the Lord, calls Himself "the fountain of living waters," which signifies the Word, or Divine truth, consequently the Lord Himself, who is the Word; for it is said, "they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters." "To hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no waters," signifies to frame for themselves doctrinals from self-intelligence, in which there are no truths, "cisterns" meaning doctrinals, "broken cisterns" doctrinals that do not hold together, "that hold no waters" signifies in which there are no truths. Such are the doctrinals that are not from the Word, that is, from the Lord through the Word (for the Lord teaches through the Word), but are from self-intelligence; that these are not from the Lord through the Word is meant by "they have forsaken the fountain of living waters."

[9] In the same:

All that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from Me shall be written on the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, Jehovah (Jeremiah 17:13).

Here in like manner Jehovah, that is, the Lord, calls Himself "the fountain of living waters" from the Divine truth, which is from Him; "to be written on the earth" signifies to be damned (See above, n. 222).

[10] In David:

They shall be filled with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou makest them drink of the brook of Thy delights; for with Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light (Psalms 36:8, 9).

"Fatness" signifies the good of love, and "the brook of delights" truth from that good; "to make to drink" means to teach; "with Thee is the fountain of life" signifies that with the Lord and from Him is Divine truth; because that is what is signified by "the fountain of life" it is added, "in Thy light shall we see light," for "the light of the Lord" means Divine truth.

[11] In Zechariah:

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. And in that day I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land; and I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land (Zechariah 13:1, 2).

This also treats of the Lord's coming. That those who are in the Lord's kingdom will then understand the Word, that is, the Divine truth therein, is signified by "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem," "a fountain" signifying the Word, "the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" the Lord's spiritual kingdom. The Lord's spiritual kingdom is with those in the heavens and on the earth who are in Divine truths; "for sin and for impurity" signifies the removal of evils and falsities by means of truths from the Word. Because the Word or the Divine truth therein is meant by a "fountain" it is said, "In that day I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land;" "idols" signifying a false religion, "prophets" false doctrine, and "the unclean spirit" evils flowing from the falsities of doctrine; for when a man lives according to the falsities of religion and doctrine he becomes an unclean spirit.

[12] That Divine truth from the Lord is meant by a "fountain" the Lord Himself teaches in plain words in John:

When the Lord sat by Jacob's fountain in the field of Samaria, He said to the woman of Samaria, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto everlasting life (John 4:5-20).

It is clear that the "water" that the Lord gives does not mean water, but Divine truth; for it is said that in drinking of the water the woman of Samaria came to draw, one thirsts again, but not of the water that the Lord gives. That "that water shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto everlasting life" means that in that truth is life. That there is life in truths when the Lord gives them may be seen in this article above. The Lord said these things to the woman of Samaria, when He sat by Jacob's fountain, because by the "Samaritans" the Lord meant the Gentiles that were to receive Divine truths from Him; and by the "woman of Samaria" a church constituted of such; and by "Jacob's fountain" Divine truth from Himself, that is, the Word.

[13] In Moses:

Thus Israel dwelt securely alone by the fountain of Jacob (Deuteronomy 33:28).

This is in the prophecy of Moses respecting the sons of Israel, in the conclusion of that prophecy. Because "Israel" here signifies the church that is in Divine truths from the Word, therefore it is said "by the fountain of Jacob," which means the Word; so, too, the Lord in relation to the Word, for He is the Word because He is Divine truth, as He Himself teaches in John (John 1:1-3, 14). This is said at the end of that prophecy, because in that prophecy the Word is treated of. "Fountain" has a similar meaning in the prophecy of Israel the father respecting Joseph:

The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one by the fountain (Genesis 49:22).

"Fountain" here means the fountain of Jacob, for the field that contained that fountain was given to Joseph by his father (John 4:5, 6). What is signified by "Joseph the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one by the fountain," may be seen above n. 448. A "fountain" also means the Word, and "fountains" mean Divine truths from the Word, in David:

Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel (Psalms 68:26).

In Revelation:

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6).

In Isaiah:

Then with gladness shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).

In David:

All my fountains are in Thee, Jehovah (Psalms 87:7).

[14] As most things in the Word have also a contrary sense, so have "fountain" and "fountains," and in that sense they signify the doctrine of falsities, and falsities of doctrine. Thus in Jeremiah:

I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry (Jeremiah 51:36).

This is said of Babylon; and her "sea" signifies falsities in one complex, and "fountain" the doctrine of falsity.

[15] In Hosea:

An east wind shall come, the wind of Jehovah, coming up from the wilderness; and his fountain shall become dry, and his spring shall be dried up (Hosea 13:15).

This is said of Ephraim, and by him is here meant a perverted understanding of the Word which confirms falsities by means of the Word; its destruction is signified by "his fountain shall become dry, and his spring shall be dried up by the east wind, the wind of Jehovah from the wilderness;" "his fountain" meaning the doctrine of falsity thence, "spring" its falsity, and "the east wind from the wilderness" its destruction by fallacies that are from external sensual things; for external sensual things, when they are not illustrated from things internal, destroy man's understanding, because all fallacies are from that source.

[16] In David:

Thou hast broken up the sea by Thy strength; Thou hast broken the heads of the whales in the waters. Thou hast crushed in the heads of leviathan, and hast given him to be food to the people, for the Ziim. Thou didst cleave fountains and brooks; Thou hast dried up the rivers of strength (Psalms 74:13-15).

Here, too, "fountains" and "brooks" signify false doctrine, which is from self-intelligence; "the rivers of strength" are confirmed principles of falsity therefrom; "the whales" and "leviathan" signify knowledges [scientifica] belonging to the sensual and natural man, from which is all falsity when the spiritual man is closed over them. The sensual and natural man are the seat of what is man's own [proprium], therefore conclusions drawn from those alone are conclusions from one's own [proprium] or from self-intelligence; for the Divine flows in through the spiritual man into the natural, and not into the natural when the spiritual is closed over it, but the spiritual man is opened by means of truths and a life according to them. The "people, the Ziim to whom leviathan is to be given for food," signify those who are in infernal falsities.

Notas de rodapé: