‘…The Most High rules in the kingdom of men,
gives it to whomever He will,
and sets over it the lowest of men.’
(Daniel 4:17, NKJV)
This verse is the last phrase of a set of stern instructions, apparently spoken by an angel, in a second very disturbing dream Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had. But unlike the king’s first dream (See: Daniel 2), he perfectly recalled the second one. Both dreams were accurately interpreted by Daniel, a young Jewish wiseman who was among the slaves the king’s army had captured and taken to Babylon during 3 long sieges against Judah and especially Jerusalem. Daniel was eventually promoted to the third highest post across the Babylonian Empire, and became a major Old Testament prophet.
There seems to be two distinct understandings in Christian circles about the meaning of the word, lowest, in the above verse. Herein, I will share my understanding, based on insights received while analyzing other cases of significantly different understandings on passages of Scripture – e.g., on The Bride of Christ; Matthew 27:51-53, The Book of Revelation, and others. In no way is my understanding meant to limit in any way what The Lord, through the angel who spoke, may have intended.
Possibly using etymology, one camp of teachers understands the word, lowest, infers humble, meek, dis-esteemed, of lowest statue in society, etc. * After all, Jesus, Himself, became such, in order to obey His Father’s will, even to the point of being crucified. Moreover, there are other cases, both in Biblical and secular history, in which The Lord specifically fingered, or allowed meek, humble people to rise to the apex of national power. The young Saul, David and some child and teenage kings in Israel’s history, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Vladimir Putin in secular history, all fit this pattern. No doubt, The Lord, for Whom nothing is impossible, can do anything He desires. Ponder the deepest meanings of the word, ALMIGHTY.
Another camp of teachers understands the word, lowest, infers of low morals, even morally depraved and vile. Those of this understanding may have a keen eye on history, both Biblical and secular! Indeed, the world has known and suffered under the hands and feet of many down right evil and wicked leaders, who, unknowingly … were apparently appointed to serve The Lord’s overarching will! In many cases, their rise to power may have been a form of judgments against sinful, unrepentant peoples. Such was apparently the case for King Nebuchadnezzar, who was reportedly an exceedingly prideful and boastful man. The Lord allowed Babylon to become what many believe was the first empire, and its most conquering king, to rule over a substantial part of the Earth. And it is well known that the history of ancient Israel was strewn with a parade of grossly evil kings, many who were sons of grossly evil kings. (Cases of ‘childhood internships’?)
In the days of the prophet, Isaiah, The Lord said he would raise up and dispatched the kings of Assyria and Babylon, to lay siege on ancient Israel, then Judah. Thus He kept His promise to judge their gross sinfulness. In subsequent generations, during the days of the prophet, Jeremiah, The Lord raised-up and dispatched the Medo-Persian kings to attack and destroy Babylon, calling them, ‘My battle ax’. (Jeremiah 51)
So both The Bible and secular history evidence both understandings of the word, lowest, in the above passage. And that’s fine and dandy. As a student of The Bible, here’s one point I think is worth considering. When concepts, verses, phrases and words in The Bible seem to trigger significantly different understandings, of course, search for other references to such, but put greater emphasis on the final reference.
Why?
First, we all know languages evolve, often significantly over time and across generations. The two testaments of The Bible were principally written in two languages, across an untold number of generations.
Second, in Isiah 28:10 & 13, while upbraiding ancient Israel, The Lord gives us a BIG clue to the strategic pattern by which He designed us to learn, in general, and to learn from and about HIM, in particular:
Precept upon precept,
Line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.
This is exactly how humanity has learned everything we have ever learned. Moreover, The Bible declares in Jesus, The Lord God Almighty, are hidden ALL the treasures (sum total) of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3) In light of this, everything we have ever learned must, therefore, have come from Him, whether we applied it for good or evil.
Also, in light of that insight, I conclude The Bible, in its entirety, is BEST understood from the perspective of its final insights – His yet-fulfilled eschatological prophecies. These signal the places and conditions to which He is driving ALL of His creation. Since these are His ULTIMATE desires for humanity, it is in these that we may find His intentions for everything else. From my experience, it is akin to designing a 10-year strategy, comprising many projects and activities, all of which contribute to a clearly-articulated, overarching GOAL. Ergo, all activities and project should/must be assessed in context of their contributions to that goal. This mindset leads me to emphasize (not exclusively) the word, lowest, in Daniel 4:17, not as meek and humble, but of low morals, even vile. Here’s why…
The last significant human leader referenced in The Bible is the anti-Christ man, likely the worst ever human who will have ever lived, because he and his prophet (prime minister?) will receive The Lord’s worst ever judgment!!! This man, who will relatively quickly rise to global influence and power in the 4th age of history – the tribulation age, will be filled with satanic miracle working powers to deceive nearly the whole world. Who knows whether, like King Saul, the first king of ancient Israel, this man may have humble beginnings, as many national leaders do. But, if so, he will ‘show his true colors’ after the taste and texture of power settle in his mouth that will speak many ‘pompous words’, even declaring himself to be The Almighty! (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36-37 and Revelation 13:5-6) His words and acts will trigger The Lord’s worst ever judgments upon humanity – the ~42-month apocalypse, during which mortals on Earth will become as rare as fine gold. (Isaiah 13:12) This is the man whom The Lord will directly or indirectly allow to rise to be the final, global leader, and through him, turn unrepentant sinners over to their reprobate minds in preparation for their final judgment.
Just as it was symbolically signaled to him in his second dream, King Nebuchadnezzar was severely judged for his excessive pride. This occurred some time AFTER Daniel had interpreted the king’s first dream that signaled the statue’s head of gold represented King Nebuchadnezzar, himself, leader of the first global empire! After Daniel had interpreted the first dream, the king said:
Truly your God IS The God of gods,
The Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets…
(Daniel 2:47)
Apparently, that realization was insufficient to deliver him from his gross pride, and his eventual judgment – being driven into the wilderness to live as a beast, and eating grass for 7 years!
Conclusion
In many versions of Daniel 4:17, the word, lowest, may very well mean lowliest, etymologically. It appears, the final time The Lord will do what the angel declared, (i.e., sets over the kingdom of men even the lowest of men), may well be the anti-Christ man. So I wonder, could the angel in the king’s dream possibly have had this future man in the back of his mind?? ;o)
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* Lowliest implies humility, modesty, or insignificance in status, e.g., someone from an humble background, or who is socially or politically unimportant.
Lowest implies the absolute bottom, often with a negative connotation, e.g., morally corrupt, unworthy, or disgraceful, the least respected or most despised.
The Aramaic word, shephal, most accurately translates to lowliest. This is supported in other languages.
