The Road to Peace: Humility

The scripture reading comes from Daniel chapter 4. Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin or your own Bible.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Starting in verse 1, we read,

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 to generation.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace.

I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.

So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me,

that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Then, the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the astrologers came in,

and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.

At last, Daniel came in before me, he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my God,

and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.

And I told him the dream, saying,

O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians,

because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you,

and that no mystery is too difficult for you,

tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.

The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these.

I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth,

and its height was great.

The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven,

and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

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 heavens lived in its branches,

and all flesh was fed from it.

I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed,

and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.

He proclaimed aloud and said thus,

Chop down the tree and lop off its branches,

strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Let the beasts flee from under it,

and the birds from its branches,

but leave the stump of its roots in the earth,

bound with a band of iron and bronze,

amid the tender grass of the field.

Let him be wet with the dew of heaven.

Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

Let his mind be changed from a man's,

and let a beast's mind be given to him.

And let seven periods of time pass over him.

The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,

the decision by the word of the holy ones,

to the end that the living may know

that the Most High rules the kingdom of men,

and gives it to whom he will,

and sets over it the lowliest of men.

This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw,

And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation,

because all the wise men of my kingdom

are not able to make known to me the interpretation.

But you are able,

for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.

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.

Then, from verse 24, we read,

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 beasts 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 stomp of the roots of the tree,

your kingdom shall be confirmed for you,

from the time that you know that 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.

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 said,

Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence,

and for the glory of my majesty?

While the words were still in 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 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 kingdom 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 eagle's feathers,

and his nails were like bird's 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,

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?

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 lords sought me,

and I was established in my kingdom,

and 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.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Celeste, thank you for reading that long reading,

and for reading it so well.

I feel like you really brought the narrative to life,

so thank you for doing that.

Good morning everybody,

and welcome once again.

If you don't know me,

I'm Kevin, one of the leaders,

and it is great to be with you this morning.

A couple of new faces,

welcome.

It's great to see you,

and have you with us this morning.

Let me pray for us briefly,

and then let's dive into Daniel chapter four.

So Father God,

as we come to your word this morning,

this amazing passage,

God once again,

we ask you by your spirit to speak to us.

Father, if we've come just to find three tips

on how to be more successful in life,

there's many places to go,

but God, none of those things will deal with really the root issue.

None of those things will really encounter our hearts.

God, we come before you this morning

because you are true.

Your word is true.

You are the one true living God,

the most high God,

as we read about this morning,

and God, we want to encounter you.

We want you to speak to us.

And so Jesus, as we look at this word,

won't you come and have your way?

Won't you establish your kingdom in our hearts

and in our lives?

And as you do that, God,

won't you establish your kingdom here in Hong Kong,

we pray.

Let your word be made known to us.

Spirit of God,

open the eyes of our hearts

to see you freshly this morning, we pray.

In your awesome and glorious name, amen.

So we are looking at the book of Daniel,

and the reason we're doing that

is because we are wanting to learn

from Daniel and his friends

what does it mean and look like

to be the people of God

in the midst of a world

which is not the most God-honoring world.

Daniel and his friends are taken out of Israel

into Babylon.

Babylon is a pagan nation.

It's not a God-honoring nation.

But they are incredibly faithful.

And we want to learn as Christians

in 21st century Hong Kong,

how can we be the same?

How can we be faithful to God

even in the midst of a world

which doesn't always honor him?

And today we are looking at Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Now, before we dive into it,

I want us just to take note of one thing

that's really interesting.

Daniel was in the city of Babylon for 70 years.

And that's a long period of time.

And in those 70 years,

we only have the recordings

of about four or five things

that he actually did in that time.

And in chapter 1,

and possibly chapter 2,

most of those events take place

in the first few years

that he's in Babylon.

The next few weeks

that we're going to look at,

chapter 5 and 6,

the next two Sundays,

happen right at the end

of those 70 years.

And in the middle,

kind of 50, 60 years,

we know almost nothing

about Daniel's life

except this one event

that we read today.

The only thing that we know

about Daniel and his friends

in that large portion of his life

is actually that he's faithful to God

and he faithfully serves his boss,

who in this case

happens to be a pagan king,

Nebuchadnezzar.

