Daniel 4:19-37; The Humbling of a King

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Turn with me to Daniel, chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Keep your Bible open.

This morning we won't read the whole passage, but we'll be referring and looking at most of the passage this morning.

We have been in a series through the book of Daniel this fall and once again, just like in chapter 2, nebuchadnezzar has a bad dream.

Once again he calls in the wise men of Babylon to interpret the dream.

They either can't or they won't.

And once again he calls Daniel in to interpret the dream.

And Daniel hears the dream and he discovers that at the center of this dream is a very large tree that fills up the whole earth and it reaches to the heights of the heavens.

And it's full of birds, it's full of people, it's full of beasts who are laying under the tree for shade.

It is providing for everyone around it.

And then a voice in this dream cries out and comes down and says chop down the tree and lop off the branches.

Daniel hears this dream and our story picks up in verse 19.

So go down in your bulletin or it'll be on the screen behind me.

The story picks up in verse 19, where Daniel interprets the dream.

Follow along with me as I read.

This is God's word.

Daniel 4, 19 through 37.

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while and his thoughts alarmed him.

The king answered and said Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.

Belteshazzar answered and said my lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies.

And the tree you saw which grew and became strong so that its tops reached to the heaven and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful and its fruits abundant and in which food for all, under which beast of the field found shade and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived.

It is you, o king, who have grown and become strong.

Your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens and your dimension to the ends of the earth.

And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound a band of iron and bronze and tender grass of the field and let him be wet with the dew of heaven.

Let his portion be with the beast of the field till seven periods of time pass over him.

This is the interpretation, o king.

It is a decree of the most high which has come upon my lord, the king, that you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field.

You shall be made to eat grass like an ox and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven.

And seven periods of time shall pass over you till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know heaven rules.

Therefore, o king, let my counsel be acceptable to you Break off your sins by practicing righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.

And this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

And at the end of 12 months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.

And the king answered and said is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence for the glory of my majesty?

And while the words were still on the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven O, king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, the kingdom has departed from you and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you until you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

And immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar.

He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds' claws.

At the end of the days, I, nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him, who lives forever.

And my reason returned to me, to his will, among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him what have you done?

At the same time, my reason returned to me and, for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me.

My counselors and my Lord sought me and I was established in my, my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.

And now I, nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven for all.

His works are right and his ways are just, and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

The grass withers, the flowers fade.

The word of God stands forever.

Let's pray and let's ask the Lord to come through his spirit and to help us with this passage.

Let's pray together.

Father, we do ask for you to come.

This is a challenging passage for us, and so would you come and put this word in our hearts, would you pierce us with it, but at the same time, would you lift us up?

Would you show us the glory of the gospel, the glory of what Jesus has done?

Would you help us in Jesus' name, amen.

The night was a late night in February 1964, and the champ Sonny Liston was having a brutal night as the heavyweight champion of the world.

His opponent on this particular night was 22-year-old Cassius Clay, better known to us as Muhammad Ali.

Clay was actually a 7-to-1 underdog in the fight, and Liston went into the fight very confident that he was not going to lose.

But as the bell rang for the seventh round.

Liston did not budge from his stool and Muhammad Ali became that night the heavyweight champion of the world.

We might not remember all of those details, but even if you weren't born during that time, you have most likely everyone has seen the footage as Liston was being counted out.

You remember Muhammad Ali was running around the ring and he looks into the camera and he says what?

I am the greatest, I am the greatest thing that has ever lived, I am the king of the world.

And in Daniel, chapter 4, we have something very similar, except it's way bigger than boxing.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Because you see, nebuchadnezzar, humanly speaking, truly was in the ancient Near East during this time.

He was the king of the world and in the ancient Near East everyone would have looked at him and said he's the goat, he's the greatest of all time.

And yet in this he's the greatest of all time.

And yet in this passage, the greatest of all time loses everything.

