Welcome to I Dare You, a series through the book of Daniel with Skip Heitzig.
Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of Daniel, chapter 4. We started in that chapter last week; we have the privilege of finishing that chapter in our studies this week. Let's pray together.
Father, the reason we come before we apply a text of Scripture is simply because you know us so well. You know our motives. You know our thoughts. You've searched us as David said, and he prayed that you would search him yet again, and then lead him in the way everlasting.
And we pray, Father, the same knowing that you know all about us and that you love us anyway. We pray that you would please direct our steps, and help our lives week by week to more and more reflect the image of our Savior and Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
One of the most destructive forces in all of the universe is pride. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, chapter 16, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everybody sick except the one who has it.
Here's a case in point: Over forty years ago, 1971, there was a historic fight called the "fight of the century" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Before the fight Muhammad Ali said these words, "There seems to be some confusion. We're going to clear up this confusion on March 8.
"We're going to decide once and for all who is king. There's not a man alive who can whoop me. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I am the greatest. I am the king. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I could ever get licked." [laughter] Boy did he get licked! Famous last words.
Pride is the oldest sin in the universe, and it shows no signs of weakening with age. It's what dislodged Lucifer from heaven. It's what drove out our first parents from the garden of Eden. It is what is about to dislodge Nebuchadnezzar from out of his kingdom in Babylon. C. S. Lewis called it "the chief cause of misery for every nation and every family since the beginning of time."
Nebuchadnezzar wanted to get that message out to as many people as he could, that he was once prideful, lifted up, and that he had come to his senses. And he wanted to let as many people know about that as possible. So, after the event occurs, a total of an eight year episode in chapter 4, afterward he sits down in his right mind to write to all of the people that were in his kingdom.
And notice his conclusion, verse 37, "Those who walk in pride he is able to put down." or to humble. Well, if pride is your greatest enemy, then humility is your greatest friend. And as Peter writes in 1 Peter, chapter 5, "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time."
I read an article about a study done on how people view themselves versus how others who observe them view those same people. It was a study that was done at the University of California Riverside. And a group of students rated themselves as cheerful, warm, and intelligent; but observers saw them as hostile, deceitful, and condescending. The name of the article—want to know what the name of the article was? "Study Says Jerks Have Too Much Self Esteem." [laughter]
We're about to read of such a one in Daniel 4. Once again, Nebuchadnezzar had no problem at all with self esteem. We know that because in chapter 2 after seeing a dream he was very impressed, but he went back to his old behavior. In chapter 3 he built a statue in his honor, commanded everybody bow to it. Three did not. They were miraculously delivered.
Once again, he is emotionally awed by that, but goes back to his old behavior until now. This seems to be what gets his attention for good as he sits down and he writes this. We pick it up in chapter 4, verse 19, that's where we begin this morning.
Daniel 4 verse 19, this is the revelation to a powerful king. Notice, "Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar," that's his Babylonian name, "was astonished for a time." Remember the king has told the dream to all of his wise men, all the cheesy wise men who could never give an answer. Finally, he calls in Daniel. Daniel is listening. He knows what it means.
"He was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.' Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies! The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth.' "
Hey, you think the tree in your backyard is big? This is big. " 'Whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the air had their home—it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
" 'And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him"; this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen.
" 'They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he chooses. And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.' "
Evidently, as soon as the king tells the dream to Daniel, the king could read in Daniel's face, "This is not good." It says, "He was astonished," the word is appalled. He was emotionally agitated by what he heard, because Daniel knew what the dream meant instantaneously. And he was astonished because there's nothing worse than having the most powerful man in the world lose his mind. The implications of that troubled Daniel.
Now, this reveals something to me. Daniel does indeed reveal the truth to the king. He doesn't hold back. He tells him exactly the interpretation. But the fact that he was astonished and he said, "Oh, I wish that this did not apply to you," shows that Daniel, though he proclaims judgment on the king through God's revelation, that he loved this king and he didn't want these things to come upon him. That there was a relationship that had developed of love and sweetness between the two, that though Daniel tells him the truth, his heart is troubled because of it.