And that's really important

because for many of us

who are followers of Jesus,

we want to do something great

and we want to change the world.

Our generation has been described

as the snowflakes generation.

Do you know what I mean by that?

We are all told from kindergarten

that we are like snowflakes.

We are super special.

We are one of a kind.

There's no one in the world like us.

We are precious

and we are delicate.

And what that means

is that our generation

largely thinks that

by the age of 25,

we should hit our peak

and we all want to be like

Daniel and Esther

that live in the king's palace

and just change the world

disproportionately.

But actually what's important to note

is that for much of Daniel's life,

he spent his life

faithfully serving God

and serving his boss

as he lived in the midst of Babylon.

And when his time came,

because of his decades-long faithfulness,

actually God used him

to speak with incredible wisdom

and profundity.

Eugene Peterson talks about

a long obedience

in the same direction.

And much of the Christian life

is like that.

A long obedience

in the same direction

rather than always being

in the king's palace

or the queen's palace

with this disproportionate influence.

Okay, so that's just

by way of introduction.

So let's dive into

Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

And this passage

is an amazing passage

and one of the things

that's amazing about it

is that it's written,

it's one of the only chapters

in the Bible

that's written by a pagan.

It's written by King Nebuchadnezzar.

He writes it in a way

giving his testimony.

And so look at what he says

in verse 1.

He says,

I, King Nebuchadnezzar,

to all the peoples,

the nations and the languages

that dwell on the earth.

He's saying, listen up,

I've got a message for you.

And what is his message?

Peace be multiplied to you.

It's a message of good news.

It's a gospel message.

He says,

It seemed good to me

to write the signs

and the wonders

that the Most High God

has done for me.

How great are his signs!

How mighty are his wonders!

His kingdom

is an everlasting kingdom.

His dominion endures

from generation to generation.

Now the book of Daniel

up until now

has kind of had this one

melodic theme

throughout the whole book.

This one thread.

Which is that

the kingdoms of the world

are going to bow down

to the kingdoms of God.

That God alone

rules of the kingdoms of man

and the kingdoms of our world.

Remember the statue

in chapter 2.

All these kingdoms

and eventually a stone comes

that's going to crush them all

and is going to be established

as the kingdom

over all the world.

So that's the theme

for the book of Daniel.

Now what Nebuchadnezzar

wants to do here

is he wants to

take that theme

and apply it

not just on a macro level

kingdoms and nations

and empires

but on an individual level.

What Nebuchadnezzar

is going to do here

is he's going to show

the great lengths

that God will go to

to establish his kingdom

in the hearts

and the lives

of individuals

like you and I.

Okay?

So,

let's see what happens here.

Nebuchadnezzar

has this dream.

And like

in previous chapters

he wants to know

what's happening

with his dream

this interpretation.

He calls all his wise men in

they don't know

what's going on

and eventually

he calls Daniel in.

And he tells Daniel

his dream.

And this dream

is essentially

a picture

of a majestically

beautiful

gigantic

tall tree.

Glorious tree.

It's a picture

of unrivaled

stature.

And Nebuchadnezzar

describes it like this.

He says

its height was great.

It grew

and became strong.

Its top

reached to the heavens.

Okay?

That's a reference

to Genesis 11

the Tower of Babel

its top

reached to the heavens.

It was visible

from the ends

of the earth.

So it's this picture

of magnificence.

It's a picture

of supreme glory.

And under this tree

all the animals

of the world

take shade

and people

come and take shade

and people

get their food

and the birds

nest.

It's a picture

of safety

and security

and refuge.

And of course

this tree

is a picture

of Nebuchadnezzar.

Okay?

And we're told

that this is true.

Nebuchadnezzar

is one of the most

powerful

men in all the world.

He is one of the guys

that built

the seven wonders

of the ancient world.

Babylon was known

for its hanging gardens.

They had these

magnificent architecture

and infrastructure.

Nebuchadnezzar

is the one

who kind of designed

that and got it going.

And Nebuchadnezzar

is this amazing

majestic king.

He is in many ways

as someone said

he is living the dream.

Right?

He has this dream

and it's true

he's living it.

