A prophet for all times - Which the Most High God has done for me
Notes
Transcript
Understanding a bit about Babylon.
Understanding a bit about Babylon.
When it comes to Daniel 4, if you read the very first word of this chapter it is Nebuchadnezzar, the name of the protagonist in this chapter and not Daniel.
As always, when it comes to the Bible, especially the Old Testament names always has a meaning especially for Nebuchadnezzar. His name in Akkadian means “Nabu, watch over my heir”.
But what many of you may or may not know that in the book of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar has another name; Nebuchadrezzar. Did any of you know that? This one change in the English letter changes the meaning to his name to “may Nabu protect the crown”.
Now the reason why I am focusing on his name because we need to see why Nebuchadnezzar continues to seek counselling from his wise men of Babylon rather than first seeking the counsel from Daniel.
The wise men of Babylon
The wise men of Babylon
Who are these wise men that Daniel keeps getting mentioning and why does the king keep going to them if Daniel and his friends are considered to be 10 times better than them (Daniel 1:20)?
I suppose we need to understand that Babylon like many other kingdoms surrounding Israel, these kingdoms were polytheistic worshipers. The main deity in Babylon was Marduk, he was considered the chief god among all the other gods.
Nebuchadnezzar during his reign completed a temple dedicated to Marduk called the Esagila and throughout Babylon it is said to have many effigies of Marduk plastered all over the city.
Nabu was the son of Marduk, and he was the patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom. It is said that names that incorporate the name of their gods such as Nebuchadnezzar, reflects the characteristic of the person named in relation to that deity.
Why was the wise men called whenever Nebuchadnezzar had a bad dream? Because like the patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom. He called all faculties of wisdom to ensure how to best proceed with whatever divine situation he faced.
Babylon the polytheistic capitol
Babylon the polytheistic capitol
You have to understand Nebuchadnezzar’s position, this king is a polytheistic believer, so Marduk, Nabu, Zeus, Ra, Yahweh and so on are all considered gods to him. You also need to be aware that Israel mingled in polytheism and eventually Judah would follow suit hence their destruction, so the God of Israel was just another one of these gods that lost to Marduk or so he thinks.
Eventually, in Daniel 4:2-3 you see Nebuchadnezzar’s declaration to his kingdom.
2 “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. 3 “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.
Whether Nebuchadnezzar declared that the God of Israel was the only true God (monotheistic) or that He was greater than the other gods (polytheistic) is up for debate because the Babylonian kingdom still remained polytheistic even to the end of his reign all the way up to Belshazzar’s feast.
The Dream
The Dream
So, king Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a glorious tree that grew large and covered the whole earth. You can find the description of the tree in Daniel 4:10-12, from verses Daniel 4:13-17 we see a turning point to this tree and it is cut down by an angelic being and a iron and bronze band is attached to the stump but here is where the transition from tree to man is made.
Did any of you catch that though? The luscious tree is cut down in verse 15 and bound by iron and bronze but some how the tree becomes a man and is blessed by the dew of heaven and shares the field with the beasts in the grass of the earth.
We see the transition of the tree becoming a man in verse 16:
16 “Let his mind be changed from that of a man And let a beast’s mind be given to him, And let seven periods of time pass over him.
The transition doesn’t stop there, the tree becomes a man and the next transition is from a man to a beast for seven years. Talk about a roller coaster ride, from being at the top of the world to be cut down as a commoner to a beast of the field driven away from the commoners; an outcast, the lowest of the low.
But this is all to allow the king to truly understand humility and that the God of Israel is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The watchers and the holy ones
The watchers and the holy ones
Have a look with me at these verses:
13 ‘I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.
As well as:
17 “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.”
Who are the watchers and who are the holy ones?
These two groups are only found only in the book of Daniel.
The word watchers in in Daniel 4 is עִיר (ʿîr) now some have suggested that these are angels, but the word commonly used in the Talmud for angels is מַלְאָךְ (mǎl·ʾāḵ) which means messengers, messengers of God, angel of God.
The differences in words helps you better understand that this letter wasn’t written in Hebrew but in Aramaic, hence the differences in words, why was it written in Aramaic? Various explanations have been suggested. But for the sake of time, let’s just stick to Occam’s razor and that is king Nebuchadnezzar wrote this chapter.
However, who are the holy ones? If we’ve deduced that the watchers are angels, then are the holy ones angels too?
