Pride And Arrogance Series

We’ve been studying the Book of Daniel and we are now in Chapter 4. We noted that God’s Chosen People, the Israelites, were taken captive by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. God tells us that He allowed the captivity because of the sins of Israel. Now because God’s People became slaves and the ruler of the world was an unbeliever of God, did God lose control? Didn’t God promise that the people of Israel will be forever? Did the God of the Bible fail in His promise? What did God do?

We noted from Daniel 1-3 that God did at least 2 things:

1. God kept a remnant of His people; we can note 4 godly men (Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego) in Babylon.

2. God challenged the King of Babylon to believe in Him.

God called 4 men to be obedient and because of their obedience not to eat the “worldly” food, they became the healthiest and wisest men of all the slaves and so they were promoted to high positions in the King’s Court!

God then gave the King a dream that only the godly men from Israel could know and interpret. King Nebuchadnezzar praised the God of Daniel but still didn’t humble himself before God and built an enormous gold statue and required every person to worship it. The godly men obeyed the God of the Bible and refused to worship the gold idol, so they were thrown into a blazing furnace to be killed. The King witnessed God protecting the godly men and they came out of the furnace without even smelling like smoke! Did the King finally believed in God and humbled himself before God?

Please open your Bibles to Daniel Chapter 2; read along with me v25-29…..

Did the King finally believed and humbled himself before God or was he still proud and arrogant? In a moment we will read the entire Chapter 4, but take a glance at Daniel 4:4… v29-30….

God is always at work no matter what the circumstances but God warns the proud and arrogant! Proverbs 16:5 states, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” God will challenge those who are arrogant; those who do not completely believe in Him!

Can Christians be proud and arrogant which God will detest? What are we to watch out for and how can we prevent displeasing our Creator God?

Let us learn first from Daniel 4 then conclude with applications for our lives today.

Daniel Chapter 4 is the story of the King of Babylon and God working in his life. Daniel 4…..

God is always at work and His desire is for every person in the world to believe in Him and God will humble the proud and arrogant!

Let us first of all talk about the dream (v10-17) and its meaning:

An enormous tree providing for every creature,

= King Nebuchadnezzar becoming great and providing for many people! (v20-22)

A messenger from heaven instructed the king,

= was God Most High teaching the king a lesson in humility! (v24-26……)

Did what God say become a reality? The king himself testified about what happened in v28…..

God is always at work and His desire is for every person in the world to believe in Him and God will humble the proud and arrogant!

Let’s review what God did: What work did God do?

v10-17: spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar about the future

v20-26: gave Daniel wisdom to interpret the dream

v17…. proclaimed His love for every person!

v27: warned the king of his pride and arrogance through Daniel

v33… humbled the king by turning him into a “beast”

v36…. restored the king after humbling himself

Let’s review what King Nebuchadnezzar did: What did Nebuchadnezzar do?

v6: first called on his secular “wise” men.

v8: finally acknowledged the man of God Daniel.

v27: did not obey God right away

v29-30: proud and arrogant about himself

v34-37: humbled himself before God and gave God all the glory

v1-3: desired for every person in the world to know the God of the Bible!

What Biblical principles can we apply to our lives today?

God is always at work and His desire is for every person in the world to believe in Him and God will humble the proud and arrogant! This truth hasn’t changed!

We read in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. And what work did God do for people to believe in Him? 1 Timothy 2:5-6 states, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.