Latest revision as of 20:59, 15 January 2024

Theological Proposition/Focus: God is a God of truth.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Even when the truth hurts we are called to speak the truth.

Introduction:

Image: Pride

Charles Spurgeon once gave an example

Suppose a man, who is a great pedestrian, has been over the Alps and traversed Europe. Here is his walking stick, and it boasts, “I am the most traveled walking stick in creation! I have smitten the craggy brows of the Alps and bathed myself in the Nile.” “Well,” says one, “but wherever you have gone you have been carried by a power beyond yourself.” So let the man who boasts in experience remember that in the paths of peace he has gone nowhere except as the Lord’s hand has borne him onward. He has been nothing but a staff in God’s hands, and while he should be grateful he should never be proud. ^[1]

Need: We need to reflect carefully on life and make sure we are viewing everything through the lens of someone loved by God.

Preview: Today as we look at the first half of Daniel 4 I want you to see that God desires for you to grow, he must be given first place, and as a loving Father it is his prerogative to discipline his children.

Text: Daniel 4:1-27 before each main point.

Setting the Stage:

We have been in the book of Daniel for a few weeks now and I hope you are seeing a few themes. King Nebuchadnezzar was an arrogant king, a small contingent of God's people were faithful to God, and God was patient. What we are going to see here is the importance of speaking the truth, even when the truth is hard, even when the news is bad, even when the truth might elicit a negative reaction. We serve the God of truth and so we must speak the truth. The news that Daniel will be asked to give to Nebuchadnezzar is bad news but I want you to notice right away how things turn out in the end. Long-term Daniel's faithfulness results in Nebuchadnezzar praising God. Look at verses 1-3 of Daniel 4.

Daniel 4:1-3 -

King Nebuchadnezzar,

To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:

May you prosper greatly!

2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.

Body

Let's continue on,

4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

9 I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me.

God desires for us to grow instead of sitting in a cycle of sin (4-9).

If you are anything like me then the cycle of sin can be very hard to break. The same old sins will rear their heads as we move through life. As I read through Daniel 4 I was reminded of this through Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 1 we are introduced to Nebuchadnezzar as a powerful ruler who seeks to erase God but soon discovers that the God of Israel will not be erased and the servants of God are elevated to a high place. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream reminds this head of gold that while he is indeed powerful, the God of the ages will destroy all kingdoms of the world. In Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar builds a magnificent gold image and has the guts to say "What god is able to deliver someone from my hand?" He quickly learns that the God of Israel can do just that. What is the pattern you see? Pride. Time and time again Nebuchadnezzar overestimates himself, faces off with the God of the universe, and loses. Daniel chapter 4 is more of this same problem. Before we dig into specifics I want to tell you, God wants you to grow. God does not want you to comfortably sit in the cycle of sin. Yes, there will be times you fail, but God wants you to grow. Sin is vicious and traps people. Before I go any further let me start by stating that if you have found yourself in a cycle of sin then you need to seek out godly counsel. Do it today. At the end of the service, we will have several deacons available to pray with you. Take advantage of this. Jesus died to pay the price for your sin and to free you from the bonds of sin. You can have victory through Jesus. As we look at the text if you feel convicted then take steps today to ensure your victory.

So, what does the text tell us about sin? First,

Prosperity can be dangerous because it breeds self-reliance and pride (4).

Nebuchadnezzar was living the good life! He was at the peak of his reign and life was easy. The sin that Nebuchadnezzar seemed particularly prone to committing was a sin of pride. For Nebuchadnezzar, prosperity became a temptation to self-reliance and arrogance. Here is a reality, prosperity is dangerous. Anyone who has been around for long realizes this. When the going is easy we tend to quickly fall into sinful habits. I have often heard people say something like "be careful about praying for patience because God might give it to you." Well that is a funny saying, but I would say, be careful about praying for prosperity because the examples of people who fall into sin from prosperity abound.

So, what is your pet sin? What is your cycle? What circumstances do you need to be careful about?

There are times when God takes steps to get our attention (5-7, add in John 16:7-14 after this point).

