Daniel 4 is not a story of an ancient king, but an inner drama between states of awareness. Through Neville Goddard’s Law of Assumption, Nebuchadnezzar symbolises a proud, outwardly-focused self-concept that must be broken down for true understanding to emerge.
The dream, the fall, and the restoration all take place within: they chart the movement from prideful separation to the recognition that imagination—awareness of being—is the only true ruler.
This chapter shows the inevitable collapse of any state built on forgetfulness of the I AM, and the peace that returns when consciousness reclaims its rightful dominion.
Symbolism of Daniel and Belteshazzar
In Daniel 4, Daniel is also called Belteshazzar, his Babylonian name given by the king’s officials. Symbolically, this reflects the inner wisdom or higher awareness (Daniel) operating within the framework of the external world’s language and identity (Belteshazzar).
It reminds us that the truth of imagination and conscious awareness is often veiled by outer conditioning, but ultimately it is this inner voice that guides the transformation of the self from pride to true understanding.
Daniel 4:19 – Daniel’s Silence and Sorrow
“Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him.
The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.
Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.”
Commentary:
Daniel’s stunned silence reflects the depth and inevitability of the coming fall. Imagination (Daniel) sees clearly that the ego-based state must collapse. There is no avoiding it.
Daniel’s wish that the dream be for Nebuchadnezzar’s enemies is not literal kindness, but reflects the internal resistance we often have to letting go of our grandest external identity. Neville might say this is the soul’s compassion for the self—we do not relish the fall, but it is essential.
When one first becomes aware of how entrenched they are in a false identity, it can be a shock to the system—hence Daniel’s (your inner awareness’s) moment of silence.
Daniel 4:20–22 – The Identity is Named
“The tree that thou sawest… it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong… thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.”
Commentary:
The dream is revealed plainly now: the tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself—his identity, his assumption of power and control. In Neville’s framework, this is the dominant state of being, grown large, flourishing in the outer world, but detached from its true source.
“Unto heaven” and “to the ends of the earth” means the assumption governs both high ideals and outer material conditions. But it is still rooted in external glorification, not in conscious unity with the I AM.
Neville teaches that the outer man—however grand—must be laid down, for “the old man” must die before the “new man” (awakened imagination) arises.
Daniel 4:23–25 – The Sentence is Passed
“They shall drive thee from men… and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field… till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”
Commentary:
This is the natural consequence of a false assumption. The higher self (the “watchers”) enforces a correction, not out of cruelty, but out of spiritual necessity. Neville would describe this as the moment where your world begins to reflect a misalignment between your assumption and your truth.
The king is cast down to dwell with the beasts—the reactive, unconscious levels of mind, where you no longer feel in control. You react to appearances, live in fear or confusion, and feel separated from others (“driven from men”).
But this state continues “until” a realisation happens: that consciousness alone rules. Not status, not intellect, not wealth—but the inner assumption of being. The moment that inner realisation clicks, the madness ends.
Daniel 4:26 – The Hope in the Stump
“And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”
Commentary:
Here lies a profound promise. Though the grand identity collapses, the root—the capacity to assume—is preserved. Neville teaches that imagination can never be destroyed; it can only be misused or forgotten.
This verse assures that when Nebuchadnezzar (or any of us) realises that the “heavens” (the inner world of assumption) rule, the “kingdom” (your world, your life) will be restored.
The Law of Assumption does not punish; it corrects. And once you return to awareness that your world is yourself pushed out, everything begins to shift back into alignment—restored from within.
Daniel 4:27 – A Call to Shift Assumption
“Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee… break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.”
Commentary:
Daniel (your inner knowing) offers advice: shift your state now. “Break off thy sins” doesn’t mean moral failures, but rather, in Neville’s teaching, “sin” is missing the mark—living from a false self-concept.
“Righteousness” is right thinking—assumptions that align with divine truth: I AM is the power. “Mercy to the poor” suggests a softening of the hard, self-serving ego—stop defining yourself by superiority, and see the divine in the least.
It’s an invitation to humility and alignment, which could postpone or lessen the intensity of the ego’s fall.
Daniel 4:28–30 – The Ego Speaks Again
“All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
At the end of twelve months… the king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built… by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”
Commentary:
The seed of warning was planted, but not acted upon. A full cycle (“twelve months”) passes, and the king reasserts the same assumption: “I did this. I am the cause.” This is the core delusion Neville warns about—believing the outer man is the source of his world.
“By the might of my power” is the final declaration of separation from the I AM. The ego identifies with results, forgetting the consciousness that created them. This is the last breath before collapse.
Daniel 4:31–33 – The Word Falls While It Is Spoken
“While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven…
The same hour was the thing fulfilled… he did eat grass as oxen… till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.”
Commentary:
Here, the word itself triggers the collapse. Why? Because the assumption behind it is now unsustainable. The inner law acts immediately when the soul is ripe for transformation.
Eating grass, growing wild—these symbols show a total loss of conscious control and a descent into pure reaction, instinct, and delusion. This is what Neville would call a state of forgetting your true Self—living as a beast among appearances.
But this state, however low, is a cocoon, not a grave. The extreme distortion of form (feathers, claws) hints that transformation is taking place even here—just as in a caterpillar’s messy liquefaction before rebirth.
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