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.
God has accomplished everything through Jesus Christ!
God speaks to people today through Jesus Christ! Those who will not listen and believe in Jesus Christ will eventually be humbled by God, like God did to King Nebuchadnezzar! For anyone who has not yet believed and accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and God, be warned! Now is the time to believe in and praise Jesus Christ for God may humble you like He did with King Nebuchadnezzar or worst, tomorrow may never come for you.
Praise the Lord many of us already believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. But let us never forget that Jesus Christ is Lord and we must always humble ourselves before Him. Even as Christians, if we don’t humble ourselves before Jesus Christ, He will humble us!
And just like King Nebuchadnezzar, we will be humbled by God if we are proud and arrogant about ourselves. How does this happen for Christians?
Look again at what King Nebuchadnezzar said in v30….
King Nebuchadnezzar marveled at what he built! Do we marvel at what we ourselves have built by our own power? This would be selfish pride!
As stated in Proverbs 16:18, Pride goes before destruction!
Now, we need to discuss this a bit because there is also righteous pride. The New Testament was originally written in Greek and there are at least 4 Greek words for pride.
It is a sin against God to have selfish pride; meaning boasting about what we have done or have, to boost our own egos.
If we study righteous pride in the New Testament, we will find that righteous pride is encouraged by God because it is pride about what God is doing!
King Nebuchadnezzar was also humbled by God because of his arrogance. He said things happened for his own glory and majesty! God will humble us if we are arrogant about ourselves, meaning being conceited, having an exaggerated opinion of one’s own importance.
Let me suggest a simple thought to avoid sinful pride and arrogance and exercise righteous pride. Physically, we are all encouraged to drink 8 cups of water daily. May I suggest for our spiritual welfare and for those around us, every time you drink something during the day think of H2O; no I don’t mean the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen, but the words Holiness, Humility, and Obedience.
Everyday, think about the Holiness of God given to us through Jesus Christ. Holiness of God of course means God is always right and is always in control. God always win and we win when we are on God’s side. Do you have a situation that is confusing? Ask what God thinks about the situation and affirm that God is always right.
Everyday, watch out for selfish pride and humble yourself before God; meaning, completely rest in what God is doing!
Everyday, obey God, meaning, pray to Him, learn what He wants you to do through His Word, and do what God says.
Here’s an example:
Are you concerned about what is going on lately in Madison, Wisconsin?
1. Ask God what He thinks about the situation. Do you think God is pleased with our government? Do you think God is pleased with the greed and the pride of people? Do you think God wants people to be in debt? Do you think God will provide?
2. Are we frustrated or are we resting in what God is doing?
3. Are we in prayer? Are we searching what God says about the arguments? Are we doing what God wants us to do?
Are you currently facing a difficult situation?
Ask the three main questions above for that situation!
Pride goes before destruction!
Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up!
Every time we drink something, think H2O!
Say to yourself:
God is Holy and is always right!
I humble myself before God!
I will obey Jesus Christ!
