Participants: Ty Gibson and James Rafferty
Series Code: DBOTB
Program Code: DBOTB00005B
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00:01 Hello friends and welcome back to our study of Daniel
00:03 Chapter 4 and we are actually in verse 22. 00:05 Where Daniel makes this 00:06 declaration concerning this 00:07 dream and its interpretation 00:09 that Nebuchadnezzar has had. 00:10 "It is thou O King," we have seen here Ty, Daniel has been 00:15 reluctant to give the interpretation of this dream to 00:19 Nebuchadnezzar because he is wanting to reach the heart 00:22 of the King and he knows that it's going to be difficult 00:24 for the king to receive this assessment of himself. 00:27 He is going to be this mighty tree that is cut down by 00:30 his watchers, he is going to be a mighty kingdom that is 00:33 going to lose all of his respect and all in his honor for 00:36 seven years, he is going to be like a wild man eating 00:39 grass in the field. 00:41 So he is reluctant and at the same time he knows God wants 00:46 him to give the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar. 00:48 This is the way that Nebuchadnezzar's heart and 00:51 life is going to be changed. 00:52 This is God's will for Nebuchadnezzar. 00:54 Daniel as a man of God and so Daniel is reluctantly 00:57 wanting to make sure that he follows through with 01:00 God's will. 01:01 Daniel tells him, reluctantly, but clearly and directly, 01:06 King Nebuchadnezzar the vision 01:08 you had of this great tree with 01:11 fruit and its branches reaching 01:13 out to shade the earth and all who are under it is going 01:16 to be cut down. 01:18 This is you, your kingdom is going to be cut down and 01:21 taken from you, but it is amazing that there is still, 01:25 here even a word of mercy and assurance to Nebuchadnezzar. 01:29 He says, but Nebuchadnezzar listen, God has an objective, 01:33 he has a goal for you. 01:35 He is leading you, you are a hard nut to crack 01:37 Nebuchadnezzar but God is reaching into your heart and 01:41 your kingdom will be assured to you when you come to the 01:46 realization that the most high God rules 01:50 in the affairs of men. 01:52 God is eager to reach your heart and He assures you 01:54 the kingdom after you have gone through this experience. 01:57 It is amazing that Daniel, then, actually reaches 02:01 further and says, Nebuchadnezzar listen, 02:04 I have some counsel for you. 02:06 Here's what I want you to do. 02:07 I want you to listen carefully Nebuchadnezzar, 02:09 this is what you need to do, 02:11 verse 27, "you need to break off your sins by righteous 02:15 living and break off your iniquities by showing mercy 02:19 to the poor, perhaps there may be a lengthening of 02:23 your prosperity. " 02:26 Daniel doesn't want to Nebuchadnezzar to experience 02:28 this horrific judgment that the dream says is going to come 02:32 upon him and he is given good council here. 02:35 Come to your senses. 02:36 In fact he is getting council that is the exact opposite 02:39 of what it means to live in pride. 02:41 Pride lives for self. 02:42 Pride glorifies self. 02:44 Pride embellishes self. 02:45 Pride builds up and strengthens self's kingdom. 02:48 What happens when you live for self, and you embellished 02:52 self is that you neglect others. 02:53 Specifically, as the king you neglect the poor. 02:56 He has, in order to embellish and lift up and exalt himself, 03:00 he has neglected to take care of the poor and needy 03:02 that are around him in the world. 03:03 So basically what Daniel is saying is that Nebuchadnezzar 03:06 is the problem, your pride has made you selfish. 03:10 Selfishness is the essence of sin. 03:13 You can break away from the selfishness by extending 03:17 mercy to those around you. 03:18 And he does, it seems like it works for awhile. 03:21 Nebuchadnezzar for a year lives in tranquility and it 03:25 seems like he follows Daniel's advice, Daniels council. 03:29 To some degree, but then there is obviously a very clear 03:32 indication that even to this point, after receiving his 03:36 second vision, clear interpretations from Daniel, 03:39 God's prophet, but still Nebuchadnezzar is not converted 03:44 at the depths of his heart and he says in verse 30. 03:47 He is walking around, it is like a year later after 03:49 receiving the vision and the interpretation. 03:51 "The king spoke and he said is not this great Babylon 03:56 that I have built for a royal dwelling, by my mighty power, 04:02 and for the honor of my Majesty?" 04:04 Isn't that what is going on here? 04:06 Isn't that what he is thinking in his mind? 04:07 I did this and I am it, I'm the king and I did all of 04:11 this for my glory. 