Pride Comes Before the Fall

Daniel 4 Pg. 740

Introduction

Homo es

In Ancient Rome, during the Republican era and before the Roman Empire, Rome was a dominant military force

From its victories over the Etruscans to its domination of Carthage, its armies and generals were feared throughout the Mediterranean

When they had conquered their enemies, the general of Rome’s armies would enter into the city to great fanfare to celebrate Rome’s greatness and the sacrifice and strength of her sons

At this time, the Romans, like the Greeks, abhorred the idea of a king or emperor.

The Roman senate feared the possibility of a military coup by a competent, victorious, and powerful general during these victory parades

These generals were loved by the populace, they were feared by their enemies, they commanded the loyalty of legions of battle hardened warriors. It would be all too easy for a victorious general to march into Rome, wrest control from the senate, and proclaim himself emperor

Which is not too different from what happened under Julius Caesar.

One thing that the Senate did to prevent this type of thing from happening is that they would send a slave to accompany the victorious general on his parade march through the eternal city

This slave would regularly whisper in his ear the words Homo Es. You are only a man

This to humble him, to tame his pride, and not allow the glory of the moment to go to his head

We ought to learn from the wisdom of the Roman Senate.

Consider what good it would do our souls to continually remind ourselves, we are but men.

Made from dust, returning to dust.

Consider what good it would do our world for kings, presidents, and political leaders to be reminded, Homo Es?

Just a small dose of humility on the part of our political leaders could usher us into an era of peace and prosperity mankind has never seen.

This is the very lesson that King Nebuchadnezzar learns in our text and the lesson that we are to learn as well

Read Daniel 4:28-37

Pg. 740

Thesis: Those who walk in pride, God is able to humble.

Several things to note

This chapter is clearly some sort of letter or proclamation from Nebuchadnezzar relating what God had done for him .

v. 2 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

The beginning and end are in the first person. Do you find it curious that a pagan king is one of the inspired authors of scripture?

The second thing to note is that the chapter sounds very familiar

Deja vu

Similar events to that of Chapter 2

The King has a dream which terrifies him. He cannot make sense of it. He calls all his court magicians, none of them can make sense of it.

So then Nebuchadnezzar calls Daniel.

Again, Daniel is shown to be the only person in all of the kingdom that can interpret the dream

He has the spirit of the holy gods in him v. 8

He has the Spirit of God

The interpretation of the dream is fairly obvious

The Great Cosmic Tree

Commonly understood to be an image of royalty

A helpful hint when it comes to properly interpreting Psalm 1

A Tree Covering the Whole Earth and All beasts depend on it

Clearly the Babylonian Empire at the time which encompassed most of the known world

Its not Just a Tree, it is a man

A Watcher (angel) comes down from heaven and pronounces a curse upon the tree

See in v. 14 the angel says “Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.”

But then in v. 15 the angel says “But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.”

And then further in v. 16 He has the mind of a man

Daniel 4:16 “Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him;”

The General interpretation of the dream is obvious, even to us as we read it

Nebuchadnezzar is the great and beautiful royal tree who rules over the earth

Even Daniel says in v. 22 Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.

Yet His glory will be stripped and he will lose all reason, becoming a beast in the field

The Court Magicians Refuse to give this interpretation because of their cowardice

No one wants to invoke the wrath of a king who has shown time and time again that he places no value on human life

A king who has murdered for less offences than this

Even Daniel Hesitates to interpret the dream

v. 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him

Not out of fear, but out of a true honor and affection for his king

v. 19 My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!

Daniel does not want this to be true of his master

Here is a lesson for us

We can fall into two ditches as we speak the truth to dying men

There are some who preach the truth with no pity and no affection toward the pagan

As a result their words and admonitions are a stench to those who hear them

There are others who seek to so soften the truth of God that they never admonish sin, never call to repentance and they flatter their hearers

Daniel falls into neither ditch

He has a true love and loyalty for his pagan king and he loathes to give him the hard words

But his pity does not keep him from speaking the unvarnished truth

“It is you, O King” v. 22

He is not a coward as the other diviners were

He had the courage to speak hard truths to a violent despot no matter the cost

Would that God would give all ministers the courage to speak hard truths to powerful men

The Pride of Tyrants

Daniel tells the king that he is the one who will be cut down, bound with bands of metal, have his reason removed from him, and become like a beast

And why will this come upon him? Because of his pride

And why shouldn’t he be proud?