I don't know

if you noticed

I think it's verse 4

he says

I was at ease

in my house

and prospering

in my palace.

How many of you know

that if you are powerful

and wealthy

that often means

you've got lots of headaches.

Right?

That's not always

a recipe for ease of life.

Wealth and power

means lots of problems.

But not Nebuchadnezzar

he is living the dream.

He's at ease at home

he's prospering at work

the kingdom is growing

and he has a picture of him

glorious and magnificent.

But of course

something goes wrong.

I don't know

if you've ever had a dream

at night

that turns into a nightmare.

The dream starts out

you're on the beach

tropical island

drinking pina coladas

something like that

and by the end of the dream

there's some madman

that's chasing you

with an axe or something.

A dream that starts out

and ends as a nightmare.

That's what's happening

to Nebuchadnezzar.

He has this dream

and it's glorious

but then

an angel says

chop it down

and the tree

is felled

and it's brought

it gets stripped bare

it gets chopped down.

And what God's saying here

he's saying

you Nebuchadnezzar

are going to be chopped down

you are going to be

stripped bare.

And the reason

is because

Nebuchadnezzar

has become proud

and arrogant.

In fact

look at how he acts

in verse 29.

Having heard

the interpretation

of this dream

he seems completely

to disregard it.

He says in verse 29

at the end of 12 months

he was walking

on the roof of his palace

he overlooks his empire

and he says

is not this great Babylon

which I have built

by my mighty power

as a royal residence

for the glory

of my majesty.

Notice all the personal pronouns.

I, I, I

me, me, me

my, my, my

In chapter 2

when Nebuchadnezzar

has a dream

it talks about

how the kingdom

is going to come down

but for Nebuchadnezzar

himself

it's okay

here things

are a little different.

Here God says

you are going

to be brought down.

Daniel

says

verse 22

this tree

is you

O king

you have grown

and become strong

your greatness

has grown

and reaches

to the heavens

but you shall

be driven

from man

your dwelling place

will be with the

beasts of the field

you'll be made

to eat grass

like an ox

you'll be wet

like the dew

of heaven

and for seven

periods of time

until you know

that the most

high rules

the kingdom

of men

and gives

it to whom

he will.

