Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom www.wenstrom.org

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Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion,
IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.o
rg
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Wednesday September 19, 2012Daniel Daniel
416-The Holy Watcher Identifies Tree As A Man
And Orders His Mind To Be Altered From That Of A
Human Being To That Of An Animal For Seven
YearsLesson 122
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Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 41.
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This evening we will study Daniel 416, which
records the Holy Watcher who descended from the
heavens identifying the tree in Nebuchadnezzars
dream as a man and orders that for seven years
his mind be altered from that of a human being to
that of an animal.
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Daniel 41 King Nebuchadnezzar, to each and
every person belonging to the nations,
ethnicities and language groups, who are living
throughout the entire earth May your prosperity
increase! 2 It is pleasing to me to make known
the miraculous signs, yes, and wondrous signs at
that, which the Most High God performed on my
behalf.
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3 How great are His miraculous signs! Indeed, how
great are His wondrous signs! His kingdom is
eternal. In other words, His governmental
dominion is from generation to generation. 4 I
myself, Nebuchadnezzar was content in my house,
specifically prosperous in my palace. 5 I saw a
dream, which caused me to be frightened,
specifically revelations on my bed. Indeed,
visions in my mind caused me to be terrified.
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6 Therefore, from me a command was issued for the
purpose of causing each and every one of the city
of Babylons wise men to be brought into my
presence in order that they could make known to
me the dreams interpretation.
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7 So when the occult priests, necromancers,
astrologers as well as diviners entered, I
communicated the content of the dream before them
but they could not make its interpretation known
to me. 8 Then Daniel entered my presence whose
name was Belteshazzar according to my Gods name
and in addition one who possesses Gods Holy
Spirit in him. Next, I communicated the content
of the dream before him.
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9 O Belteshazzar, chief over the wise men,
because I myself know personally that Gods Holy
Spirit is in you so that any mystery is by no
means too difficult for you, please consider the
content of my dream, which I saw. Also, please
communicate its interpretation.
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10 Now, concerning the visions in my mind on my
bed, I was in a trance like state staring as
behold a tree was in the midst of the earth. In
fact, its height was enormous. 11 The tree became
enormous so that it was strong. Indeed, its
height reached to the heavens so that it was
visible to the extremity of the whole earth.
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12 Its foliage was beautiful. Also, its fruit was
abundant so that food was in it for the benefit
of all. The beasts of the field found shade under
it. Also, the birds of the sky lived in its
branches. Indeed, each and every living creature
was fed from it.
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13 I was in a trance like state staring because
of the visions in my mind on my bed as behold a
watchman, yes a holy one descended out from the
heavens.
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14 He publicly proclaimed with authority and said
Cut down the tree! Also, lop off its branches!
Strip off its foliage! Furthermore, scatter its
fruit! Let the beasts flee out from under it as
well as the birds from its branches!
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15 Nevertheless, leave intact in the ground, the
taproot which produces its roots but with a band
composed of iron as well as bronze in the midst
of the wild grass produced by the open field.
Also, let it be drenched with the dew from heaven
as well as its dwelling place among the beasts in
the grass produced by the field. (My translation)
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Daniel 416 Let his mind be changed from that of
a man and let a beasts mind be given to him, and
let seven periods of time pass over him.
(NASB95)
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Let his mind be changed from that of a man is
composed of the masculine singular construct form
of the noun le?a? (?????) (leb-ab), mind which
is modified by the third person masculine
singular pronominal suffix hû(?) (????) (who),
his and then we have the preposition min (???)
(min), from and its object is the masculine
singular form of the noun ?enaš (??????)
(en-awsh), man which is followed by the third
person masculine plural pu??al (Hebrew pual)
passive jussive form of the verb šena(h) (??????)
(shen-aw), let be changed.
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Once again, Nebuchadnezzar under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit is employing the figure of
asyndeton.
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The Holy Spirit through Nebuchadnezzar is
employing the figure of asyndeton in order to
emphasize with the reader the solemnity of these
three orders in this verse.
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The verb šena(h) means to transform in the
sense of changing a thing into a different thing
and implies a major change in form, nature and
function of a thing.
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Here the words subject is the mind of the man
symbolized by the tree which appeared to
Nebuchadnezzar in a vision.
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Thus, it refers to the mind of this man
symbolized by the tree as being transformed
from being a mind of a human being to the mind of
an animal.
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The jussive form of this verb is a divine jussive
which has the force of a command indicating the
Lord is proclaiming a curse against the man
symbolized by the tree in that He is ordering
that the mind of this man be transformed from
that of a human being to that of an animal for
seven years.
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The noun le?a? means mind referring to that
aspect of the human soul where a persons mental
activity takes place and is modified by the third
person masculine singular pronominal suffix
hû(?), which means his as indicated by the
prepositional phrase min ?enôša(?), from that
of a man, which follows it.