All true servants of God are like this. No authentic servant of the Lord relishes God's judgment on unbelievers. "Uh huh, wait till you get yours," that's not the attitude. We, we should never proclaim doom with a smile. When Jesus saw what was happening to Jerusalem he wept over it as he saw the coming judgment. He says, "O king, you are the tree." Big gulp happened in Nebuchadnezzar's throat, a big lump, because he was smart enough to know what was going to happen to him. The tree gets chopped down; a stump is left that is protected for a period of time.
Now, we told you last week that often in the Old Testament the metaphor of a tree often represents a powerful ruler or a nation, usually one that is prideful. If you want to write down references to look at that: Isaiah, chapter 2; Ezekiel, chapter 17; Ezekiel, chapter 31; Hosea, chapter 14; and Zechariah, chapter 11—all use the imagery of a tree that is dealt with as it refers to a nation or an individual.
Now here the tree that is chopped down speaks of the disgrace and removal of King Nebuchadnezzar who will be left as a stump. In other words, God isn't done with him yet. He eventually will reign again. King Nebuchadnezzar is listening to all this. He's listening. He's getting information. He's getting revelation. But what is happening to Nebuchadnezzar happens to every single person who hears the gospel.
Whether they hear it through a personal testimony of somebody, or they are watching a television program, an evangelistic crusade, or they hear a radio broadcast, or they read something—when they get the revelation of the gospel, the "Jesus loves you and died for your sins, and you can have heaven if you receive him"—at that point, like Nebuchadnezzar, they have a choice to make. They will humble themselves and receive it, or they will puff themselves up in pride and say, "I don't need it."
What I like about Daniel is that once he gives him the information in verse 26, he doesn't stop and say, "And now may the Spirit of God apply this truth to your heart, O king." No, he takes another step from revelation to confrontation. He presses it home a little bit further. Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote, "Man does not know himself truly except as he knows himself confronted by God."
Now, watch how God confronts him through the prophet Daniel. Daniel, verse 27, is the confrontation: "Therefore, O king," now, that is not interpretation that's confrontation. There's a "therefore," he's going to apply it. "Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps, perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity."
In other words, "Dude, if I were you, I would repent right here, right now. I'd get right with God." How many of you think Nebuchadnezzar did that at that point? He didn't do it. That's not his M.O. He's listening, he's impressed, but he's not going to change right away. He should. Daniel was right; God would have prolonged his prosperity. Isaiah 55 verse 7, same promise basically: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
But here's what I want you to see. Daniel did not just give the king revelation, information, he gave him compassionate confrontation. That is the kind of counsel that must be given to anyone who is in sin. Compassionate confrontation where you lovingly, gently but firmly, get in their grill and tell them what's up.
It's a Galatians 6 verse 1 kind of compassionate confrontation. You know that verse? "If a man be overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted," compassionate confrontation.
This is not blind compassion where you close your eyes and you're reluctant to say anything about anything going on in that person's life. We are not to be called a spiritual ostrich with our head in the sand pretending that there's not bad things happening, nor is this brash opposition.
There are some people who pride themselves in being sin sniffers. "That's what I'm called to be. I am God's sin sniffer to the body of Christ. I'm the faultfinder." And they're just ready to go at it and cut people down at any turn.
No, you must have the right context for this kind of confrontation, and the context is relationship. You just don't walk up to someone and spew loveless, stinging words; you have no right. But if you have a relationship established, you have both the right and a responsibility to lovingly confront.
I believe this is lacking more and more in family life in the home where children are just left to do whatever they want, because: "I don't want them not to like me if I were to discipline them or to confront them." If you don't get that child's attention, you're rearing a monster.
Listen to this; this is from the Houston Police Department. They printed a leaflet a few years ago entitled "How to Ruin Your Children," and they gave a list of several things. I'll just bring out three.
Number one: Begin with infancy to give a child everything he wants. Number three on the list: Never give him any spiritual training. Let him wait until he's twenty one and let him decide for himself. Number five: Pick up everything he leaves lying around so he will be experienced in throwing responsibly on everybody else.
When I read through that, I thought, "That's Nebuchadnezzar. He's like a spoiled brat. He's so powerful but so petulant." And so Daniel moves from revelation to confrontation in verse 27.
