Wednesday In The Word - Book of Daniel 6th

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Welcome. The Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion.

At each location each week. And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest Dr. Sam Warren. The fall and rise of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel chapter four. Another impossible dream. and the story of a great mighty king Who ends up in a field eating grass. How do you Even start to take apart this chapter. I'm Stu Everson.

With me is Dr. Sam Horn. pastor, author, and radio host, he Has been journeying with us in our special Wednesday in the Word podcast here. Going through the book of Daniel. We're so glad that you're with us, friends, and that you're listening.

We're so grateful for our friends at Dario that host us graciously every week and they feed us a wonderful breakfast, and then we're able to feed on the Word of God, Dr. Horn. Daniel chapter 4 Most people talk about a fall from grace. But you call chapter four. A powerful instance of a fall.

Into grace with King Nebuchadnezzar, who's kind of a central figure in this book. You know, Steve, it's one of the most amazing chapters in the Old Testament. And I say that about a lot of chapters, but you know, when I was preaching to our congregation at Palmetto Baptist. Through the book of Daniel, this chapter stunned me. Um I do study tours to Greece and Turkey.

In fact, we're doing one here in May. and also to the Holy Land to Jerusalem. And the last time I was there, I got fixated on the story of Herod the Great. And our guide was a Herod expert. He had spent quite a bit of time studying Herod.

And so it was just a good sort of wrap-up for a good connection because what he was interested in, what I was sort of fixated on for that particular trip.

Sort of married up. And he made a comment that stuck with me. He said, Jesus is the greatest story ever told. Herod is the greatest story never told. And I thought, man, that's clever.

But when I came to the story that we're looking at here in Daniel chapter four, I actually took that line that that guide had said, and I thought, actually, he's wrong. This is the greatest story never told. Nebuchadnezzar's story, his fall to grace. is never told. And it's the greatest story of the theme of the book of Daniel.

Remember, we're in that section of Daniel that is Aramaic, the language of the day. And we've been saying from the very beginning that Daniel is wisdom from God for life below. And it's in two categories. There's wisdom that God has for all of the nations. And that wisdom is going to show up three times.

In this chapter, in other words, the wisdom God has for the nations is this: there is a God in heaven, and he rules over the kingdoms of men. And in this dream that Nebuchadnezzar gets. Daniel is going to point to that wisdom. Three times. He's going to say it in verse 17.

In other words, Nebuchadnezzar, here is why God sent you the dream. The Most High God wants you to know that He rules the kingdom of men. and gives it to whoever he wills, and he sets over it the lowliest of men. Nebuchadnezzar is going to be made low, but he's not the lowliest of men. There was a meek and lowly man.

Who God is one day going to give the greatest, most eternal kingdom to him. And we're going to meet that man in Daniel 7, he's the stone. that that Nebuchadnezzar rejected in chapter two in that first dream.

Now we're coming back.

So, Nebuchadnezzar, God wants you to know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he wills. And then in verse 20. Five, that theme comes again. This is going to happen to you, Nebuchadnezzar, until you know. And here's what you need to know, that all the things are going to happen.

That are going to happen to you are going to happen until you know the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. and gives it to whom he will. And then again, it's going to show up in verse 32. Um And this time it's God. It's God speaking from heaven in judgment.

And he's saying to Nebuchadnezzar just before he carries out the sentence. That is passed over him in the dream. He said, This will happen unto you until you know that the most high rules the kingdoms of men. And gives it to do me well.

So three times. In this dream, or in this narrative, in this account. We have the theme of the book. The Most High rules the kingdoms of men. The God of heaven rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives those kingdoms.

to whoever he wills, and one day he's going to give it to the lowliest of men. And that's really something that Nebuchadnezzar has struggled with. The entire book. Remember, in chapter two, by the end of that chapter, Daniel had interpreted that first dream, and he was so impressed. that he acknowledged The existence.

and the power of Daniel's God. And then in Daniel 3, some 20 years later, after Shadrach, Meshiak, and Abednego. Have displayed the glory of God in an unforgettable way by remaining loyal to him in the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar goes from being impressed to being deeply impacted, and he actually acknowledges not just the fact that there is a God who is in heaven, but that that God is actually superior to all other gods. But He's not ready to submit.

He is totally fine with. The god of heaven ruling in heaven as long as he stays out of the affairs of the kingdom of Babylon. Yeah. And so we're going to see in this chapter. Uh the final humbling of Nebuchadnezzar.

