Prophetic Dream of Nebuchadnezzar on Seven Times

Daniel recorded a prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:10-17:

This prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar was doubly fulfilled in a short period of 2,520 (7$\times 360)$days and in a long period of 2,520 years. The short period was fulfilled in Nebuchadnezzar whose kingship was removed for 2,520 days from 17 March 572 BC. The prophecy was also fulfilled perfectly in the nation of Israel within the long period of 2,520 solar years starting also from 17 March 572 BC. The nation of Israel lost their power and sovereignty for exactly 2,520 years. The end of the prophetic period was on 10 March 1949 when Israel won the war of independence and established its true sovereignty.

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed that a great and strong tree was chopped down and its stump would regrow after a period of "seven times." Daniel interpreted that the great tree was the king himself and he would lose his kingdom for a period of "seven times" after which his kingdom would be restored. This prophecy was initially fulfilled in Nebuchadnezzar himself 12 months after his prophetic dream (Daniel 4:28-36). Here, the phrase "seven times" means 7 × 360 = 2,520 prophetic days or years. The prophecy was initially fulfilled in a short period according to the prophetic days (2,520 days), which was about 7 years.

It is possible that the prophecy would be fulfilled in a long period according to the prophetic years, corresponding to 2,520 years from the time when Nebuchadnezzar temporarily lost his sanity and kingship. In the short period, the great tree referred to Nebuchadnezzar, the great Gentile king. In the long period, the great tree may refer to the holy nation of Israel established by God Himself.

In many parts of Scriptures, Israel was referred to as a tree planted by God. Psalm 44:1-3 says, "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old: You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them."

The verses in Psalm 80:8-11 also tell us, "You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its boughs. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, and her branches to the River."

Jeremiah prophesized God's judgment against Israel in Jeremiah 11:16-17, "Yehowah called your name, Green Olive Tree, lovely and of good fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken. For Yehowah of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal."

Israel was the Green Olive Tree, lovely and of good fruit, planted by God Himself, but the great sins committed by the children of Israel provoked the anger of God and He would cut off its branches and left only the stump. This prophecy was in parallel with the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:12-13, "Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, ... , and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. He cried aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit...."

The tree in the Nebuchadnezzar's dream not only represented his own kingdom but also the kingdom of Israel. The prophetic dream implies that the punishment for the sins of Nebuchadnezzar would last for 2,520 days while the punishment for the sins of the children of Israel would be for 2,520 years.

God had set up a kingdom (the nation of Israel) to represent his rulership on the earth. God allowed that kingdom to become "a ruin" because its rulers had become unfaithful, but He foretold that He would give kingship to "the one who has the legal right." (Ezekiel 21:25-27). The Bible identifies Son of Man as the one who was legally authorized to receive this everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14).

What does the tree being chopped down mean? Just as the chopping down of the tree represented the complete removal of Nebuchadnezzar's kingship and power, it also represented complete removal of the power of the nation of Israel. The house of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in the fall of 721 BC. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the house of Judah in July of 587 BC. Earlier in 572 BC, he also destroyed the Jewish remnant who did not obey God's will to stay in Jerusalem but rather escaped to Egypt for protection (see discussion below). This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah against the remnant of Judah who set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there (Jeremiah 44:11-12). After these Jews were consumed by sword and famine, the power of the Israelites was mostly removed, just as the great tree was chopped down; its branches were cut off, and its leaves were stripped off. Only the stump and the roots were left on the tree, bounded with a band of iron and bronze, wet with the dew of heaven.

Interestingly, the band of bronze and iron links the tree prophecy to the great-image prophecy of Daniel in Chapter 2. Bronze and iron are the last two metals of the great image, indicating that the children of Israel will be given to the hands of bronze and iron kingdoms. The bronze kingdom represents the Greek kingdom, and the iron kingdom refers to the Roman kingdom. History tells us that the children of Israel were persecuted by both Greek and Roman kingdoms. In contrast, the Persian kingdom (represented by silver metal) did not persecute the children of Israel but rather helped them.

When did Nebuchadnezzar temporarily lose his sanity and kingship? We can obtain an insight from Daniel 4:29-31, "At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?' While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!'"

At the end of the twelve months from the time of his prophetic dream, Nebuchadnezzar boasted about his own achievement, glory, and honor when he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. Right after he boasted, he lost his sanity and was driven out of his palace for about seven years.

