Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  Daniel 4 August 18, 2024

Message: “Nebuchadnezzar” 

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. Please notice that Dan. 4: 1 is very similar to Dan. 3: 3.  In both cases, King Nebuchadnezzar is making a grand announcement meant for his whole kingdom.

2. In chapter 3, he is commanding everyone to worship the image of himself (or one of his gods) to amplify how great he was. That is because Daniel told him he was the head of gold he saw in his vision in chapter 2. This head of gold represented the king of kings in charge of the known world of his day. After that other kings would arise who were inferior to him.

3. But in Dan. 4: 1-3, he no longer talks about his own greatness. This time he is speaking of the greatness of “the Most High God” who had performed some tremendous miracles in his life. 

a. In vs. 3, he says: “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will endure from generation to generation."

b. This statement is also based on his dream in Dan. 2:44 where the Rock (Jesus) would destroy all other kingdoms and establish His own kingdom that would spread to the ends of the earth.

c. That is a tremendous testimony from a heathen king who originally only cared about himself and his own greatness. It is a sign of a changed heart.

A. This change was caused by another dream, a dream that changed his life (Dan. 4: 4-8).

1. He said it terrified him. Nebuchadnezzar could not forget this dream. He was convinced it had a special meaning, a message from above.

a. So once again he called in all of his Babylonian scholars – “magicians, enchanters, astrologists, and diviners” (Vs. 7). These represented the worldly view of his day. They are very similar to the worldly view of our day.

b. Again, as in chapter 2, they could not help him.

2. So as a last resort, in vs. 8, he called in Daniel whom he had renamed and called Belteshazzar, named after his own god. But the name didn’t really fit. He knew Daniel worshipped his own God and “the spirit of the holy gods was in him.”  He knew Daniel had something the others didn’t have. That was why he could help him (vs. 18).

3. I pray others know this is true of us as well.  They can tell by how we walk and talk that we are different too. That is why they may turn to us in a time of great need. 

B. So once again, the king turned to Daniel and told him this dream that had petrified him (Read: Dan. 4: 9- 18).

1. It was about a huge tree that grew till it was visible to  the ends of the earth and provided for the whole earth. But “a holy one, a messenger, ” commanded it be cut down leaving only “the stump and the roots. “

2. But this when it got scary. Suddenly the holy one began to speak of this tree as if it represented a person! Vs. 15 continues: “Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let him live with the animals… Let his mind become like the mind of an animal till seven times pass over him.”

3.  Vs. 17 gets even scarier. The holy one calls this “a verdict so the living may know the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men.”  A verdict is like a legal judgment. This verdict was made by the “Most High.” 

Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know what this meant!

C. In Dan. 4: 19-27, Daniel explains what it meant. 

1. Now Daniel was alarmed and hesitant to tell him the truth, but the king insisted. At this point he expected the worst.  Daniel told him he was the tree that was to be cut down. His mind would become like that of an animal and he would basically live like an animal until God restored him. 

a. This sentence would last till “seven times passed over him.” The number seven is often used in the Bible to represent something God perfects or completes. 

b. In this case, most scholars believe this meant the king’s punishment would last seven years during which he would learn to humble himself before the Lord.

2. But Daniel didn’t want to appear like he was threatening the king. So he begged him to repent and change his ways in hopes that this sentence could be averted. He wanted to give him hope. 

a. In Heb. 9: 27, the Bible teaches us that ‘it is appointed for every man to die once” after which he will “face the judgment.”

b. But, like Daniel, the writer then offers good news. He says: “In the same way, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and would appear a second time to bring salvation to those who waited for Him.” 

3. In plain words, if we will repent and come to Christ, then we can avoid our verdict too. 

D. In Dan. 4: 28-34, we are told how this story happened. 

1. We all tend to have short memories. I sense the king tried for a little while and then returned to his old ways.

One year later, as he was bragging to himself about the greatness of his kingdom, it all happened as God had said.

a. The way the text reads, it sounds like he lost his mind and became like an animal that lived outside and ate grass. It says his hair became like the “feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” 

b. While conservative Christians believe this happened to him, some believe it all happened inside of his mind. Either way it was very real to him. 

2. History doesn’t tell us about this. But history is easily changed to fit what the world wants us to know, just as our own country today is changing our history books and taking God out of it. The same thing often happened back then.

In conclusion: 1. In vs. 36, the Bible says his kingdom was kept for him until he was restored to normal and that “he became even greater than before.” 

a. But now Nebuchadnezzar was a changed man. In vs. 34, he said: “At the end of that time (the seven times God said it would last), I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives for- ever.”  

b. As a testimony to what happened, he wrote in vs. 37: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of kings, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. Those who walk in pride He is able to humble.” Notice, it is no longer about him, but Jesus!

2. Beloved, this is a powerful lesson for all of us to learn. We are all proud at heart. We may not be like a powerful king ruling over most of the earth, but each of us likes to think we are like a king over our own lives. That means we will believe what we want to believe and do what we want to do and nobody is going to tell us what to do.

a. God has a way of humbling each of us. Our “seven times” may be a different kind of hardship, but no one gets out of this world without suffering in some way or another. 

b. And what Daniel said to the king is the same thing that Jesus said in Matt. 4:17. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And “This is what God wants you to do: to believe in the One whom He has sent” (John 6:29). 

3.  A song put it this way: “King of my life I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be.” That is what God desires.