We’re resuming my series on Daniel in Babylon. Daniel was not a traditional prophet or seer. He wasn’t given God’s word to reprove or guide the people of Israel, or someone to be inquired of for supernatural guidance. His primary function was as an advisor to the king. Yet he was placed strategically at the pinnacle of power of Israel’s captor Babylon, to reprove the mightiest king on earth. By responding at strategic moments to actions by the King of Babylon, Daniel both instructed the king and future generations on the sovereignty and power of the one true God. And later in life he was given revelation about the course of Middle Eastern history for the next millennium. From chapters one to four, we can see a progression in how God both exposed the vanity of King Nebuchadnezzar’s power and revealed Himself as the Most High God, and implicitly, far above his own gods.

Chapter one set the stage by simply stating that the king had captured the Jerusalem temple’s gold and silver vessels for his treasury, and taken Daniel and his three friends to be trained as court wise men. This symbolized in the king’s mind the superiority of his gods to the God of Israel; but God used this very act of humiliation to turn the tables on Nebuchadnezzar – to expose the king’s vanity, exalt his chosen servants, and protect the people of Israel while they were in captivity. Through this, God would accomplish his intended purpose of purifying the remnant of Judah from their penchant for idolatry and reform the religious culture of His chosen people. And in all things God glorified Himself by proving the superiority of His ways.

In chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing dream of the magnificent statue of gold, silver, bronze and iron that was crushed by an uncut stone, opened the way for God to elevate Daniel as the king’s preeminent wise man or “chief of the magicians.” Nebuchadnezzar declared to Daniel, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries”.

In chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar ironically fulfilled the dream Daniel interpreted by building a giant golden idol and commanding all his subjects to prostrate before it. While Daniel was protected from this idolatrous demand, his three friends – now provincial governors of Babylon – were not. God performed an even greater miracle by appearing in the fire with his three Hebrew servants and sparing them from even the slightest contamination by the smoke of fire. Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar blessed the God of Israel and threatened to annihilate anyone who spoke against their God. Now all four Hebrew officials were sacrosanct. No one dared challenge their authority or Jewish faith, which was foreign to that of Babylon – something that normally would be forbidden in any empire.

By chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar had already settled in his mind that the God of Israel was a mighty God. But he had not yet humbled himself before Him. He was guilty of pride before God, and God determined to humble him as an object lesson to the empire of Babylon, and to all generations who read the Bible, and thus magnify His own glory.

The original sin, and greatest sin, is pride – the attitude of attributing success and excellence to oneself independent of God. Pride was Lucifer’s downfall, turning him from God’s anointed guardian and orchestrator of divine worship, into a self-worshipping adversary of God, or Satan. All of us are guilty of pride, even those who think very poorly of ourselves. Pride is merely a reflection of a self-centered life or thinking. Whenever we think or are motivated by things that aren’t centered on Christ, we slip naturally into orbiting our thoughts around ourselves, our pleasures, our needs or desires, our feelings – not caring if these honor God.

Nebuchadnezzar became a symbol of human pride, of putting our self and not Christ on the throne of our life. And when we do, Satan and his minions are waiting there to assure us that we are justified in our motives or actions, and not to give second thought about whether our attitudes are pleasing to God. The terrorists of Paris and San Bernardino convinced themselves that they were serving God and sending themselves to Paradise as martyrs before they slaughtered civilians without mercy. Now they are in hades being tormented by the demons who lured them into being proud jihadis. Religious pride became their undoing.

Self-centered pride cuts off the grace of God and quickly lead us down the path to sin, and sin to habitual sin or iniquity, and iniquity to crushing failure or loss. Prison is emblematic of the captivity of all who deny God in their hearts and lead a self-willed life. Their captivity may be invisible to the ungodly in our world, but it is evident to God, and as we shall see to appointed angels, who witness and report the folly of our actions to God for judgment. Only a self-examined life that is measured by God’s word and the holiness of Christ can escape the subtle trap of pride.

None of us will know the near absolute temporal authority of an emperor; but each of us has a battle to fight within on who will sit on the throne of our life. It’s one thing to say you believe in God; it’s another thing altogether to trust Him with dominion in your life. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Lordship, then, is the acid test of whether we truly believe in Jesus Christ and the one, true God. // Now reading from verse 1 to 3:

‘King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! ² “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me. ³ How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations.’

This is a remarkable declaration of faith from the ruler of a polytheistic, heathen empire. King Nebuchadnezzar wanted the whole world to hear about the one true God’s miraculous actions performed for him. He begins with a fitting salutation of peace and prosperity to his subjects. The Hebrew says literally “May peace abound to you.”

Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, has multiple meetings: peace, tranquility, safety, prosperity, health, well-being and harmony are all encompassed within it. Shalom is the comprehensive well-being that God’s favor and protection alone can provide. Nebuchadnezzar has experienced this peace in a most unusual way and he wants his subjects to hear about it. He had an encounter with a supernatural God and that encounter transformed him. He declared that the encounter was both a great sign and powerful wonder.

It is uncertain whether Nebuchadnezzar was able to discern that the God of Israel, was distinct from his own, or whether the God of Israel alone was the Most High. They may have been muddled together in his mind. But one thing is certain: Nebuchadnezzar understood that just as there could only be one king of kings on earth – and he was that king – there also had to be a King of Kings in heaven: the Most High God.

The king not only recognized the one true God, but he marveled at God’s great signs and wonders, which he was about to declare. From these, he could only conclude that “His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations.” In this third and decisive encounter with Daniel’s God, the king was finally converted into a witness for the Most High.

Nebuchadnezzar, the great King of Babylon, ironically became a type of the Church, God’s royal priesthood, whose commission from the Lord Jesus is to “preach this gospel of the kingdom to all the nations.” That’s Matthew 24:14.

Daniel is often described as the apocalyptic book of the Old Testament because of its anticipation of the Book of Revelations, especially in the second half of Daniel, chapters 7 through 12. But strangely, we see, a foretaste of Revelation in the very first verse: “King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world”. Listen to how Revelation 5:9 extolls the redemptive work of Christ: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

When God encounters your life in a supernatural way, it is life-changing. When your heart is transformed by His grace, you want everyone to know it, so they too may enjoy His grace and peace. But in this case, the king marveled not at a supernatural blessing on his life, but on being utterly humiliated into insanity and then restored to normal sanity. King Nebuchadnezzar rejoiced in being humbled by God, because though this encounter he was liberated from the vanity of his human pride, so he could delight in God. Reading again from verse 4:

“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living in my palace in comfort and prosperity.⁵ But one night I had a dream that frightened me; I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed. ⁶ So I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon, so they could tell me what my dream meant. ⁷ When all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers came in, I told them the dream, but they could not tell me what it meant. ⁸ At last Daniel came in before me, and I told him the dream. (He was named Belteshazzar after my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

⁹ “I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve. Now tell me what my dream means.

Daniel was intimately connected with that God, and Nebuchadnezzar knew it. That’s why he made Daniel chief of the magicians. His muddled thinking is revealed in saying “the spirit of the holy gods is in him.” The king still believed there was more than one god at work in heaven.

Once again, the king had a disturbing dream that frightened him. This time, however, the dream’s contents were vividly impressed on his mind. He was not about to tempt God by threatening death to anyone who couldn’t discern the dream. He already knew there was only one man in his kingdom who could interpret dreams properly, and that was Daniel. Continuing in verse 10:

¹⁰ “‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth. ¹¹ The tree grew very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. ¹² It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree.

Trees have always played a significant role in human culture. They can be majestic, life-supporting and in the Middle East, a place of shade from oppressive summer heat. At the center of the Garden of Eden was the tree of life. In Nordic mythology, the great tree Yggdrasil also reached into the heavens and was the gathering place of the gods, and also the tree of life. Psalm 1:2,3 says of a blessed man: “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not whither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”

Continuing in verse 13:
¹³ “‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger [watcher], a holy one, coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ The messenger shouted,
“Cut down the tree and lop off its branches! Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit! Chase the wild animals from its shade and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field. ¹⁶ For seven periods of time, let him have the mind of a wild animal instead of the mind of a human. ¹⁷ For this has been decreed by the messengers [watchers]; it is commanded by the holy ones, so that everyone may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.
He gives them to anyone he chooses—even to the lowliest of people.”

God sent a messenger to pronounce judgment on the tree; but in v. 15 it becomes evident that the tree in question is not literal but symbolic of a great person who will lose his sanity and live like a wild animal.

In Aramaic, the word for messenger in vv.13, 17 and 23 is “watcher” – an angel whose mission is to watch over rulers and nations and orchestrate divine judgment. Some theologians believe that watchers are a special class, or order, of angels who assist God in governing. Just as God has an archangel, Michael, to govern the Lord’s armies, and a herald angel, Gabriel, to speak important decrees, watchers are powerful angels who specialize as overseers of kingdoms and nations. The king’s use of the term “watcher” indicates that he learned that God’s agents were constantly watching his actions and listening to his words; and therefore, he was accountable to a higher authority.

V.17 reveals that watchers have authority from God to pronounce decrees against rulers who violate God’s sanctity. They are “holy ones” – pure, undefiled, and therefore instantly aware of anything contrary to God’s holiness. Watchers are jealous for God’s holiness, and so are extensions of His own justice and reflectors of His glory. They know the mind of the Spirit, so they only speak what the Spirit of God authorizes. Their judgments are intended to induce “the fear of the Lord” that leads to wisdom, “so that everyone may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.”