Nebuchadnezzar, you see, he had destroyed Israel, he had taken their king, he had taken their homeland, their capital, and taken down the temple.

And it appeared, particularly to Israel God's people, that in the world around them that not only did Israel's rulers get defeated, but it appeared that Israel's God had been conquered as well.

And God in this passage says not so fast, not so fast.

You see, we're tempted, aren't we?

As we look around the world and we look at our lives, it looks as if something or someone else is king of the world.

And yet in this passage we have this constant refrain it's like a voiceover that speaks over King Nebuchadnezzar's pride and arrogance, and you see it in verse 17, 25, and 32.

Please look at those verses.

You see it over and over this voiceover.

The most high rules over the kingdoms of men, and he gives it to whom he will of men, and he gives it to whom he will.

Here's the main idea of this passage this morning.

Only God is great.

Only God is great.

You see, while Daniel might be the primary human character of the story, the main character of every story in the Bible is God.

He is the primary character in the book of Daniel.

He's the focus of this passage this morning.

Three things, if you're a note taker.

First of all, god desires humility.

Secondly, god breaks pride.

Lastly, god brings restoration.

God desires humility.

God breaks pride, god brings restoration.

God desires humility.

God breaks pride, god brings restoration.

We'll take those in turn this morning.

Number one God desires humility.

You see this a lot in the scriptures, but a lot of time the Bible will make a point by creating a contrast for us.

That's what's happening here.

You have a contrast between the arrogance and pride of King Nebuchadnezzar with the humility of Daniel.

Look at verse 19 and following with me, did you notice?

He gets the dream.

This is stunning to me.

Actually, this is maybe the most stunning thing of the passage to me.

He gets the dream and it says he's dismayed and alarmed and then he says look at it, my Lord.

I hope this dream's for somebody else.

I hope it's not for you.

Why?

Well, because he knew the tree was Nebuchadnezzar and he knew Daniel knew that this meant the judgment of God.

Think Daniel is not cheering.

I think I would have, if I'm honest.

Daniel's not cheering in judgment.

He's not throwing up his hands and going yes, you're finally getting what you deserve, which would have been appropriate because Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed his homeland and ruined his life.

There's no vengeance or gloating here, only compassion and love and concern.

It seems that Daniel, believe it or not, has come to love the king.

How is that possible?

Well, we don't know for sure.

How is that possible?

Well, we don't know for sure, but maybe he took Jeremiah seriously in Jeremiah 29.

Remember that when Jeremiah tells the exiles when you go into Babylon, seek the welfare of the city and pray for the welfare of the city.

See, it's really hard to hate people that you pray for city.

See, it's really hard to hate people that you pray for.

It's hard to hate people that you pray for on a regular basis, which means that part of us living faithfully in an unbelieving, secular world is that we, on a regular basis, pray for our community and our government leaders places.

Pray for our community and our government leaders.

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that the purpose of this chopping down is so that Nebuchadnezzar would acknowledge God, that he would turn his eyes from down here, that he would look up and says God, you're the king and you do what you please.

Nebuchadnezzar doesn't heed the warning, he doesn't humble himself.

A year later, he's on his rooftop looking down over Babylon and feeling very godlike.

And look at verse 30 with me.

It's not this great Babylon, look at this, which I have built by my power and this is for my glory and my majesty.

Listen, babylon was great indeed, and much of that was due to Nebuchadnezzar.

He had lots of gifts and abilities, he had lots of wealth, he was an accomplished builder, he had built Babylon and it had in it was two of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

But he had lost sight of the fact that he could only do those things as God gave him the ability and power to do them.

His power and success led him to pride and blinded him.

Look at verse 4 with me in your Bible Notice, and it's very intentional.

Verse 4 says the king was what At ease and prospering, and that sets up the entire passage.

It's the setup for the king's pride.

It shows us the foundation of the king's pride.

