Take your Bibles with me and turn to Daniel chapter 4. And we're gonna start by reading the first three verses of this chapter.

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. Daniel 4:1-3

This is a super unique chapter in the scripture because it wasn't written by a Jewish person. It was written by the king of the Babylonian Empire. A man who, at this point, is the greatest king in history thus far. And it is a recollection of his personal journey of faith.

At Crown College, where I went to school, in the new building they have something they call the Hall of Presidents. And it is a hallway full of photos of the different presidents and comments that each of them made about their faith in God and the Bible. Now, a lot of those comments were a stretch because a lot of our presidents were not personally faithful men. They were just talking because it was sort of their expectation to speak on faith. This is not one of those meaningless quotes. Nebuchadnezzar really and truly had God get a hold of his heart, and Nebuchadnezzar wants the world to know his story of coming to faith in God.

Let's keep reading.

4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Daniel 4:4-9

If this feels a little bit like déjà vu, you're not crazy. Way back in chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. A dream that troubled him. And in that chapter, he got all his magicians and astrologers and Chaldeans and soothsayers and had them come before him to give the interpretation and actually to tell what the dream was in the first place. And they were remarkably incompetent. They were clueless. And he got nothing from it. And he was about to kill the whole lot when Daniel and his three friends had a prayer meeting. And God revealed to Daniel the meaning. And this was the source behind Daniel's sudden rise in Babylon. He stood before Nebuchadnezzar and he told him what his dream was. And Nebuchadnezzar understood that it was right and promoted Daniel and his three friends.

Here again, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. A terrible dream. He can't sleep. He needs someone to explain it to him. He goes to all of his terribly incompetent magicians and astrologers and Chaldeans and soothsayers. They can't help him. Finally, he goes to Daniel. You gotta wonder why he didn't go to Daniel first. But he goes to Daniel.

Now, here is the interesting thing about Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had personally witnessed several miracles from God. Nebuchadnezzar watched Daniel give this miraculous interpretation of his dream. Remember the dream with the golden head and the arms and chest of silver and the belly of bronze and the legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and clay. God gave that to Daniel. And Nebuchadnezzar realized, Daniel, there's something special about your God that's not true of all these other gods.

But that knowledge seemed to go right out of his head because in chapter three, Nebuchadnezzar builds this giant statue and forces everybody to bow down to it. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down to that statue. They are good Jewish men that only worship God and do not worship graven images. And remember, Nebuchadnezzar has them thrown into the fiery furnace. And he witnesses these men miraculously be untouched by that fiery furnace. And he witnesses the fourth man in the fire. And he says he's like the Son of God. And he pulls them out and he says, There's no God that can deliver like your God.

And now we get to chapter four. And this is probably twenty-five or thirty years after the events of chapter one. God has been showing himself to Nebuchadnezzar all of this time. And yet, even though Nebuchadnezzar knows things about God, he is not submitting himself to God.

And that would be the first kind of principle we can take from this story.

1. Knowing about God is different from submitting to Him

You see, Nebuchadnezzar knew some things about God. He knew that God was stronger than the gods that were worshipped by the Chaldeans. He knew that God can deliver people. He knew that God brought a certain holiness upon those that worshiped him. He recognized there was something special about God. And yet, Nebuchadnezzar at this point is not worshiping God himself. He's not submitting to God. He's recognizing God, but he's not submitting himself to the Lord.

When he talks about Daniel, he says, you know, his name's Daniel, but his name's also Belteshazzar after my God. He hasn't given up his God yet.

The truth is, there are many people that recognize the Lord. That recognize that God is special, that God is omnipotent. But that doesn't mean that they're going to submit to him.

Reminds me of James 2, verses 18 to 20.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:18-20

It's not enough to believe that there's a God. It's not enough to recognize God. The devil recognizes God. The demons recognize God. They tremble at who God is. The problem is they're not submitting themselves to God. God wants us to submit to Him as our personal one true God and Nebuchadnezzar hadn't done that yet.

He was a James 2:19 believer.

Let's keep reading.

10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. 18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; 24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. Daniel 4:10-27

So this is interesting. Nebuchadnezzar shares his dream with Daniel. And the dream involves this giant tree that reaches to heaven. Kind of harkens back to the story of the Tower of Babel, the building that reached to heaven. And this tree is nourishing the whole earth. Everything is being taken care of by this tree. And the tree is obviously speaking of King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. But then an angel comes and declares that the tree needs to be cut down. So they cut the tree down to the stump. And they bind up the stump. Says till seven times pass over it.

Now, Daniel has the unfortunate job of telling the most powerful man in the world, the man that could have him offed with a word, what this dream actually means. And what the dream means is that God is going to humble King Nebuchadnezzar. You know, the first dream that Daniel interpreted was kind of flattering for King Nebuchadnezzar. He was the head of gold. But here, the meaning is God is going to take you down because of your pride.

It's kind of funny. Nebuchadnezzar is like, Daniel, you can tell me. Don't be afraid to tell me, Daniel. And Daniel's kind of hemming and hawing here. He says, I wish this interpretation applied to somebody else. But he tells him.