His insanity must have happened in a consecutive period of seven years, where no royal chronicle of him was recorded. The Jerusalem Chronicle recorded Nebuchadnezzar's activities and campaigns consecutively down to the 11^th year (the 9^th month of 594 BC) of his reign. The books of Jeremiah and 2 Kings record his siege of Jerusalem in the 9^th month of the 9^th year of Zedekiah, which was in 589 BC. The Bible also tells us that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in the 5^th month of 587 BC, which was in his 19^th regnal year. Right after his destruction of Jerusalem, he started to besiege Tyre in the spring of 586 BC and ended the siege in the spring of 573 BC. His army labored strenuously against Tyre, every head was made bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw, yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre (Ezekiel 29:18). The 13-year siege of Tyre should have frustrated and disappointed him, so he would not have been boastful when he returned from the siege of Tyre in the spring of 573 BC. In contrast, his heart could possibly have become very proud after he plundered Egypt with great success: taking away her (Egyptian) wealth, carrying off her spoil, and removing her pillage (Ezekiel 29:19-20).

A Babylonian campaign against Egypt took place in the spring of 567 BC, as recorded in the cuneiform tablet fragment (BM 33041) and the Elephantine stela. Although no detail was given for the campaign, it ended with the Babylonians being defeated by the Egyptians. Naturally, this defeated campaign against Egypt cannot be the successful one Ezekiel talked about in Ezekiel 29:19-20. From the spring of 567 BC to his death in October 562 BC, there were less than 6 years, so his insanity could not have started after 567 BC.

In the first day of the first month (Nisan 1) in the 27^th year after captivity of Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 29:17), God said to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29:21), "In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth,..." These verses imply that the horn or the power of the house of Israel had been removed before Nisan 1 of that year (the 27^th year after captivity of Jehoiachin), and that God would cause the horn or the power of Israel to spring forth again in a future time. Because the captivity of Jehoiachin happened on March 16 of 597 BC, March 27 (Nisan 1) of 571 BC was in the 27^th year after captivity of Jehoiachin. Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar's insanity and Israeli loss of power should have taken place before 1 Nisan 571 BC.

Ezekiel 29:19-20 has been mistranslated by all the English Bibles except for the Yang Literal Transition Bible. The correct translation should be as follows:

In verse 20, God had already given Nebuchadnezzar the land of Egypt at the time when He spoke to Ezekiel on Nisan 1 of 571 BC. The tense of "give" here is Qal-Perfect, meaning that the action has been completed. To be consistent with verse 20, the participle "giving" in verse 19 should be the continuous action starting from the past. Since the tenses of the following verbs in verse 19 are of Conjunction Perfect, their tenses should be consistent with that of the participle "giving," which is the Past Continuous Tense. Therefore, in verses 19-20, God spoke of the things that had happened before Nisan 1 of 571 BC, just as He spoke about the siege of Tyre in verse 18, which had happened.

Our correct understanding of these verses leads us to conclude that Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Egypt to completely remove the power of the escaped men of Judah should have taken place before 1 Nisan 571 BC. From the Jerusalem Chronicle, we see that Nebuchadnezzar often made campaigns in the 9^th or 10^th month and returned to Babylon in the 12^th month, and that he conducted campaigns year by year without cease. If this was the case, the earliest date for the campaign against Egypt should have been in the 9^th or 10^th month of 573 BC (since the siege of Tyre ended in the spring of 573 BC). He then returned to Babylon in the 12^th month of 573 BC (in the spring of 572 BC) after he defeated the Egyptians and consumed all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt. Because of the great victory in the land of Egypt, he boasted and then immediately lost his kingship (Daniel 4:28-33). Then the clock of the two prophetic periods: 2,520 days for Nebuchadnezzar and 2,520 years for the nation of Israel, started to tick in the spring of 572 BC. If this was the case, Nebuchadnezzar must have had the prophetic dream in the spring of 573 BC right after he ended his siege of Tyre.

If Nebuchadnezzar became insane in the spring of 572 BC, then the Babylonian campaign against Egypt in the spring of 567 BC could not have been led by Nebuchadnezzar himself because this was within the period of his insanity (from the spring of 572 BC to the spring of 565 BC). This could naturally explain why the Babylonian army was defeated in 567 BC; it was because the army was not led by Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah prophesized about the destiny of the Egyptian king Apries (Hophra) in Jeremiah 44:30, "Thus says Yehowah; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life."