The word for holy ones is קַדִּישׁ (qǎd·dîš) but because it is a plural it is קַדִּישִׁ֖ין (qǎd·dî·šîn) remember this is another Aramaic word, in Daniel 7:25 this same word is used for ‘the saints’ of the Most High that is persecuted. However, in Daniel 4, these holy ones issue a decision that becomes a command.
There is some what authority given to these holy ones, again, I am not speculating that these holy ones is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who makes decisions and commands on the outcome of man. It could be that these holy ones only concur with the decision made by the Most High and fulfill these decision by issuing a command.
And let’s not forget the watchers because they too issue a decree where the decision by the Most High is fulfilled.
We know that there is some hierarchy in heaven, does these verses helps us better understand heaven, well some what, I mean there is the book of Revelation that has a bit more detail to the differences in roles.
However, in the end it isn’t a salvation issue. It is informative and interesting for sure, so if you’re really interested in learning more, I invite you to read the Bible and study, very amazing lessons you can discover.
Daniel’s plea
Daniel’s plea
I want to bring you Daniel’s hesitation in sharing this message however, when the dream was revealed to Daniel by the king, in verse 19 it says:
19 “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!
When you read this, what is the relationship that Daniel has towards the king? The very same king that made him a captive in this foreign land, that issued the command to sack Jerusalem and destroy the temple, a tyrant pagan king.
If Daniel, a prisoner, can have compassion for Nebuchadnezzar, how much the more should we for those that have done so little evil to us?
You see, those words caught me ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those that hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries’, Daniel could have said ‘My lord, I pray that this dream applied to you and its interpretation to you!’
Daniels Plea
Daniels Plea
In verse 27 Daniel pleads with the king to turn from his wicked ways:
27 ‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’
Notice how Daniel concludes with his plea to the king, ‘in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’ Another way of putting that is that there is a possibility that this vision of what is to happen can be avoided.
Has there been any instances where God has revealed something and the outcome has been avoided? Name some examples.
So, there could be the possibility that this can be avoided, however, Daniel knew the truth, Nebuchadnezzar was a proud man, the outcome was inevitable, Daniel may have prolonged it though, but Nebuchadnezzar needed this humility in order to rule Babylon and its territories fairly and justly.
Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity
Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity
I like to imagine Daniel wasn’t far off while Nebuchadnezzar was in his moment of malady, Daniel would have tended to him along with many other officials to ensure that he was treated and kept safe from brigands, rebels, and savage animals.
Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar would return to sanity after 7 years. He recognised the God of Israel as the truth Living God.
I would like to have imagined what that was like, Nebuchadnezzar now realising that the God of heaven has the ability to raise up kings and remove kings. I would like to imagine the king seeking Daniel and going through the image that he dreamt off before and understanding the next kingdoms that God would raise to conquer his.
I can imagine Nebuchadnezzar, contemplating who the next big kingdom was and ensure he set his house in order.
All in all, it took only a few words or pride to humble this king the last verse of the chapter reveals to us the conclusion to his proclamation.
37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
20th Century AD
20th Century AD
Fast forward the 20th century, if only one leader could have learnt from this same example in Daniel 4, then he could have remained amongst the living.
Saddam Hussein thought himself to be a reincarnation of king Nebuchadnezzar, even having coins and illustrations depicting himself as the next Nebuchadnezzar. He thought to himself to recreate and rebuild Babylon and become a major superpower of the Middle East and of the world.
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
Soon enough, Saddam met the same fate as king Nebuchadnezzar, except the differences was that Saddam was being hunted for the crimes he committed against humanity.
The president of Iraq, became a man and then became a beast hunted by men.
If only he had read the prophecy relating to Babylon
19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. 22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.
My friends, God’s Word is sure and God’s will is final, we can’t bend it and we can’t postpone it, Jesus is coming and that is inevitable but the question is whether we would listen to the pleas that Jesus is making to all of us.
Will we be like Nebuchadnezzar, when we’ve accomplished much and we stand there thinking that this is what you alone has done? Or would you be humble and thank the Lord for all that He has done?
Let’s not ignore those pleas, they are pleas of compassion, pleas of love to return to the Father. They are pleas to follow His will and they are pleas to do what’s right.
Would you do what is right? Would you listen and surrender to Him? Would you beat your pride and humble yourself to the Lord?
If your answer is yes, please stand with me as we pray.