I don't know

if you saw

in verse 17

when Nebuchadnezzar

has this dream

and he's telling

it to Daniel

he says

and God said

that this will

happen until

those that are

living

the people

of the world

know that

God rules

the most

that God

the most high

rules

but when Daniel

interprets the dream

he doesn't just

generically say

this will happen

until all people

out there

know

he says

until you know

he's saying

you need to know

Nebuchadnezzar

you

God is looking

you in the eye

and he's saying

there's a problem

here

you need to know

oh king

that God

the most high

rules the kingdoms

of the world

that he is God

and you

are not

and what Daniel

is saying here

is there's

there's a problem

Nebuchadnezzar

and there's a cancer

in your heart

there's a cancer

which thinks

that your majesty

and your achievements

and your success

in life

is because of

your greatness

there is a virus

in your heart

which is telling you

that all power

resides in you

that you are distinct

that you are different

from the rest

of humanity

and that other people

are not like you

and God is wanting

you to know

that as long

as this cancer

is the operating

system of your heart

you are on a

collision course

with the almighty God

that's what Daniel

is saying to him

Nebuchadnezzar's

problem here

is that he's become

proud and arrogant

C.S. Lewis

who was this

incredible writer

has an amazing

way of describing

the everyday

affairs of life

and listen to how

he describes pride

he says

I've heard people

admit that they

are bad tempered

or that they

struggle with lust

or alcohol

even that they

are slightly

cowardly

I do not think

I've ever heard

anyone who is not

a Christian

accuse himself

of pride

there is no fault

which makes a man

more unpopular

and no fault

of which we are

more unconscious

of in ourselves

the more we have

it in ourselves

the more we dislike

it in others

it is pride

which has been

the chief cause

of misery

in every nation

and every family

since the world

began

other faults

may bring people

together

but pride

always means

enmity

it is enmity

not only between

people

but between

us and God

and C.S. Lewis

makes this

incredible observation

he says

there is no fault

of which we are

more conscious

of in others

and yet more

unconscious of

in ourselves

friends have you

ever been talking

to someone

and they are

complaining about

somebody else

and you're thinking

to yourself

you know you do

that very thing

that you're

complaining about

has that ever

happened

that's pride

it's work

in our hearts

friends

and the reason

do you want to

know the reason

for the conflict

in our lives

the reason

for conflict

in our homes

and our marriages

and with our kids

and with our colleagues

and in the workplace

the reason is

because there's

a fundamental

attitude

in the human heart

that says

I am wrong

and I am right

and you are wrong

I know what I'm

talking about

and you don't

there's an attitude

that says

I am patient

and you are so

demanding

it says

I am so humble

and you are so proud

there's an attitude

that says

I am selfless

and you are self-centered

Tim Keller says

that pride

is the carbon monoxide

of all sins

we

it is invisible

and you don't know

that you're breathing it in

but silently

it suffocates

everything that is good

and pleasant

about our lives

and pride

is obviously

very sinister

and it's deceptive

we see it in others

but we don't see it

in ourselves

and one of the ways

that this plays out

is that we think

that only those

that think of themselves

as great

are proud

and yet those

who think of themselves

lowly

are not proud

but actually

C.S. Lewis says

that's not always the case

he says

that to be humble

is not to think

of yourself

as lowly

it's not to think

less of yourself

it's to think

of yourself

less altogether

the truly humble

person is not

someone who beats

themselves up

saying

I'm suck

I'm so bad

I'm such a loser

that's not the humble

person

the humble person

is the person

that just doesn't

think of themselves

at all

because when you

think of yourself

as miserable

I'm always a victim

poor me

the world treats

me so badly

no one will ever

respect me

who are you

thinking of?

