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Daniel 4

Sunday Morning Bible Study

April 7, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

Daniel is in Babylon serving King Nebuchadnezzar.

We’ve come to see Nebuchadnezzar as ruthless megalomaniac with a temper.

History tells us that Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from 605 BC until his death in 562 BC, a total of 43 years. We don’t know exactly when this chapter takes place, though we have reason to believe it took place after the 18^th year of his reign (the last chapter).

4:1-18 The Tree Dream

:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.

This is a unique chapter of the Bible where the writing of a secular Gentile ruler has been included in Scripture.

You’re going to see Nebuchadnezzar’s journey to faith in his own words. I expect to see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven.

:2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.

:3 How great are His signs, And how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.

:4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace.

:5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

:6 Therefore I issued a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

:7 Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in, and I told them the dream; but they did not make known to me its interpretation.

I wonder if these wise men simply didn’t know what it meant or if they knew what it meant but they were afraid to tell Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation.

:8 But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying:

:9 “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.

Unlike the dream of chapter 2, this time Nebuchadnezzar tells Daniel what the dream is before he asks him to interpret it.

:10 These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great.

:11 The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.

:12 Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it.

:13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.

:13 a watcher

Nebuchadnezzar is describing an angel. The angels are “watching us”. There is an invisible world all around us filled with beings that you and I can’t see.

:14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, And the birds from its branches.

:15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, Bound with a band of iron and bronze, In the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, And let him graze with the beasts On the grass of the earth.

:16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him.

:17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’

:18 “This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you.”

:17 sets over it the lowest of men

If this is talking about Nebuchadnezzar, it’s not very flattering.

4:19-27 Daniel Interprets

:19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!

:20 “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth,

:21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—

:22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

:23 “And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him’;

:24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:

:25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.

:26 “And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.

:27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

:27 break off your sins

Daniel was greatly disturbed by what Nebuchadnezzar was telling him.

I don’t think that the dream was all that hard to interpret. I think that even I could have made a pretty good stab at it.

The “tree” was obviously a person because one of the “watchers” said (vs. 16), “Let his heart be changed from that of a man…”

It also deals with someone who rules. The word was given (vs. 17), “…That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will…”

It’s a world-wide ruler. The word (vs. 11) was “it could be seen to the ends of all the earth”.

Who does this sound like? Anyone want to hazard a guess?

To be honest, I not only think that the “wise men” probably knew what the dream meant, I have a sneaking suspicion that even Nebuchadnezzar knew what the dream meant, but was unwilling to listen to the difficult truth.

For the wise men, they knew that Nebuchadnezzar was a difficult man to work for. He throws people into the fire. Who wants to tell him that he’s going to lose his sanity and kingdom for a period of time?

Nebuchadnezzar himself is probably hoping that maybe it meant something other than what was obvious.

Lesson

Courageous Truth Telling

Daniel is afraid, but he does speak up. He tells the inconvenient truth that Nebuchadnezzar is a prideful man and needs to learn to submit to God’s authority.

Some of you, like Nebuchadnezzar, need to hear the truth. Perhaps you need to grow up.

To the “drinker”

Stop. You say you aren’t an alcoholic, then prove it and stop drinking for six months. I dare you. I double dog dare you. And when you can’t stop, you need to admit you need help and go seek it. I’ve got friends I can point you to.

To the porn addict

I’m not even going to dare you to stop, because I don’t think you will, especially if you do it secretly. You are afraid that if your secret gets out, it’s going to blow up your marriage. News Flash: You’re already blowing it up. There is help, but you’re going to need to ask for it. And you’re going to need to be willing to do whatever it takes to stop. Again, I’ve got friends.

To the unmarried couple sleeping or living together.

You need to stop it. It doesn’t matter that everyone else is doing it, you need to stop it. You need to separate and commit to staying pure until you are ready to make the serious lifelong commitment of getting married. You need to honor and respect each other enough to commit to purity. If you’re ready to get married, then get married. But stop playing games.

To the angry person

I think sometimes your biggest problem is thinking you don’t have a problem. You think that everyone else has a problem. And everyone else is to blame for you being angry.

Like Nebuchadnezzar, you are keeping those around you who ought to be giving you advice (wise men) from being honest with you. They are afraid of you.

To the … unmarried couple living together … the angry person … and all the other sins … do I really need to mention your sin to get you to be serious about dealing with it?

Some of us are in the role of Daniel. We need to …

Speak up

It takes courage.

