“He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:”
The command continues: This is the decree by the watchers, the decision by the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of people and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of people. The watcher explicitly states the judgment's theological purpose: to make people know that God controls kingdoms and their rulers. The message is that the Most High (God) rules absolutely; human rulers like Nebuchadnezzar are merely His instruments. The phrase sets over it the lowliest of people suggests that God determines rulers based on His purposes, not on human merit or ambition. For Nebuchadnezzar, this decree announces that his kingship is conditional and that God reserves the right to remove his dominion. The formal judicial language (decree by the watchers, the decision by the holy ones) establishes the judgment as binding and inescapable; no human authority can appeal or resist.
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