The Testimony of Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 4:1-37
May 29, 2016
You may remember from our study of Job,
That towards the end a young man named Elihu stood up to speak.
• He was upset that Job’s friends had condemned Job without reason
• He was upset that Job had justified himself before God (ultimately condemning God in the process)
While it was clear throughout the book
That Job had committed no specific sin worthy of such affliction,
It was also clear that the affliction in Job’s life
Caused Job’s sin to rise to the top.
Job’s sin was pride.
He didn’t think he deserved such treatment
And he actually accused God of being unjust for allowing it.
Elihu responded to Job like this:
Job 33:14-22 “Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. “In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction, That He may turn man aside from his conduct, And keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol. “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with unceasing complaint in his bones; So that his life loathes bread, And his soul favorite food. “His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones which were not seen stick out. “Then his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death.”
And then later in the same chapter:
Job 33:29-30 “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.”
According to Elihu, when dealing with people
Who either don’t have access to God’s word, or who readily ignore it,
It is not beyond God’s prerogative to confront those people
With terrifying dreams and intense pain
In order to lead them to repentance and save their soul from destruction.
We would have a difficult time arguing with his statement
Since that is precisely what God does to Nebuchadnezzar here.
We have said repeatedly that the book of Daniel
Is a book meant to put God’s sovereignty on full display.
That should be readily apparent to you by now.
After revealing how God brought Daniel to Babylon
And placed him in a position of influence
We then began to see God demonstrate His sovereignty to candidate #1
Nebuchadnezzar.
Chapter 2 could be categorized as: SOVEREIGNTY DECLARED
• God issued a dream to Nebuchadnezzar that no one could discern.
• It was a dream that revealed God’s sovereign decree regarding the nations of the world.
• God already knew who would rule, how long they would rule, and who would bring them down.
Chapter 3 could be categorized as: SOVEREIGNTY DEFENDED
• Nebuchadnezzar clearly did not like God’s insinuation that his kingdom would not last forever
• He sat out to find those traitors who might be instrumental in overthrowing him and to eliminate them in a fiery furnace.
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego became prime suspects when they refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue and were thrown into the fiery furnace.
• There God intervened and showed Nebuchadnezzar that nothing and no one can thwart His sovereign plan.
But as we pointed out last week:
Even though it is clear that with each incident Nebuchadnezzar made progress, it was also obvious that he was not yet where he needed to be.
• After the first dream he honored Daniel.
• After the fiery furnace he acknowledge God.
But Nebuchadnezzar had yet to submit himself
To the God of the universe in humility and obedience.
That is what chapter 4 is for.
One might call this chapter: SOVEREIGNTY DISCERNED
In chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar gets it.
(Actually he got it somewhere between chapters 3 & 4 – chapter 4 is his testimony)
• Everyone loves a good testimony of the day when a person moved from spiritual death to spiritual life.
• Everyone loves a good testimony of the day when a person was transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of heaven.
This is Nebuchadnezzar’s story.
In pointing that out, before we listen to his account,
I do want to make sure you pick up on the important points
That must be in place for a testimony to be legitimate.
Today we hear a lot of testimonies like the two recorded in CH. 2 and 3.
• We hear a lot of people recognize God’s people as God’s people, but going to
church doesn’t make you saved.
• We hear a lot of people acknowledge that God is the Most High God, but that
also doesn’t make you saved.
The difference here is the humility, submission, and worship
Now present in the life of Nebuchadnezzar.
As we work our way through the chapter see if you can spot:
• His arrogance
• His conviction
• His brokenness
• His discernment
• His submission
These are absolutes in the redeemed life,
And they must be in our lives as well.
H.A. Ironside wrote:
“Now I would like to be personal and press some questions home to each reader. Do you have any word of testimony about the signs and wonders that the high God has worked for you? Have you ever been brought into direct contact with Him, so that you can speak confidently of what He has done for your soul? Have you been humbled by seeing yourself as a lost sinner before Him? Have you taken that place – your only rightful place – and acknowledged that you are unclean and in dire need of sovereign mercy? And do you know what it is to have fled for refuge to the very God against whom you have sinned so grievously and to have found in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, a hidingplace from the judgment your sins deserved?
