Daniel 4:1-37. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 1

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1 Daniel 4:1-37 Daniel 4:1-17, King Nebuchadnezzar, to the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: May you prosper greatly! It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. I said, Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, and the birds of the air lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed. In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven. He called in a loud voice: Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him. The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men. Daniel 4:18-27, This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you. Then Daniel was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 1

2 Belteshazzar answered, My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air - you, 0 king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth. You, 0 king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven saying, Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him. This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. Therefore, 0 king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. PRINCIPLE #1 NEBUCHADNEZZER FAILS TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY (V. 30) EXPLANATION Twelve months after hearing the interpretation of his dream, Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of the royal palace admiring the city of Babylon which was the pinnacle of his life s work. The city was roughly rectangular and sat on both sides of the Euphrates River and had a system of double walls. The walls were 85 feet high and 11 miles long. The outer wall was 25 feet thick and the inner one 23 feet thick with an intervening space filled with rubble. The top of the wall was used as a roadway for chariots and served as a highway for rapid troop movements. Watchtowers stood 65 feet apart on the walls. There were also eight gates in the wall named after some of the Babylonian gods. About 500,000 people lived inside the walls. The city had between 43 and 50 pagan temples and Nebuchadnezzar s palace was a beautiful structure. He had several names for his palace, The Marvel of Mankind, The Center of the Land, The Shining Residence, and The Dwelling of Majesty. Within the palace area were the Hanging Gardens, considered by the Greeks to be one of the wonders of the ancient world. These gardens were so tall they could be seen from outside the walls and Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 2

3 were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife Amytis who wanted to gaze upon green mountains like those of her homeland, Media. So, Nebuchadnezzar is king of a great empire and he knows it. His heart swells with pride and he says in Daniel 4:30, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the source and controller of all his greatness. He savored the fact that it was his intelligence, his initiative, and his power that produced this greatness and he thought he deserved to receive all the praise and glory for it. In other words he wanted the glory that God deserved. Nebuchadnezzar s attitude is the attitude of every sinful person apart from the grace of God. Every sinful person likes to think that they are responsible for what they do and what they achieve. Every sinful person does not recognize that even when they achieve great things it is because God has given them the ability to do so. ILLUSTRATION Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy during the early 1900 s. He ruled Italy for 21 years and urged the Italian people to rebuild the glorious ancient Rome. He defiantly declared that he worshipped no god save my own sovereign will. By order of his party, pronouns referring to him had to be capitalized like those referring to God. (Wikipedia.org) In April 1945, just before the Allied armies reached Milan, Mussolini, along with his mistress tried to take refuge in Switzerland. They were caught by the Italian underground and shot to death. His body was taken back to Milan and hung by his heels. Just like Mussolini, Nebuchadnezzar had no sense of his dependence on God. APPLICATION Do we think and talk as if everything we ve done has been accomplished by our own power? For our own glory? Or do we recognize that God gives us the grace to do everything we do? And he is to get the glory? God warned the Israelites about becoming proud. He said in Deuteronomy 8:10, 11, 17, When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees You may say to yourself, My Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 3

4 power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord Your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth OUR GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER THE KINGDOMS OF MEN AND GIVES THEM TO ANYONE HE WISHES. PRINCIPLE #2 THE LORD DISCIPLINES NEBUCHADNEZZAR FOR HIS SIN. (V ) EXPLANATION Before the Lord disciplined Nebuchadnezzar Daniel encouraged him to repent. Daniel said in Daniel 4:27,... O King, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. The Bible does not say how Nebuchadnezzar reacted to Daniel s challenge to repent, but I don t believe that he repented. I believe that God patiently, graciously, mercifully, and lovingly waited for Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his pride. But after 12 months, Nebuchadnezzar still refused to acknowledge his indebtedness to God, and continued to exalt and glorify himself. Finally God disciplined Nebuchadnezzar for his pride. Daniel 4:30-33, He said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 4