And I've said it this way, when God humbles us. He never humbles us to harm us. He always humbles us to bless us. Wow. And that's what's going to happen in the chapter.

And you think of Proverbs 16, 18: pride goes before a fall. You have a situation where his pride has led him. To a fall into grace. And so, some of the big, big, big idea themes we'll cover. And Dr.

Horn, I want you to get us down to kind of maybe. One major, you know, big idea, but some of them are going to be. You know, why do we have this written in the first-person narrative? Why do we have a pagan king writing scripture if you look at verse one? Then we're going to deal with another dream, another interpretation.

Daniel is used mildly again in this way. And then the big elephant in the room, the big question in the room is: was Nebuchadnezzar? Born again, will we see him in heaven? And then we want to see how does this fit In the whole chapter, with what's already happened and then what's going to happen prophetically, a lot of apocalyptic. language and writing coming up In Daniel.

And then, of course, the wisdom of God theme, which Dr. Horn, you beautifully set up for us in the very first, our very first discussion.

So many folks approach this book as a prophecy book, and they jump right into the 70 weeks, but they don't see the deep wisdom of God. As this is also a wisdom book. Dr. Horn, we always do a review. in a preview.

You've done a little bit uh almost Quite a splendid job of review. How do we get to verse one? You know, a lot of things have happened. in these young Hebrews' lives. Getting to verse one.

So, by way of review, so if a If someone just shows up at Wednesday in the Word or whatever group is going through Daniel. and the teacher opens to Daniel chapter 4, verse 1. What are a few things that teachers should say? About for those kind of just parachuting in who haven't been here for the first three chapters. To set up, to give the context for where this chapter four comes in.

If you'd tell us that, and then we'll just pop quick hits on these rest of these questions till we get to the big idea. Yeah, no, that's great.

Well, obviously the whole heart of the book, as we said earlier, is wisdom from above. What does God want the world to know? And then, what does God want his people to know? And we're going to find out what God wants his people to know starting in chapter 8. But here in the front end of the book, he is using his servants, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

to be the communicators of wisdom. To the nations and to the rulers of those nations. And so Nebuchadnezzar stands sort of in this place where he represents all the rulers. And God is giving wisdom to those rulers by which they can be blessed. This goes all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant.

Remember, God said to Abraham: through your descendants, I will mediate a blessing to the world. And here. Literally. 1,500 or 1,600 years after Abraham, one of Abraham's descendants is mediating wisdom that will bring great blessing to Nebuchadnezzar if he will hear it.

So that's the first big idea. Second big idea is reminding people who are jumping in, like they didn't go through the first three chapters. that we are reading a history that didn't happen in a month. There are almost 35 years of history in these four chapters. In chapter one, we meet Nebuchadnezzar, and he is a young king.

He has just come to the throne. Daniel and his friends are newly arrived as captured slaves. brought in and they might be between 18 and 20 years of age.

So everybody in chapter one is young. By the time you get to chapter four, We are probably Maybe 10 years away from Nebuchadnezzar's death. He dies in 562 BC. He has a 43-year reign. And so we are somewhere within a 10-year window of that.

And the reason we know that is there's a seven-year period where he's mad. And then he has a period of time after that seven years where he's restored again. To his throne, and so it might be eight years, it might be nine years, it might be ten years, but there has to be at least. eight to ten years. For the events that are described in this chapter to happen.

So that kind of gives us a timeframe. Nebuchadnezzar has been ruling over the world for more than 30 years, maybe even 35 years. Daniel is in his mid-50s.

So that just puts everything in play, right? Daniel has been living. Wisely, he's been modeling this wisdom. in front of the king. for more than 35 years, very close to the king.

The king has had several major encounters with God that are recorded for us. In chapter two, God gives him. a dream and we talked about that dream. And at the end of that dream, Daniel was the only one who could interpret it, and King Nebuchadnezzar was deeply impressed. And he acknowledged the reality, the existence of Daniel's God.

In chapter three. 20 years have passed. And Nebuchadnezzar's pretty much done some pretty tough stuff. I mean, in chapter one, he brought Daniel and his friends, and he took the temple vessels and he brought them. to the the house of his God in Babylon.

But 20 years later. He's gone back to Jerusalem, burned the temple, destroyed God's city. It routed God's people, brought all the rest of them back to Babylon as captives, except for those that fled away to Egypt. And so he's pretty much devastated everything that was dear to Daniel. And in chapter three, he has this incredible encounter.

