Daniel 4:1-37
Learning the Truth…His Way or the Hard Way
Why do we choose the Hard Way
Pride
Procrastination
How do we choose His Way
Humble yourself
Obey the Word
Honor Him
What do we Need to Learn
God is God and You are Not
Slide
Good morning.
Do you remember when you were growing up? Some of you are experiencing this now. But we have all kinds of different people in our life giving us advice.
We have parents who think they know more than us, especially when we are younger.
Maybe we have older siblings or aunts and uncles who give us advice about how to deal with situations we may be going through or other transitions in life.
When we are going into high school our parents sometimes think we should be studying more, but they just don’t understand what it is like to be a high school student in the world today.
Or when we are going to college, we have parents giving us advice regarding watching out what kinds of people we are hanging out with or to be careful about drinking alcohol because it can affect our ability to think or drive, but it is college after all, and this is what everyone is doing. And after all, they don’t know what it is like to face the pressures that I face.
To kids, Sometimes it would seem that parents want them to have no life at all!
They don’t know what I am facing and what do they really know anyway?
We think that, often until we face some of the consequences of the decisions we made.
Oh, if only I would have spent a little more time my freshmen year studying and getting some better grades, I could have gotten into the college I was hoping to.
Oh, if I would have just gone home instead of having a couple more drinks and now I am waking up in some strange place with someone I don’t even know.
Why didn’t I listen!?
Everyone one of us, if you are older than 25, have probably had a moment of regret for not listening to the advice of someone else, thinking that they really did not know what they were talking about, but it turns out they did and it turns out they were really trying to help us, not hurt us.
It would have been so much better and easier for us if we would have just listened to them. But so often we choose to learn things that hard way. Why do we do that?
Transition
Well, this morning, as we continue our series in Daniel called, “When in Babylon…?” we are going to see Nebuchadnezzar again and take a look at what God wants him to learn and how he chooses the hard way and what he could have done and what we can do to better learn the truths of God His way.
Turn with me to chapter 4 of Daniel.
Slide
As you turn there, let me remind you of what we know about Nebuchadnezzar that we learned in the first 3 chapters.
Background
Nebuchadnezzar was the powerful king of the Babylonian empire. He conquered Israel and brought some of the Jews to Babylon as captives and sought to indoctrinate them with the Babylonian way so they would forget their God.
We saw last week that Nebuchadnezzar created a false god made out of gold and required everyone to bow down to it, but Daniel’s friends would not and they were thrown into the fire, but they did not burn up because God saved them.
Nebuchadnezzar certainly recognized that the God of Daniel and the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was a powerful and mighty God, but he had not believed in Him as the One and Only God of the universe. God had shown Nebuchadnezzar His power and His authority over all things, but Nebuchadnezzar was still not a believer.
God has tried to teach Nebuchadnezzar the truth about Himself His way, but Nebuchadnezzar was choosing the Hard way
Why would anyone choose the Hard way?
Why do we choose the Hard way
Slide
Let’s read the beginning of chapter 4 and see what had caused Nebuchadnezzar to choose the hard way and learn how we might choose to learn about God His Way.
Daniel 4:1-33
4 King Nebuchadnezzar,
To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world:
May you prosper greatly!
2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 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. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.) 9 I said, "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. 10 These are the visions I saw while lying in my bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 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. 13 "In the visions I saw while lying in my bed, I looked, and there before me was a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He called 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. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field."’Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 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. 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.’ 18 "This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."
19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you."Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 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— 22 you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth. 23 "You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ’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.’ 24 "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 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. 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. 27 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."
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 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?" 31 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. 32 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." 33 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.
Let’s pause here and pray
Ok, we see here that God warned king Nebuchadnezzar in a dream what would happen to him.
Over past several chapters, we have seen God do unbelievable miracles that Nebuchadnezzar had seen. God revealed and interpreted a dream through Daniel, something the king recognized only a mighty God could do. God saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of the fire, something only a might God could do.
Now, he has had another dream and Daniel again, through the wisdom of the Lord, interprets it for him and he says the king is going to be like an animal for 7 years.
Why is God doing this?
Because of
Pride
Slide
Nebuchadnezzar, even after all that he has seen and God has revealed to him, still thinks more highly of himself than he ought.
