God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble

Date 18 11 01 Text Daniel 4 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

Daniel 4 is a letter, an open letter from King Nebuchadnezzar, To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: ie the people of his great empire. It begins 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. And that’s what he does. He tells the story of his greatness and power, of his pomp and pride and of how he was warned not to go on in arrogance and self-confidence. Then how, refusing to listen, he came under God’s judgement and yet also knew God’s mercy as he was restored gy him to his former glory. There is some debate about whether Nebuchadnezzar became a true believer. Of that we cannot be certain but he was certainly not the man at the end of his reign that he was at the beginning. However deep or shallow his conversion was, he was certainly changed and that change pictures the sort of change that needs to come in our lives so that we are humbled before God and turn from pride and begin to honour God as we should.

1. Realise today what it took a proud man a long time to discover

Nebuchadnezzar begins his letter by declaring the greatness of Almighty God. This is something that we all need to accept.

1. Realise that God does great things. Verse 3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! All the way through the Bible we read of the wonderful things that God has done and is going to do. He is a great God of wonders whose ways are all ‘matchless godlike and divine’. This chapter gives another amazing example of this.

2. Realise that God rules forever. Nebuchadnezzar adds His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. This was the lesson of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had had back in Chapter 2. The great statue had been struck down by a small rock not cut with human hands. The rock destroyed the statue which stands for the kingdoms of this world and replaced it by growing into a mountain that fills the earth. The latter stands for the kingdom of God.

Do you realise these things? You ought to, but sadly, like Nebuchadnezzar before his amazing turn around you may have difficulty in believing it is so. You are so full of yourself that the idea of bowing down before God is alien to you. Learn from Nebuchadnezzar and humble yourself now, before it is too late.

2. Learn from the way that this proud man discovered these truths

1. Are you contented and prosperous? Do not presume on it.

In verse 4 Nebuchadnezzar sets the scene for us. He tells us how before the events of this chapter all occurred I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. That is how he describes his position:

Contented – At rest, at ease. ‘Without a care in the world’ we might say.

Prosperous – Successful, flourishing. ‘Everything just right’.

Is that you? Are things just right? Well, do not presume that it will be like that forever. That was Nebuchadnezzar’s mistake. He presumed that it would go on like that, but it didn’t.

2. Listen to God’s providential warnings against pride.

The first inkling that Nebuchadnezzar had that there was any likelihood of things changing was one night when, he says, (5) 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. Perhaps that has happened to you – a sense of uneasiness has come on you. Perhaps it was due to a dream or may be you heard about someone else running into trouble. May be you just got to thinking ‘I could lose all this in a moment.’ God has various ways of making us uneasy. We don’t always understand quite what is going on. Nebuchadnezzar certainly didn’t understand what this dream was about nor did his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.

The dream is described in verses 10-17. There are three parts to it.

1 The tall tree that Nebuchadnezzar sees (10-12). The King describes how he saw 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. Also 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. So here is a massive tree, resplendent and a source of blessing to many.

2 A message of doom is declared against it (13-16). Next the King sees a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. The messenger calls 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. He adds But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field. Then the metaphor is dropped and the angel says 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.

3 The reason why this announcement has been made (17). 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 the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.

Nebuchadnezzar professed not to understand what the dream meant. We can only say, therefore, that pride blinds men to their situation. That final declaration of God’s power to take kingdoms and give kingdoms as he pleases should have alerted the King to what was being taught but in his blindness he simply could not see it. Are you blinded by pride? Do you simply shake off those fears you have? Are you trying to ignore the clear warnings that God is giving you of a fall ahead? If you were told that just up ahead there was a gang singling people out and hitting them down with hammers, would you just go ahead regardless? Surely that would be madness. I’m saying to you ‘Sit up’, ‘Take notice’, ‘Don’t go blithely on’.

3. Listen to God’s messengers and the warnings they give

Then in verse 8 we read that Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. The note in brackets - He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him - suggests that even after all this Nebuchadnezzar had a great deal to learn and unlearn. He told Daniel his problem but he knew that the spirit of the holy gods was in him and no mystery was too difficult for him, and so he told him the dream.

1 What it is like to declare the wrath of God. Verse 19 is very interesting it reveals to us that declaring the Word of God to sinners is no picnic. It is a perplexing and horrifying thing. Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. The king tried to reassure him Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you. But Daniel answers My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! I would say something similar this morning. How I wish what I had to say, in many ways, didn’t apply to any of you. If only it was for someone else. But it isn’t - it’s for you! Do believe me and do act on what I say.