Again, with the living God of heaven, and this time at the end, as he stands in front of the entire nation, and Shadrach, Meshiach, and Abednego are unbound before him. He is impacted in a profound way. And he no longer is willing just to talk about the existence of God. He's now going to acknowledge his superior power. to all of the other gods.

And here we are, another. 15 years have passed and he's now toward the end of his reign. And God is going to bring the final act of his humbling to grace. to bear and this time it's going to be through another dream.

So that's kind of the big ideas I would make sure everybody kind of got, you know, as they as they jump in.

Okay, so I'll hit you with some quick poppers here. And I want to, I want to, and that's an excellent review of kind of where we are and how we got here. And it's interesting, which, We're kind of coming to the end. We're kind of closing the chapter on Nebuchadnezzar, but it's done in quite a climactic way and also in a redemptive way. Many scholars, including yourself, believe that he was a believer, that we'll see him in heaven.

Some still debate that. But regardless, you see the grace of God all over this, and you see. A great prideful. Arrogant, angry man humbled before God.

So, Dr. Horn, real quick. This might throw a few people, the secular higher critics and those who attack the scriptures. Out there, they love to open to chapter 4, verse 1, where you have a pagan Gentile king writing. You have one of the few narratives of scripture, maybe the only one written by He says, I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, speak to this real quick and why that's important.

This is in the first-person narrative. Nebuchadnezzar's pen himself in the middle of the book of Daniel. Yeah, well, you know, that is certainly a valid question, and I would answer it this way. First of all, this is a first-hand account.

So Daniel includes this in the book. Daniel may have been the scribe. That wrote down what Nebuchadnezzar told him to do because, in ancient days, that's how kings often did it. Or maybe this was literally something that Nebuchadnezzar put a quill in his hand and wrote. We don't know, but it is definitely Nebuchadnezzar's story, and it is being told by Nebuchadnezzar.

You can see that in verse one of chapter four: King Nebuchadnezzar to all the peoples. Peace be multiplied. This is direct address. This is not Daniel. Speaking for the king, this is Nebuchadnezzar speaking to all the nations and all the languages that dwell on the earth.

He had all of those people gathered in chapter three to bow down to a statue that represented his God and his nation. And now he's addressing all of those same people. and and he's going to give them his story. And when you get to the end of the chapter, beginning in verse 36. and going all the way through verse 37 Nebuchadnezzar writes in the first person, at that time, my reason returned to me.

And the glory of my kingdom and my majesty returned to me, my counselors sought me. I was established in the kingdom. More greatness was added to me. And then in verse 37, if you missed it.

Now beginners are wanting you to know.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven. We're going to come back to that as we close, but there's no question. that this is written in the first person. The big question is, is it historical? Is it real?

Because we don't have any record of this in any of the annals of Babylon, in any of the surviving records of Babylon. And I would say to you a couple of things. One, we don't have a ton of Nebuchadnezzar material. that has been preserved. We know that He wrote many, many things in the course of his 43-year reign, and we don't have all of that preserved.

So the fact that we don't have this historically preserved somewhere shouldn't be alarming to someone who is wanting to see whether or not the Bible is recording this accurately. Secondly, there are so many other parts of this book. that we can verify historically. There are dates that are given. Uh, there are things that happen in chapters 9, 10, and 11 that we can actually put names to that match the historical records that we do have.

So, when you look at the book of Daniel and you just start looking at the whole book. It's really clear that what is being presented to you as a whole can be verified historically.

So my question to somebody who would deny chapter four is this. If all the rest of the book is historically verifiable, why would we? assume that chapter four is not. That's a great question. Yep.

So that's why I would come back and say what we have here is the most unusual thing. We actually have a first hand account of a great story. of an amazing event that happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar could have told the world about a lot of things. He could have told the world about his great military might.

He could have told the world how he conquered all of the nations. He could have told the world about all that he built. But when he wanted to tell the world. The greatest thing that ever happened to him, he wrote it down, and this is the story. That's such a good word.

Dr. Samhorn, real quick, we're gonna, as we continue our, we've done our review, as we continue our preview. of this chapter. We got 37 verses in the 30s. And we've really just kind of tackled the first one.

You've touched on all these other ones. How does a teacher, you're an expository pastor, you teach right through the word of God, which is exactly how God wrote his word. And we're so grateful for faithful men of God like you who get up and preach the word. week in and week out, which is exactly what Paul admonished to do. In 2 Timothy 4, preach the word.

So, Dr. Horn, you look at this. Give us a kind of a way for someone who's preparing to teach Daniel chapter 4, 37 verses. They may do it in one week. We're kind of planning on doing that in our Wednesday in the word time.