In verse 25, we see part of Daniel’s interpretation and he says this is happening “until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes”
Nebuchadnezzar had been given by God many great talents and blessings, along with power and authority, but Nebuchadnezzar failed to acknowledge that God had anything to do with it.
Look at verse 30. As he is walking on the roof top of his palace
30 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?"
Nebuchadnezzar’s pride leads him to learn the truths of God the hard way.
Pride is a ugly sin.
We aren’t talking about the pride that wants to do something well, as used in “take pride in your work.”
The pride that is sin is a pride that wants attention pointed at you and seeks to exalt you or what you have done, apart from God.
The Proverbs are full of warnings about this kind of pride.
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Proverbs 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 29:23 - A man’s pride brings him low,
Pride is a stumbling block to us learning the things of God. In fact,
Pride is a stumbling block to us learning anything from anyone.
When pride invades our life, we don’t think we need to listen to others, or learn from others. We think that we have all the wisdom and knowledge we need.
This is not something that young people have to guard against. This is something that every one of us need to guard against, because it can creep in subtly.
Who doesn’t like to be recognized, or praised. We all like it to some extent. But the problem comes when we take praise that is not due us.
When we fail to give God glory or credit for His work through us, then we are stealing from God.
Nebuchadnezzar did a lot of great things. But it was the Lord who was behind it.
Through him a great empire was built
Through him, he conquered a large number of nations, including Israel
Through Nebuchadnezzar, the Hanging Gardens were built, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
Babylon would have been an impressive city to anyone who traveled there and this was done through the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
But even though it was through Nebuchadnezzar that these things were accomplished, it was the Lord who did them all through Him.
We learn in Daniel 1 that it was the Lord that handed Israel over to Nebuchadnezzar.
In Jeremiah 27, it was prophesied that the Lord would hand over Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon to Nebuchadnezzar
God is the one who raised up Nebuchadnezzar and used Nebuchadnezzar, but Nebuchadnezzar failed to acknowledge God as God even with all He had seen.
Apply
God has created you as well. And God has given you gifts and abilities and he will use you to accomplish what He desires.
Have you acknowledged God’s authority in your life? Even if you have, are you stealing God’s glory for yourself?
Do not steal God’s glory for yourself thinking you have done something great, like Nebuchadnezzar.
Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians 4:7
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1 Corinthians 4:7 - What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Whatever we have is from the Lord, whether it is wealth, or abilities, or power. We did not earn them or deserve them. They are gifts.
Do not steal the glory of the Lord. That will only lead to the Lord humbling you to teach you, because the coming to a place of recognizing the Lord’s power and authority in your life, is the beginning of realizing the real life that God wants us to have.
Transition
But it is not only pride that causes us to learn the hard way. We also choose the hard way because of
Procrastination
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Nebuchadnezzar, after Daniel had told him what would happen and advised him to repent of his sin and pride did not do it.
It says in verse 29, “Twelve months later…” all that was prophesied came true.
I am sure that during that year, the King is probably thinking, Daniel looks like he got this one wrong. I can just keep going on like I have.
I am sure all of us have procrastinated taking the Lord’s patience for granted.
In regards to salvation, many wonder where the coming of the Lord is. This is not new. Peter spoke of this in.
2 Peter 3:9
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The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
While the Lord has yet to return, I will also tell you that none of us know when our last day will be here. We must be ready.
And not just in regards to salvation, but in all that the Lord wants to teach us in our daily lives, we must remember that He is seeking to lead us into a deeper relationship with Him and as we procrastinate, we are choosing to learn the hard way instead of His way.
Transition
So those are 2 areas that caused Nebuchadnezzar to learn the hard way and cause us as well to learn the hard way.
But what can we do to make sure we don’t choose to learn the hard way?
How can we choose His way?
Slide
Well, first, instead of walking in pride, you should
Humble yourself
1 Peter 5:6 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
James 4:10 - Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Proverbs 29:23 - A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
We need to recognize the truth of God that He is the one who works in and through us and give glory to Him. That is how we will humble ourselves before Him.
Humbling ourselves is not about having a false humility, but recognizing and proclaiming the truth that it is the Lord who has worked through you and has given you your abilities.
Humble yourself before the Lord and let him lift you up.