I implore you, do not attempt to avoid these questions. If you cannot answer yes to each one, stop and ponder them again; ask yourself if there is any valid reason why you should continue to neglect God’s way of salvation and leave your soul in jeopardy. Oh that Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony might speak loudly to your heart and conscience and [reveal] if you are still a stranger to the God he had learned to adore. Something very definite had been done for his soul; he delighted to tell of it and to give an answer to every man as to the reason of the hope that was in him.”
(Ironside, H.A. [Daniel: Ironside Commentaries; Loizeaux Brothers; Neptune, New Jersey, 1996] pg. 540
We find here tonight this very testimony of Nebuchadnezzar
And while it walks through a very dark time in the life of this man,
It is in fact one of the greatest demonstrations of the sovereign mercy of God in all of Scripture.
3 main points to our outline tonight
#1 THE DECLARATION
Daniel 4:1-3
• Having just finished chapter 3 where Nebuchadnezzar was last found with a 90’ statue he was trying to force everyone to worship.
• And having learned at the end that even though he did acknowledge that God was the Most High God…
We are still a little surprised to hear such a declaration as this
Come out of Nebuchadnezzar’s mouth.
But he has a declaration to make:
(2) “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.”
Make no mistake that according to Nebuchadnezzar,
Everything that was done to him in this chapter
Is now seen as a tremendous act of grace on the part of God.
I oftentimes tell people in the middle of their pain that I am a firm believer that one day in heaven (if not sooner) we will look back on these moments of pain and unequivocally say, “God, that was perfect! Thank You so much for what You did there!”
Nebuchadnezzar is just another piece of evidence to that claim.
We have a man here who had absolutely no qualms about
• Attacking God’s country,
• Burning God’s temple,
• Exiling God’s people,
• Forcing them to worship a false god.
And yet here we have an amazing declaration from his lips.
(3) “How great are His signs and how might are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation.”
Let that sink in for a moment.
In chapter 3 Nebuchadnezzar’s entire goal was to prove that
His kingdom was the everlasting one,
And here all of a sudden he is singing a drastically different tune.
If you wonder what in the world happened, I don’t think you are alone.
The Declaration
#2 THE EXPLANATION
Daniel 4:4-36
I realize this is a long portion of text as Nebuchadnezzar gives his testimony so let’s break it down a little further.
5 things
1) PEACE REMOVED (4-18)
You must begin this story by giving at least some recognition to
The man Nebuchadnezzar was before all this happened.
A testimony is meant to reveal the change that God brought about in your life.
If we don’t know what you were, then we can’t see the difference in what you are.
But Nebuchadnezzar’s beginning might surprise you.
We often think it should begin with something like:
“I was a drug dealing terrorist who kidnapped prostitutes and murdered puppies with a toy I stole from a small blind child.”
But Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t mention any of that.
• Nothing about his invasion of Israel
• Nothing about his robbing or burning of God’s temple
• Nothing about his brainwashing of Hebrew refugees
• Nothing about his life of idolatry
• Nothing about his brutality (i.e. burning people in a furnace or ordering people torn limb from limb)
Nothing…
In fact, he says, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace.”
Can I tell you why he was in the worst possible condition that the human heart can be in?
• He was in sin and it didn’t even bother him.
• He was a classic example of the seared conscience.
Paul described this reality:
Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”
• These were people who did evil things and didn’t even think it was wrong.
• These were people who legitimately thought right was wrong and wrong was right.
I think about this all the time in a culture like ours
Where we battle on lines like homosexuality.
There are plenty of people in our culture (moral people, friendly people)
Who genuinely in their heart believe that supporting this lifestyle is the right thing to do.
Nebuchadnezzar “was at ease”
Asaph described the wicked like this:
Psalms 73:12 “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.”
If you were waiting for him to feel bad about his life,
You had better be ready to wait a while because it isn’t going to happen.
And this is such a good explanation of what it means to be lost.
When a person is spiritually dead with a seared conscience
There is absolutely no possibility that this person
Will ever feel bad about what they have done.
• They have no capacity for it.
• They are spiritually dead, immune to the things of God.
• They are unbothered.
• They will not feel guilty for what they have done.
This is why we talk about the necessity of God’s grace
To even make known to lost people that they are lost.
If God doesn’t reveal to them their danger, they won’t know it.
Nebuchadnezzar certainly had no clue.
Until God chose to remove his peace.
How did God do that? Through a dream (just like Elihu talked about)
(5) “I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.”
