Unrivaled Glory - Daniel 4

This is a picture of my nephew Ty when he was about 5 or 6 years old… [show pic]

Ty is now 17 and MUCH bigger...

But I love this picture because when Katy came into our lives, Ty literally thought she was HIS girlfriend, not mine...

So he would smooth talk her… he’d say, “How you doin?”

And he would trash talk me… he wouldn’t acknowledge our relationship...

He was actually really good at a lot of smack talk back then...

He was convinced that he could beat me in basketball even though I was twice his size...

He thought he could win every game… get the girl of his dreams… he pretty much thought he ruled the world...

And it was cute because he was 5...

But I think a lot of us are like the 5-year-old version of Ty.

I think a lot of us think we are bigger than we are… that we rule our own little world [or at least that if we try hard enough, we should be able to rule our own little world].

In some of us that shows up in hyper-confidence or pride… boasting… controlling… manipulating things to go our own way...

Have you ever had this thought go through your head: “Look at what I’VE BUILT for MYSELF”!!!

If you have an area of your life that you think that, I want you to hold onto that for the rest of the sermon...

If you look at your house… or your family… or your job situation… or your group of friends… or maybe even a ministry you’ve accomplished...

And you think, “I’ve earned all of this through my own hard work and intelligence and personality...”

I want you to apply this sermon to that area of your life of your life today...

Other times our deluded thinking that we are bigger than we are shows up in a different way...

Sometimes it shows up in anxiety and fear when what I THOUGHT I should be able to control isn’t working out like I had hoped.

If that’s you… if you are gripped by fear… anxious about a lack of control… apply this sermon to that area of your life today… because it is still pride.

And no matter how it shows up in our lives, pride is a dangerous and destructive way of thinking and living.

We serve a God who is JEALOUS for his glory… a God who has legitimate UNRIVALED GLORY… and who wants us to recognize his glory… for our own good.

We are going to see that in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar today as we study the book of Daniel in our series titled, “Indestructible Kingdom.”

He is going to see that HIS kingdom is not as secure as he thought… he is going to see why we ALL must live with undivided allegiance to the indestructible kingdom of God.

Through his testimony today, we are going to see that we must… humble ourselves before the unrivaled glory of the most high God… before he does it for us.

Big Idea: Humble yourself before the unrivaled glory of the Most High God before he does it for you.

Humble ourselves or be humbled… that’s our choice today.

Your Bibles are open to Daniel 4...

If the book of Daniel were a TV series, this would be a shift in focus from the main characters to a supporting character…

Kids… did you ever watch a TV show with a bad guy in it? Nebuchadnezzar is the antagonist of the story… the villain of the series who does some pretty horrible things throughout the book, but then surprises us at the end of each episode by making some really great statements about God.

Remember, this is the king who conquered the southern kingdom of Israel that was called Judah… so ANY Jew reading this would see him as the bad buy.

And he took to brainwashing all the noble youth of the kingdoms that he conquered… so that they would lead those kingdoms to give their allegiance to Babylon and he would reign in peace.

That effort included four Jews named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (or as we know them better by their Babylonian names… Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego).

And in chapter 1, we see Nebuchadnezzar initiating his brainwashing scheme, forcing these youth to eat food sacrificed to his own idols...

But they refuse, and they prove that they can endure faithfully with UNSHAKABLE CONVICTION in their unfailing God.

In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a really bad dream about this image that represents his kingdom and the powerful empires that would rule after him… and in that dream the image of these kingdoms is destroyed...

And he goes to the wise men of Babylon, but they can’t tell him the dream or the interpretation and almost get everyone killed...

But Daniel, filled with the Spirit of God, tells him the dream… and Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the UNPARALLELED WISDOM of Daniel’s God.

In chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar actually BUILDS an image so that all his rulers would bow down to it and PROVE their allegiance to him and Babylon’s gods..

But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse, and King Nebuchadnezzar throws them into a raging fiery furnace...

And it’s there, in that place of death, that God shows up in physical form and delivers them with UNTOUCHABLE PROTECTION...