This prophecy suggests that Apries should have been carried into Babylon after he was defeated in Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Egypt, just as Zedekiah king of Judah was taken into Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar did not kill Apries but imprisoned him in Babylon just as he did to Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar became proud and God punished him for his sin right after he plundered Egypt, having accomplished the mission of God, as prophesized by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:27), "Behold, I will watch over them for harm, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there is an end of them."

After Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of the palace due to his insanity, he had no control of his kingdom and his usurpers took power and administered the royal affairs. The usurpers may have released Apries and let him go back to Egypt to take his kingdom back from Amasis (the previous general of Apries). This would have led to a civil war between Amasis and Apries in Egypt that lasted for approximately two years (from 572 BC to 570 BC). After Apries was defeated by Amasis in October of 570 BC, he went back to Babylon and turned himself up in the royal court of Babylon. He then persuaded Nebuchadnezzar's usurper to conduct a campaign against Amasis in March of 567 BC. During the campaign, Amasis defeated the Babylonian army and captured Apries. Amasis allowed Apries to live for a short time, but because many Egyptians complained about keeping their enemy alive, he delivered Apries to the people, and they strangled him.

Which day did Nebuchadnezzar lose his kingship after he completely consumed all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt in the spring of 572 BC? After the author of the book kept asking God for a hint about the exact day, he realized that the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar should have happened in a special day since it was guided by God. Suddenly, Ezekiel 40:1 came to his mind. The Hebrew Nisan 10 in this verse may have been the day of Nebuchadnezzar's prophetic dream since Ezekiel received on this same day a vision about the construction of the temple of God in the far future. God first mentioned the day of Nisan 10 in Exodus 12:3, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.'" On this day, the Passover lamb was selected and kept until the 14^th day of the month for sacrifice. On this special day, our Savior, Yeshua, was declared to be the Lamb of God (John 1:35-36), and after three years he rode on a colt into Jerusalem on the same day (John 12:12-15).

We have proved that the day in Ezekiel 40:1 was on 10 Nisan 573 BC (or 9 Addaru 574 BC in the Babylonian calendar). This should have been the day that Nebuchadnezzar had his prophetic dream after the 13-year siege of Tyre. After 12 lunar months, it came to 10 Adar II 573 BC (the intercalated month), corresponding to 9 Addaru 573 BC in the Babylonian calendar and 17 March 572 BC in the Julian calendar. On this special day, the clock for both prophetic periods started to tick.

Nebuchadnezzar's prophetic dream was initially fulfilled upon himself within a short period of time according to the prophetic days. 2520 days elapsed from 17 March 572 BC to 9 February 565 BC. Nebuchadnezzar's kingship should have been restored on 9 February 565 BC. The long-term portion of this prophecy was fulfilled upon the nation of Israel. From 17 March 572 BC (JD 1512575) to 10 March 1949 (JD 2432985), there were 920,410 days = 2,520×365.24206 days = 2,520 solar years. This means that the true sovereignty (power) of the nation of Israel should have been restored on 10 March 1949.

One might notice that the Jewish state was re-established on 14 May 1948, which was about 10 months before 10 March 1949. However, the sovereignty of the nation of Israel had not yet been completely established on that day. When the re-creation of the Jewish state was declared, only a provisional government was put in place. The following day, the armies of four Arab countries Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, and Iraq, launched the 1948 Arab–Israel War (or the Israeli War of Independence). The contingents from Yemen, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan joined the war. The apparent purpose of the war was to abolish the Jewish state at inception.

After about 8 months of fighting, a ceasefire was declared, and temporary borders were established. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. The elections for the Constituent Assembly were held on 25 January 1949. On 16 February 1949, the first Knesset elected Chaim Weizmann as the first President of Israel. The first government was formed on 8 March 1949 with David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister. On 10 March 1949, the forces of Israel secured southern Negev, reaching the southern tip of Palestine, and taking it without a battle. Israel's soldiers raised a hand-made Israeli flag ("The Ink Flag") at 16:00 on 10 March 1949. The raising of the Ink Flag was the end of the war, marking the beginning of Israeli true sovereignty. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations by majority vote on 11 May 1949.

Therefore, the sovereignty (independence) of the nation of Israel was truly re-established on 10 March 1949 when the Israel's War of Independence ended. It is so amazing that exactly 2,520 solar years elapsed from 17 March 572 BC to 10 March 1949. This precisely fulfills the prophecy of "seven times" or 2,520 years appointed by God for the nation of Israel.