Daniel 4

Well, good morning.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, as we look at your word now,

Lord, we are reminded of what a precious gift your word is.

That you have given to us, Lord,

a written revelation of who you are.

That you have written down to us, for us.

Lord, these words that tell us about who you are,

what kind of God you are in this world,

and what it means that we live in a God that is ruled and reigned over by you.

God, I pray this morning that we would be those who tremble at your word.

Because we tremble at you as we see your greatness.

Your majesty, your beauty.

Lord, your honor and glory.

Your grace and mercy.

Lord, as we see all these things in you, we pray.

We pray that you will help us to have hearts that respond rightly to you.

God, be with me, I pray this morning.

Use me, Lord, to make clear your word.

And through my words, that we might all know you better.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, many of you know that I'm a Lord of the Rings fan.

If you don't, you will by the end of the introduction.

Lord of the Rings is perhaps one of the greatest pieces of literature in the 20th century.

It is one of the most powerfully written pictures of much truth in the world.

And right at the heart of it is the ring.

The ring of power.

Or this little trinket that the enemy so dearly desires that drives the whole plot line of the story.

The ring is, for everyone who comes close to it, a temptation.

Because in it there is power.

And that power that is to be used is a power to control.

Think about the different characters.

Gandalf, the wizard who has come to aid this great rescue or this great battle of light against darkness, of good against evil.

When offered, the ring says, no, don't give it to me.

It would be too much.

The power would be too great and I could not use it only for good.

Boromir, the valiant soldier from Gondor.

Who sees the ring and as the movie.

It is a gift.

Sees it as a weapon.

May we not use the weapon of the enemy against himself.

Not knowing its danger.

And so he seeks to grab the ring and use it for his own power and own control.

The elf lady, Galadriel.

In the land of Lothlorien, Frodo offers the ring to her and says,

I would give it to you.

She says, long have I desired this that you now ask.

And have seen the danger that I would take it by force.

But now you offer it me freely.

And if you gave it to me, I would become a great queen.

I would rule and be mighty and terrible.

And all would bow down and worship me.

And I would do create a great kingdom.

Boromir's brother Faramir later in the story finds out that this little hobbit, Frodo, in his captivity bears the ring of power.

The thing that his father most desires.

Faramir says, no, I could not use it.

Though we stand on the edge of darkness and feel like we will lose this battle,

we could not use this thing to try to win a kingdom for ourselves.

Even Sam Gamgee, the faithful, loyal servant, who in a moment of great heroism takes the ring to try to accomplish the mission for which his master,

whom he thinks has died,

to continue on with that,

he feels the pull.

He sees himself, he envisions himself as this great warrior

to overthrow the kingdoms of the enemy and to build up his great kingdom instead.

In all of these,

in all of these,

the ring holds forth this temptation.

Take hold of this power to build your kingdom on your own terms,

to do your own thing.

You will be the sovereign ruler over all.

And yet,

Tolkien,

in all of his wisdom and steeped deeply in the Christian story and in the Christian theology,

says,

this is a power that is evil.

This is not a good power.

To take control of the world,

to make our own kingdoms.

Even in the characters who are good and would use power for good,

see the danger

and resist it.

Friends,

this morning,

I wonder

if in your life,

you have felt that power

and the pull.

If you felt that pull

to take hold of that power of its temptation

to be the master of your own life,

to build your own life,

to build your own kingdom

where you have sway over it all

and to rule over all.

Maybe you think that's far too grandiose

for your life.

Maybe you think,

no,

I don't really think about those things.

But as I was considering my own life in light of this,

I thought of a few things.

I thought of the frustration that boils up in my heart

when my kids' shoes are again strewn across the kitchen floor

and not in the cubbyhole where they were supposed to go.

And the door,

this green door,

left open again,

again.

And you think,

why can't they just

do what I want them to do

to make our life a little more orderly

and a little more clean?

And I see in myself this desire to control,

this desire to have power

to make this kingdom convenient and easy

for me in the ways that I want it to.

I see it

when I have this impulse

that wells up in my heart

to give someone unsolicited advice.

Oh, you could probably do it this way.

Don't you think this?

My brother and sister-in-law

actually have outlawed,

don't you think,

as a sentence from their marriage.