And again Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges God’s supremacy and demands that no one speak against this God.

So up until now, Nebuchadnezzar has had a lot of experience with God working in other people’s lives… now God is going to work personally in HIS life...

So in Episode 4 of Daniel, the camera, the director focuses on this first person story… it’s written as an edict… a royal letter... to all the peoples of his kingdom, and it tells a very important story about where the kingdoms of this world stand in relationship to God’s kingdom.

If we are going to live with undivided allegiance, we must… humble ourselves before the unrivaled glory of the Most High God… before he humbles us himself.

The question is… How do we do that??? What does it look like to humble ourselves… and to have a humble view of every other kingdom of this world???

Well it starts here:

1) Know that God rules over the whole realm of mankind and gives it to the lowliest of men. (v. 1-18)

Explain: Look at verse 1… [Explain verses as they are read, 4:1-18]

Let’s stop there… I’m sure you can probably tell where this dream is going, but for now let’s hang out with Nebuchadnezzar in what he knows.

What he knows is that’s he’s had a dream. And we know it’s a bad dream… kids, have you ever had a bad dream that wakes you up in the middle of the night?

So this a dream about a tree that is big and beautiful and productive and bountiful.

But that tree is about to get cut down.

And he knows that the tree represents a man… because the stump is left… and the stump has the mind of a man… but the mind of a beast is given to that man...

And he knows… already… that the purpose of that tree and its downfall is this: look at the end of verse 17 again… “That the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.”

That word for “the kingdom of men” is translated in the New American Standard, “The whole realm of mankind”…

the Most High rules the whole realm of mankind and orders it according to his Sovereign will for his own purposes…

Oh, and he doesn’t really care how important you are… he actually prefers to give it to LOWLY men who know their position before him.

So that’s what Nebuchadnezzar knows about the dream… he doesn’t understand all of it… but he’s able to understand this: it makes him AFRAID. It ALARMS him.

Get this: It ALARMS him to know that the Most High rules over the Kingdoms of men… it ALARMS him to think that SOMEONE ELSE might be in control...

That SOMEONE ELSE might be able to take his kingdom from him and put someone else there… even someone who is LOWLY.

Apply: Does that ever scare you? To KNOW that you aren’t in control?

To know that all that you’ve worked for… all that you’ve built in your life…

all the education you’ve pursued… all the wealth you’ve acquired… all the hard work you’ve put in… all the relationships you’ve built...

Ultimately none of it belongs to you to… none of it is in your control.

Does it ever scare you to know that the same God who put our president in his place also put our (very different) governor in his place… and also put the dictators of China and North Korea in their place… and he rules over ALL the Kingdoms of men to accomplish his purposes in his time???

It WILL scare you if you don’t KNOW the Most High God.

If you don’t know his goodness… if you don’t know his righteousness and his care for his people and the beauty of his kingdom, that will terrify you to KNOW that the Most High rules over the realm of mankind… and you don’t…

And neither does your favorite political leader… and neither does anyone else you might put your trust in.

If you don’t know the Most High God and how he is moving all the kingdom of men toward the one true kingdom of Jesus, the idea of his control will terrify you.

But if you know the one he has chosen to set over his kingdom… if you TRULY KNOW JESUS… that thought that you aren’t in control will THRILL you.

Because our king Jesus became the lowliest of men for you and for me.

He was born to a dirt poor couple from Nazareth in Northern Israel. They laid him in a humble feeding trough for animals because they had no other place to put him in the crowded house of their relatives in Bethlehem… King David’s city.

He grew up the son of a simple craftsman.

He selected a rag tag group of uneducated fishermen and tax collectors to be his disciples…

He touched lepers and gave sight to the blind....

He called out the corrupt religious establishment for their oppression of the weak and their keeping the kingdom away from those who need it most.

And then he went to the lowest place possible… he took our sins upon himself and died on a Roman cross… the most humiliating form of execution in the history of mankind… and there he hung in OUR place… for OUR sin...

But God highly exalted him… and raised him from the dead… and he ascended on high to the right hand of God...

And right now he is ruling over the hearts of his people… and he is sending out the invitation to enter his kingdom...

