Daniel 4: Humiliation and Return   Ps 78 Phil 2:5-11 Matt 16:13-23 Dan 4:1-37

Introduction https://youtu.be/yx9TFzNiQ8M

So far in our series on Daniel we have the impression of extreme godliness on the one hand, epitomised by Daniel and his companions, and extreme spiritual ignorance on the other hand, embodied in king Nebuchadnezzar and his servants. This theme continues in chapter 4 of the book. What makes this section different from preceding episodes is that there seems to be no danger to Daniel or his friends. The structure of the chapter is framed/book ended at its beginning and end (vv. 1-3; 34-37) with high and exultant praise of the sovereign power of the Lord of heaven and earth[1].

Signs and Wonders (vv.1-4)

At the  beginning of the chapter, Nebuchadnezzar is represented as magnifying the Lord, “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.” (v.3). This language of signs and wonders indicates that the king was so impressed by the majestic power of God that he now sounds like an orthodox Old Testament saint[2]. However, to conclude he has had a heart transformation would be a serious mistake, because the primary use of the expression “signs and wonders” in the Old Testament is with reference to how God worked miraculously to deliver the Israelites from the power of a man who ruled just like Nebuchadnezzar, the tyrannical Pharaoh[3]. The Babylonian king’s impression of the wonders of God went no deeper than sense impressions. This sort of superficial response to divine power was a problem for both Jesus and the apostles[4].

Warnings from Heaven (vv. 4-18; 19-27)

As in chapter 2, the king has a dream that alarms him (vv.4-5), which is a sure sign of him having a guilty conscience (see v.27). Seeking an interpretation to soothe his nerves, he calls in all his “wise men” (vv.6-7) but not one of them, exactly as we have seen previously, could make sense of what he had seen[5]. Finally, as a last resort, he calls in Daniel whom he describes as called “Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods…saying, 9 “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians[6]”. Nebuchadnezzar is a pagan idolater through and through, he can call Daniel, but he has no inner awareness that there is a loving and merciful God he can speak to, and it really is an insult to the character of Daniel the prophet of the one true God to be called “chief of the magicians”. He is able to testify about Daniel that “no secret/mystery troubles you” but everything that could not be explained by his consultants and experts[7] seemed to trouble him. Today we want rational, scientific, or psychologically plausible explanations for everything! This is a particularly Western problem; having travelled into other parts of the world[8] where people have had profound visitations in dreams and healings from Jesus[9] that have led them away from the religion of their fathers, such supernatural phenomena are really real[10]. We should be praying that the Lord work signs that people cannot mentally grasp so that they might be led by the Spirit to turn in faith to Jesus (e.g. Acts 13:7-12).

In one of the classic confrontations of scripture when divine truth confronts raw power, Moses vs Pharaoh, Elijah vs Ahab, John the Baptist vs Herod, Jesus vs Pilate, Paul vs Agrippa, Daniel expounds the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream. That despite his “superhuman” influence over beasts, birds and his “dominion to the ends of the earth” (v.22) the king will be reduced in status to possessing the mind of a “brute beast” (cf. 2 Pet 2:12; Jude 10) cast out from human companionship into the uninhabited world until “seven periods[11] of time shall pass over you” (v.25). Nebuchadnezzar is in the likeness of Adam, so proud and majestic in his rule over birds, beasts and the horizon of the earth[12] , but ultimately a man completely fragile before his Creator. The king’s days of might were numbered. No wonder the loyal Daniel, walking in the fear of the Lord[13], was hesitant to spell out the meaning of the dream as a personal judgment on the king (v.17).

The Most High Rules (vv.17, 25-26, 32)

A previous Archbishop of Canterbury indicted us all when he commented, “I make myself, in a host of ways, the centre of the universe.” (William Temple). No wonder Proverbs teaches, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov 16:18). Repeatedly we are told God’s judgement will be wrought on Nebuchadnezzar until “you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” “your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules”. If anyone should have ever understood that “heaven rules” it should have been a Babylonian king, for his was a society obsessed with the dynamics of the heavenly realms. The Chaldeans built step pyramids[14] as a link to the world of the gods and employed astrologers in court (Dan 4:7) to interpret signs of the times[15]. Despite enormous knowledge of things “heavenly” Nebuchadnezzar needed the agonies of losing his mind[16] as a punishment from heaven to open him up to receive a revelation from heaven that there can only ever be one Power that rules the earth[17].

Cast Down (vv. 28-33)

The fulfilment of God’s sure decree comes about in one of the most frightening scenes in the Bible. “At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven[18], “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar.”

There is a perplexing episode. Neither the king nor his counsellors could interpret a dream sent by the God of heaven because of a lack of space in their worldview for divine revelation. We read in the version I use (ESV) “and the king answered and said” (v.30), another translation has “he commented to himself” (ISV). In finding no one worthy to speak to Nebuchadnezzar spoke to himself; he became his own “motivational speaker”.  This was a beginning of a personal slide into insanity, something which first began in the way the devil conned Adam and Eve into thinking about themselves in Eden. Why on earth speak to yourself when you can speak to your Creator! How is it that I am constantly exhorting people to pray through Jesus in the power of the Spirit of God to our heavenly Father? But this is not the end of the story.

Seeing Sense (vv. 34-37)

All of a sudden, sense breaks into the life of the afflicted monarch and he prophesies about the greatness of God,

“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (4:34-35). This is a totally orthodox declaration of the majesty of God. What then are we to make of the emphasis, “my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendour returned to me….I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.” (4:36). Whilst he had learned that the “King of Heaven” is well able to humble the proud (v.37) the king still saw the heavenly realm as serving his own needs and interests[19]. This is the final story about Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, and we have no evidence that he “practiced righteousness” and showed “mercy to the oppressed” (v.27) as counselled by Daniel, we must conclude that he remained a self-centred lost man to the end of his days.

Conclusion

I have always had a soft spot for Nebuchadnezzar[20], now, through this series on Daniel, I see this mighty famous king[21] as one of the most spiritually dull people who ever lived. Despite being sent dreams and visons from heaven, being gifted with one of the greatest prophets of all time and witnessing the miraculous deliverance of men of peerless courage, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, from the burning fiery furnace, he utterly failed to understand the mercies of God. Here was a man of brilliant intellect, controlled by an evil spirit[22], that turned him into a worshipper of himself (cf. 1 Sam 15:12)! The characteristic illness of our times is not COVID 19, but narcissism: human beings falling madly in love with themselves. Someone once said, “People feel like they have to ‘find themselves,’ they search this and that, here and there, and in the end discover nobody’s home?” The only difference between this hellish destiny[23] and being a Christian is the matchless grace of God[24]. I thank the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth (Luke 10:21), that when I was completely lost he turned my mind towards his Son, and he has never stopped doing this day after day, week after week, month by month, year in year out. May this be your constant will and desire (1 Cor 2:16).

This is where I finished the first draft of my sermon, then when I was out praying yesterday morning the Lord challenged me, “How do you think I felt when I had to reduce Nebuchadnezzar to the level of a beast. Or when I have had to hand people over[25] to every form of sub-human practice so that it is increasing treated as normal[26][27]! Our Father’s attitude is not “I told you so/you deserve it/what you sow is what you weep.” Not at all, the heart of God is glimpsed in Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem (Matt 23:37-39) and in his anguished plea from the cross, ““Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”” (Luke 23:34). May this be our plea too.