2 God’s message to you today – repent or suffer. My message is the same as Daniel’s or very similar certainly.

• A warning of impending doom.
• How you are now. The tree in the story began (20, 21) 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 – now this particularly appropriate for Nebuchadnezzar but in many ways that may be how it is for you today. Things could hardly be better. Like Nebuchadnezzar in some ways You have become great and strong; it may not be that your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, or that your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth but all is well, you feel. God has been very good to you.
• What will happen next if you do not repent. God has been good to you and he expects you to acknowledge it. Next there is this messenger from heaven who says 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. It might be being pronounced even now as we speak. Daniel spells out plainly what this means for the King (24, 25) 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. Now, of course, I don’t have an insight into your future of the sort that Daniel had here. I don’t know if you will be struck down with some illness or some other disaster in the next 12 months. Nor do you. It is certainly possible though and without a doubt no-one here will go on forever. We will be struck down one by one or altogether by diseases and disasters. And even before the day of death there will no doubt be troubles enough for all of us. Do take this seriously. All may be well now but it cannot last indefinitely.
• A conditional word of hope. Don’t miss verse 26 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. It is not automatic. It depends on an acknowledgement of God’s sovereign rule. Often God humbles a man for this very reason.
• A call to repent. Especially note verse 27. Daniel says earnestly Therefore, 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. Daniel doesn’t say ‘You’re doomed there’s nothing you can do.’ That sort of fatalism is never found in the Bible. It speaks often enough of God’s sovereignty – yes he is control but there is no idea of fate, of karma or kismet. The idea of God as it were ‘changing his mind’ is always before us. He has decided against Nebuchadnezzar but Daniel knows about God and so he says Renounce your sins now before it is too late. Renounce your wickedness. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. That’s what I would say to you this morning – Repent now while there is time. Don’t wait for some disaster. Don’t keep putting things off. Turn to the Lord.
• Do not make the mistake of being proud and refusing to listen. Don’t make the fatal mistake that Nebuchadnezzar made and put it off. It is clear that God did not act against the king immediately. For a whole 12 months nothing happened. This was surely God’s mercy yet the king, like so many others took no advantage of it. We don’t know exactly what happened – whether he forgot about the dream or whether he began to think there was nothing to it. He felt fine there seemed to be no problem. That is one of the problems with human nature - we forget so easily. Politicians rely on it. We get used to things. They say that people living next to waterfalls get so used to the sound that they are hardly aware of it. When Robin moves to Cranford he might find the planes keep him awake but not for long. People near Heathrow are used toit. How easy to make such a mistake. It would be so easy to go out of a meeting like this, even if you were very moved by it, and then to forget about it or to begin to think it doesn’t mean anything. Some of you have heard many messages like this – you’re used to it. Don’t be complacent. You may have good intentions but unless you actually do something about it what good will it be? 28-30 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 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? And it was at that very moment God struck. Nebuchadnezzar had learned nothing it seems. He was as proud and self-confident as ever. It was as if there had been no warning. We know that he was a great builder (cf the hanging gardens), a great achiever but that was no reason to think he was invincible. We must not make the same mistake. We must repent now. We may have 12 months; we may have more; it may be less. It’s like when someone who has cancer asks how long have I got? The doctor may say six months but he cannot guarantee anything – it may be longer, it may be shorter. Cf Jesus’s parable of the fig tree where the gardener persuades the master to give the fruitless tree 12 more months.
• If you do God may strike you and humble you. 31-33 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. It seems that the king was struck with what is now called lycanthropy. This where the individual basically thinks he is an animal, although not completely losing all sense of self-identity. Many cases have been recorded of one form (boanthropy) where the sufferer believes he or she is a cow. Why would God let such a thing happen? As one writer puts it, God had knocked and knocked but Nebuchadnezzar had made no real response and so this time God knocks so hard that he knocks the door of its hinges. C S Lewis talked about suffering as God’s megaphone. Sometimes God shout, as it were. We will not listen to anything else.
• God is merciful - if you’ve been humbled he can lift you up. Don’t miss this word of encouragement. Verse 34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored. There is a happy ending. By the grace of God this was not the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s story. God had mercy on him and restored him. What a word of hope this is. Event he most hopeless cases leave room for hope. God can humble and convert anyone. Yes, even you! I was talking to someone the other day about conversion and he said to me, as many do, ‘I have prayed. I have asked God to save me’ but it hasn’t happened. What should we say to such people? It’s difficult. It’s no good saying ‘You haven’t asked sincerely enough’. I usually try and say something like ‘Keep on asking because when you seek God with all your heart he will answer’. Perhaps I should say, ‘The problem is you’re not low enough yet.’ I remember when I was a teenager I agreed to bury some rubble in our back garden. Digging is hard work and I wasn’t used to it. More than once I thought I’d dug a hole deep enough. I think I even started burying the rubble at one point but it wasn’t deep enough. It was only after a lot of work that I had a hole deep enough to properly bury all that rubble. That perhaps is your problem – you’ve gone low, as low as you think you can but not low enough. You’re not at the top of the flats any more for sure – you’ve got down to street level. But you need to get down into the basement and then you need dig and dig some more. God says that he resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble and so we must humble ourselves and go as low as we can.

3. More of what a proud man discovered

Nebuchadnezzar ends his letter by sharing something of what he had discovered. How he praised God for his undeserved deliverance. Here he emphasises four things. It is by contemplating such truths that we will learn to be humble.

1. God rules forever

Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. The King saw his kingdom was temporal. It could not last forever. God’s kingdom goes on forever.

2. God is Almighty

35 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? Have you seen how powerful God is?

3. God is merciful

36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour 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. That should give you hope.

4. God is just

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. That is the final note. God is not only merciful but just also. That is why we must all repent.