you're thinking

of yourself

and so C.S. Lewis says

pride is

the ruthless

unsmiling

concentration

on the self

and some of us

are proud

because we think

of ourselves

as being great

and awesome

and some of us

are proud

because we think

of ourselves

as being miserable

and victims

and both of that

is a concentration

on ourself

and so let's

do something here

this is a bit

of a risk

I hope this works

out okay

let's do a little

bit of an inventory

an assessment

and I want to ask

us a bunch

of questions

and let's think

whether any of

these questions

resonate with our

own hearts

and just disclaimer

these questions

came out of my

own heart

right

so the reason

I could think

of these questions

is because

they're mainly

true of me

and so you don't

need to put up

your hand

don't tell anyone

this is just

personally okay

how many of us

here

anyone in the

last few weeks

got angry

with someone

at work

because they

got the credit

for something

that you did

right

made you angry

how many of us

here friends

have felt

defensive

or the need

to excuse

ourselves

or justify

something that

we did

because we feel

we got caught

out

cover a mistake

that we've made

friends

do any of us

arrive at church

feeling a mess

feeling miserable

and yet we

determine to put

our best foot

forward

to put on a

smile

because we

don't want

anyone to know

how we are

really doing

that's pride

friends

anybody here

struggle to

admit that

something is

wrong

or that

you're

unable to

cope

friends

how many of us

bounce from

job to

job to

job

or relationship

to relationship

to relationship

never able to

find contentment

and yet we

always convince

it's the other

people

it's their

fault

friends

how many of us

struggle to

rejoice

or celebrate

or compliment

somebody else

on their

success

friends

do others

find that we

get easily

angry

or offended

or if we

have a short

fuse

friends

how many of us

here struggle

to say

sorry

we know

this to be

wrong

we rather

just sweep

it under

the rug

and just

move on

and just

hope that

things naturally

work themselves

out

recently

I saw

this in my

own life

Claire and I

have this

agreement

that I

won't have

a meeting

a one-on-one

meeting

with another

female

lunch or

meeting

without letting

Claire know

about that

it's just

a good

policy

that we

have

and so

two weeks

ago

I had

this meeting

planned

and I

hadn't let

Claire know

and Claire

says to me

hey what's

your day

looking like

today

I said

I've got

this meeting

with this

person

I've got

a meeting

with this

person

and Claire

says oh

I didn't

know about

that

and it

took me

about

0.01

second

to jump

back

well

I only made

the meeting

last night

and I would

have told you

and all

the defenses

came out

and Claire

didn't do

anything

all she

asked was

I didn't

know about

that

and you

know what

is happening

it took me

about another

0.1

percent of a

second

to realize

what is

going on

in my

heart

friends

sometimes

when somebody

gives me

gentle

corrective

correction

I take it

as they are

challenging me

and criticizing

me

and there

are relationships

in my life

that are not

the way

that they

should be

because of

my defenses

and my

pride

in my

heart

friends

pride

is a

sinister

sinister

thing

and with

the temptation

is to see

in others

but not

in ourselves

pride

is the

unsmiling

concentration

on the

self

and is the

fundamental

problem

of every

human

heart

and the

source

of every

bit of

pain

and conflict

in the

world

and that's

why God

says he

hates

pride

he detests

it

in James

James 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

James

says

God

gives grace

to humble

but he

opposes

the proud

and that's

a remarkable

thing

God doesn't

just ignore

the proud

or distance

himself from

the proud

or avoid

the proud

he resists

him

he is an

open opposition

to him

he wages

war against

our pride

and so look

at what God

does to

Nebuchadnezzar

here

what God

does is he

makes Nebuchadnezzar

physically

what he has

already become

in his heart

which is

beastly

and animalistic

for a period

of time

Nebuchadnezzar

will become

animalistic

and beastly

because God

is showing

him

and God

is showing

us

what is

true

in his

heart

already

now just

by the way

you might say

oh I could

never take

the Bible

seriously

what a joke

right

do you know

that Babylonian

culture

history

tells us

that there

was a king

on the throne

called

Nabonidus

who took

on the name

of Nebuchadnezzar

who for a period

of seven or eight

years was driven

from his throne

and went into

the wilderness

and nobody

knows what

happens to him

for seven years

he was driven

into the wilderness

and then he

returned to his

throne to Babylon

where he ruled

and reigned

secular culture

tells us

affirms what

the Bible

tells us

here

friends

bride will

do that

to you

it is an

enmity with

God

an enmity

with man

it will kill

our relationships

it is a prison

of selfishness

anger

unforgiveness

and foolishness

pride is deadly

serious

now

Daniel chapter

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

4

not only

tells us

the horrors

of pride

but also

tells us

the beauty

of humility

because look

at the example

of Daniel

here

and there's

two things

I want us

to take note

of

the first

is

look at

the humility

of Daniel

in verse 19

Daniel

is

told

the dream

by Nebuchadnezzar

and he's

given this

interpretation

and we are

told that

he understands

that Nebuchadnezzar

is going to be

brought low

and

if I was

Daniel

do you know

what I would

be thinking

I would be

thinking

it's about

time

right

because just

remember

who are the

Babylonians

they are

Israel's enemies