I will say before we move on that this is part of the job of any pastor. Part of the job, not all the job. Part is to nourish, to feed, but, if need be, to confront. And the Word of God just through sermons will do that. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, he writes to the church. He reserves a little section for leaders of the church and he tells them, "Confront, or accuse me confront, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak," but he adds this," Warn the unruly." That's the confronting part. He tells them, "You have a dual role: to comfort the afflicted, and to afflict the comfortable."
Martin Luther put it this way, "A preacher must be both a soldier and a shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach; but he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite." Daniel could bite. He did it softly, gently, but he did it. "Therefore, O king, I urge you turn from your sin; do it now."
This is also the duty of every Christian, not just every pastor, not just prophets in the Old Testament. Every Christian, I believe, has this obligation. Jesus confronted scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, even his own disciples. Paul the apostle confronted false prophets. He confronted legalists. He even confronted Peter the apostle, and Barnabas, and even the churches he wrote to.
But though it is the obligation of every Christian, make sure you meet the qualifications. Qualifications are mentioned in that verse I just pulled out of Galatians 6 verse 1, "If a man be taken by any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."
There's four qualifications in that verse. Number one, you need the right basis: "You who are spiritual." Needs to be a saved, spirit filled, spirit directed individual and approach. Number two, it needs the right motive: "You who are spiritual restore such a one." Doesn't say "punish such a one," or "condemn such a one," or "make that person really feel bad,"—"restore."
Number three, you need the right attitude: "Restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness." You are not the gospel gestapo. There is no such role in the body of Christ. "In the spirit of gentleness," and then it says this, the right precaution, "considering yourself lest you also be tempted." You approach with the humility of a forgiven sinner. You're approaching someone who is overtaken in a sin and a fall, but you approach with the humility of a forgiven sinner "considering yourself lest you also be tempted."
I think a good example of this approach is the Lord Jesus Christ when his disciples came to supper one night. It was the Last Supper and they had dirty feet. And what did Jesus do with their dirty feet? He washed them. He didn't chop them off. "Dirty feet," whack! He didn't take off a pocket knife and scrape the dirt off their feet. He gently and thoroughly washed their feet. The right combination of compassion and confrontation can be powerful.
Great story over a century old of a Swiss evangelist, a rather famous one at that time by the name of Cesar Malan. And he approached a woman on a train, a young woman, very forthrightly but gently, and he just said, "I hope that you're a saved woman. I hope that you're going to heaven." She took umbrage to the conversation. She bristled at it. She didn't want to discuss it. And then he said again very gently but forthrightly, "I mean you no offense, I just want to make sure you're going to heaven."
Three weeks later that young lady found that evangelist and said, "I could not get that conversation out of my mind, and ever since I've been trying to get to Christ. What must I do?" And he said to her, "You have nothing of merit. You must come as you are."
Out of that experience that young lady by the name of Charlotte Elliott wrote a song: "Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou biddest me come to thee, O, Lamb of God, I come." It became the hallmark, and still is, of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association used in their altar call song. Revelation and compassionate confrontation.
Question: Will that change a person? If you approach with revelation, truth, and compassionate confrontation, will that change a person? Maybe. Sometimes it will, sometimes it will not. But you've done your job. You've delivered the goods. And you leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit and let the "Hound of Heaven" get tougher if he needs to; that's his job. Speaking of that, let's see how tough he can get.
We now go from the revelation to a powerful king, and the confrontation to a vulnerable king, to the humiliation of a prideful king. Verse 28, "All this," that is, all that Daniel said, "came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon." Twelve months, a whole year passes. You can forget a lot of what happened in a year. The impression that whatever happened made on you twelve months ago can fade very quickly, and you can become desensitized after twelve months.
So here's my question: Why the delay? Why didn't God fulfill this dream immediately on Nebuchadnezzar? Why, why would God wait twelve months? I'll spell it for you, M E R C Y, mercy. God was being merciful. God gave twelve months' time, an entire year, for this guy to heed the warning that Daniel gave to him in verse 27.
It's the same reason God waited four hundred years before he judged the Amorites by bringing the children of Israel into their land. It's the same reason God waited one hundred twenty years after Noah preached to that antediluvian civilization before the flood. It's the same reason the message God gave to Jonah for Nineveh was, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."