It's 37 verses, it's a lot of territory. You've got this. You know, this opening word from the king, and then you've got this. This uh dream He has, and you've got His engaging Daniel to help him through that. The dream itself is quite fascinating.

Then you have the explanation, interpretation of the dream. Then you have this closing part. How do you break down chapter four? Give our teachers a little bit of guidance as they work their way through it, not to miss anything, but also to really make sure they accentuate the key thoughts in the Word of God.

Well, a couple of things. One, and this is, you know, everybody does it differently.

So, what I do is I decided to tackle chapter four in one sermon. I probably should have done it in two, but I did it in one. I prepared. a full manuscript, probably 12 to 14 pages. of stuff That relates to the message that I make available to the congregation, but I never cover.

not even two-thirds of it because It's just, you know, there's so much here, you can overwhelm an audience if you try to just download it all into their head in one swoop.

So, what I've done is I've tried to draw the big ideas and then. There's so much more that they need to have. I'd make it available to them in the sermon notes. And they can download those notes. There's a full manuscript.

And then, if they don't want the full manuscript, they just want an abbreviated four to five-page summary. I make that as well.

So, those are ways that a teacher or preacher can handle. Big chunks of narrative like this. I've just found those to be very helpful. When you look at chapter four, it breaks down into four parts. And the four parts make one beautiful whole, right?

So the first part is in the first 18 verses, and that's Nebuchadnezzar telling you the dream.

So, in the first time he has a dream, he's not going to tell you the dream. Either he doesn't remember it. Or he's testing the Chaldeans because he's suspicious they're not going to tell him the truth, or both, right? Those are the options. Here.

He has this dream, just like he did in the first dream. It troubled him. It it really spoke deeply to his soul in a troubling way. And he calls the same dudes in. He brings the Chaldeans, same song and dance, right?

Here they come, and oh, king, live forever. And yeah, you know, this time I'll tell you the dream. They can't interpret it. They exit, and now we bring Daniel in. But he gives the content of the dream.

The content of the dream is really important.

So that's one through 18. And whatever else is going on in the content of the dream, what God is trying to help Nebuchadnezzar understand is that the king of heaven. Rules over the kingdoms of earth, and he's the one who gives those kings their authority.

So Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about this beautiful tree. All of the beasts of the earth, all of the peoples of the earth came and lived under the beauty and the benefit and enjoyed the fruit of that tree.

So This is describing Nebuchadnezzar and his government and where it came from. But in the dream, there is a terrible part of the dream that happens. The tree is cut down. Right, there is this. Holy One from Heaven.

In other words, it's not a human army that comes and cuts the tree down. There is a holy watcher. This is sort of a cryptic way of talking about an angelic being. And so this angelic being comes in the dream and cuts the tree down. and lops off all of its branches and scatters its fruit.

But he leaves the stump. in the earth and he binds it with a band of iron. And then all of a sudden the tree Actually, it becomes a person. Nebuchadnezzar says, you know, as I was watching this tree, all of a sudden, the person speaking in the dream starts talking in human terms. Let him Inverse.

In verse 15, let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts. Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time. Pass over him. And the whole reason for this, Nebuchadnezzar said, I don't get this.

But this is what the watcher said. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the Holy One.

So that the living, Nebuchadnezzar, and everybody else, the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he wills, and he sets it over the lowliest of men. We're going to come back to that lowliest of men bit in a minute. And then he says, This: This dream, I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And now, Belchazzar, tell me the interpretation because all of the wise men in my kingdom are not able. to make known to me the interpretation.

So all the themes that we've been talking about. You know, human wisdom isn't able. Daniel in his own strength is enabled, but the God of heaven is able.

So there's that theme again. Um, but you are able, oh, Belshazzar. Why? Because the spirit of the holy God is in you.

So that's the first part. The second part. Is Daniel's interpretation, and that goes from 19 to 27. And Daniel says, Um You know, it's funny because he knows. That this is not good news for the king.

And in verse 19, he says, The text says, Daniel, whose name was Belshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The dream alarmed. Nebuchadnezzar, the interpretation alarmed Daniel. Why did it alarm Daniel?

Well, I'm going to give you my personal interpretation. Because he had come to love This ferocious key. Who had done so much damage? to his enemies. to Daniel's own people.