Yet instead of speaking up, we often fall into the cycle of “Silence to Violence”.

We don’t want to rock the boat, or we are afraid of the consequences of speaking up, so we stay “silent”.

Then when the pressure builds up too high, we explode like a volcano and become “violent”.

We may not be physically violent, but our words can certainly be violent, especially when everything we say is laced with anger.

I don’t see any anger in what Daniel is saying.

Learn to say something before you get angry.

Show respect

Daniel treated Nebuchadnezzar with dignity and respect.

He wasn’t happy about the prospect of Nebuchadnezzar’s trouble, but was “troubled” (vs. 19)

He wished this bad thing was for an enemy, not Nebuchadnezzar. (vs. 19)

He prefaced his advice with “let my advice be acceptable to you”, and not “pay attention you idiot”.

Paul wrote about

(Eph 4:15 NKJV) speaking the truth in love…

Learn to display love and respect when you speak up.

Share the remedy

We may not always know what the solution is for a person’s problem.

But sometimes we know very well what the solution is.

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar to “break off your sins”, and to be “showing mercy to the poor”.

Illustration:

His first encounter with the man he would eventually replace was less than auspicious. “You seem like a very funny young man,” Johnny Carson told him after catching his act at The Comedy Store. “But you don’t have enough jokes.” Jay Leno was devastated. He recalls:

When I watched the Carson show I saw him do 15 or 20 jokes. I realized I’d been doing only three and relying on clowning and gestures for the rest of the laughs. I resented what Johnny had said, but I took it to heart and began honing my material.

A few years later, Carson asked me on his show. I’ll always be grateful to him for giving me real advice—hard as it seemed at the time.

-- Peter Swet, Parade Magazine, as reprinted in the Reader's Digest, September 1992, p. 31

4:28-33 Neb’s Humiliation

:28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

:29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon.

:30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”

Nebuchadnezzar had extensive building projects. The “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

:31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!

:32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

:33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

:33 ate grass like oxen

Everything I’ve read seems to suggest this is some type of mental illness. There are a handful of possible diagnoses. He loses it.

There are at least a couple of mental diseases that this could describe:

With zoanthropy, a person thinks he is an animal.

With boanthropy, a person thinks he’s a cow.

:33 wet with the dew of heaven

The same phrase was used in vss. 15, 23.

It may simply be saying that he was living outside and got wet from time to time with dew.

I think there’s more. Even in the time of his “craziness”, there was something from heaven touching him.

Even when God’s hand was hard against him, God still has “dew” from heaven falling on him.

:32 seven times shall pass over you

The language is fairly vague. It simply means seven units of time.

It could be days or weeks, but more likely months or years.

It could be hours, days, weeks …But keep in mind that his hair would “grow like eagles’ feathers” and his “nails like birds’ claws”.

It is probably something more like months, seasons (fall, winter, etc), or possibly even years.

How come Nebuchadnezzar isn’t just going to be replaced as king?

Keep in mind this is Nebuchadnezzar. What if he snaps out of it any second?

It’s probably likely Daniel made sure that when Nebuchadnezzar went crazy, that the kingdom would stay in Nebuchadnezzar’s control.

Seven is also often seen as the number of “perfection” or “completion” because God created the world in “seven” days. God “finished” or “completed” creation in seven days.

It could be that whatever time it took, it was a complete work.

The lesson here might not have been as much about a time clock ticking off the time as much as the full work being accomplished in Nebuchadnezzar to where he truly turns to God.

Lesson

No Shortcuts

Some people will get motivated to deal with their problems for various reasons.

Their husband or wife threatens them with divorce unless they go to counseling.

They start counseling, and when things start to get better, they quit.

What’s important is that you learn to do a “full work”, a complete work.

Play Animal In Control - Muppet Anger Management clip

Don’t quit too soon. Even if it is to play drums.

There may be a toxic waste dump in your heart that needs to be dredged up and cleaned out.

You can remove and replace the topsoil of a toxic waste dump, but the poison will eventually seep back out.

Suppose you have an anger problem. You explode at the people that are closest to you. So you decide to put a rubber band around your wrist and learn to snap it every time you get angry to teach you to calm down.

You might stop exploding at people for a while, but if you have a root problem of unforgiveness that feeds your anger, you’re not going to be “finished” until you learn to forgive.

4:34-37 Nebuchadnezzar Turns

:34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.

:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

:36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.

:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

:34 lifted my eyes to heaven

Lesson

Healthy Humility

Nebuchadnezzar’s mental health was tied to humility.

