Daniel 4: He is able to humble the proud

Previously, in Daniel

Good morning all. For those who don’t know, we’re in the middle of a series through the book of the prophet Daniel. We’re looking at how God and his people interact with empire. We’re up to chapter four.

In the first three chapters, we’ve see how God’s people do better than those who simply follow the ways of empire, we’ve seen God reveal to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon how all empires will fall until God’s own kingdom comes, and we’ve see how Nebechadnezzar’s attempt to force worship of his empire fails in the face of God’s power over death and fire.

It’s now round four, does empire stand a chance against the God of all? Spoiler alert: no!

Quiz - what is the “root” sin?

Before we go to the Bible, I have a quick quiz.

What do you think the "root” sin is? To be clear, I’m asking about the sin that motivated Adam and Eve to rebel against God, motivated Satan to reject God’s reign, and continues to underlie human rebellion against God.

What sort of sin was (and is) that?

[Wait for answers.]

That’s right, while pride. C. S. Lewis says of pride:

According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

We’ll talk more about impacts of pride and humility after looking at the passage, which is Daniel chapter 4.

Bible

Daniel 4 NLT

1 King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! 2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me. 3 How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations. 4 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living in my palace in comfort and prosperity. 5 But one night I had a dream that frightened me; I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed. 6 So I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon, so they could tell me what my dream meant. 7 When all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers came in, I told them the dream, but they could not tell me what it meant. 8 At last Daniel came in before me, and I told him the dream. (He was named Belteshazzar after my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.) 9 “I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve. Now tell me what my dream means. 10 “ ‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth. 11 The tree grew very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 12 It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree. 13 “ ‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 The messenger shouted, “Cut down the tree and lop off its branches! Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit! Chase the wild animals from its shade and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field. 16 For seven periods of time, let him have the mind of a wild animal instead of the mind of a human. 17 For this has been decreed by the messengers; it is commanded by the holy ones, so that everyone may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. He gives them to anyone he chooses— even to the lowliest of people.” 18 “ ‘Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now tell me what it means, for none of the wise men of my kingdom can do so. But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’ 19 “Upon hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a time, frightened by the meaning of the dream. Then the king said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means.’ “Belteshazzar replied, ‘I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you! 20 The tree you saw was growing very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 21 It had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. 22 That tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth. 23 “ ‘Then you saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, “Cut down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him live with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.” 24 “ ‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. 25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. 26 But the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules. 27 “ ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’ 28 “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’ 31 “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. 32 You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’ 33 “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws. 34 “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. 35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ 36 “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. 37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

What did Nebuchadnezzar do wrong?

Wow! So Nebuchadnezzar, emperor of Babylon, has been bested by the God of Israel for a third, and final, time.

It’s worth zooming in on the most important moments in the story and looking at what was going on there, and then we can talk about how we might find ourselves in a similar situation.

We’ll start with Nebuchadnezzar’s fall from grace, a year after he had been warned in the dream.

Daniel 4:29–30 NLT

29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

We find Nebuchadnezzar on the roof of his palace. Is this significant? Yes, it is. But to understand why, we need to know a bit about Nebuchadnezzar and this city of Babylon in his time.

Nebuchadnezzar was the second ruler of the neo-Babylonian empire. His father, Nabopolassar, had conquered the previous great empire of Assyria, but then died, passing the throne of this fledgling empire to his son. Nebuchadnezzar was himself enormously successful in conquest, expanding the empire further still. But it was his amazing building projects in his capital city that have won him fame throughout the millennia. This is the famous Ishtar Gate, preserved in Berlin.

You have undoubtedly heard of the hanging gardens of Babylon, they were so spectacular that they were one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. They were built under Nebuchadnezzar’s direction for his queen. And they were not alone. Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was an extraordinary city, vast and packed with stunning temples and palaces.

But Babylon was more than that, too. It was not just a Canberra with no history. Rather Babylon had been one of the greatest cities in the world for thousands of years by Nebuchadnezzar’s time. To give you an idea of the influence of Babylonian learning and culture, have you ever wondered why a minute is made up of sixty seconds and an hour is made up of sixty minutes? The reason is because these units come from ancient Babylon, where their incredible astronomical calculations were done use base 60, rather than base 10 or decimal that we nowadays use for all our maths. Why 60?

60 is a number that has many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60), which simplifies the representation of fractions: 1/2 (30/60), 1/3 (20/60), 1/4 (15/60), 1/5 (12/60), 1/6 (10/60), and so forth.

—Worldhistory.org/science/

So everyday we still use the learning of Babylon!