It's why the Bible consistently warns us of prosperity, not because it's bad, but because prosperity often blinds us and leads us to pride.

And God hates pride.

Remember the seven deadly sins.

What's number one?

Pride.

God opposes the proud we see it all through the Bible and he gives grace to the humble.

He loves humility.

Why does God hate pride and desire humility?

Well, because pride in your pride you forget who you are.

Pride places you at the center of your universe.

It places us at the center of our world.

A prideful person looks at the good things in their life and says think about verse 30, I've done this.

It's my power and it is my glory.

I did this by my abilities.

I worked harder.

I'm smarter.

Therefore I deserve this.

I owe the good things I am owed, the good things that are coming to me.

Pride is also entitled.

When good things happen, we say it's about time, and when bad things happen, pride says why them and not me?

And humility is the complete opposite.

Humility looks up.

Humility sees all of life, every single thing, as a gift from God.

You see, humility realizes that we didn't choose our gender.

You didn't choose your gender.

You didn't choose the parents you were born to.

You didn't choose the time and place that you were born.

You didn't choose your intellectual capacity.

We could go on and on.

We have very little control, don't we?

Everything is a gift and humility sees that, and it's why one of the ways we fight against pride in our lives is through generosity and giving.

We fight against pride through gratitude and through coming to weekly worship, because when we come to worship, it restores our sanity.

It reminds us, when we walk through these doors, that only God is great.

It reminds us of who we are, that all of life is a gift.

And so, question, application question how are you living?

Are you living in a way that acts like everything is a gift and your eyes are up?

Or do you act like Nebuchadnezzar and you say I have done this, I have earned this?

Secondly, god breaks pride.

This passage seems to indicate, when you read it and you hopefully picked up on this as we were going through it, but God would have preferred it seems that Nebuchadnezzar actually humble himself.

Did you pick up on that?

He gives him this dream and tells him here's the heads up.

Judgment is coming.

You need to change Verse 27,.

Look at that with me.

In God's grace and mercy and patience he gives the king through Daniel says repent and I might even lengthen your prosperity.

And not only that.

Did you notice the patience of God giving him a year to come to repentance?

And I point that out because I think it's easy in a passage like this to jump immediately to the judgment, to jump immediately to how harsh God is.

But I want you to notice the slowness and the mercy and the grace of God.

It's who God is.

And he essentially gives Nebuchadnezzar two options, doesn't he?

Option one you can volunteer, you can humble yourself.

1 Peter, chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Humble yourself.

Under God's mighty hand you can fight against pride, you can repent of pride because of my goodness, you can acknowledge that all of life is a gift and if you're successful it's because I have given you that success.

That's one path.

Successful it's because I have given you that success.

That's one path.

Option one or second option I will draft you, I will do it for you, and God, in his mercy and grace, can cause you to learn the lesson in a much more difficult way the way of pain and suffering.

Why?

Well, because you see, god wants more from us.

He wants more from Nebuchadnezzar and for us than ease and prosperity.

God wants our hearts.

He wants us to be conformed into His image.

He wants us to walk humbly before Him in gratitude and humility.

And unfortunately, it takes oftentimes, doesn't it?

It takes option two to get our attention.

It took option two and again, oftentimes, sadly, it takes us, and for us, it takes option two for us to see clearly.

John Elias was an 18th century Welsh evangelist and he used this very vivid illustration to describe Nebuchadnezzar.

And he talks about the blacksmith in his town who got a new dog, and the new dog would just go crazy and bark fearlessly and uncontrollably as the blacksmith took his hammer and just hammered on the metal horseshoe all day long in rhythm.

The dog could not stand it and he said a couple of weeks later he walked by, looked in on the blacksmith and noticed that the dog was no longer barking.

But instead he looked and saw that the dog was sitting asleep by the fire, all while the blacksmith continued to hammer and beat away at the metal horseshoe.

You see it, the dog no longer heard the hammering.