With one dream God took every ounce of peace and comfort
That Nebuchadnezzar owned.
And we see that it was such a fear that overtook him that
He had to know the meaning of this dream that he had seen.
And once again he turned to the wrong place for the solution.
(6-7) “So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. “Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me.”
• It is just another indicator that while Nebuchadnezzar had acknowledged God, he still did not have a relationship with Him, nor did he seek His guidance.
But when that wisdom failed (as it always does),
Nebuchadnezzar was once again forced to appeal to the man
Whom God had placed in his path.
(8-9) “But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying, ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.”
Some would wonder why Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t have sought Daniel immediately?
After all, Daniel had already proven himself regarding dreams.
It is clear that Nebuchadnezzar knew of Daniel’s ability.
Why then would he not have sought him first?
I think the answer lies in how Nebuchadnezzar describes Daniel.
“since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you”
That is the last type of god that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to hear from.
• He knew what Daniel was about.
• He knew how Daniel lived.
• He knew what Daniel’s God wanted.
HOLINESS
And that is something Nebuchadnezzar was not interested in.
So he wouldn’t seek Daniel until all other options had been exhausted.
So he appealed to Daniel.
And Nebuchadnezzar revealed the dream to him.
(READ 10-18)
If this had simply been a dream about a tree,
One would have to wonder if Nebuchadnezzar would have been upset.
But even in the dream, it was made clear to him
That we are talking about a human.
• Notice the pronouns used beginning in verse 15?
• The tree is even called “a man” in verse 16.
Nebuchadnezzar knew this vision was about a person.
And the purpose of this dream is also clearly explained.
(17) “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.”
Make no mistake,
This incident is all about revealing the sovereignty of God
To a person who have thus far refused to see it.
So God first got his attention by removing his peace.
Peace Removed
2) TRUTH REVEALED (19-26)
You do have to recognize Daniel’s demeanor here.
He is clearly taken back by what he has just heard.
And there are a couple of reasons that should be noticed.
One is that it is clear that he a simple respect and admiration for Nebuchadnezzar.
The other is that Daniel must have known that delivering a negative revelation to the king could be very costly to him personally.
However the king is under such conviction that he simply wants the truth
(It is amazing how God alone can drive people to this point)
And so he encouraged Daniel to interpret the dream.
(READ 20-26)
You hear the meaning of the dream,
And the purpose is made abundantly clear.
(25b) “until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realms of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”
According to verse 26 he must “recognize that it is Heaven that rules.”
God’s message then to Nebuchadnezzar is clear.
• You have walked in lived in a form of faulty arrogance.
• You’ve been filled with false assurance and pride.
• Despite My attempts you refuse to see that I am the true Sovereign.
• I am about to yank you from your pedestal and humiliate you before men
• Until you finally see that I alone am God and you submit your life to Me.
Harsh? Yes
Beneficial? Absolutely
• It may seem cruel that God would go to such great lengths to prove His
sovereignty to Nebuchadnezzar.
• It may seem cruel that God has gone to such great lengths to reveal Himself to
you.
But one must only ask if it would be better to be left alone
And then to spend eternity in hell?
Beyond that, let’s not act like God isn’t warning him first.
Thank God He is willing to do whatever it takes
To reveal Himself to lost and rebellious sinners.
Peace Removed, Truth Revealed
3) ADVICE RENDERED (27)
Here we certainly applaud Daniel’s boldness and courage.
• If you will recall he was only asked to interpret the dream, not give counsel.
• But Daniel sees the opportunity.
• He recognizes that God has set him apart for the delivery of this message and he feels compelled to offer some advice.
His advice is accurate and bold.
(27) “Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’
The point couldn’t be clearer.
• It’s time for you to repent!
• It’s time for you to embrace God’s righteousness
• It’s time for you to embrace the things that please God.
• For too long you’ve lived to please yourself.
• For too long you’ve lived in ease and wanted for nothing.
• It’s time now for you to recognize the heart and desires of God.
• It’s time to seek His standards
• It’s time to embrace His ministries (like the poor)
Daniel encourages Nebuchadnezzar to die to self,
Turn from sin, and seek the will of God.
He is calling him to salvation.
But Nebuchadnezzar does nothing with the warning.
Peace Removed, Truth Revealed, Advice Rendered
4) PUNISHMENT RECEIVED (28-33)
What a statement.
“All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.”