Because if you think about it,

what it is is saying,

don't you think that I'm right

and you ought to do

what I'm about to suggest you to do?

That's what it means.

And so often I find myself

just welling up in my heart.

Don't you think you could do it this way

so that the world would be a better place

according to me?

I see it in my own heart

when even when I don't say anything

and even when I don't do anything,

in my own mind,

I look at someone

and I look at their actions

and the shape of their life

and their words

and I dismiss them

and I look down on them

and I think to myself,

gosh, I'm glad

that I don't have to deal

with that person

on a more regular basis.

Because I know what's right

and they're wrong.

when I see these impulses

welling up in my heart,

I see that I have a desire

to build a kingdom

where I am the one

who sits on the throne.

I have the power

to determine

what is right and wrong.

I have the power

to control what happens

and doesn't happen

in my little kingdom.

And even if my desires are good,

even if I want my kingdom

to bless the world,

to bless my children

with a happy and neat home,

to bless my friends

with a better way to live,

to bless our city

with a better church,

even if my desires

are those things,

still, if I am at the pinnacle,

I too have felt

the same pull of the ring

that the characters did.

Friends, this is not

a new temptation in the world.

In fact, one of the most

powerful places we see it

is when Jesus Christ

walked the earth.

As he came into his adulthood,

as he came into his ministry,

right after his baptism,

he went out into the wilderness.

And do you remember

what happened there?

The tempter came.

And the tempter came

and said,

don't you think,

don't you think

that you can gain

what you most want

some other way?

If you will just submit to me,

if you will just test God

rather than trusting him,

if you will just

give your power over,

I will give you

everything you want.

I will give you

the kingdoms of the world

is the last part of it.

without the cross,

without the thing

that is yet to come.

This temptation

has been going on

for hundreds

and thousands of years

for us

to want to build

our own kingdoms.

It is in fact

embedded in the very core

of the Bible story

going back to Genesis

when in this garden

where God

in his ruling

and reigning

and caring for his people

had done everything

for them.

And yet when the insidious

words came in,

maybe you can be like him.

Maybe you can be out

from under his rule

and rule on your own.

Make your own decisions.

Make your own choices.

Adam and Eve said,

I will do that.

I will choose that power.

I will make my own kingdom

rather than living in God's.

What does God think of us?

What does God think of us?

How does he want us

to think of him

and to respond to him

as we think about

the kingdoms of this world

and the kingdoms

of our lives?

Well, this brings us

to our story,

to our passage

in Daniel today.

We're in the book of Daniel.

If you haven't been coming,

we're doing a series

through the book of Daniel.

We've already looked

at chapters one through three.

We're looking at

chapter four today.

And in this story,

we are going to see

how God works

in a particular circumstance

with the king of Babylon.

Has lots of things

to teach us.

I'm going to take

a slightly different approach

rather than reading

the whole chapter.

I'm going to retell

the first half

because it's a long chapter.

There's some repetition.

And I'm going to retell

the first half of the story

with a little bit

of commentary

just to get us into it.

But I encourage you

to turn there.

What's the page number?

I forgot to look.

740.

Yeah, that'll get you

close enough.

740.

Because we're going to look

at a few verses

explicitly

just to get us

through the passage.

But we're going to look

at the first 28 verses.

Rather than reading them,

I'm just going to talk through.

But let's start

and look together

at Daniel 4 verse 1.

Daniel 4:1

Let me read

verses 1 through 3

to set the stage for this.

King Nebuchadnezzar,

who is the king of Babylon,

this new power

that has risen

and now is ruling

over all of Mesopotamia,

King Nebuchadnezzar,

to all peoples,

nations,

and languages

that dwell

in all the earth,

peace be multiplied

to you.

It has seemed good

to me

to show the signs

and wonders

that the Most High God

has done for me.

How great

are His signs,

how mighty

His wonders.

His kingdom

is an everlasting kingdom

and His dominion

endures

from generation

generation

to generation.

We come to this place

and this is how

the chapter begins

and it's an interesting start

because most of the time

stories begin,

if you look back

at chapters 1, 2, and 3,

stories begin

with a little bit

of a setting

and then there's a problem

that builds

and it's building

towards some kind

of resolution

that we get later

in the story.