Nebuchadnezzar’s Pride

A Great Ruler

One of the greatest in human history

A Great Warrior

He Conquered multitudes of nations

Including Judah and the mighty Egyptians

An omni-competent Leader

His massive empire took the skills of an administrative genius to govern and control

He had to be the type of man who could command the loyalty of hundreds of different factions and nations and other powerful men in order to effectively rule his empire.

This took intelligence, charisma, confidence, courage, strength, and magnanimity

A Great Empire

Size

From Ethiopia at its southernmost point to Northern Iraq at its Northernmost point

One of the largest empires to ever exist up to that point

Ancient Wonders of the World

Nebuchadnezzar the builder

The Hanging Gardens

The Jewel of Nebuchadnezzar’s Capital city

Built for his wife who missed the lush vegetation of her homeland. They were an engineering and agricultural masterpiece

Likely built on ziggurats to resemble mountainous jungles

The Walls of Babylon

Some of the greatest fortifications ever built by man

Nebuchadnezzar finished these walls by making 3 circles surrounding the city and completing the Ishtar Gate

Herodotus said that they were 100 miles long and at the top, at their narrowest point, a four horsed chariot could easily turn around

The Cosmic Tree

Furthermore, even the dream and Daniel himself describe Nebuchadnezzar as an immensely great man

He was a tree in the center of the universe, providing for all the needs of his subjects

He thought he had every reason to be proud

Though the arrogance of our current world leaders rival that of Nebuchadnezzar’s, they have nothing on the capabilities and accomplishments of Nebuchadnezzar

He was on a different tier

Xi Jin Ping, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Donald Trump would all be mere cogs in the machinery of Nebuchadnezzar’s Empire

So he looked out at his kingdom and congratulated himself on what a magnificent ruler he was

The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will

Repeated 3x’s

v.17, v.25, v. 32

In v. 17 it even says, “He sets over nations the lowliest of men.” Ironically implying that Nebuchadnezzar is the lowliest of men

Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the lesson of Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

God is sovereign over all things, and nothing happens in history without God’s determination that it should be so

Nations rise and Empires fall at the word of the Lord and He can use anyone He wants, even the lowliest of men, to make a nation great.

It is not you, O Nebuchadnezzar, who rules this empire, it is the Most High

Nebuchadnezzar had no reason to be Prideful

As great a man as he was. As great as his accomplishments were. As great as the empire he built was.

None of it was possible without God’s hand guiding him and giving him success

Nebuchadnezzar thought that he had built his great empire, but unless God builds the empire, the one who builds it labors in vain.

Paul gives similar wisdom in 1 Corinthians 4:7 “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

Nothing good in us, and nothing good from us is of us. It is of God

Pride

Pride is that foundational sin in the human heart upon which all of our other sins rest

Because the fundamental nature of sin is considering oneself to be the center and focal point of all reality. Like the tree in the dream

To think of oneself as self-determined, self-dependent, self-made Is nothing other than Self-deification

It is giving in to the temptation of the ancient serpent in the Garden

“You will not die, you will be like God.”

“Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind” —C.S. Lewis

Nebuchadnezzar’s pride was commensurate with the greatness of his empire

Few possessed his accomplishments, none possessed his arrogance

A Call to Repentance

Yet even so, God was merciful to Nebuchadnezzar and sent him a supernatural warning, detailing exactly what was going to happen.

Like a felled tree he will be cut down

And He sent his prophet Daniel to counsel him in what he should do

Daniel 4:27 “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.””

Repent, Perhaps God Will Show Mercy

The nature of repentance

Stop sinning, start doing righteous deeds

God Gave Nebuchadnezzar a Year to Repent

He had a clear and impressive warning

And no doubt, at first, he had intended to change his ways.

A month went by after his dream. Then two months, then three. The king wondered if the dream was real.

His fears subsided and he reckoned that God would not really judge him

So Nebuchadnezzar continued in his sin, unrepentant.

Prideful, arrogant, cruel, idolatrous

But God’s patience toward the unrighteous does not last forever

The Humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar

One year after his vision, Nebuchadnezzar stood on the roof of his palace and uttered the seemingly harmless words, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? v. 30

As the words were still in his mouth, he was condemned.