There is a sharp contrast between verses four and five. This content, prosperous king is terrified. Why? In this case, it is because of a dream. God is working on getting ahold of Nebuchadnezzar and uses a dream. I want to take a second here to remind you that just because God used a dream with Nebuchadnezzar that does not mean that God is going to use a dream to get ahold of you. In fact, I would venture to say that we should not expect God to get our attention with dreams today. Today we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Look at John 16:7-14

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. John 16:7-14

So, please don't go home and try to interpret your dreams. It is more likely that last nights fried food has a message for you through your dream. Instead, turn to the Holy Spirit through prayer. That being said, I do want you to recognize that God takes steps to get our attention. God was at work in Nebuchadnezzar's life. We see this through the first three chapters but Nebuchadnezzar has missed it. God is at work in your life! We need to look for how God is directing.

A wise person will seek godly council (8-9).

For all Nebuchadnezzar's problems, he gets something right. He seeks council. Now, it takes a while for Nebuchadnezzar to get to godly council but eventually he does. We too should seek out godly council.

MTR: Ask yourself, how has God sought to get my attention about things in my life I need to work on?

These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.

13 “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field.

“‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.

17 “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’

18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

God must be given first place (10-18).

What do you do with stories like this? This was a specific dream, given to a specific person, at a specific time. However, this dream does teach us about the nature of the world in which we live and so we can glean some important truths from something that is incredibly specific. First, we have an important principle.

There are several things worth noting in Nebuchadnezzar's description of the tree in verses 10-12. First, notice that Nebuchadnezzar gives several details that Daniel, in verses 19-21 chooses to omit. Namely, the tree was in the middle of the land, the height was great, and every creature was fed from the tree. These extra descriptors suggest that the king was focused on the greatness of the tree and its beneficence ^[2]. I suspect that Nebuchadnezzar had figured out a fair amount about the tree representing himself. He saw himself as a great king who was providing all his people needed.

So, what can we do with something like this, you are not Nebuchadnezzar, you are not a king but at the same time. God has given each of us a sphere of influence. That is, we each have people who we care for, who we influence, who look up to us.

God has given each of us a sphere of influence (10-12).

What I want you to recognize today is that it is natural for you to hold influence and provide for people. God gives us responsibility and it is a good thing. You may not be king of a vast domain, but that doesn't mean that God has not given you responsibility. We are going to see that Nebuchadnezzar was in fact failing in his responsibility here in a moment so before we can apply this to ourselves we first must recognize that we all have responsibility.

Hopefully, you are convinced that God has given you some sphere of responsibility because now I am going to tell you that

God has the right to take away anybody's sphere of influence (13-16).

Yes, I know that is not a pleasant thought but it is the reality. In Genesis 1:28 God gave Adam responsibility for representing God to creation,

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1-27-28)

This was the first instance of God giving a sphere of influence and so we can learn a lot about the theology of our God-given responsibility. First, Adam's responsibility was couched in his role as image bearer. We could come up with all sorts of other biblical examples of people being asked to represent God but I don't want us to get too caught up in the theology of image-bearing. Instead, I want us to recognize that because your sphere of influence is given by God, it is also God's right to take it away. God may need to move you to something different, he may need someone else to hold influence, or you may be doing something wrong no matter the reason, the point is that God has the right to take away anybody's sphere of influence and that is exactly what is happening in verses 13-16 of Daniel chapter 4.

In verses 17-18 we are reminded that

God's sovereignty means that nobody is above God's decisions (17-18).

The angel who had spoken about the fate of the tree moves to speak about the reason for that fate. The actions taken here are being taken in order that the living might know the sovereignty of God.

Now everything comes together and I think we can begin to see an important principle come together. You are an image bearer of God, what a privilege, but also what a responsibility. You see, as an image bearer, you are not only responsible for accurately representing God, you are responsible for making sure it is God you represent. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves just yet, but we need to realize that Nebuchadnezzar had a big ego problem and he kept getting in the way of God. Nebuchadnezzar was bearing his own image and not that of God. As such God is about to step in and make it clear that God is the one who is in charge.

Image: Plagiarism can happen even without quotes.