So that those who humble themselves before him and recognize their sin and need for a Savior...

That those who turn from their delusions of grandeur and control and instead live for his kingdom…

That those who trust in him would live with him forever.

Humbling ourselves starts with knowing that God rules over the whole realm of mankind and gives it to the lowliest of men. (v. 1-18)

Humility doesn’t come from focusing on yourself and how much you want to control but cannot and then feeling bad about it. It’s thinking far more of God and knowing that he controls everything.

It’s putting yourself and everything else in proper perspective and association to God so that you live for HIS kingdom, not the kingdom of men.

Nebuchadnezzar was afraid by his dream. He was alarmed that there was someone called “The most high” that was in control of the kingdom of men, and that someone’s tree was getting cut down.

And so he asks Daniel to interpret the dream.

Look at verse 19… [Read 19-27, explaining along the way]

Here’s the second thing we must do if we are going to humble ourselves...

2) Make a clean break from sin by turning to real righteousness and real mercy to the oppressed. (v. 19-33)

Explain: Daniel is like, “I don’t really want to see you go through this!!!

I’ve had it pretty good here in Babylon… I HAVE lived under the shade of your tree…

And this whole living with the beasts of the field thing… I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!

And so Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar what to do… “...break off your sins...”

I like the way the Message words it, “Make a clean break with your sins.”

The NIV says, “Renounce your sins.”

In other words REPENT… just in case this SURE vision might be prolonged to a later time.

Maybe God will relent… maybe God will have mercy if you humble yourself NOW.

Listen: there’s an URGENCY to our humility.

The longer we go thinking we are in control, the more hardened we become in our pride.

And so Daniel’s like “Make a clean break from sin!” And here’s what that will look like: you will start “practicing righteousness… and showing mercy to the oppressed.” (Daniel 4:27, ESV)

That word for oppressed in the original Aramaic means.... “poor... oppressed... pertaining to a class of people with little or no resources and of low status.” [Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Aramaic (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.]

So we are talking about a subset of society who is vulnerable… who has the odds stacked against them.

And for Nebuchadnezzar to make a clean break with his sins, he is going to have to start practicing righteousness toward those people (meaning proper moral and ethical action toward them… showing them kindness and compassion in his policies…) and showing them mercy or favor…

Now when I read that this week, I had to stop and think a little bit…

Because it just didn’t seem to work with the rest of the vision.

Here you have this tree that represents the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar...

And you have great flourishing.

The economy is strengthening… the beasts are finding shade… the birds a place to live… there is fruit and food in abundance...

On THE SURFACE, it looks like everyone is being taken care of.

On the SURFACE it looks like Nebuchadnezzar is doing EXACTLY what is right for his nation… it looks like he is providing for his people...

But prosperity must not be mistaken for approval from God.

Sometimes our success on the surface can blind us to the depravity of our hearts.

Sometimes the way we take care of a certain GROUP of people can blind us to a lack of true righteousness and true mercy in our hearts toward the most VULNERABLE people.

God is clear… despite the appearances of a flourishing society, Nebuchadnezzar, in his pride, is not demonstrating righteousness in his policies as a king, nor is he showing kindness and compassion to the poor and vulnerable.

And I had to think… “That sounds like a potentially familiar situation...”

Could it be TODAY that there was a nation that would have considerable wealth and influence that extended to the ends of the earth… where the beasts and birds find rest… where the fruit is coming in abundance… where amber waves of grain and purple mountains in their majesty are abundant from sea to shining sea?!?!

But where also the poor and vulnerable were also oppressed?

Where righteousness and justice were perverted…

Where IT LOOKED like righteousness was happening because the economy was strong… and certain people were flourishing… but there were still prejudices and bias that failed to care for the vulnerable as those made in the image of God?

Could there be a country today that LOOKED like it helped vulnerable people all around the world, but it turned out that they only did it when it made good business sense.

I think it sounds like a very familiar situation...

If you understand the amount of food resources that are available in our country, but never make it into the hands of people who are hungry… you can see that this still happens today.