That's what happens to us, isn't it?

That's what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

We grow, or can grow, so accustomed to the hammering of the word of God that it goes in one ear and out the other.

We can hear but not heed.

And that's been Nebuchadnezzar's story.

Remember Daniel, chapter 2?

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

God says my kingdom's coming.

Nebuchadnezzar, your kingdom is going.

And Nebuchadnezzar didn't hear that.

Because he walks out in verse 30 onto the roof of his palace and he says my kingdom, and he scoffs at God and he ignores God.

Friends, god will not be mocked, and we see that in verse 31.

Interesting verse.

Even as the thoughts are forming in his head, the words are still on his lips.

The voice from heaven comes and Nebuchadnezzar loses his reason.

Friends, we do not want God to give us over.

That's what happens here.

God gives him over to sin and he becomes like a beast.

God gives Nebuchadnezzar what he wants and the goat, the greatest of all time in the ancient world, is reduced to roaming in the fields like an animal.

Nebuchadnezzar, friends, is a picture of what sin does to us.

It's a picture of what pride specifically does to us.

And what does it do?

It dehumanizes us.

How so?

Well, pride makes you think that you're in control, and when you think you're in control, you're often angry, anxious and afraid.

Pride stunts your growth as a person, keeps you from coming all that God's created you to be.

Why?

Because pride keeps you from being corrected.

You're unable to receive correction.

Pride hurts your relationships Because you're unable to empathize with another person, because you have made life all about you and you're consumed with self.

Think about the worst and most vicious and violent crimes that you know of.

Where did they start?

They started with pride.

Someone acting godlike leads them to a beast-like human behavior.

Two applications as we close this point One personal one for our context and a little broader.

First of all, a personal application.

Do you see, daniel is the kindness of God to Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel spoke with truth.

He spoke with love and courage and clarity into the king's life.

It is a huge gift in your life and mine when someone brings you a Daniel.

It is the kindness of God when there is a severe word that comes to you.

And so the question is where might God be confronting your pride this morning?

He does it in all sorts of ways.

He does it through his word and through preaching, and through devotions, and through song and singing.

He does it through Daniels.

He does it through friends in your life.

He does it through difficult circumstances.

The question is are you listening?

Do you recognize the Daniels in your life?

Do you recognize the things that are telling you that you're not in charge?

When you hear them, heed, because you see, humbling yourself before God is a much better way and it leads to you being more fully human.

And it leads to you being more fully human.

Second application, more for our current context, this passage, again, over and over, only God is great.

One thing we have seen very clearly in this passage is that King Nebuchadnezzar is in the palm of God's hand and God is directing him wherever he wills.

Because why?

God sets up kings and he takes them down.

And I think that is a good application for us in our context of an election season, because it forces us to ask the question which king are we trusting?

Because it forces us to ask the question which king are we trusting?

If your mind is gripped by fear, if your mind is gripped by hopelessness, restlessness and despair as you watch the politics of our world, you are probably trusting in the wrong king, not the one who takes kings up and who chops them down.

And likewise, if you are resting your hopes that you will get or lose everything if a certain person gets elected, you're probably trusting in the wrong king.

Friends Daniel's political party wasn't in.

Friends Daniel's political party wasn't in.

And he's the most stable, settled and secure person in Babylon.

Why?

Because he knew who was in charge.

He knew who ruled the world, he knew who held the kings in the palm of his hand, and it was God.

Lastly, god brings restoration.

Look at verses 34 and 35.

He continues in this beast-like condition until what His eyes go from down here to up, and when he lifts his eyes up and acknowledges that God is the true king.

And when he lifts his eyes up and acknowledges that God is the true king, his sanity is restored and it shows us pride is madness and insanity and humility is sanity and human.

You see, the one who thought he was the goat bows down before God, the true king, and some of us.

Maybe you've been reading this your whole life, but I want you to stop there just for a second.