Remember how Jesus exhorted us to love your enemies? Here is Daniel, and he genuinely loves the man who has torn down the temple of God, destroyed the city of his youth, and probably done great damage to Daniel's own family. But he's dismayed. And he's so worried that the king, the king tries to comfort him. And he says, Oh, Belchazzar, don't let the interpretation alarm you.

And so Belchazzar says. Daniel says, My Lord, may the dream be for those who hate you. and its interpretation for your enemies. I really don't want to have to tell you this. And then he tells them the tree that you saw.

is you. The God of Heaven. is the one who gave you your greatness and your strength. and has made your dominion to be to the ends of the earth. And because the king saw a watcher coming down from heaven that said, chop the tree down.

You need to know that This is a decree of the Most High. Which will come upon my lord the king. And here's what it means: you are going to be driven from among men. You will dwell with the beasts of the field. You will eat grass like a beast, like an ox.

You will be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time, seven years, will pass over you until you know the Most High rules the kingdom of man and gives it. to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump, Your kingdom will be confirmed for you from that time. that you know The Most High Rules.

So here's the interpretation. And then Daniel breaks protocol. He does something in verse. 27, that is stunning. Nobody would have ever done this.

This is probably the first time it ever happened in all of Nebuchadnezzar's long reign. Daniel steps out of his role as counselor. And he says to the king. Or out of his role as a wise man, and he steps into his role as a spiritual friend, and he says. O king, let my counsel, let my advice.

Be acceptable. It's almost like he says. I want to give you some spiritual advice, Nebuchadnezzar, that you need to hear. And here is the advice. Break off your sins.

I mean, think about the boldness of saying that to Nebuchadnezzar. Break off your sins by practicing righteousness. and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. I mean, that tells you a little bit about what Daniel has witnessed for all these years. Nebuchadnezzar was not known for righteousness, and he was not known for kind, gentle mercy.

In chapter five, when Daniel is Rebuking his grandson Belshazzar, he says, You know, you know about your grandfather. You know what he was like. He killed whoever he killed. He killed whoever he wanted to kill.

So. Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked king. who had done unbearably horrific things that Daniel saw. And Daniel says, break off your sins. And break away from your iniquities by showing mercy, so that perhaps there would be a lengthening of your prosperity.

What? a word of wisdom to the king. There is wisdom from above and the wisdom God wants the king to know is there is a God in heaven and he rules the kingdoms of men and here's how you need to respond to that. Break away from your sinning and break away from your iniquities and do righteousness and show mercy. That's stunning.

So that's the second part of the dream. The third part of the dream is its fulfillment in verses 28. Through 33.

So that's so first part is the dream. Second part is its interpretation and the counsel that God gives to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel. And now the third part of the dream is the fulfillment, right? And There is a whole year that passes. Between verses 27.

And 28. Listen to how it starts. All of this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. Instead of repenting. He kept on sitting.

And everything that Dan Daniel warned him about Cain. At the end of 12 months. He was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. And the king said, and then listen to the words: Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence for the glory of my majesty? I mean Daniel has said to the king, Everything you have, God gave you.

Humble yourself. Under the mighty hand of God, James is going to argue it that way in chapter four, right. And instead of doing that, a year later, Nebuchadnezzar Is sitting and observing everything that God has given to him, and he is claiming glory for it. He is claiming all of the might and the power and the honor that goes with it, and he is claiming credit for all of it. And while the words were still in the king's mouth, A voice came from heaven.

O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has been taken from you. and ye will be driven from among men, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. And you will be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time, seven years will pass over you until you know the most high rules the kings of men and gives it to whom he will. And then, verse 33: immediately.

The word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. I've got those two words.

sort of highlighted. Immediately the fulfillment came and it was against. Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, this was not to his advantage. He was driven from among men, ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet.

with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails We're like Uh we're like um Bird's claws.

So, I mean, this is a pretty stunning thing that happens here. Yeah, so those are the first three parts. And so you have God speaking to Nebuchadnezzar. God's servant confronting Nebuchadnezzar and counseling Nebuchadnezzar. And then in the third part, God brings the discipline, right?

There is strong discipline that comes into this man's life. And the question is, how is he going to respond? And that's the final section.

So that's why I say there's four parts to this. Before we get to the fourth part. Those seven years were stunning. And the scripture doesn't reveal what happened in those seven years to the kingdom. But it does appear from the annals of Babylonian history that there is no break.

In other words, there is no record of any disruption in the peace and the prosperity and the governance of Babylon.

Somebody kept the kingdom running. And somebody held it. for Nebuchadnezzar. I mean, you can think about all of the intrigue. That was going on among all of the nations that had been subjected to Nebuchadnezzar's mighty, cruel, heavy hand.