5 By ignoring God s warning, Nebuchadnezzar brought disaster upon himself. For seven long years the once proud king lived on the level of a beast, in a state of amnesia. Tragically, Nebuchadnezzar thought he was an animal, specifically an ox, and so he ate grass like an ox. Medically, he would be diagnosed as suffering from a form of mental derangement called zoanthropy. ILLUSTRATIONS Zoanthropy, Lycanthropy, Lycanthropy is a psychiatric state in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some other nonhuman animal. A review of the medical literature from early 2004 lists over thirty published cases of lycanthropy, only some of which have wolf or dog themes. Canines are certainly not uncommon, although the experience of being transformed into a hyena, cat, horse, bird or tiger has been reported on more than one occasion. Transformation into frogs, and even bees, has been reported in some instances. In Japan, transformation into foxes and dogs was usual. A 1989 case study described how one individual reported a serial transformation, experiencing a change from human, to dog, to horse, and then finally cat, before returning to the reality of human existence after treatment. R. K. Harrison reports that he observed a young man with this affliction in a British mental institution in He describes his behavior as follows: His daily routine consisted of wandering around the magnificent lawns with which the otherwise dingy hospital was graced, and it was his custom to pluck up and eat handfuls of the grass as he went along... He never ate institutional food with the other inmates, and his only drink was water.... Harrison was able to examine him, and the only physical abnormality he noted was a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickening condition of the fingernails. Without institutional care, the patient would have manifested precisely the same physical conditions as those mentioned in Daniel 4:33 (Introduction to the OT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969, pp ) Nebuchadnezzar thought he was strong but found out he was weak. He thought he was self sufficient but he found out that he was completely dependent upon God for everything; his life, his breath and his sanity. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 5

6 APPLICATION God s judgment may be slow, but it is certain. We tend to think that because God s discipline does not immediately follow our sinful acts, it will never come. (Ecclesiastes 8:11) But nothing could be further from the truth! The Bible affirms that God does discipline His people because of his great love for them. Hebrews 12:10-11, Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Although God s corrective work in our lives may appear to come slowly on occasion, it will always come at the proper time and in the best way. The discipline of Nebuchadnezzar lasted until he learned what God was teaching him. How long will God discipline his children? As long as it takes them to learn the lesson He is trying to teach them. OUR GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER THE KINGDOMS OF MEN AND GIVES THEM TO ANYONE HE WISHES. PRINCIPLE #3 NEBUCHADNEZZAR REPENTS OF HIS SIN AND IS RESTORED TO POWER (V ) EXPLANATION Nebuchadnezzar describes his restoration in Daniel 4:34a, At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Nebuchadnezzar now knew and understood that the Most High God was eternal and that He reigned forever. As a result he praised, exalted and glorified the true God who gave him and Babylon their greatness. Daniel 4:34b-35 tells us, Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: What have you done? Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 6

7 With the return of the king s sanity, there came in quick sequence 1) restoration to his throne and 2) an increase in power and majesty. Daniel 4:36 says, At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. The temporary insanity and restoration of his rule was the Lord s doing and Nebuchadnezzar knew it. Unhesitatingly he declared in Daniel 4:37, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble. Did Nebuchadnezzar experience saving faith? The commentaries are divided; some say he became a saved man and others say he did not. Certainly God is no respecter of persons and can save the king as well as he can the peasant. ILLUSTRATION On December 7, 1941, Mitsuo Fuchida, was a proud and militant Japanese commander, leading the attack on Pearl Harbor. But his pride and brilliant military career ended with the defeat of Japan and the close of the war. Returning to his home village, he took up farming. One day Fuchida was called to Tokyo to testify in the war crimes trials. When he got off the train in Tokyo, he was handed a pamphlet. He was intrigued by the title, I Was a Prisoner of Japan. It was the story of Jacob De Shazer, the Doolittle raider who was converted to Christ in a Japanese prison camp while reading the Bible. Fuchida s curiosity was aroused from reading the pamphlet and went to a bookstore and bought a Bible. When he went home he began reading it. He said, Every night I read the Bible. I also read the Bible while plowing in the rice fields. One night I read that Jesus died and that He prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I realized I was one of them for whom Jesus prayed. At the age of 47, on April 12, 1950, Fuchida received Christ as Lord and Savior and began a new life. Though he was asked to lead Japan s air force as commander in chief, Fuchida turned down the invitation and spent the rest of his life traveling in Japan, the United States, and Canada, sharing what God had done in his life. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 7

8 APPLICATION Have you acknowledged God as being sovereign over your life? Have you trusted Him as your Lord and Savior? OUR GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER THE KINGDOMS OF MEN AND GIVES THEM TO ANYONE HE WISHES. SPECIFIC APPLICATION Let s revere our Heavenly Father and stand in awe at his power. Isaiah 40:17 says, Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing. Isaiah 40:22-24, He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. Psalm 33:10-11, The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Let s exalt, praise and glorify God rather than ourselves. Let s adopt the attitude David had, when the children of Israel gave freely and wholeheartedly to build a temple for the Lord, David said in 1 Chronicles 29:10-16, Praise be to you, 0 Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, 0 Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, 0 Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 0 Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 8

9 If you are a child of God and have sin in your life confess it and forsake it, or expect God to discipline you for your own good. If you have not repented of your sin and trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, do so today. Sermon 30 Aug 2015 Daniel 4 Page 9