04:13 This is a clear verification that God's method is the best 04:15 method to reach Nebuchadnezzar. 04:17 God has given Nebuchadnezzar every opportunity. 04:19 He has given him dreams. 04:20 He has given him 04:21 interpretations, and been a 04:22 witness to him through his 04:23 faithful followers. 04:24 This is a year transition 04:27 between the time he has interpreted the dream and the 04:30 time comes upon him is a perfect confirmation and 04:34 verification that God's method is the best 04:36 to reach Nebuchadnezzar. 04:37 Nothing else is working. 04:38 So this tells us that the best thing that can happen to 04:41 Nebuchadnezzar right now, which Nebuchadnezzar himself 04:44 testifies of in this entire Chapter, is that God's will 04:47 will be carried out and that he will lose this kingdom, 04:50 even his sense. 04:51 He will become like a wild man, actually the psychiatrists 04:54 have a term for this syndrome that 04:58 happen to Nebuchadnezzar. 04:59 What happened in ancient times where men and women that would 05:03 live very close to their wild stock, their animals. 05:06 At times they would have what was called a Wild Man Syndrome, 05:10 Wild Ox Syndrome. 05:11 They would become like animals. 05:13 They are thinking that this is probably what God allowed 05:17 to happen to Nebuchadnezzar, he became like an ox. 05:20 He lost his sense, he lost his ability to rule. 05:22 Everyone forsook him, everyone left him, 05:26 he was eating grass, he was crazy, 05:27 he wasn't taking care of himself. 05:29 He wasn't cutting his hair, and wasn't cleaning his nails. 05:32 He wasn't doing anything, everyone left him Ty, 05:34 except for one person. 05:35 The band around the tree tells us that when everyone 05:39 else leaves us, God is still there. 05:41 "God never leaves us," Hebrews 13:5, and He never forsake us. 05:45 God was with Nebuchadnezzar. 05:46 As we pointed out in previous programs on the book of 05:49 Daniel, even though the 05:51 book of Daniel is generally 05:52 thought of as a book of end 05:54 time prophecies and that's there 05:56 and it is a vital truth. 05:57 There is something else happening in the book of Daniel. 06:00 That is the story of God relentlessly pursuing king 06:06 Nebuchadnezzar to bring him to Himself 06:09 and eternal salvation. 06:10 It is amazing that this God of heaven has such and eye 06:14 of singular mercy for Nebuchadnezzar. 06:18 He is focused on this king and bringing him to Himself. 06:21 I love it because as he goes through this great trial, 06:25 as all of his lords and even his family leave him. 06:28 It says at the end of verse 34, "and at the end of 06:32 the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my 06:35 eyes unto heaven. " 06:37 It doesn't matter who we are, it doesn't matter where we 06:39 are, doesn't matter what we have been through, 06:42 if we lift our eyes up to heaven, heaven responds. 06:46 God responds and as Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his 06:49 eyes to heaven, in that moment it says, 06:51 "his understanding returned to him and he blessed the" 06:54 "Most High, and he praised and honored Him that lives" 06:57 "for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion" 06:59 "and His kingdom is from generation to generation:" 07:02 Instantaneous here, Nebuchadnezzar turns to God, 07:05 he lifts his eyes to God and praises and blesses God 07:08 because God brings a return of his understanding. 07:12 We see here that self-centeredness and arrogance, 07:17 and self exaltation is the precursor to insanity. 07:20 It has really, as you said, the essence of the sin 07:23 problem, self-centeredness is. 07:26 Then we see that the moment that Nebuchadnezzar turns 07:30 his heart to the Lord and exalt the God of heaven, 07:34 his sanity returns to him. 07:36 He is in his right mind again after seven years, 07:39 seven years of living in this very low, horrible 07:43 state of mind. 07:45 With no doubt self-incrimination and guilt driving him 07:50 to insanity, the moment Nebuchadnezzar lifts up his eyes 07:55 to the God of heaven, his sanity returns to him and 07:58 this is what sanity looks like, James. 08:00 Sanity is a recognition of God's position in our life, 08:06 and in the universe as the Most High God. 08:09 The one who's kingdom is eternal and will go on 08:12 and on for ever. 08:13 We are, as it were, nothing by comparison to God and 08:17 yet when we find refuge in Him, He lifts us up to all 08:22 that we truly should be and can be. 08:24 What is really interesting about this is 08:26 Nebuchadnezzar had this transformation, he 08:29 recognizes what is significant and what is secondary. 