And where's the king? Where's he at? And now's our time to rise up.

Now's our time to get our peace. And somebody kept all of this together. And the question is who? And I have a personal opinion that the person who kept all of this together. was was Daniel.

God's man in God's time, in God's place. And the theme, this whole idea there's a God in heaven, going back to the kind of a theme. Statement, verse 28 of chapter 2. We see this lived out in these 37 verses. And I want to really close on this fourth section.

I love how you've broken this down 1 through 18. is the dream 19 through 27 is Daniel's interpretation from the Lord, of course. Then you have this dream kind of fleshed out, fulfilled. in the the fall of Nebuchadnezzar. From a mighty king to a A wild beast in its fulfillment in 28 through 33, then this closing part.

And Dr. Horton, maybe you can kind of take us home. Kind of it goes back to kind of the big idea. You've always said that you said to me, even as we got ready for this today's podcast, that the chapter 4 of Daniel is like an arrow. Expand on that, will you?

Kind of take us home with the first time that Nebuchadnezzar the king. recognizes In calls. Yeah. King. You know, it's so interesting because for 35 years, God's been interacting with this king.

You know, if I were God, and thankfully you and I aren't, but if we were God, we would have incinerated this king a long time ago. for his arrogance and his pride. And yet, in God's patient, loving, kind mercy. He sustains this king. He blesses this king.

He brings his servants right up close to this king. He does good and not evil to this king. And all along the way, there are these moments, not every week, not every year. But all along the way, there are these moments where God interjects himself in an undeniable way. and confronts the king.

With the fact that there is a God in heaven who rules the kingdoms of men, including Nebuchadnezzar's. And the kings of the earth need to submit. Nebuchadnezzar, you need to submit. What does that look like? It looks like you need to turn away from your sins and you need to break away from your iniquities.

And so this is going on. And in the first two occasions, Nebuchadnezzar is impressed and that he's impacted, but he doesn't change. He goes right back. to who he was and to his willful, prideful ways. Until this final chapter.

And Nebuchadnezzar breaks in and says, Now I want to make sure you know what happened. And that's what happens in verses 34 through 37. God is going to humble this king. And as we said at the very beginning, when God humbles us, the intention of that humbling is never to harm us. It'll harm us if we don't repent.

We're going to see that in chapter five. with another king that God humbled who refused to repent. And it ended in great devastation for him. But when God humbles you and you respond to the humbling, there is always. Blessing that comes.

There's always grace. And so, this is how it's stated: at the end of the days, at the end of those seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven. In other words, There is this idea of looking. And it's not just that, you know, all of a sudden he happened to look up at the sky, like his whole seven years, his eyes were earthbound, and he only looked at grass. I mean, I'm sure he looked up at the clouds and he had seen things all seven years.

So the idea is not. That his eyes looked up at the clouds. The idea here is that he turned to heaven for help. That's the idea. Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be delivered.

This is Isaiah, right? Look to heaven for help.

So we're we're He got to the very bottom, realized there is no help. And he turns to the God of Daniel. for help. And when he did that. His reason returned.

And for the first time, he blesses the Most High. And he praises and honors him who lives forever. And then he gives this doxology: his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All of the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no one, including me, can stay his hand. or say to him What have you done?

So, Nebuchadnezzar has come to realize everything that Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego have been testifying. In other words, God's message to Nebuchadnezzar through his servants has finally come home. And he is submitted. He heard about the kingdom of heaven and a kingdom that would last forever. But by chapter three, he's saying that kingdom is over.

I'm done with that kingdom. My kingdom's the one that's going to land forever. And so I'm going to build an image of gold and I'm going to set it up, and all the other kingdoms are going to have to come and serve that my kingdom. And here he's saying, no, no, actually, I was wrong about that. There is a God of heaven, and his kingdom is the one that matters way more than mine.

It's more eternal, it's more lasting. I am going to submit to that kingdom. That's what Verse 36. is articulating When it's at the same time, my reason returned to me. In other words, I started to think God's thoughts after Him.

That's the idea, right? He is now. thinking in ways that he could never have thought before. It's more than just He was mad, and now he's sane again. That's part of it.

But it's deeper than that. There is this ability now to think. the way God wants them to think. About God and about the king of heaven and about the kingdom that lasts forever. And so when that happened, verse 36.

The glory of my kingdom. And the majesty and splendor returned to me. It was given back to me. In other words, he didn't go get it.