But interestingly,

here,

the end of the story

is right up front.

Nebuchadnezzar says,

this is what I want

to tell you.

I want to tell you

about this God

and how great

He is.

Which is a striking thing

because what we've already

learned about Nebuchadnezzar

is that

He has

built for Himself

a great kingdom.

In chapters 1, 2, and 3,

what we've seen

is

that this great kingdom

of Babylon

has come

even to Jerusalem,

even to the place

where God's people live

and He has shown

His power

in such a way

that He has taken

Daniel and His friends

off to captivity

in Babylon

and He is in the process

of assimilating them

into His culture.

He shows no sign

of releasing His power

or giving up

any of His sovereignty.

In fact,

what we saw

in chapter 3

is that

as He erected

this huge statue

that people

would bow down

in homage

to Him

to unify

and to strengthen

His rule

and His sovereignty

over His kingdom,

those who didn't

respond to that

would be killed

and would be killed

violently

and demonstrably

in a fire.

And it says

that Nebuchadnezzar,

his response

to those

who didn't

respect His authority

was anger,

deep anger

that He was not

being recognized

as their sovereign.

And so it's

in this context

then you get

to the beginning

of chapter 4

and suddenly,

not suddenly

because you see

a hint of it

at the end

of chapter 3

but you see

a strong,

Nebuchadnezzar

is saying,

look,

the God most high

is a great God

above all gods.

and you just,

and it begs

the question,

Nebuchadnezzar,

how did you

get there?

How is this

the thing

that you most

want to know?

It almost seems

like this is

a royal decree

that's being put forth.

The king puts forth

a decree

to his whole kingdom,

this is what's true

about the most high.

And then it begs

the question,

how did you get there?

And so this is

what the next section

tells us about.

The next section

which we're not

going to read

but I'm going to

summarize for you

is Nebuchadnezzar

basically saying,

I was at ease

and prosperity

in my kingdom.

I was doing great.

It seemed like

we were at the top

of the world

and there was nothing

that could stop us,

nothing that could

spoil our happy kingdom.

But then I had a vision

and this vision

disturbed me

and it disturbed

my sovereign peace

that I was living in

and this contentment

that I had.

And this vision

was of a tree

and the tree grew

and it spread

its branches

until it spread

up to heaven

and covered

all of the earth

and in the tree

all the birds

and animals

came and found refuge

and found provision.

And so it was a picture

of a great flourishing

of this tree

and all who came

under its rule.

but then

into this vision

came a watcher

and the watcher

stepped in

and the watcher said

cut down the tree.

Cut down the tree,

clip off its branches,

scatter those beings

that were finding

provision and safety

under this tree.

Scatter them

to the ends

of the earth.

Take it down

to a stump.

Bind the stump

up

so that it won't

be

so that it won't

be killed

completely.

Look with me

in verse 12

for a minute.

Right?

This is the picture

of the tree.

Its leaves were beautiful

and its fruit abundant

and in it

was food for all.

The beasts

of the field

found shade

under it

and the birds

of the heaven

lived in its branches

and all flesh

was fed from it.

But then the watcher

came

and it says

interestingly

it says

after this tree

is cut down

and it's bound up

do you see

how the

the pronouns

change?

It's fascinating.

This is such

cool language.

Look with me

for a sec.

Verse 14

right?

It's strip off

its branches

scatter its fruit

but then you get

down to verse 15.

Leave the stump

of its roots

and the earth

bound with a band

of iron and bronze

among the tender

grass of the field.

Let him

be wet

with the dew

of heaven.

Let his portion

be with the beasts

and the grass

of the earth.

He goes on

and basically says

let

whatever this tree

was

now it becomes

a him

and let him

not be a person

but let him

experience life

as if he were

a beast.

He's going to

run around

and eat grass.

To experience

the dew of the heaven

means you have

no shelter.

It means you're

sleeping out

on the ground

and when you

wake up in the

morning you are

wet

because you have

no shelter

over your head.

So this is the

vision

that Daniel

has

and as you

might imagine

he's disturbed

by it.

What does this

mean?

What is this

all about?

And so

what he does

is he calls

his magicians

as typically

he does

says hey

what does

this mean?

And typically

as what we've

seen in Daniel

they don't know.