Lycanthropy

He was struck with a condition that the Greeks called Lycanthropy

Wolf-man

He was once a tree under whose protection the beasts dwelt. Now God will make him into one of those beasts.

God made him externally into what he already was internally.

The Pride of Everyman

The sin of pride is particularly pronounced in kings and emperors. Politicians and “civil servants.”

But it is a beast that lurks in every human heart. It grows as much as it is given opportunity to grow

In a man like Nebuchadnezzar it has all the opportunity it could want

But never think that you would not suffer his fate if you were given he same opportunity

We suffer the same miserable sins, yet we have less opportunity for them to become manifest

All men are tempted to build their own kingdoms

We all tend toward independence. Thinking ourselves the measure of all things. Thinking ourselves the source of all our successes

What is your kingdom?

Business, family, church, school, social club, political party

When we meet with success we are tempted to puff ourselves up and say “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

Am I not great? Have I not done great things? Do I not deserve accolades and commendation and worship?

Of course, we would never say those things aloud, but that type of pride can take such deep root in our hearts that we don’t even notice it is there.

And from your heart it begins to color and shade the way you see everything. And it influences everything you do. And it changes the way you think.

Fallen human hearts are drawn to pride as moths to the flame

Pride is present in all of our hearts. And so everyone finds something in which to take pride.

Sometimes they are the silliest things. But it doesn’t matter what it is as long as I have something that I can hold on to to elevate myself above others and even elevate myself to the level of divine.

Our looks, our ancestry, our skills, our taste in music or movies, our football team

For people like us, it is often our pure doctrine or our holy lives

We must always be on guard against this most insidious sin which is like a boa constrictor squeazing ever more tightly around our hearts

The Great Danger of Pride

Pride is not fearful because God might humble you as He humbled Nebuchadnezzar

Pride is fearful because God may allow you to become a proud person. And there is hardly a worse fate than that.

Pride devours joy, abolishes contentment, eradicates righteousness, and destroys peace

Pride transforms a man into a devil

The Pride of Nebuchadnezzar led to His other sins

We see that he was a hateful, murderous, heartless, idolater

But these sins sprang from a prideful heart

And so God judges him for those simple and harmless words he speaks while alone on the roof of his palace. “Is not this Babylon great.”

Pride is a seed which sprouts forth into all manner of other sins and miseries

What unthinkable sins could spring from your prideful heart?

Deceit, Theft, Murder, adultery?

There but for the grace of God go I

A Call to Repent

God is giving you a warning tonight

Not in the form of a dream. In the form of a straightforward exhortation

Do not rely upon yourself. Don’t think you will enter into the kingdom of heaven with a proud and stiff neck.

Break off your sins. Do that which is righteous.

Perhaps He will show mercy.

Do not go on from this place tonight thinking your pride will go on unabated. You will be humbled

If not in this life, in the life to come

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Proverbs 15:25 “The Lord tears down the house of the proud.”

The Humility of Christ

There was hope for Nebuchadnezzar.

The same hope which is held out to all of us

In his Humiliation, Nebuchadnezzar was made Humble

Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven. v. 34

He looked to the source of all things

He came to understand that God sits in the heavens and looks down upon the world of men. He has control and sovereignty over all that takes place and no man has any room for any pride whatsoever

He saw himself the way we all must see ourselves, as the lowliest of men.

He looked to the only One who could deliver him from his misery

God used Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation to bring him to true repentance so that he could “show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.” v.2

God can do this for you too

Look to the king greater than Nebuchadnezzar who was truly humble

Like Nebuchadnezzar, look to heaven and see Jesus, who, though He was God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Look to the one who humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death on a cross

Look to the one who died for you that you might be freed from your pride

Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

You are proud, you have been proud. You have worshipped and served yourself rather than the Creator.

Homo es

Look to the one who humbled Himself to the point of crucifixion yet was vindicated and glorified.

In whose hand is a scepter, on whose head is a crown, in whose mouth are the words of life. The One who now rules over all the kingdoms of men

Humble yourself before him daily. Bow your knee to Him, love Him and trust Him. And He will lift you up

1 Peter 5:6–7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”