If you look at the history of racial bias in our country… and the type of racial inequality and disunity that still remains… you can see that this still happens today.

If you understand where and how we send resources to other countries that comes with strings attached… you can see that this still happens today.

And listen… this is NOT a political statement…

Nobody could look at Daniel the prophet and say, “Stop being so political, Daniel. Stick to the religious stuff!”

No… this is what was on GOD’S heart!

I’m not making a political statement… I’m NOT suggesting or promoting a certain type of government policy or legislation of the political right, left or middle that will solve the problem of oppression… they CAN’T! It is a problem of the fall since the first couple sinned and the whole creation was put under a curse..

I’m making these connections so that we open our eyes to the fact that the kingdoms of this world NEVER operate by the same principles as the kingdom of our God.

The left, right, and middle of our political spectrum will ALL fail to practice righteousness and mercy to a perfect degree…

because they are filled with sinful human beings who fall short of God’s perfection.

They will all fail to solve the problems of our society because it is not within their wisdom or power to do so.

So the answer is not found with them… or with their policies...

The answer is found in Jesus… the Perfect King that Nebuchadnezzar never could be… the perfect King that can’t be rivaled by any political leader in our day either.

JESUS is the one who sits on David’s throne and demonstrates perfect righteousness and mercy to the oppressed.

JESUS is the one who ultimately will fulfill (in the Millennial Kingdom) Psalm 72 that reads: “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” (Psalm 72:1–4, ESV)

That’s the kingdom that’s coming… that’s the only hope for humanity.

JESUS is the King who started his ministry by reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the Synagogue of his poor hometown of Nazareth… this is what he read as a summary statement on his whole ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18–19, ESV)

Jesus is the RIGHTEOUS and MERCIFUL king, especially toward the poor.

The indestructible kingdom we are waiting for is marked by incredible benevolence to those who know they are needy.

And listen… the point of those passages isn’t to say that God only loves poor people… or if you are poor, trust Jesus, and he will make you rich… that’s not what the Bible teaches.

The point of those passages is to reveal the righteous and merciful character of our King… and to demonstrate that his mercy moves toward those who can clearly see their need for it.

If you are poor or vulnerable… but you still think you deserve something from God… you still think that he owes you one… then you are still dead in your pride… and his mercy isn’t flowing there.

But if you recognize your need for God… if you humble yourself before him and say, “He is God and I am not,” and you cry out to him for undeserved mercy… he will extend his righteousness and mercy to you… he loves to lift up the lowly and give them a place with the princes of his kingdom.

That’s the nature of our King over and over and over and over again in the scriptures.

And if that is the nature of the king that rules over the whole realm of mankind… if that is the nature of the kingdom we are longing for and anticipating and inviting others into… then that must become the heart of his followers too.

Humble yourself before the unrivaled glory of the Most High God: ...make a clean break from sin by turning to real righteousness and real mercy to the oppressed.

Turn from building your own kingdoms and build his instead by serving the vulnerable around you.

When you see someone who is in a tough financial spot…

Instead of thinking, “Boy, I wonder what dumb choices they made to get themselves there...”

Let’s just be honest… That’s the bias that so many of us have thought, right?

Instead of thinking that, think, “Everything I have... has been given to me by God... to show the goodness of his kingdom to the people around me.”

And then look for a way to serve them out of the resources God has given you to steward for his kingdom.

When you hear a black person expressing frustration over the way they have been treated for the color of their skin… or person of any color for that matter...

Instead of thinking, “Can’t they just get over it! Can’t they just stop talking about color… the civil rights movement ended 50 years ago!”

Instead of thinking those thoughts that are so commonly expressed in our culture, try showing mercy… try asking them, “Explain what you are feeling to me. Let me hear your story… your experiences. Let me enter into your pain. Let me tell you that I love you and that Jesus loves you.”

You don’t even have to end up agreeing with them… you just need to care enough to have the uncomfortable conversation and express the undeserved righteousness and mercy of Jesus Christ toward them.

Oh if Christ’s people would show righteousness and mercy like THAT instead of repeating the talking points of our society… then we would be building CHRIST’S kingdom instead of the kingdoms of this world!