Continuing in v. 18: “‘Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now tell me what it means, for none of the wise men of my kingdom can do so. But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’ ¹⁹ Upon hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a time, frightened by the meaning of the dream. Then the king said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means.’

“Belteshazzar replied, ‘I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you! ²⁰ The tree you saw was growing very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. ²¹ It had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. ²² That tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth.

²³ “‘Then you saw a messenger [or watcher], a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, “Cut down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him live with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.”

²⁴ “‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. ²⁵ You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.²⁶ But the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules.

²⁷ “‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’”

Daniel had a genuine affection for King Nebuchadnezzar. When the king was younger, he was rash, prone to anger and quick to judge and kill those who crossed him. By this time, he was mature and confident in leading his empire; and Daniel was blessed with the privilege of serving him. The king truly was a great shade and fruit bearer for Daniel; and in his kingdom, the Jewish people learned to prosper. I believe that the trades the Jewish people had to learn to survive in Babylon helped them survive centuries of imperial domination and eventually, being scattered throughout the world. It was their drastic change from being a primarily agrarian people to one that was more reliant on skilled craftsman and traders.

Daniel was blunt in giving the king God’s message in the best of the prophetic tradition. If the king didn’t repent of his sins and begin exercising mercy toward the poor he would be driven from sanity for seven periods of time – seasons or years – but God would then restore his sanity and understand through his humiliation that heaven rules.

Reading on in v.28: “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon.³⁰ As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

³¹ “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. ³² You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’

The watcher waited until King Nebuchadnezzar boasted that he had built this great city by his own power. At that instant, he repeated for a third time the decree that the king would lose his sanity for seven seasons. Observe the biblical numerology on display. Three times the decree of judgment was spoken, and three is the number of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The king lost his sanity for seven periods of time, and seven is the number of perfection. From this we can say, that this was a perfect judgment of God to convey the truth of divine sovereignty: “that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.”

³³ “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.”

Be careful how you speak. God and his angels hear every word you say; and if you speak rashly in judgment or arrogance, they may send a swift riposte to humble you. I remember going to a play when I was in divinity school, and a mother came to the play with her baby. The baby got fussy, and I stewed that the mother didn’t leave the theater. At the intermission, I turned and gave that woman a hard, angry stare. That night a knee I had injured earlier swelled up with bursitis. I knew that I offended God with my hardened heart.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:36,37, “For every careless word that a man shall speak he shall give account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” Reading on in v. 34:

³⁴ “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.

What a beautifully simple picture of repentance: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven.” Isn’t that where all true change of heart goes, by looking up to God in prayer? If you reflect back on your life, when you were gone astray in sin, were you thinking and behaving rationally? No! How can anyone who understands the kingdom of God think that any kind of sin, especially crime, will succeed? It never does.

When God leads us to repentance, our sanity returns. Oh, we may think we are clever in wrongdoing, but by defying the will of God we are setting ourselves up for failure. It is the decree of the watchers, of all the angelic host that watch over the human race, that sin will have its consequences, and only the mercy of God can triumph over it. Nebuchadnezzar then said:

“His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. ³⁵ All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ ³⁶ “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before.

³⁷ “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

God triumphed completely in this third and final confrontation with King Nebuchadnezzar. The king humbled himself and declared God’s sovereignty, which is the theme of Daniel’s book. He asserts God’s kingdom is everlasting, whereas his dynasty is doomed to crumble. Compared to God all the people on earth are nothing.

No one can fathom God’s reasoning, so no one has the right to question God’s justice in guiding the destinies of individuals or nations. God does as He pleases; but God’s pleasure is always for our good, if we are humble enough to receive it. Nebuchadnezzar rightly concluded, “All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

Consider how far down the mighty emperor had to fall before he regained both his mental and moral sanity; and consider your own life. How far have you had to fall to find your place of sanity within God’s kingdom? Don’t neglect the lesson of this time in prison. If you keep yourself humble and sober in spirit, and don’t dabble in the things that brought you down before, God will lift you up, the way he did King Nebuchadnezzar. He said, “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom.” So will your reputation and life’s beauty when your spiritual sanity returns.

Now is the time to put down deep roots into Christ and let him make you a fruit-bearing tree, and a place of shade for others. It begins when you decide to trust Jesus Christ completely as your Lord and Savior. Christ will make you a royal prince in His kingdom forever; and He wants to begin that process by making you a faithful disciple today. Will you commit yourself to being His disciple this day, and every day, till He calls you home to heaven?

Let us pray.