At the university, I used to run into a problem quite often where students failed to understand what was plagiarism. A student would write a paper using a bunch of ideas from some other book or report and not cite the book. When questioned they would say well I didn't quote them. No you did not quote them word for word, but these are not your own ideas, these are the ideas of someone else and they deserve the credit.

A similar reality holds in life. You are representing God in your sphere of influence and as such you must take care to ensure that God is the center of your influence.

MTR: Evaluate your sphere of influence, is God the one who is given first place in your sphere?

What does this look like?

• Parents - Sometimes try out the phrase "I love you, but I want you to know that Jesus loves you more."
• Managers - Pray for your employees, and if appropriate let them know you are praying for them.
• Teachers - Look for opportunities to point people to the real solution.
• Friends - find opportunities to point to God and invite others to be part of Christ-centered activities.

Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”

Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds— 22 Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.

23 “Your Majesty saw a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’

24 “This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”

The punishment for sin has been paid but a loving Father still disciplines (19-27).

Verse 18 is interesting, according to Nebuchadnezzar, none of his wise men could interpret the dream. Now this baffles me because the interpretation is actually pretty obvious. I suspect in reality, none of them wanted to interpret the dream out of fear. What this reminds me of is that

Sometimes the truth and reality of a situation are a burden (19-23).

Daniel was in a tough spot. The reality was that Nebuchadnezzar had a problem. Daniel, in verse 19 expresses regret at the news.

In life, there may come a point where you possess knowledge or insight that is a burden. We need to mature and grow in a way that allows us to share this knowledge and insight even if it is a burden, even if it causes pain. If you have read ahead you know that Nebuchadnezzar, unfortunately, does not wisen up after Daniel shares, but at least he had the opportunity to wisen up. My closest friends have come to me before to tell me, "hey, we know you didn't do this on purpose, but we noticed that you did such and such, and we don't think that is wise." I know it was a burden for them to come to me to tell me, but I am a better person because of this. We need to realize that the truth can be a burden but that doesn't change the truth.

In fact, one of the hardest truths we may carry is

The truth is that sometimes God disciplines in order to change the path someone is on (24-26, add in Proverbs 3:11-12 and Hebrews 12:4-11 to slides following point).

i.e. everything bad that happens to you is not caused by Satan! This is not popular, we like to blame Satan for a lot of problems but sometimes God simply wants to redirect us. In verses 24-26 we see that Daniel not only has the interpretation of the dream but a reason.

Nebuchadnezzar, things are going to get weird, you are literally going to lose your mind in order that you might humble yourself before God. Nebuchadnezzar had a pride problem and God was going to discipline him. However, notice the reason for God's discipline. In verse 25 we learn that the discipline is in order that Nebuchadnezzar would acknowledge God. We need to recognize that God does discipline but it is in order that we might change.

Look at Proverbs 3:11-12

Proverbs 3:11-12 New International Version 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.[a]

And let's follow this with Hebrews 12:4-11

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a] 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

The idea here, the reminder here is that God is at work in our life and there are times when we should look at hardship and accept it as training. Satan is real, and Satan does attack, but not every hard part of life is the result of a satanic attack. Sometimes life is hard because God is training us for something or trying to get us to change something. So, how should we respond?

The right response to the discipline of the Lord is repentance (27).

Daniel gives some unsolicited advice, but it is good advice. King, you need to humble yourself. One way that Nebuchadnezzar could humble himself was by being especially kind to the oppressed. I think the idea here is that Nebuchadnezzar has a pride problem and considers himself a cut above the rest. The solution for Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel suggests is to humble himself by stooping down to the level of those whom he saw as inferior.

The right way to respond to discipline is to repent. Repentance involves more than just being sorry, repentance involves turning from the sin. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel recommended a specific action. We need that kind of repentance

MTR: Determine to accept God's discipline instead of hardening yourself against God's discipline.

Here is the thing, if God is disciplining you, you may need to take action to accept the discipline. Don't just say sorry God, no, take action.

1. ↑ Charles Spurgeon, 300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon, ed. Elliot Ritzema and Lynnea Smoyer (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).
2. ↑ Widder, Wendy. Daniel . of Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Zondervan, 2023. 211