God's sovereignty is, for some, a comforting assurance upon which we can rest. For others, it's a stumbling block. uncertainty or even frustration. Today on Truth for Life, we'll see how Nebuchadnezzar wrestled with these issues and more as we consider the Babylonian king's disarming dream. and its interpretation.
Alastair Begg is teaching from Daniel chapter 4. We this morning. find ourselves in Christ living as aliens and strangers. And we may also from time to time be tempted to think that the prevailing forces around us are stronger than the affirmations that we make, for example in the songs that we've already been singing. And therefore, as we have often said, the doctrine of providence is a really wonderful pillow upon which to put our heads at the end of the day.
and is a bright and a shining light when a new day dawns. And underlying that is, of course, this matter of God's sovereignty. that God is a sovereign God. Our good friend Sinclair Ferguson, picking up on that, says: No truth about God is more likely to evoke either humility. Or rebellion.
So, for example, you can test yourself, even as I speak to you now. Is your response humility before the fact that God, who knows exactly what He's doing, is accomplishing everything according to the purpose of His will? Do you bow down before the mystery of that and say, Father, I trust you? Or do you find yourself in your heart standing up as it were on your hind legs and saying, No, no, no, no, not for a moment? It is in many ways a litmus test.
of where we stand before God. And so, in Daniel's dealings with Nebuchadnezzar here in this chapter, we find that this is being worked out. It's an interesting chapter for a number of reasons. We won't go into them all, but you will notice perhaps that it both begins as it ends, and that is with a doxology. with a hymn of praise to God.
And the striking thing about it is that this hymn is to be found on the lips of a pagan king. And as he begins his statement, you will notice that he is addressing an audience that is quite exceptional. He's writing now and speaking, verse 1, to all peoples, nations, and languages. In other words, in contemporary terms, if he was to call a press conference, then all of the world's press would be there. This fellow would have had so many followers on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, whatever it was, so many likes, even though he was quite unlikable, because he was a huge big king of a huge big kingdom.
His kingdom stretched from the Persian Gulf in the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. It stretched from Egypt in the south to Iran in the north. Just take a map out and look at it this afternoon after you've had lunch. And you see that when he says, I'm addressing all the peoples, all the nations, all the languages, that huge chunk of the Middle East. is under his domain.
And as he addresses them, you'll notice in verse 2 what he says: It has seemed good to me to show. People would have expected that sentence to be finished differently, to show my architectural achievements, to show my hanging gardens, to show how successful I have been militarily, or whatever it might be. No, no, he says, it has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. And you'll notice it's not the first person singular that he's dealing with. It's the third person.
How great are his signs, his wonders, his kingdom, his dominion? Oh, he suddenly discovered that this God is a sovereign God. He is responding now, not with rebellion, but with humility. He has come to understand the fact that all of his works are right and all of his ways are just. And he explains how this has happened.
Beginning in verse 4, he says, I was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. Everything was hunky-dory. Everything was going nicely along. In the same way that some of you are here this morning, and pretty well, everything is fine. And by and large, everything's okay.
And then he says, I went to sleep. to sleep Perchance to dream. I There's the rot. And I saw a dream that made me Afraid.
So while he is at ease and while he's prospering, Into his life comes this, in the same way that it can come, as I've often said to us, with the doctor's office's call with the results of the blood test. It only takes just That. To say, and so what is all this ease? And all this prosperity that you have?
So, anyway, as he lay in his bed, the fancies and the visions of his head alarmed him. And as a result of his alarm, he does what we would expect him to do now, having come to know him fairly well, he issued a decree. He wants all, like Old King Cole, he calls for his pipe in the middle of the night and he calls for his fiddlers three, in order that they might then be able to give him the interpretation of the dream. Verse 7, we're not surprised that these characters are reliably, consistently, magnificently incompetent. And they could not make known to me its interpretation.