08:32 What he does in verse 35 is he makes this declaration, 08:35 that is powerful and important for us today, he says. 08:37 "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as 08:40 nothing: and he does according to his will in the army 08:43 of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and 08:45 none can stop his hand, or say unto him, 08:49 "What are you doing?" 08:50 Now it is really important for us to understand what 08:53 is going on here. 08:54 Nebuchadnezzar is prioritizing what is most 08:56 important and secondary. 08:58 Before this conversion, what was most important was his 09:01 kingdom, his lords, his counselors, his position in 09:05 society, his influence politically, and his kingship. 09:08 Now what is important is his relationship with God. 09:11 Everything else is secondary. 09:12 Everything else is reputed is nothing 09:14 in comparison to that. 09:15 Once you have a right relationship with God, 09:18 Nebuchadnezzar is saying, once you're understanding 09:21 returns and you recognize and bless and praise God, 09:25 first and foremost, all this other stuff is secondary. 09:28 And it comes, verse 36, "at the same time my reason 09:31 returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, 09:33 mine honor and brightness returned unto me; 09:35 and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; 09:37 and I was established in my kingdom, 09:39 and excellent Majesty was added unto me. " 09:40 All of that as a place, but it is all secondary. 09:43 What we do in this life often 09:45 is we make all that first. 09:47 Our influence, our position, 09:49 our economic status all 09:52 comes before God. 09:54 This is what Nebuchadnezzar was doing. 09:55 Ultimately, when we do that we neglect the real issues 09:58 of life, taking care of other people and putting other 10:01 people first, and we become 10:03 first. This is what Nebuchadnezzar is going through, 10:05 this incredible transformation in his priorities of 10:11 God and other people. 10:12 I think of what Jesus had 10:14 to say to all of us, in 10:16 Matthew 6:33, putting our 10:18 priorities in order, "seek ye 10:21 first the kingdom of God. " 10:23 That is first in priorities, first in focus, "seek ye 10:26 first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and 10:30 all these things shall be added unto you. " 10:32 All these things, that Jesus was referring to, 10:35 was the material blessings of life. 10:38 These material blessings are secondary, and that's in 10:42 God's power to provide and we need to leave that to His 10:46 charge and put our focus on living for God and seeking 10:50 His righteousness. 10:51 That is a faith venture, I mean that is a faith venture 10:54 to be able to lay aside because we need these things 10:57 that we have in life to survive, to sustain us. 11:00 We need these things if we have a family, if we have 11:02 children, we need clothes, we need food. 11:04 It is a faith venture to say I am going to make that 11:07 secondary and I'm going to put God first. 11:09 What happens if you don't do that is those things will 11:11 consume you and God will be nowhere to be found. 11:14 Then he asks this question, in verse 35. 11:17 "No one can say to God, What are you doing?" 11:19 Now don't misunderstand that friends, we can ask God 11:22 what He is doing, many times we do ask God, 11:23 What are you doing? Why did this happen to me? 11:25 I don't get it! 11:26 God doesn't mind us asking the question, but when we 11:29 understand who God is, when we understand His character, 11:32 when we understand that He is long-suffering not willing 11:34 that any should perish but all will come to repentance. 11:38 Then the question is one that is not necessary, because God's 11:43 reply to that question to us is, I am moving heaven and earth, 11:46 I am doing everything I can to save you. 11:48 To get you into the kingdom and be with 11:50 Me for all eternity. 11:51 Then we come to the same conclusion that Nebuchadnezzar 11:55 came to and, that is, that all God's ways are justice, 11:59 His works are truth. 12:01 The context here, Nebuchadnezzar is realizing that 12:04 even though his experience has been painful at times, 12:07 that God has had his best interest at heart. 12:11 Through all that he has been through, God was doing 12:14 what was right, and best, and true for Nebuchadnezzar, 12:18 to bring him to the Lord God of heaven and to worship 12:21 the Creator of heaven and earth, 12:23 and to yield his life to Him. 12:26 That is what God is seeking to work out in your life, 12:28 my friend, and my life, through all the experiences 12:31 that we have. 12:32 We are looking forward to studying with you again. 12:33 Thank you and God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17