I don't know

what good

they were

but his

magicians

didn't seem

to be able

to come

through in

the pinch

when the

things were

really important

so he called

on Daniel

because Daniel

has been helpful

before

and Daniel

comes in

this is where

we are

in verse 19

and following

Daniel

comes in

to tell him

to tell him

more about

the dream

before we

keep going

I want to

say one more

thing

verse 17

look with me

again

because it

gives the

purpose

it actually

says there's

a purpose

for this

dream

verse 17

the sentence

is by the

decree of the

watchers

the decision

of the word

of the holy

ones

to the end

that the

living may

know

that the

most high

rules the

kingdoms of

men

and gives

it to whom

he will

and sets

over it

the lowliest

of men

it's kind

of fun

when you get

the punchline

of the story

that clearly

it says

this is

so Nebuchadnezzar

is saying

what is the

meaning of this

it's fascinating

because it says

right here

this is the

meaning of it

here's the

vision

but the

magicians

they don't

know

or maybe

they were

too scared

to say

it

maybe

they actually

knew

exactly

what this

was about

and they

were playing

dumb

because they

weren't going

to be ones

to say

what Daniel

said to him

because Daniel

comes

and Daniel

has great

he hears

it and he

trembles

he knows

what it

means

and his

first response

is he's

fearful

not for

himself

I don't

believe

but he's

fearful

for

Nebuchadnezzar

there's

actually

a kind

of

kindness

that

Daniel

shows

in saying

do you

really want

to know

what this

means

because it's

not a good

message

for you

and then

his second

response

is

actually

can I

just say

that I

wish this

were really

about your

enemies

I really

wish this

were about

someone else

and not

you

but then

in verse

22

it is

you

oh king

who have

grown

and become

strong

your greatness

has grown

and reaches

to heaven

and your

dominion

to the

ends

of the

earth

verse 22

but then

in verse

25

you will

suffer

humiliation

until you

know

that the

most high

rules

the kingdoms

of men

and gives

it to

whom he

will

your

kingdom

shall be

confirmed

for you

from the

time

that you

know

that heaven

rules

Daniel's

final word

in this

story

is in

verse 27

he encourages

Nebuchadnezzar

to respond

to this

vision

therefore

oh 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

so now

we know

the vision

and now

we know

what its

meaning

is

it's a

proclamation

of judgment

that's going

to come

on

Nebuchadnezzar

with an

offer

to respond

now

with repentance

to rule

his kingdom

in a way

that would

show something

different

that would

show that

he knows

that there

is a king

most high

who rules

over Nebuchadnezzar

and his

kingdom

and so he

would show

mercy

and show

kindness

to the

oppressed

and so

we pick

up the

narrative

in verse

28

as we

find out

how

Nebuchadnezzar

responds

to all

this

all this

came upon

king

Nebuchadnezzar

at the

end of

twelve

months

he was

walking

on the

roof

of the

royal

palace

of

Babylon

and the

king

answered

and says

is not

this

great

Babylon

which

I

have

built

by my

mighty

power

as a

royal

residence

and for

the glory

of my

majesty

you can

see it

coming

can't

you

while

these

words

were

still

in

the

king's

mouth

there

fell

a

voice

from

heaven

oh

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

beasts

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

kingdoms

of

men

and

gives

it

to

whom

he

will

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

as

a

storyteller

tells

the

story

he

lays

out

Nebuchadnezzar

had

every

reason

to

know

exactly

what

was

coming

and

how

to

respond

to

it

differently

he

had

all

of

that

information

and

yet

he

didn't

he

looked

at

his

great

kingdom

and

he

said

this

is

the

kingdom

that

I

have

made

and

it

is

my

glory

that

is

displayed

here

he

has

taken

the

ring

and

exerted

its

power

and

he

has

shown

the

pride

of

it

and

God

steps

in

and

says

no

no

I

won't

allow

this

I

am

going

to

humble

you

and

in

his

humbling

it

is

not

a

kind

humbling

it

is

actually

a

humiliation

he

becomes

beast

like

one

of the

commentators