To choose His way, we also need to
Obey His Word
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And we should do it quickly!
There are times that we may recognize the truth of something, but we don’t respond because we want to enjoy the sin longer or think we have more time.
“I’ll trust God when I am older”
“I have time before I need to follow the Lord. I’ll obey later.”
While God is a God of grace and patience, we should not presume on his grace and patience and test it. That will only lead to us learning what He has to teach us the hard way instead of His way which is sometimes harder in the short run, but much less painful in the long run.
And sometimes we think partial obedience is good enough. It is not.
When Samuel told King Saul that the Lord wanted Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites, Saul let the people take plunder and they were going to sacrifice for the Lord.
It sounds good, but Samuel tells Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice and then told him because of his disobedience, the Lord had removed the kingdom from him.
Saul chose the hard way by not obeying.
In contrast to Saul, we see Abraham.
Abraham heard what God wanted him to do and obeyed immediately.
When God told Abraham to leave his country and his people and the only place he had known, Abraham obeyed (Genesis 12:1-4).
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham obeyed and He did it immediately. The Scripture tells us after heard from the Lord, that early the next morning he set out.
That is something that would have been extremely hard, something we would want to talk with God about and help God see the better course.
Obedience is about recognizing that God’s way is the best way, all the time, even when we don’t understand, even when it is hard. But even though it was hard, it was the not the really had way to learn what God wanted to teach him.
The final thing we need to do, to learn the truth of God His way, that we see in these verses, is
Honor God
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Now, the reality is you are going to honor God regardless if you choose to learn His way or the Hard way
Nebuchadnezzar did come to a point of honoring the Lord, even though he chose the hard way.
Daniel 4:34-37
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 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?"
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor 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. 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.
Nebuchadnezzar, even though he learned the hard way, still came to a point of honoring God in this life.
I believe that Nebuchadnezzar became a believer through this circumstance. I don’t know any unbeliever that could make a humble confession like this.
Now even those who never come to the point of believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, in this life, will still honor God with their lips.
Every one of us here will honor God at some point
Philippians 2 tells us that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)
As we choose to Honor God now, by humbling ourselves and following His ways,
We are choosing to learn His Way.
What do we need to Learn
Slide
We need to learn that
God is God and you are not
Nebuchadnezzar finally came to a point of learning that truth.
Have you learned that truth?
Are you choosing to learn that truth the hard way?
Are you putting yourself in a place where God is going to humble you because of your pride or because you are putting off and procrastinating what God has told you?
If you are here today, it is because God is trying to help you learn that He is God. He is in control. He is sovereign. That means He has all authority in your life and knows how to best live it.
Obey Him. Not because you must, but because you recognize that He loves you and desires the best for you.
In what area of life do you need to learn that He is God?
Salvation
Do you need to receive Him as your Savior, trusting Him to run your life and to give you eternal life? Without coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ, by receiving Him as your Savior, repenting of your sin and confessing your belief in Jesus as God who died for you and rose again, you have no hope of heaven.
Gifts and abilities
Or is there an issue of pride in regards to the gifts and abilities you have?
You need to know that all you have is from the Lord.
Recognize that and acknowledge His Lordship and authority over you.
Obedience
Maybe you need to follow what the Lord has told you to do in His word.
Do you need to be baptized?
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and have not been baptized by immersion, following the example the Lord set for us and the command He has given, you need to.
You can do that today, in fact. Talk to me and obey the Lord.
Maybe it is in obeying in another way.
Maybe you have some sin in your life that is hindering your walk with the Lord.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, obey and stop sinning. Just like Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar. Repent.
Do not procrastinate! Confess your sins and be cleansed. Turn away from the lies Satan has told you.
We are going to pray.
What is it that God wants you to do in acknowledging His sovereignty in your life, knowing and believing that He is God and you are not?
If you need to receive Him, then pray along with me and begin the life He wants you to have, the eternal life that truly is life.
If there is something you need to confess and repent of, use this time to do that and be cleansed.
Whatever your need turn to the Lord of lords and the King of kings and acknowledge His authority and receive His help.
Let’s pray.
Parts of the outline of this message adapted from Bob Hunter – “Learning the Hard way” Accessed on line at http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/learning-the-hard-way-bob-hunter-sermon-on-daniel-84801.asp
