The chapter begins with king Nebuchadnezzar praising God, although the notes say he was not sincere and still didnt believe that He was the one and only God, yet physically he was giving Him praise. God knows our hearts, He knows what we believe deep down despite what we act like in the physical.
Nebuchadnezzar couldn't fool God like he thought he could and after some time his actions showed how he felt, when he seeked magicians, astrologers, chaldeans and soothsayers again to interpret another dream. As usual, they couldn't help him so after seeking help from them then he chose to seek Daniel's help. His actions here showed that he was still placing hope in false gods by going to them for help before Daniel, the one who God was using to represent Him.
The dream showed Nebuchadnezzar and his strength over the dominion and how great his ruling was. But then it showed him as the king, powerless, living and grazing with the beasts in the field . My NIV bible notes say that Nebuchadnezzar would go insane and become like an animal and seven times shall pass over him (7 years). Everyone will know that God is in charge and He holds the power and will give it to whomever He chooses. Nebuchadnezzar needed to lose his pride and see that God was the almighty, not Nebuchadnezzar.
Pride is a dangerous thing and we can learn from Nebuchadnezzar how harmful pride can be. We need to always remember that what we have is not because of our doing, but because of what God is doing for us. We are simply receiving and being obedient to what God is placing in front of us. If you have a great job and you worked hard for it, remember that God was the one who lined that position up for you, you are simply working with Gods plan and being a good worker and steward of what He set in place for you. Be cautious of pride and dont give it a place in your heart. Repent and Replace pride with thankfulness for what God has blessed you with. (See John 1:3). We only exist because God made us, any gifts or talents or hard work capabilities we have are only because God gave then to us which makes no basis for pride. This was some Nebuchadnezzar was going to have to learn the hard way. How blessed are we that we dont have to learn this the hard way, we can learn from Nebuchadnezzar and get rid of any pride that might be lurking.
At the end of the dream there was shown a chance of redemption for king Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom would be given back to him once he came to know that Heaven rules, God is in charge. Daniel urged the king to break off his sins of being righteous and his iniquities by showing kindness and mercy to the poor so that maybe there would be a lengthening to his prosperity.
God gave Nebuchadnezzar 12 months to change his heart but their wasn't any repentance in him so the dream was fulfilled and at the end of the time Nebuchadnezzar finally opened his heart to God.