Somebody gave it to him, and the person who gave all of that back to him was the one who had given it to him in the first place. and who had just humbled him. And that's the king of heaven. And then he says, My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and even more greatness was added to me. And then he says this incredible testimony.

This is his personal word. This is how he wants to end. He says, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise. And extol And honor the king of heaven. He's never called.

Yahweh. King. It's always been God. Right. But Daniel's God.

Now he's recognizing there is a king in heaven and he rules over. Everything. He rules over all the kingdoms, including mine. He rules over all the people in all of those kingdoms, especially me. And I'm going to praise him for all his works are right.

And all of his ways are just. And those who walk in pride like me, he is able to. too humble.

Now here's what's stunning, Stu. Nebuchadnezzar wrote this. Testimony and he sent it to the world of his day. I mean, if you stop and go back to verse one. Nebuchadnezzar.

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the earth, not just in Babylon. I want the entire population of the earth to know what the king of heaven did to me. and why he did it and how God worked in my life. and mercy to restore me. This is, in my opinion, The greatest Example of the power of the gospel in the Old Testament.

This is the gospel according to Nebuchadnezzar. And if you want to know what Nebuchadnezzar's gospel is, it's this: there is a God in heaven. His ways are just. His works are right. He is the king.

He rules over the kingdoms of men. And people like me who have been entrusted with an earthly kingdom need to submit to him. We need to worship him. We need to glorify him. We need to break away from our sinnings.

We need to turn away from our iniquities. And we need to live righteously as we worship God. And the only way we can do that. Is by the grace God extends to us like He extends to me. That's Nebuchadnezzar's testimony.

And God didn't preserve that testimony in the British Museum like he preserved the Cyrus Cylinder. He didn't preserve. You know, this testimony in an ancient uh cuneiform tablet. That's got dug up somewhere in the Babylonian, what is now modern-day Iraq. Right, that you have to get on an airplane to go.

You have to get on an airplane to go see that. You know, what God did when he wanted to preserve the greatest gospel story in the Old Testament. Is he inspired it? Here is Nebuchadnezzar in the Inspired by God to write it down. Maybe Daniel penned it.

As Nebuchadnezzar spoke it, but God put it in the Bible. and think about how many hundreds of millions of uh Copies of God's word since Nebuchadnezzar's day have gone out throughout the earth. Everybody on the planet has access to Nebuchadnezzar's gospel. Story. And it's the great, it's the gospel according to Nebuchadnezzar.

Because what happened to Nebuchadnezzar needs to happen to every one of us. You say, well, I'm not a Nebuchadnezzar. Yeah, actually you are. You have a kingdom. It may not be as big as Nebuchadnezzar's, but it is as important to you as Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was to him.

It's the king, I call it the kingdom of me. I have a little kingdom. And I want to rule that kingdom. It may not be big, it may not be fancy, but it's my kingdom. And I'm going to do whatever I want in that kingdom.

And the only time I want the king of heaven to come into that kingdom at all is when I need him. But for the rest of the time, I want to rule that kingdom. I want to enjoy that kingdom. I want to use the stuff in that kingdom like Nebuchadnezzar did on the roof of his palace. Look at what I've done 35 years, and finally I'm here and I can enjoy it all.

I can finally enjoy everything that I've worked so hard to build. I want to use all of this for me. and for my pleasure. And God says to Nebuchadnezzar, it was never your kingdom to start with. It was always mine.

And I'm actually wanting to use your kingdom for my purposes. And that's what God has to say for us. That's what God wants Sam Horn to walk away with. in Daniel 4. You have a little kingdom.

And God gave you that kingdom, but he didn't give it so that you could enjoy it. You know, I've got two cars sitting in my garage. God didn't give me those cars so I could enjoy them. God gave me those cars because they're how He's going to help me advance the kingdom that really matters. You know, everything I have, I have.

Because I'm supposed to use for kingdom purposes. This is what King Jesus said in Matthew 6: seek ye first. the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And everything you need will be added to you. Everything you need will be supplied to you.

And I'm never going to think that way until two things happen, until God redeems me like he redeemed Nebuchadnezzar. And until God instructs me and humbles me, like he humbled Nebuchadnezzar. When God humbles us, He humbles us to grace. He humbles us by grace, but he humbles us to grace. And when he lifts us up.

We are different people. We are changed people. And Nebuchadnezzar was changed. One of the visions that I have in my head, you know, sometimes my imagination still gets ahead of me. I have this vision.