Quite amazing, isn't it? How people go back again and again and again to the same thing. Why do you keep going there? You know there's no answer there. But again and again.
Alarmed? I'll go back to my astrologer. I'll go back to my whatever it might be. And off he goes. No answer's there.
There are no answers there.
So Daniel Arrives. Verse 8. Daniel came in. Verse 9, he says, I know you can handle this.
Well, actually, Daniel had told them back in chapter 2 that he couldn't handle it, that nobody could, but that God, the God who is in heaven, would be able to handle it. And so he recounts what has happened to him. The dream, the big tree. with a top reaching to heaven. Making us think again, perhaps, about Genesis 11 and the great tower of Babel pointing up in all of its apparent strength and significance.
And then this great tree being visible. to the ends of the whole earth. With beautiful leaves and abundant fruit and food for all, and the beasts found shade under it, and the birds lived in its branches, and all the flesh was fed from it. It's quite a lovely picture, isn't it? In many ways, it's representative, and Nebuchadnezzar must have had some inkling along these lines, of his very kingdom.
His kingdom stretched from shore to shore. It could be seen Observed from all over the place. And he The great king. was largely The enabler of those who sheltered under his branches and who were sustained by his provision.
So what's so alarming about this?
Well, verse 13 tells us. I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down. from heaven. Oh, you see, he called for the enchanters, the magicians, and the astrologers, and they had no answers. The one who came from heaven had the answer.
But it wasn't an answer. That immediately appealed to him. It's not unusual, is it? People who are prepared to seek help from just about everywhere. Until you say, well, you know, there is one who has come from heaven.
And this is what he says. Either the response will be humility. Tell me? or rebellion Don't be so ridiculous. The Holy One came down.
And what did the Holy One say?
Well, he said, chop down the tree and lop off its branches. In other words, he brought a message of judgment and destruction. There's going to be a stump left at the end of it all. And in the middle of the uh interpretation or this the judgment. you will notice that it changes from impersonal to personal.
So it is a tree? And then all of a sudden, halfway through verse 15. Let him be. Be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion, let his mind.
And let a beast's mind be given him, and let seven periods of time pass over them. In other words, there's going to be a dramatic change in the circumstances of this individual. He's destined for an animal like existence. He's going to be watered by the dew, just like the grass which he's going to share with the beasts, because he's going to be eating it like an ox. His rationality is going to be replaced with a bestial kind of perspective.
And the purpose in all of this, verse 17. By the decree of the Watchers, the decision by the Word of the Holy Ones, is to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and He gives it to whom He will, and He sets over it the lowliest of men. In other words, to bring someone who is Forgotten his dependence upon God to see his need of God. That's what's happening. This dream breaks into the silence of this man in this enviable position from a human perspective, and in the darkness of the night, in the privacy of his own bedroom, he knows, he knows.
that things are not as they appear to be. And he has a sneaking suspicion. That when this dream is explained to him It will be just as he is inclined to imagine. And the prospect is quite devastating. Verses 19 to 27, Daniel then steps up and provides the interpretation.
And interestingly, I find it quite interesting, in the balance of chapter verse 19, the king now has become the counselor of Daniel. Let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you. Daniel might have said, Well, that's easy for you to say. In fact, he says, My Lord, my Lord, made a dream be for those who hate you, and his interpretation for your enemies. I think this is an important point, and it is this.
That there is no sense of immediate delight on the part of Daniel to pronounce this judgment on the king. There is nothing that comes from the text that suggests that he is so glad that he's able to stick it to the king. You know, I've been in this miserable position. Look where you've put me. Look what's happened to me.
Look what you tried to do to my friends the other day. You tried to kill them all in a furnace.
So listen here, King. No, he says, listen. I'm going to tell you what you asked. But I'm going to tell you this, I wish it applied to somebody else. I wish it wasn't for you.
I wish the message, I wish the mail had got crushed and it was for someone else.
