“That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”
The turning point: When that period was ended, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored the one who lives forever. The turning point comes when Nebuchadnezzar lifts his eyes to heaven and his reason returns. This action and recovery suggest that the king's return to sanity involves spiritual awakening; he consciously turns his focus toward heaven (the source of judgment and truth) and by doing so recovers his mental faculties. The immediate response—blessing and praising the Most High—indicates that Nebuchadnezzar's restored reason includes transformed understanding; he has learned the lesson that the judgment was designed to teach. The movement from animal existence to human consciousness and spiritual recognition parallels a rebirth or resurrection; the king who died to his former self and identity now awakens to a new spiritual awareness. His blessing of the Most High represents the fulfillment of the prophecy's intent: Nebuchadnezzar now acknowledges what he formerly denied—that God, not he, controls his kingdom.
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