"I'm giving you a month and a half to think about this before judgment comes." And it's the same reason God is patient with some of you. Second Peter, chapter 3, "He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." So after twelve months he's walking, verse 29, "about the royal palace of Babylon." Look at verse 30, "The king spoke, saying, 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?' " What a proud peacock is King Nebuchadnezzar.
I will say from a human perspective that he was correct. Babylon was magnificent. It was, perhaps, the most magnificent and the largest city in the world at that time. Historians tell us that the walls of Babylon, get this: 355 feet high, 60 miles in circumference. There were guard stations, towers, posted every 45 or 46 feet along the entire circumference of the wall. The Greek historian Herodotus tells us the walls were 85 feet thick; that's a six lane freeway. And chariot races took place several abreast on top of the walls of that city.
Besides that, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, was right in the middle of the town, and people could see that even from outside the city at a far distance. It was because Nebuchadnezzar married a wife by the name of Amytis who lived in the mountains previously. And he brings her to Babylon, this alluvial plain, and she missed her mountain home, so he basically built a mountain in the middle of the city. The Hanging Gardens, the terraced, verdant Gardens of Babylon, so impressive that two hundred years later Alexander the Great planned to move the center of his empire and relocate it in Babylon.
So he's walking a year later on top of his home, walking in pride. And you'll notice the next verse, the clock of God's judgment strikes midnight. Verse 31, "While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven." Talk about all of a sudden. " 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They will make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he chooses.' "
"That very hour," God was so patient and longsuffering, but when God's judgment comes, it comes—and it came. "That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nail, nails like birds' claws." Wow! God will not share his glory with another. He said that; now he's showing that. Here Nebuchadnezzar is reduced to the level of an animal.
You know, there are physical laws in our universe, they're just there. Gravity is one of them. Let something go out of your hand, it drops to the ground. Jump off of a building, you may want to fly, but there's gravity. Unless you have the right apparatus the law of gravity is going to bring you down. You may not like that law, that's the way it is.
But there are also spiritual laws that are just as powerful in their cause and effect as physical laws. And one of them is God hates pride and will eventually deal with it either in this life or in the future judgment. God opposes the proud. And so we see here, as we mentioned last week, this bizarre form of psychotic hysteria known in medical terminology as insania zoanthropica, or more precisely boanthropy, where a man believes he's an ox.
When I read this, my mind inevitably goes back to my early medical radiology training. And part of the internship that I was going through at San Bernardino County Medical Center was in ward B it was called. It was the mental ward, and it was the severe of the severe. It was patients who were kept in these little cages, rooms like, and exhibited all forms of odd, bizarre behavior. And it just—it tore me up; it broke my heart.
It was a very difficult period of my life. One patient I remember was tied to a gurney, restrained. The reason he was restrained is that if he got any members of his body close to his mouth, he would bite and chew and swallow his own flesh. He had been reduced to an animal.
Nebuchadnezzar's case is not singular. A few years ago, in modern times, R. K. Harrison a medical doctor reported a similar affliction in a British institution. Let me just give you one of his writings quote: "The patient was in his early twenties. His daily routine consisted of wandering around the magnificent lawns of the institution. His custom was to pluck up and eat handfuls of grass as he went along."
"The only physical abnormality noted consisted of the lengthening of his 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," close quote. A modern example of what Nebuchadnezzar went through.
But now we take you to the best part of story, and we find this a lot in the book of Daniel. It's like it plunges deeply and then it gets good at the very end of the chapter. Here's the best part, it's the restoration of a humbled king. Verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar writing first person, "And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever."
Notice "For his dominion is an everlasting dominion," not mine. "His kingdom is from generation to generation," not mine. "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing," that would include this king. "He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain 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 honor and splendor returned to me."
"My counselors and nobles resorted to me." Up to this point they wouldn't have anything to do with him. The only way they could treat mental illness in those days was just to put the guy out. "I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways justice. And those who walk in pride he is able to put down." Let the last part of that verse just sink in: "All who walk in pride he is able to put down."
You remember what Jesus said? You'll remember it when I start quoting it. In Luke, chapter 18, he said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be . . . humbled, everybody who humbles himself will be . . . exalted." We see that here. Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself; he was humbled. Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself when he looked up to heaven, submitted himself in faith to God, and now he is exalted.
