Daniel Chapter 4 Verse 17

17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men.’

Notice the plural ‘watchers’ and ‘holy ones’ here.

Although one is mentioned in verse 13, there are apparently more than one involved in this decree.

The watcher continues the decree, and gives the reason behind it.

The decree was so that “the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men.”

That is, the purpose of this decree was to make clear one of the principle themes of this book – the absolute sovereignty of God.

The term ‘lowliest of men’ in verse 17 is interesting from several perspectives.

God chooses who will wear the crown and often he has chosen those who are humble and of low social standing.

Job 5:11 he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

1 Samuel 2:7-8 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord'S, and on them he has set the world.

Luke 1:51-53 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

But this term also has a particular application to the history of Nebuchadnezzar (as we mentioned in the introduction).

The lowly origin of Nebuchadnezzar’s family was otherwise unknown until an inscription made by his father Nabopolassar was found in which he was referred to as “the son of a nobody” (of non-royal birth), “insignificant,” “not visible,” “the weak,” and “the feeble.”

This kind of knowledge (the lowly origin of Babylon’s greatest king) would have quickly been forgotten – but the author of Daniel knew about it.

The decrees of the Babylonian kings in Daniel are remarkably similar to those found inscribed on ancient monuments. How would a Jewish writer produce such an accurate record 400 years after the fact?

Please visit ThyWordIsTruth.com for free audio lessons on Revelation, for a unique daily Bible reading calendar, to read about God's plan of salvation, to read the answers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.