Uh, in heaven, and you know, there are people you want to see when you get to heaven. I want to see Jonah. Because I think there's going to be a bunch of Ninevites. Dancing around the throne, and there's going to be this Hebrew prophet, this bedraggled Hebrew prophet in the middle of them. And they're all going to have their arms around Jonah's shoulders, and they're going to be singing and dancing around the throne.

And you're wondering, what's that Hebrew dude doing in them in that bunch? And they're all going to say, Here's the reason we're here. And I think there's going to be another little group over there and you're going to look over there and you're going to go, who's that tall dude? And people are going to go, oh, that's Nebuchadnezzar. What's he doing here?

We see the guy next to him? That's a guy named Daniel. And Daniel spoke to him for almost 43 years, and that's why he's here. I mean, I just get so excited. This is why I get so frustrated when we turn Daniel into this little roadmap about who the Antichrist is and what these little kingdoms are going to do.

It's not about the kingdoms of men, it's about the God of heaven, the king of heaven, ruling the kingdoms of the earth. And one day, Stu, he's going to put a lowly man over those kingdoms. Yeah, and it reminds me of what maybe C.S. Lewis or one of the great said: said, when I get to heaven, I'll be surprised. First of all, I'll be surprised by who is there.

And then second of all, be surprised by who's not there. And then, thirdly, I'll be surprised that I'm there. And so, there's a sense to which, and you know, and so, but people can continue to debate and discuss. The You know, whether or not he truly converted, but man, it's sure, you, you sure have made a strong case. I think you've, you've, you've brought me over to that side, but I love how you tied in the gospel in each of these podcasts.

I want to connect it to the gospel, connect it to Jesus as. Nebuchadnezzar recognized the king of heaven. How appropriate That God had to bring Nebuchadnezzar low to the point he's eating. Yeah, you know, in the field and running around like a beast. Yet Jesus Christ is the only king who lowered himself to die.

For his own subjects. And he came on that rescue mission for us.

So, yeah, it's a great. I love how you connected those. Yeah, that's what I think verse 17 is doing, right? He says to Nebuchadnezzar. One day I'm going to give this kingdom to the lowliest of men.

And all through the Gospels, when we meet Jesus, we're reminded he is meek and lowly. Like Philippians 2. He steps away from all the glory. And takes upon himself the lowliest station in life, and God gives to him the kingdom. And so, just like Nebuchadnezzar had to submit to the God of heaven in our day and age, we've got to submit.

to King Jesus. to whom God has given the kingdom. Yeah. And every knee will bow and how beautiful. that the knees of the wise men in Matthew 2 bowed.

to the king The young Toddler Jesus. And these were From centuries before, likely inspired by the very words we just read in Daniel. Yeah. And they brought him gold as one of the gifts. And gold is for kings.

And that's what you crown him. I think of that song. Crown him with many crowns.

So, what a great ending. Dr. Horn, will you take us out of here with a prayer? We went a little longer this week, but we also, I think. It will help people give them a a larger picture.

Of kind of what God's doing, not just in Daniel, but in redemptive history, connecting us. Two The king who We is the only king we will bow before. Just like those three Hebrew, brave Hebrew, you know, young men in chapter three, and just like Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of chapter four, When he humbled himself, go ahead, take us home with a prayer, Doc. Yeah, and as we pray, just one sobering reminder.

We're going to either bow like Nebuchadnezzar bowed. And end up with joyful celebration, or we're going to bow like Belshazzar in the next chapter. is forced to bow, but it's not going to end as well for him.

So we all are going to bow. It's just. How and when, and with what spirit we bow. And so let's bow before the Lord. with hearts.

That have been awakened to redemption. Lord, thank you for the greatest story in the Old Testament. the gospel according to your servant Nebuchadnezzar. Lord, those words almost seem offensive to think of a king who did what he did. And who lived the kind of wickedness that he lived for so many years to call him your servant.

to even think about him being in heaven after what he did to your temple and what he did to your city. and what he did to your people. Lord, we do the same thing to you. We just don't burn a temple. We don't burn a city, but we sin deeply against you like Nebuchadnezzar did.

And yet, Lord, you have been so kind and so gracious.

So, Lord, as we think about our own life and as as the evil one would would discourage us from turning to you because of the depth of our depravity or the horrific nature of what we might have done. Lord, if you could save Nebuchadnezzar and you could show him mercy. you could do for the same for any one of us.

So we pray that the story of Nebuchadnezzar would not just be a gospel story, it would be our story. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Dr. Horn, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast.

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