Don't miss this.

I want you to think whoever this is for you in world history, but think about the most arrogant, brash, violent, powerful ruler or dictator in the world, whoever that is for you.

This would be the equivalent.

That's what we see here with Nebuchadnezzar.

Think about whoever that person is in your mind, falls down, sings a hymn, throws their hands up and says God, you're the true king.

It would have been stunning.

This was stunning.

Do you know something?

Even more stunning Is God's grace in this passage.

Did you pick up on 36 and 37?

Remember verse 15?

He says allow the stump and the roots to stay.

Stay, which is a sign of hope that maybe this was not a final cutting off of king nebuchadnezzar and it was not because his kingdom was restored after he acknowledged that god rules.

That's what we see happen.

His glory is returned and didn't you pick up on this?

With even more greatness added to him.

Except now he handled and held that power very differently.

He acknowledged God as the king.

And he says God, the true God, is able to humble the proud.

It is an amazing story.

Nebuchadnezzar was arrogant and violent.

He ignored God.

Think about it.

He was a murderer.

He worshipped idols, he was an enemy of God's people.

And yet God changed him.

God restored and redeemed him.

Yes, it took some time.

In this passage it's some time.

In this passage it's 32 years since Nebuchadnezzar first heard testimony about God from Daniel.

But God breaks through, god transformed him.

And I say that, and I point that out because I don't know your story this morning.

Because I don't know your story this morning, Maybe you feel hopeless and feel like God cannot change me.

You don't know my story, I don't know your story.

But here's what I do know that if God can restore this guy, this king, he can sure restore you.

God, friends, is in the business of breaking the strongest of self-wills.

This God is in the business of softening the hardest of hearts and taking the biggest failures in your life and turning them around and restoring and transforming you.

That's what God does, and so, no matter how great your sin, how hard your heart might be for you, or maybe it's a family member, a friend or a child don't give up.

This passage clearly teaches us there is hope for everyone.

How is this possible?

I mean, how can God be this gracious and this merciful and restore and restore Nebuchadnezzar and restore us?

Well, we know, because centuries later, after this, he came, he took on flesh and came in the person of Jesus Christ, the greater Daniel, where he would take all the punishment for our sin and for our pride and our arrogance.

Remember Philippians, chapter 2, verses 6 and 8.

Philippians 2:6

Just listen to this Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing.

Taking the form of a servant born in the likeness of men, humbled himself.

Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Did you hear that Jesus, god in the flesh, who had every reason to be proud?

He was truly the greatest of all time, and he gives it up, he gives up his glory and he humbles himself to the point of death.

Why he willingly does that.

Why?

Because of his deep love for you, he died in your place so that you can live.

You see, the cross, friends, eats away at our pride.

The cross humbles us.

That's why we need to stare at the cross, because it reminds us of two things.

One, that you and I are so bad that someone had to die for us, but, at the same time, the cross says you are so loved that Jesus was glad to die for us.

That's the gospel.

I'll close with this.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia died in 2016.

His son actually did the funeral and the eulogy, and he begins with these words as he began the funeral for Scalia.

He says we're gathered here because of one man, a man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to many more.

A man loved by many, known only by reputation to many more.

A man loved by many, scorned by others.

A man known for great controversy and for great compassion.

And then he paused and he looks up and he says that man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.

Only God is great.

Lift up your eyes.

Jesus is the true king.

Only Jesus has the power to destroy your pride.

Only Jesus has the power to produce humility and restore your humanity.

And so now may we come and bow before him as we come to his table.

Amen, let's pray, father, thank you that you had every reason to be prideful, but you humbled yourself and you came down so that we might live, and we say thank you.

Would you forgive us for our pride and the ways we place ourselves above you and the ways we take credit for good gifts that you've given us and Holy Spirit?

Lastly, would you make us humble people, make us people that hold open hands, make us people that are grateful, knowing that all of life is a gift.

It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.