it's

one of the

kings

called Nebuchadnezzar

is the guy

that marched

into Jerusalem

burnt all

the buildings

destroyed

the buildings

destroyed

the temple

not before

taking all

the sacred

religious goods

out

and the

temple

furnishings

and the

sacred

things

taking them

to Babylon

installing them

in the pagan

temple of his

gods

killing

Jews

but not

before

taking the

very best

to go and

serve in

Babylon

the Babylonians

are the

enemies of

Israel

and now

Daniel

finally gets

this

interpretation

the king

is going

to be

brought

down

glory

right

and so

I

would

be trying

my best

to suppress

the smirk

on my face

but I don't

think I'd be

very good

I would be

thinking

justice

but look at

what Daniel

says here

this is

unbelievable

verse 19

Daniel

whose name

was Belteshazzar

was dismayed

and his

thoughts were

troubled

the king

says to him

Daniel

do not let

the dream

or its

interpretation

alarm you

and so

Daniel

answered

my lord

may the

dream be

for those

who hate

you

may its

interpretation

be for

your enemies

oh my

goodness

friends

where are we

going to

find humility

like that

doesn't this

remind you of

Jesus

remember

Jesus

in Luke

19

he's on

the way

to Jerusalem

and Jerusalem

is filled

with people

who have

rejected

his rule

remember

in just

a few

days time

Jesus

is going

to be

put on

trial

and Pilate

and Herod

are going

to say

to the

people

of Jerusalem

behold

your king

and they're

going to

shout back

we have

no king

but Caesar

the people

are going

to say

we want

our

pagan

Roman

oppressors

we will

serve

them

rather

than

serve

this

man

and so

here it

says

what should

I do

with him

and they

say

crucify him

and Jesus

just a few

days before

this

walks into

Jerusalem

and what

does he

do

Luke 19

tells us

when Jesus

drew near

and saw

the city

of Jerusalem

he wept

friends

he wept

saying

oh

that you

even

you

Jerusalem

would

know

this

day

the

things

that

would

bring

you

peace

Jesus

heart

of

compassion

breaks

for the

people

that are

going to

put him

on the

cross

friends

why does

Jesus

act like

this

do you

know why

because

he's

perfect

and because

he shows

us what

perfect

humility

and

perfect

humanity

look like

but notice

something else

about Daniel

here

in

Babylonian

culture

when

the way

that a

magician

or an

astrologer

would deal

with something

like the

king's

dream

is they

go to

the king

and they

say

oh king

may this

dream

fall on

your enemies

and then

they would

try by way

of secret

spells

and omens

and potions

and all

sorts of

stuff

to cast

the spell

on the

king's

enemy

and so

in a way

what they

would do

is to

try and

neutralize

the bad

thing

that is

coming

to the

king

by bringing

equally

bad

news

or omen

or spell

or worse

on the

king's

enemy

right

so in

other words

the king's

about to go

in battle

and the

king has

a dream

that the

battle's

not going

to go

well

for you

and they

would try

by potions

and tricks

to put a

spell

on the

king's

enemy

so that

even if

the battle

wasn't good

for the

king

it was

even worse

for his

enemy

okay

that's

how it

would

be done

and essentially

what they're

trying to

do

is to

remove

the

bad

news

or the

consequences

of this

bad

outcome

from the

king

and put

it on

his

enemy

okay

does that

make

sense

friends

do you

know

that we

do the

exact

same

thing

in our

day

and age

we call

it

blame

shifting

and so

your boss

comes to

you and

says

why is

the report

late

and he

says

it's

not

my

fault

it's

my

colleague

they didn't

give me

the report

or something

happens

and your

spouse

is upset

with you

it's not

my fault

it's my

boss's

fault

it's the

school's

fault

it's the

helper's

fault

it's my

children's

fault

it's the

alignment of

the star's

fault

I don't

know

it's

someone

else's

fault

and friends

we do

the exact

same

thing

we like

Nebuchadnezzar

try and

shift

the consequences

onto somebody

else

and at

first we

try and

dodge

what's

coming

to us

by shifting

on someone

else

and at

first

God

it seems

that that's

what Nebuchadnezzar

is doing

he doesn't

try and

get Nebuchadnezzar

to dodge

the outcome

he doesn't

try and

cast some

spell on

his enemy

or shift

the blame

what does

he do

in verse

27

he says

practice

righteousness

let your

iniquity

and your

iniquities

by showing

mercy

to the

oppressed

that there

may perhaps

be a

lengthening

of your

prosperity

do you

know what

he's doing

he's calling

him to

repentance

he's calling

the king

of Babylon

to repentance

friends

right here

in the book

of Daniel

we have

before us

the gospel

that though

our pride

and our sin

means we are

on a collision

course with

God

we are going

to end

in destruction

God

in his

mercy

has made

a way

for us

not to

bear the

consequences

that we

deserve

for the

consequences

that we

deserve

to be put

on the

shoulders

of somewhere

else

and how

through humility

through confession

through repentance

through turning

to Christ

by breaking

off of our

sin and

turning to

Christ

in confession

and repentance

and friends

this is the

main idea

of Daniel

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

this is what

God wants

us to see

that what

happens to

Nebuchadnezzar

in the most

dramatic of

fashion

is nothing

less

friends

remember how

Jesus is

constantly

pointing this

out

it's not

the religious

or the

dedicated

or the

smart

or the

successful

that obtain

salvation

it's those

who humble

themselves

and cry out

to God

for mercy

Jesus is

saying

it's impossible

for those

who are rich

in self

sufficiency

rich in

self worth

rich in

self justification