Putting all this together, you can see why Nebuchadnezzar could look out from his amazing palace, across this ancient and yet new city of wonders, and say, “Look at this great city of Babylon!” And it is only human to extend that sentiment and to say, “By my own mighty power, I have built this.”

By my own power

Let’s pause here for a moment and consider Nebuchadnezzar’s boast: “by my own mighty power.” What exactly was Nebuchadnezzar’s power? Well, it was everything that we’ve just been talking about: his father’s deeds and historical position; the science and learning of Babylon over millennia; and the bravery, sweat and genius of the empire’s soldiers and builders. Which of these things can Nebuchadnezzar lay claim to? That’s right: none of them! He was blessed to be born to that particular father, and he inherited everything else. I’m sure Nebuchadnezzar worked hard and was very clever in the way he used the resources he received, but saying “I’ve worked hard with what I’ve been given” is different to saying “by my mighty power.”

And Nebuchadnezzar has been reminded at least three times that this “mighty power” comes not from him, but from God. That makes it very easy to criticise this proud emperor.

But let’s consider the log in our own eyes. Are we proud like Nebuchadnezzar?

Of course we are!

Consider this: as a parent, have you ever felt that someone criticising or praising your child was actually criticising or praising you? If so, you are behaving just like Nebuchadnezzar. After all, your child does not operate under your power, either for good or evil. Your child’s achievements are not your own, and can never be: they are a separate being, living their own life. Sure, you’ve been an influence on them, perhaps the greatest influence on them. But just as God didn’t blame himself for Adam and Eve’s failure, we shouldn’t blame or credit ourselves for our kid’s failures or achievements.

Or have you ever got grumpy about people driving improperly on your road, parking at your beach park, parking in front of your property, etc. Are you proud when people compliment your house, or miserable when it is mocked? And yet few of us either designed or built our houses, let alone made the components they are built from. Are you flattered by people’s admiration of the taste in clothing, food, cars, or technology which you have inherited from designers and fashion moguls around the world, or perhaps embarrassed at your basic, out-of-date style? Either way, you’re governed by pride.

Whenever we think we own more than our bare lives, whenever we think that we control more than our choice to obey or disobey, whenever we lay claim to the blessings of our ancestry, environment, or genetics, we are like Nebuchadnezzar.

Radical autonomy:

Just do it

Because you’re worth it

And, of course, we are constantly encouraged to think this way. Our society, the empire that we live in, constantly encourages us to embrace radical autonomy, the idea that we are truly in control of ourselves and our lives and everyone else should butt out. Think about popular marketing slogans that exhort us to think and act as if we were the gods of our own world, like Nike’s “Just do it,” or L’Oreal’s “Because you’re worth it.” These slogans reveal the attitude of our world: that you belong at the centre and on the top of the heap, just like King Nebuchadnezzar.

Our response

How do we resist this?

One way to rebel against the system is to think like Daniel. When Daniel warns Nebuchadnezzar, he gives him a suggestion on how to avoid falling into the trap of pride. He says

Daniel 4:27 NLT

27 “ ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’

“Stop sinning and do what’s right.” Sound words of advice, right? But, Daniel gets more specific, he says, “break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor.” Radical advice. You see, you don’t build a glorious, imperial capital by being merciful to the poor. Imperial building projects are famous for the way they grind the poor into the dust beneath them. We have no records from Babylon, but the equally famous Great Wall of China has consumed countless lives in its millennia of construction, and the Panama Canal, built by the empires of France and the USA, took more than 30,000 lives, even in modern conditions.

Daniel’s advice to Nebuchadnezzar goes against everything that he is ultimately proud of: the results of his work, his power, his wealth—visible results that others can envy. Instead Daniel asks him to focus on what most rulers would rather ignore: the poor, the downtrodden, the insignificant. Nebuchadnezzar sees himself as a different order of creature from the poor. They are creatures of the earth, he is a creature of the heavens. But God’s promise to Nebuchadnezzar is to prove to him that he, like the poor, is a creature of the earth.

And so, ultimately, Nebuchadnezzar is cut down. For seven long years he grovels in the dirt, unable even to think, lower than the poorest of the poor, no better than an animal. But God does not leave him there. What does Nebuchadnezzar take away from this experience?

What did Nebuchadnezzar learn?

Daniel 4:34–37 NLT

34 “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. 35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ 36 “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. 37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

Nebuchadnezzar seems to have learnt an important lesson about our relationship as human beings with God, the “Most High” as Nebuchadnezzar calls him. But it’s uncertain whether he has learnt the lesson Daniel tried to teach him.