It’s when he lifted his eyes to heaven that his understanding and “reason” returned to him.

Lifting your eyes to heaven implies that you know that God is higher than you, God is bigger than you.

He is God, and I am not.

In contrast, the Bible says this about the person who doesn’t want to acknowledge God …

(Ps 14:1 NKJV) The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.”

Some of you may ask, “Does this mean that if I too start to “look up”, that I can stop taking my meds?”

Perhaps, but probably not.

It really depends on what your mental difficulties are all about.

Nebuchadnezzar’s problem was clearly about pride.

You may have other issues like fear or unforgiveness.

You may even have a very real chemical imbalance that isn’t going to be corrected by prayer if you ignore the medical issues. Don’t stop your meds unless your doctor says it’s okay.

Real humility does not mean you are worthless – God has loved you so much He gave His Son to die for you.

Humility doesn’t mean you allow your husband or wife to verbally abuse you. Healthy humiliation comes from God, not an abusive spouse.

Real humility does not mean you are useless – humility puts you in a place to depend on God and His strength, humility makes you MORE useful to God.

Even being “humiliated” can be a good thing. God isn’t punishing you, He’s trying to help you grow up.

:37 those who walk in pride He is able to put down

Lesson

Cultivating Humility

I am finding in my life that humility isn’t a place you arrive at or a goal that you achieve.

Humility is a garden that you cultivate and grow.

If you don’t cultivate your garden by watering, feeding, and weeding it, your garden is not going to do to well.

Humility needs to be continually cultivated. It wears off pretty easily. The weeds grow quickly.

Nebuchadnezzar had been warned, but forgot the warning within a year.

How do we cultivate humility?

Choose Humility

(1 Pe 5:6 NKJV) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…

“Humble yourselves” is a command. You either choose to obey it or you don’t. Keep choosing humility.

You have a choice, you can either choose to cultivate humility, or God might choose to do it for you.

He is “able to put down” the one who walks in pride.

You can choose like Nebuchadnezzar to wander off the reservation and become proud in the little world that you’ve created for yourself.

But God may choose to do as He did to Nebuchadnezzar and allow you to be humiliated. Mooo.

Serve others

I find that one of the greatest tools to cultivate humility is serving others.

Serving others in a healthy way requires that you become “other-centered” instead of “self-centered”. Paul wrote,

(Php 2:4 NKJV) Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

There is no greater example of being “other-centered” than Jesus.

I want to show you a clip from the Gospel of John. I need to set up the clip by reminding you that the act of washing a person’s feet wasn’t some religious ritual, but was something done by slaves for the guests at a gathering.

Play Gospel of John clip (from John 13:1-11)

After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He said to them,

(Jn 13:13–17 NKJV) —13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

It goes against everything that’s inside of us to think of others first and serve them. Yet Jesus said this is a key to being “blessed”, or “happy”.

Confess

When we admit our faults to others, it is humbling. That’s a good thing.

Lesson

Follow Jesus

Are you too proud to serve others?

Do you think you don’t need Jesus?

Don’t let your pride keep you from the One who came to save you.

Jesus loved you enough to die on a cross in your place and pay for your sins.

Why would you say “no” to someone who loves you that much?

The Bible says,

(Jas 4:6b NKJV) …“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Putting others first

Or, proper submission to others

Proper submission is learning that there are times when I need to yield to others.

The selfish part of me wants “me” to win every argument. It wants “me” to always get the biggest piece of cake. It always wants “me” to be telling “others” what to do, instead of having others tell me to do anything.

Peter says that all of us need to learn to be submissive to one another.

Some of us like to point out the passages where children are to submit to their parents, or wives are to submit to their husbands.

But don’t forget that right before Paul tells wives to submit to their husbands, he tells all of us to be …

(Eph 5:21 NKJV) submitting to one another in the fear of God.

What does it look like to “submit” to others?

Serve them.

(Php 2:3–9 NKJV) —3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

Lower than God

Or, “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God”

Not necessarily thinking that you are of lesser value than others, but lower than God.

Jesus submitted to His parents.

Who was greater, Jesus or His parents? (Not a trick question)

Yet He submitted to them because it was proper.

There are two Greek forms of the word “humility” in 1Pet. 5:5-7.

One word means “lower minded”.

The other word simply means “lower”.

You could translate this passage like this:

(1Pet 5:5-7) Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with “lower mindedness”, for “God resists the “higher minded”, but gives grace to the “lower”. Therefore “lower” yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.