Proud King Nebuchadnezzar Eats Grass Bible story for kids

This part of the Bible begins just like a letter. "Peace be multiplied to you."

And the letter comes from King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the most powerful king in the world.

He was writing to "all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth." Everybody! He wanted the whole world to hear about "the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me." Even the part where God brought him very low.

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace."

A big palace. A soft bed. Not a worry in the world. And then, one night, a dream that made him afraid.

He called all the wise men of Babylon, and this time he told them the whole dream himself. But not one of them could tell him what it meant.

"At the last," the Bible says, Daniel came in. Grown-up Daniel, in charge of the king's wise men by now. And the king told him the dream.

He had seen a tree in the middle of the earth. It grew and grew until it reached the sky, and you could see it from the ends of the world. Its leaves were beautiful, and it had food for everyone. The animals of the field rested in its shade, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches.

Then a holy one came down from the sky and called out, "Cut down the tree!"

"Let the animals get away from under it," he said, "and the fowls from its branches."

But then the holy one said something else. "Leave the stump of its roots in the earth." Leave it with a band of iron and brass around it, like a strong belt. Leave it "in the tender grass of the field," wet with the dew of the sky.

The tree would come down. But the stump would stay. Remember the stump, little one. It matters.

Daniel listened. And for a while, he couldn't say a word. His thoughts troubled him.

And the great king saw Daniel upset, and comforted him. "Don't let the dream, or the interpretation, trouble you."

Daniel cared about this king. "My lord," he began, and he wished out loud that the dream were about somebody else.

But it wasn't. And Daniel told the truth. "It is you, O king."

You are the great tree, Daniel said. But for a while you will live out in the fields with the animals. You will eat grass like the oxen, and be wet with the dew of the sky. Seven times will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules.

And the stump? The stump meant this: "Your kingdom shall be sure to you." When it was over, he would have his kingdom back.

Then Daniel said something brave. Most people would never dare tell a king what to do. But Daniel did, kindly. Stop doing wrong, he said. Do what is right. Show mercy to the poor. And maybe your peaceful days will last longer.

Then twelve months went by. We don't know what the king did with Daniel's advice. The Bible doesn't say. But I notice that God waited. A whole year of mornings.

One day, the king was walking in his royal palace. Maybe he stood somewhere high, where he could see the whole city spread out below him.

And the king said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?"

I built it. By my power.

And the Bible says, "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from the sky."

"O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you."

And that very same hour, everything God had said came true.

So for a while, the king didn't think like a king anymore, or like a man. And he was sent away to live out in the fields.

He lived with the animals of the field, and ate grass like the oxen. His body was wet with the dew of the sky. His hair grew long, like eagles' feathers, and his nails grew like birds' claws.

Seven times passed over him. We don't know exactly how long that was.

But remember the stump, little one. It was still there. God had said the king's kingdom would be kept for him.

And then, at the end of the days, something changed. Here it is, in his own words.

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High."

He looked up. And his understanding came back.

I wonder what he saw when he looked up. Maybe a wide blue sky. Maybe the sky had never looked so big.

And he praised God. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation."

Then his counselors and his lords came looking for him. He was given his kingdom back, just as God had promised, and "excellent greatness was added" to him. More than before!

So that is the king's letter. The biggest king in the world found out there was a bigger King. And everything good he had — his palace, his city, his crown — had been a gift all along. So he ends his letter by praising and honoring "the King of heaven."

God told him ahead of time. God waited. God brought the proud king low, until he knew who really rules. God kept the stump. And God gave it all back.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Dream well, little one. May the same God who kept one small stump safe in the tender grass, wet with the dew of the sky, all through that long while... keep you rooted deep in His love, in every kind of weather.