Yes, Nebuchadnezzar has learnt that God rules, full stop. “No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’” God is not bound by a contract, we can’t charge him with breach of contract. He is not bound by limited power or knowledge. God does not owe us anything, we can’t ask him to pay us back for anything. In fact, we are the ones who owe God, and we owe him absolutely everything: our lives, our position, our parents, our skills, our bodies, our minds, our all. When God took Nebuchadnezzar’s position and mind away from him for seven years, God didn’t take anything he didn’t already own. God can take everything from us and he swill never overstep his authority or right. This is a crucial lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learnt.

Have we learnt this lesson? When someone cuts into our carpark on a hot, summer day, do we praise God for the mercy of owning a car? When our child insults our generosity, do we praise God for the blessing of stewarding that child? When our investments crash, our house floods, our bodies sicken, or our government squeezes more taxes from us, do we praise God for his loving kindness? If we can answer yes to all these questions, and to all the others like them, then we have learned this lesson. But if we cannot, we still have a journey ahead of us.

Frankly, my journey is still long.

But what about Daniel’s lesson of humility, to care for the poor? Nebuchadnezzar does not mention this, so we’re left wondering whether he was truly humbled or not. Perhaps the undoing of all his work in just a few years as the Persian empire conquered Babylon is an indication of the consequences of his failure at this.

We’re not a king, so what does that look like?

I remember when I was a young teenager, I prayed for humility. That’s a dangerous prayer, because God is always happy to answer it. Within a week I had almost failed an exam, and I realised that, like Nebechudnezzar, I owed my mind (which I valued much more than my body) completely to God.

But there’s more to humility than recognising that we owe everything to God.

Paul explains what this active humility looks like in one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible, Philippians 2, 3 to 8.

What does true humility look like?

Philippians 2:3–8 NLT

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

We are to be like Jesus. That’s what God asks of us.

Don’t be selfish—don’t think primarily of your own interests. Don’t bother trying to impress others—don’t worry about your status. Rather, think of others as better than yourselves.

This is such a hard command. The Greek word translated as “better than” here, literally means to “hold above,” and is often translated as surpassing or exceeding. Paul is not telling us to think that others are more skilled than us, or even more valuable than us. Rather, he is asking us to value them above ourselves.

Just as Jesus gave up his infinitely greater position as God in order to come and serve vastly inferior human beings—indeed to die for them on a cross—we, too, are to disregard any position or skill or gift that might tempt us to think we should be considered superior to others, and to instead place others above ourselves, serving them with genuine love and care.

We are to offer up the best seat to others. We are to give the best room to others. We are to give the last word to others. We are to always be looking for opportunities to help others, to make their lives richer and stronger.

Fathers, I don’t know if you’ve been waiting for a mention, but here it is: our role is to give our lives up for the mothers of our children, our wives, and to exhibit Christlike servant leadership in our children’s lives. Sometimes that is easy, a lot of the time it is a thankless, difficult task. Father’s day, if your kids even pay it any heed, is not adequate compensation, and nor should it be—we are not doing it for ourselves.

No matter who we are or what our role, this is a radical lifestyle. In fact, the New Bible Dictionary, in its article on pride, says:

The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition Pride

The emphasis placed on pride, and its converse humility, is a distinctive feature of biblical religion, unparalleled in other religious or ethical systems. Rebellious pride, which refuses to depend on God and be subject to him, but attributes to self the honour due to him, figures as the very root and essence of sin.

This perspective on pride and humility is so radical, that we can’t expect people to understand our explanation of it. We can’t expect people to believe us when we talk about how important it is.

Rather, we must live it out.

Jesus demonstrated this for his disciples when he washed their feet at their last supper, and he told them,

John 13:34–35 NLT

34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

As followers of Christ, we have the privilege of knowing God. Of knowing that he is real, that he loves us, that he provides for us, that he desires the absolute best for us, that he causes everything to work together for the good of us who love him.

And, because of that, and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to live this unselfish life. We can safely place others above ourselves, knowing that God lifts us all up into his presence. We don’t need to fight for survival, so we can compete to serve.

If the Christian church in Australia could live that way, instead of living like the rest of the world—what would the result be? Wouldn’t it be amazing? Wouldn’t it be a true rebellion against the culture of materialism and self-interest? Wouldn’t it be a work of God? Wouldn’t it change the world?

Let’s pray:

Dear Jesus, help us to have your attitude, to not look out only for our own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Help us to humbly love one another, to work together with one mind and purpose. And, thus, to change the Gold Coast.

In your name we pray,

Amen.