Now, his compassion. There's not remove his conviction. Nor does his compassion silence his declaration. But his compassion is noticeable. And I think is a great lesson.
Because at the heart of it all, and we get to the heart of it in verse 22: it is you, O king. It is you, O king. It's you who's grown strong. It's you who has a greatness that reaches to the heavens. You're the one with the dominion to the ends of the earth.
And so it is that this Holy One has come from heaven. There's no non-directive counseling on the part of Daniel here. No, he goes straight at it. It is a decree, verse 24. Of the Most High God.
Which has come upon my lord the king. And this is what's going to happen to you. And it will happen to you for a period of time. I take it that the seven is simply seven periods of time, an indefinite but complete period of time. Until Perhaps you will then understand.
Now, let's just notice in passing that there's no cheap, no immediate comfort for Nebuchadnezzar. He is providing him here with a clear statement of what's going on so that he in turn might have the opportunity to repent. It was commanded to leave a stump of the roots of the tree. Verse 26: Your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you.
Now, here comes his appeal. Here is his appeal. I'm telling you this, and I'm giving you an opportunity for repentance. This is what you need to do. You need to break off your sins by practicing righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.
So there is the execution of judgment and there is the very nature of mercy in the midst of it all. With mercy and with judgment, my web of time he wove. This is the way God works.
So any notion that we have of somehow or another Daniel with a sort of grim and contorted face of vindictiveness towards this miserable pagan king, you cannot squeeze from the text no matter how hard you try. Here is an opportunity, says Nebuchadnezzar, for you to repent of your pride while the dream is still a dream and not yet a reality. I think this is what Paul is talking about in Acts, where he's before Agrippa and he's explaining his preaching. And he says, I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Are you going to bow down before the living God, Nebuchadnezzar?
And if so, then show that you're going to do so. Turn from this. And turn to this. One simple sentence, verse 28. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
Why? Because he resisted. the opportunity. In fact, you'll notice it says at the end of 12 months. At the end of 12 months.
God, in his mercy, gave him twelve months before the reality fell upon him. Why? Because he's slow to chide. And he's swift to bless. That's what we sang about in our opening hymn.
It's the kind of God he is. No Look at what he said. The king answered And said, Is not this the great Babylon that I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? You just He's playing his favorite music. He's sitting in his favorite chair.
He's presumably fine. It's a long time since he's had that dream. And he remembers that Daniel had something to say about it, but it'll never happen. It'll never happen. Read 2 Peter and you'll find that's exactly what the scoffers were saying.
In the last days, scoffers will come and they will say, Where is the promise of his coming? It will never happen. He will never do it. Oh yes, he will. Because he has pledged himself to complete his word, and that's what he said.
Look at me. And then Listen to what he heard. While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven. O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it's spoken, the kingdom's gone, you'll be driven from among men. And out he goes, and immediately, verse 33, the word was fulfilled against him.
No longer any time left. No longer any time. No more mercy now. It's all judgment here. And he was driven from among men, and he ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair grew long as an eagle's feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws.
What a picture. Filled with himself, he's now devoid of sanity. He who is couched in luxury is no longer allowed on the couch. He who refuses to give God glory is robbed of any glory that he himself might know. And the picture is a strange picture, but it is not an entirely unfamiliar picture.
And some of you who do psychiatry will be able to confirm what I'm now about to read to you. This is from a psychiatrist in England who is describing the circumstances that are unfolding for us here in Daniel chapter 4. As far as quotes as Nebuchadnezzar's illness is concerned, the features are of a fairly acute onset of insanity. with the apparent delusional idea that he was an animal. The length of time that he was unwell is not clear.
But he also seems to have had a spontaneous remission. No, he hasn't. No, he hasn't. There's cause and effect. We'll come to that in a minute.
He seems to have had the psychiatrist can do the psychiatry. He's not doing the theology.