Kids… teenagers… when you are in a room with a lot of people your age, look for the people around you who are most in need of a friend… maybe they are also the person who is most different from you…

Move toward them. Befriend them. Show them love and mercy because Jesus, Your King, first loved you.

Nebuchadnezzar has an awesome kingdom… it’s a flourishing kingdom… it was a kingdom that allowed for all types of religious practice… it was a kingdom with a strong economy… but it was a corrupt kingdom in the eyes of God.

And so Nebuchadnezzar has a choice… make a clean break with his sin… or keep walking in pride… trying to rival the glory of God. Tragically he chooses door number 2.

[Read and comment on v. 28-33]

Humble yourself before the unrivaled glory of the Most High God before he does it for you.

God will not share his glory with another.

Apply: Who does your heart most reflect, King Jesus (in his righteousness and mercy to the oppressed) or King Nebuchadnezzar (in his self-satisfaction with his own kingdom)?

Are there any ways that YOU have said, “Is not this my great Kingdom which I have built by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

Nebuchadnezzar endured some pretty serious consequences for failing to acknowledge God’s supremacy and purposes over his kingdom.

But just as promised.. and for his own reasons… God restored him.

[Read v. 34-36, commenting ONLY ON v. 34]

It’s never soon enough… but it’s also never too late… to humble yourself before the Most High God while you still have life and breath...

It’s never to late to take this third step of humbling yourself…

3) Praise, extol and honor the King of heaven alone. (v. 34-37)

Explain: Nebuchadnezzar returns to the praise he started at the beginning of this story…

Now we see why Nebuchadnezzar says the things he did back in verse 3… and we get a more full Psalm out of it...

He now is ready to acknowledge that God’s dominion is everlasting...

Like we sang earlier today:

Though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King, reigning over all.

His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

You want to leave your kids a legacy… get them attached to the Indestructible kingdom of Jesus.

All of the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing…

we aren’t the big stuff we thought we were!

Instead, he does according to his will among the host of heaven.

Remember the watcher in the dream???

God sends his angels… his messengers… to tell his decrees… and to carry out his plans.

And he does according to his will among the inhabitants of the earth...

All of world history is under the sovereign had of God and moving toward the day when his will is ultimately done on earth as it is in heaven… when the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

And none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

His power and work will be accomplished… and it will be evident.

And so as his reason is restored… along with his kingdom… the most reasonable thing he can think to do is tell all of the peoples and nations and languages under his authority about this Most High God...

To Praise and extol and honor the king of heaven… for all his works are right and his ways are just.... and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Humbling ourselves HAS to involve giving God praise...

Using words and songs to lift up God’s excellence and status...

Humbling ourselves HAS to involve EXTOLLING God...

We don’t use that word much anymore, but we should… it actually can mean “to become arrogant” if you extol yourself… or it can mean to exalt… to cause to rise in rank...

You are taking God up a few notches in your mind and heart when you are extolling him…

And then this… Humbling ourselves has to involve HONORING God…

It means to glorify him… to attribute to him higher status than any other God...

These three words together an ever increasing… SOARING praise… because God’s glory is infinite and ultimate and unrivaled.

It’s when we praise that we are confronted with God’s greatness and our smallness.

Don’t ever think of our singing at Oak Hill as some nice, entertaining thing that we do.

Don’t ever think of it as something you don’t need because, “You’re not really the singing type.”

Your heart needs to verbally praise… extol… honor… the King of heaven.

Apply: When we sing and pray prayers of praise as a church, do you allow your heart to soar to new heights of glorifying God?

I pray that we would continually grow lift that kind of praise from this place… and from our homes if we need to participate online… every single week.

I believe that if we do, we can become a more humble people.

A people who know that God rules over the whole realm of mankind and gives it to the lowliest of men.

I believe we will be a people who are eager to make a clean break with our sin to practice true righteousness and true mercy to the oppressed.

And I believe we will bring much praise and glory the unrivaled King of heaven.

Let’s pray… and then let’s offer some of that praise to him before we leave today.