There is one attitude that will make God your enemy, and that is pride; and the only cure is repentant humility. Three times this verse is mentioned in Scripture. I guess it must be important. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. He opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Disease: pride. Cure: humility. Opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble.
Two brothers grew up on a farm. One stayed on the farm. One left the farm, got educated, became prominent in politics, known in his community. The prominent brother went back to the farm to visit his farmer brother one day. And the prominent, educated brother said to his farmer friend brother, "You know, you ought to leave the farm. You ought to make a name for yourself and hold your head high in this world."
They were outside when he said it, and so the farmer brother put his arm around and pointed to his brother and said, "See those fields of grain? Look very, very closely and notice only the empty heads stand up." [laughter] "Only the empty heads stand up. Those that are well filled always bow low." Humility.
I would say it's better to recognize this now in reading this story than to experience the tragedy that Nebuchadnezzar experienced in this story. I mean, if God hates pride, and pride is a barrier to God's blessing, then humble yourself, cultivate humility. You say, "Skip, how, how do you cultivate humility?" I'm going to tell you four little things that you can do in your life that will actually help you become a more humble person. It'll cultivate humility.
Number one: pray. I don't mean just pray for humility. I mean just pray. See, when you pray, what you are saying is that "I can't do this alone. I depend upon God's help." The opposite of a, a prayerful person is a prideful person. A prideful person goes, "I don't need God. I can handle this. I was raised right. I can do this alone." That's a proud person. A prayerful person is dependent on God, so you pray.
Number two: worship, authentic worship. Because when you authentically worship, your focus is not on you, it's on him. It's all on him. It's an act of humility to worship God: "I'm making this, Lord, about you. I'm thinking about your greatness, and I'm telling you how great you are." Authentic worship doesn't say, "Well, I don't like that song. It's too fast." It's not about you! Sing it to him.
Prayer, worship, here's the third: encouragement. Encouragement. Find somebody you know and encourage them, because when you encourage someone it means that you've studied them, hung out with them long enough to notice things that are worth encouraging them for. And again, the focus is not on you: "What do you think about me? Do you like the way I dress? Do you like the way . . ." Think about them.
Prayer, worship, encouragement, here's a fourth: service. Perform a task that is not in your job description. You know we're all about the job description. We tell HR, "It's not my job description. Why should I pick up that piece of paper? It's not in my job description." I don't know, cuz it's there and it needs to get thrown away. Just do a task not assigned to you.
Those four things—prayer, worship, encouragement, service, are ways to cultivate a humble spirit. God opposes the proud, he gives grace to the humble. In closing you'll notice that the restoration began when Nebuchadnezzar, verse 34, lifted his eyes up to God. That's faith. That's submission. Smartest thing you could ever do if you have not done this is to surrender your life to Christ. The sooner you do it, the better, the smarter you are.
Hear the story about the four people in a private airplane? One was the pilot, then there was a minister, a genius, and a Boy Scout. The pilot left his seat and went out to the three passengers and said, "Boys, the plane is going down and there are only three parachutes, but there's four of us." Pilot strapped one on and said, "I have a wife and three kids," and he jumped out. Saved himself.
Two parachutes left. The genius stands up and goes, "I'm the smartest guy in the world! Everybody needs me." Strapped one on; jumped out. One parachute left. The minister turns to the Boy Scout very sadly and says, "There's only one parachute left. You're young. I've lived a good life. You take it. I'll go down with the plane." The Boy Scout smiled and said, "Relax, Reverend, the smartest guy in the world just jumped out of the airplane with my backpack." [laughter] Smart!
Dwight L. Moody said, "Be humble or stumble." In this case, be humble or splat. Humble yourself before God and say, "I need you, Lord." Let's pray.
Father, just this moment of prayer is an act of humility stating that we need you, and that we need you at the center of our life to direct our steps, to apply these truths. This revelation has been, for some, a confrontation where your Spirit has really pressed these things to the heart. And I pray that our response will be a humble reception, a turning toward you. And for those who don't know you yet, to come to know you this morning, in Jesus' name, amen.