So it seems to have had a spontaneous remission and returned to sanity and changed his way of life subsequently. This kind of history is much more typical of depressive illness with relatively acute onset, delusional beliefs of a morbid nature. And in the days before drugs and of electoral convulsive treatment, most such illnesses had a quote spontaneous remission within a period of one, two, and occasionally more years. The person who recovered would recover complete insight, as did Nebuchadnezzar, apparently. But no, let's look at the restoration, let's look at how it came about.
It's not for me to delve into the link between the psychological and the physical and the moral and the spiritual, but it is food for further consideration. God gives and God takes away. It's not spontaneous remission, there is a cause and effect. at the end of the days. I, Nebuchadnezzar, here we go, lifted my eyes to heaven.
I lifted my eyes to heaven. Remember Psalm 121? I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?
Now, the answer that you and I give to that question really tells everything about our entire existence. Where does your help come from? Happiness is not found. By looking inside of yourself. and reaching for it.
But by looking outside of yourself. And finding forgiveness and peace and hope in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I lifted my eyes to heaven, he says. And my reason Return to me. Oh, you see, that's the opposite of what my friends say.
They say you're going to get involved in that Christian stuff, that God stuff, that sovereign God stuff. You've got to take your brain out in order to do that. That's insanity. No. I lifted my eyes.
to heaven. And my reason was restored. It's entirely reasonable. It's not irrational. It's supra rational.
And as a result of that, his pride gave way to praise. And I honored him who lives forever. And then he sings his song: His dominion everlasting, his kingdom forever. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. It's fantastic.
And even the fiddlers in the middle of the night, all the counselors and the lords, they all sought him out, verse 36. His kingdom was established and even more greatness was added to it. And they said, it's good to have the old Nebuchadnezzar back again. And he said, and it's not the old Nebuchadnezzar. No.
No one on earth can stay the hand of the God of heaven. No one has a right to say to him, What have you done or what are you doing? What an encouragement to these early exiles. who think that somehow or another they they have lost the battle. That here they are torn from everything that is is is security.
And Daniel writes and he says, listen what happened to Nebuchadnezzar at the end of the game. He was singing, Praise my soul, the king of heaven. Just come to his feet and worship him.
Well, it's encouragement for us, isn't it? Where's Nebuchadnezzar today?
Well, I don't know, but he sure isn't here. Where's Nero? Gone. Where's Mao Qi Tong? Where's Paul Putt?
Where's Stalin? Where's Hitler? Where's Churchill? Where's Thatcher? Where's Reagan?
You see? This God is the God who deposes and sets up. And it is this God. to whom we come this morning.
Now let me end where I began. Nothing. Nothing. Like the notion of the sovereignty of God. is able to evoke In the mind of man.
either humility or rebellion. What's your reaction? Will you bow down before God? And thank him for his kindness. Expressed in the Lord Jesus.
Or will you just bolster your self-esteem? Walk back out the door. and try it again on your own. Are you really planning going back? to the same enchanters.
The same magicians. who have had no answer for you to this point in your life. Can I commend you? to the one who has come from heaven. in order that he might Save you?
and make you new and grant you the peace And the contentment. that we understand we long for. That is Bible teacher Alastair Begg urging each of us to come before our sovereign God in humble repentance. You're listening to Truth for Life. Like the people of Judah in Daniel's day, many of us find ourselves surrounded by a culture that is shifting further from God and His Word.
So how can we thrive as Christians in a society that doesn't seem to like what we believe? That's what Alastair addresses in his book Brave by Faith. He shares how God enabled Daniel to remain faithful even when held captive in a culture that strongly opposed his views. Request the Brave by Faith book and companion study guide today when you donate to Truth for Life online at truthforlife. org slash donate, or you can call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four.
I'm Bob LePine. Thanks for listening. Do you ever find yourself repeating the same old mistakes over and over again? Join us tomorrow when we'll learn what it takes to break the cycle. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.
Where the Learning is for Living.