One year later
(my how we tend to forget the warnings of God after a little time passes by)
Nebuchadnezzar was overcome with his own arrogance.
“Is this not Babylon the great, which I MYSELF have built as a royal residence by the might of MY power and for the glory of MY majesty?”
That’s wrong on a number of levels and God struck.
All that God revealed happened to Nebuchadnezzar.
He was driven from humanity and absolutely humiliated by God.
His is the ultimate picture of brokenness in Scripture.
The height from which he fell and the depth to which he sunk
Rivals that of Job in his suffering.
God has decided to absolutely crush his pride.
7 years of humiliation were appointed for Nebuchadnezzar.
Which leads to the final leg of the story Nebuchadnezzar is explaining.
5) SOVEREIGNTY RECOGNIZED (34-36)
In short, after such a period of time Nebuchadnezzar says,
“I finally got it!”
• No more blessing Daniel
• No more praising Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego
“I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominon, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.”
In short, He is God, I am not.
You have to love his new found humility.
• The earth is nothing
• He does whatever He wants
• No one can stop Him or question Him
Nebuchadnezzar has finally humbled himself
Before the holy God of the universe.
(36) “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.”
And after God humbled him, God restored him.
It is the reminder that God is not out to harm us, but to redeem us.
• Nebuchadnezzar needed to be redeemed from pride and arrogance and selfishness. He needed to drop that sin at the door.
• God indeed put him through a difficult process to do that, but it was effective to say the least. This arrogant man was humbled.
So if the declaration Nebuchadnezzar made about God in verses 2&3 seemed strange to you, JUST LET HIM EXPLAIN.
There is a reason that he has decided to declare to the world that
God’s kingdom is in fact the everlasting kingdom
And His dominion lasts from generation to generation.
He is declaring it because God revealed that to him first hand.
So The Declaration, The Explanation
#3 THE EXALTATION
Daniel 4:37
Nebuchadnezzar now stops and
Gives God the absolute praise, glory and honor that He deserves.
And He testifies that there is no one who is beyond God’s reach.
THAT ALONE IS ENCOURAGING.
• We pray for the President
• We pray for the government
• We pray for judges
• We pray for our bosses
• We pray for our family members
• We pray for our co-workers
And after years of praying for such people
We are tempted to give up and lose hope that they will ever get it.
DON’T
God is “able to humble those who walk in pride.”
If God can break Nebuchadnezzar,
He can most certainly break your carnal co-worker.
Listen to Paul’s testimony
1 Timothy 1:12-17 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Paul just basically said the same thing Nebuchadnezzar was saying.
• I was wayward and beyond salvation, but that didn’t stop God.
• In fact God made an example of me.
• But by saving me, He proved that He can save anyone.
Don’t stop praying for those around you.
Don’t fail to seize your opportunities as they are given,
Even if they might give you fear.
Jesus said:
Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
That story rings so true.
God is always able, never forget that.
Furthermore you should recognize that
You are not the only one who longs for sinners to repent and glorify God.
God is also at work to this end.
• He has already decreed that He is the Alpha and Omega.
• He has already decreed that ever knee will bow to Him.
• He has already decreed that His Son will reign forever.
The book of the Revelation shows us again and again that
All nations will surround His throne and will worship in every language.
The end of Revelation shows us that even those who reject Him in this life
Will still bow the knee before His great throne of judgment.
GOD IS IN THE PROCESS OF REDEEMING THIS FALLEN WORLD
BACK INTO SUBJECTION TO HIMSELF.
IT WILL HAPPEN.
And stories like this are good reminders to us that
This whole process is about God receiving the glory He deserves.
God’s objective in this world is not to give sinners the comfort they seek.
Nebuchadnezzar already had that and God took it from him.
God’s objective is bring sinners to the place where they will repent and give Him the glory He deserves.
We are so inundated with false doctrines
About how God should just show up and grant you
Every little thing your flesh craves and desires.
People really do believe that He is nothing more than a genie in a bottle who is forced to bless your finances if you will re-post a picture on Facebook.
That is clearly not God’s objective.
He is out to bring sinners to repentance and glory to Himself.
• Remember that as you pray
• Remember that as you witness
• Remember that even as you walk through difficult times
God has just squared off with the first of 4 world rulers alive during the time of Daniel, and God will reveal His greatness to them all.
1 down, 3 to go.
God is Sovereign!