And I think this part of the story speaks to a second principle. Reminds me of something that Christians are called to do, which is

2. Speak hard truth with genuine care.

Sometimes, church, the most loving thing that you can do is tell somebody something they don't want to hear. Maybe something that will make them angry. But something they need to hear. Tell them the truth. As Ephesians says, speaking the truth in love.

On the wall in my office, I have this verse from Second Timothy.

24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 2 Timothy 2:24-25

That's what I think Daniel is doing here. He's instructing someone who opposes himself. He's telling Nebuchadnezzar that if he doesn't repent of his sins, that God's dream, God's warning is surely going to come to pass in his life. And I think Daniel is doing this from a place of genuine care for Nebuchadnezzar. That's kind of amazing. Because I mean Nebuchadnezzar stole Daniel from his family, took him to another culture, made him a slave. Yes, he promoted him, but he was still a slave. And he was probably a eunuch. Took away his manhood, his ability to have a family. And yet Daniel seems to truly love Nebuchadnezzar and to want to see him come to faith in God.

Let's keep reading. Verse twenty-eight.

28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. Daniel 4:28-33

Did you catch what verse 29 says? It says at the end of twelve months. Nebuchadnezzar had 12 months to think about this dream. 12 months to repent of the pride that he had. And he didn't do it. God is amazingly patient, isn't he? Well, after 12 months, he's walking in his giant palace. He's looking over his kingdom, and he's thinking, I did all right. I'm okay. I'm pretty good here, aren't I?

And by the way, if anybody had the right to think this way, it was Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon was one of the greatest cities ever. It was a paradise. Gold. Like you've never seen before. One of Nebuchadnezzar's wives was from the mountains and missed the mountains, and so he built this giant irrigated mountain in the middle of the city. This is one of the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the world. Guy conquered pretty much the known world in his time, and he ruled it very well. If anybody had the right to look on the world and look at what he'd done and think, you know, I'm pretty good, I've done okay, it was Nebuchadnezzar.

And that brings me to a third point tonight. A third principle.

3. God resists pride. We must acknowledge Him in all we do.

Listen to the word of God with me.

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. James 4:6

16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look... Proverbs 6:16-17

23 A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Proverbs 29:23

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:12

52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. Luke 1:52

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5

Church, God is not into pride. Pride is a bad thing. It is a wicked thing when we look at our accomplishments with pride. When we pat ourselves on the back. When we think "hey, I'm alright. I'm doing pretty good."

No, you are on shaky ground when you do that. Everything that you have, that I have, we couldn't have without the Lord. Your intelligence comes from the Lord. Your work ethic comes from the Lord. The circumstances that have enabled you to do well come from the Lord.

And God wants us to acknowledge Him. To praise Him. To HIM be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Romans 11:36, Gal 1:5, 2 Tim 4:18, Heb. 13:21)

Think of what God did in this story to humble Nebuchadnezzar.

• He lost his mind.
• He lived like a wild animal in the field.
• He let his hair grow out to the point it was as long as feathers.
• He let his fingernails grow out until they were like claws.
• He ate grass.
• He lived outside of shelter.
• And he does this for seven years.

Why? The last phrase in this chapter tells us:

37 those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Daniel 4:37

Let's go ahead and read the last four verses and finish up the chapter.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Daniel 4:34-37

This is the last we hear from Nebuchadnezzar. He sort of fades off the pages of scripture after this. But he sure seems like a changed man. He sure seems like He is submitting to God.

Let me close with a fourth principle and we are done

4. God seeks a heart that acknowledges His rule

Church, look at how this turns. Seven years in the field. Hair like feathers. Nails like claws. Eating grass. And then one sentence: at the end of the days, I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. That's it. He didn't negotiate. He didn't explain himself. He looked up. And the Bible says his understanding returned unto him.

Now listen to what comes out of his mouth. This is not "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built." He blesses the Most High. He praises and honors him that liveth for ever. He says God's dominion is an everlasting dominion. He says nobody can stay God's hand or say to him, What doest thou? And he ends where the whole chapter has been headed. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. That's a different man than the one who still called Bel his god. That's a man submitting.

And don't miss what God does next. God was not trying to leave him in the grass. The stump was the promise. Daniel had already told him: your kingdom will be sure unto you, after you have known that the heavens do rule. The moment he acknowledges that, his reason returns. His counselors come back. His honor comes back. Excellent majesty is added unto him. God humbled him to get his heart, and then God lifted him up.

So here is the principle. God seeks a heart that acknowledges his rule. Some of you have known about God for a long time. You've seen him work. You can talk about him. You're right where Nebuchadnezzar was before the tree came down. Don't make God drive you into a field to get your eyes off yourself. Lift them up now. Give him the credit for the palace, the work, the mind, the family. Praise the King of heaven while you still have your reason.

And if you're already out there, if God has abased you and you know it, don't stare at the dirt. Look up. He is able to abase those that walk in pride. He is also able to give a man his mind back and put praise in his mouth. That is what he wanted from the greatest king on earth. That is what he wants from you.