wrote it

this way

while he

was

full

of his

own

importance

Nebuchadnezzar's

world

revolved

around

himself

it

did

not

strike

him

how

unrealistic

this

was

until

he

was

brought

low

by

illness

one

of

the

things

that's

striking

to

see

is

that

when

God

tried

to

show

Nebuchadnezzar

the

reality

of

his

state

he

humbled

him

so

low

that

he

was

living

like

a

beast

he

was

less

than

fully

human

isn't

this

what

pride

does

to

us

as

we

exalt

ourselves

out

of

the

place

that

we

were

created

to

have

under

God's

rule

when

we

push

ourselves

up

and

magnify

ourselves

and

take

hold

of

that

ring

and

say

this

is

my

kingdom

and

my

power

and

I'm

going

to

do

what

I

want

for

my

glory

and

for

my

greatness

we

actually

become

not

great

humans

but

less

human

in

that

moment

all

God

is

doing

to

Nebuchadnezzar

is

showing

him

the

reality

of

the

foolishness

the

insanity

of

his

pride

God

steps

in

and

says

no

and

so

for

seven

periods

whatever

those

periods

were

we

don't

know

seven

just

means

you

get

to

the

end

of

it

and

it's

complete

I

think

that's

the

best

way

to

read

it

when

those

seven

periods

were

over

the

story

continues

look

with

me

again

verse

24

the

end

of

the

days

that

is

the

end

of

those

seven

periods

whatever

it

was

I

Nebuchadnezzar

lifted

my eyes

to

heaven

let's

just

stop

there

for

a

minute

that's

not

simply

he

looked

up

because

he

wondered

if

there

was

a

cloud

in

the

sky

or

a

bird

was

and

my

reason

returned

to

me

and

I

blessed

the

most

high

and

praised

and

honored

him

who

lives

forever

and he

goes on

to sing

this hymn

of praise

for his

dominion

is an

everlasting

dominion

and his

kingdom

endures

from

generation

to

generation

all

the

inhabitants

of the

earth

are

accounted

as

nothing

and he

does

according

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

and he

repeats

it then

Nebuchadnezzar

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

kingdom

still

more

greatness

was

added

to

me

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

so

having

been

exposed

in the

foolishness

of his

pride

now

the

storyteller

comes

and says

and this

is what

happened

when

Nebuchadnezzar

repented

when he

recognized

his need

and he

turned

to

God

God

restored

him

do

you

see

how

gracious

God

is

in

the

midst

of

this

his

kingdom

was

not

taken

from

him

you

wonder

it's

one of

those

places

in a

movie

where

you

just

wonder

what

in the

world

happened

in his

kingdom

during

these

seven

periods

of

time

who

was

ruling

and

what

were

they

saying

about

the

king

who

had

suddenly

disappeared

but

whatever

did

happen

and however

those

things were

managed

God

kept

his

kingdom

for

him

and

when

Nebuchadnezzar

turned

and lifted

his eyes

and acknowledged

and did

you notice

in his

hymn

what he

said

the

one

that I

am

acknowledging

in

worship

his

dominion

is the

greatest

dominion

his

kingdom

is the

kingdom

that

lasts

forever

and rules

over

all

things

in

heaven

and

on

earth

I

acknowledge

him

as the

one

who

rules

over

all

and

God

not only

restores

him

but

God

blesses

him

still

more

greatness

was

added

to

me

after

he

had

humbled

himself

and

did

you

notice

that

his

reason

returned

pride

if

pride

is a

form

of

insanity

humility

is

the

means

by

which

we

actually

see

things

rightly

we

are

the

most

reasonable

people

when

we

are

humble

not

proud

and

so we

know

how

Nebuchadnezzar

got there

through

this

incredible

experience

Nebuchadnezzar

the king

over

Babylon

the

greatest

power

in

that

part

of

the

world

at least

at that

time

from

the

biblical

standpoint

it

was

the

only

part

of

the

world

so

it

was

the

greatest

kingdom

ever

or the

greatest

kingdom

of that

time

Nebuchadnezzar

was ruling

over it

and yet

he

at the

end

was the

one

saying

there

is a

most

high

God

in

heaven

and

he

is

the

one

who

rules

over

all

he

is

the

one

who

rules

over

the

kingdom

of

men

and

gives

it

to

whom

he

will

and

he

sets

over

them

those

who

humble