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The noun ?enaš means human being without
reference to gender as contrasted with the animal
kingdom or the angels and is used with reference
to the mind of the tree which symbolizes a man
and specifically Nebuchadnezzar.
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The word is the object of the preposition min,
which is a marker of separation indicating the
separation of Nebuchadnezzar from his human mind.

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And let a beasts mind be given to him is
composed of the conjunction wa (??) (waw), and
which is followed by the masculine singular
construct form of the noun le?a? (?????)
(leb-ab), mind and then we have the feminine
singular form of the noun ?êwa(h) (??????)
(khay-vaw), a beasts which is followed by the
third person masculine singular hitpa??al
(Hebrew piel) passive jussive form of the verb
yeha? (?????) (yeh-hab), let be given and then
we have the preposition le (??) (leh), to and
its object is the third person masculine singular
pronominal suffix hû(?) (????) (who), him.
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The conjunction wa is used as a marker of
contrast meaning that it is introducing an order
from the Holy Watcher which stands in contrast to
His previous order to have the mind of the man
symbolized by the tree transformed from a human
being.
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The verb yeha? means to give in the sense of
imparting something to someone.
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Here it denotes the man symbolized by the tree in
Nebuchadnezzars vision being given the mind of
an animal or wild beast.
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The jussive form of this verb is a divine jussive
indicating the Lord is proclaiming a curse
against the man symbolized by the tree in that He
is ordering his mind to be transformed from that
of a human being to that of an animal for seven
years.
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The noun ?êwa(h) is in the plural and means
beasts, wild animals in contrast to
domesticated animals.
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And let seven periods of time pass over him is
composed of the conjunction wa (??) (waw), and
which is followed by the feminine singular number
še?a? (??????) (shib-aw), seven periods of and
then we have the masculine plural form of the
noun ?iddan (??????) (id-dawn), time which is
followed by the preposition ?al (???) (al),
over and its object is the third person
masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(?) (????)
(who), him and then we have the third person
masculine plural form of the pe?al (Hebrew qal)
active jussive form of the verb verb ?alap
(?????) (khal-af), let pass.
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The verb ?alap means to pass by referring to
the passing of time and here it is of course used
with reference to the man symbolized by the tree
being given by God the mind of a beast.
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The jussive form of this verb is a divine jussive
indicating the Lord is proclaiming a curse
against the man symbolized by the tree in that He
is ordering his mind to be transformed from that
of a human being to that of an animal for seven
years.
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The noun ?iddan is in the plural and means
periods of time referring to years and is
modified by the number še?a?, which means seven.
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Therefore, these two words mean seven periods of
time, i.e. seven years.
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That this expression refers to seven years is
clearly indicated by the context since Daniel
733 says that Nebuchadnezzars hair had grown
like eagles feathers and his nails like the
claws of a bird, which would take years to occur
rather than days.
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The third person masculine singular pronominal
suffix hû(?) means him and is the object of the
preposition ?al, which functions as a marker of
advantage, which indicates that this seven year
punishment was for the benefit of
Nebuchadnezzar.
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Daniel 416 Let his mind be transformed from a
human being. Instead let a beasts mind be given
to him. Then, let seven times pass by for him.
(My translation)
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The three commands presented in verse 16 make
clear that the mind of Nebuchadnezzar would be
transformed from that of a human being to that of
an animal.
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Specifically, he would have the mind of cattle,
which is indicated in Daniel 433, which
describes Nebuchadnezzar eating grass like cattle
for seven years.
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Thus, a comparison of Daniel 416 with Daniel
433 reveals that the Lord Jesus Chris gave
Nebuchadnezzar a disease, which psychologists
call boanthropy which describes a person acting
like a bull or a cow.
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Boanthropy is a psychological disorder in which
a human being believes himself to be a Bovine or
in other words, a cow.
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This mental disorder still occurs today when a
person, in a delusional state, believes himself
or herself to be an ox or cow and thus attempts
to live and act accordingly.
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It has been suggested that hypnotism, suggestion a
nd auto-suggestion may contribute to such beliefs
and dreams may also play an important part.
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Jung records how a stubborn woman dreamed she was
attending an important social occasion and she
was greeted by the hostess with the words How
nice that you could come. All your friends are
here, and they are waiting for you. The hostess
then led her to the door and opened it, and the
dreamer stepped through - into a cowshed! (C. G.
Jung, Analytical Psychology page 123).)
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Freud noted cases in which a mental disease has
started with a dream and in which a delusion
originating in the dream has persisted. (ibid.)
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The band mentioned around the tree stump appears
to be symbolic for the mental disorder that
Nebuchadnezzar would suffer for seven years.
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Of course, Nebuchadnezzar received a dream in
which he was told by God that he would behave
like an animal for seven years.
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This mental disorder was given to the king in
order to discipline him.
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From His attribute of love, God gave
Nebuchadnezzar this mental disorder in order to
break him from his pagan lifestyle.
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It was designed to teach Nebuchadnezzar to submit
to Gods authority over his life.
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