Sermon Tone Analysis

Daniel 4:1-37

 

1 *King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! *2* It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

*3* How great are his signs,** how mighty his wonders!

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

*

 

King Nebuchadnezzar is the author of this chapter.

* The crazy king who wanted to teach Daniel & his three friend about his gods in order to change them.

* The crazy king who wanted to kill all the wise men in Babylon when he had his first dream.

* The crazy king who set up an great image & made everyone worship it.

Notice what he now saying in this chapter.

* He speaking about what God has done for him.

* Last chapter he thought he was great than God.

* Now he is praising God for what God has done in his life.

* He is even sings the praises of God.

worshipping the God of heaven.

* Before Nebuchadnezzar thought he was in control & he had made himself great.

* Now he realizes that God is control & will always be in control.

What has changed?

Nebuchadnezzar seems to me to have been saved, converted from a pagan to a worshipper of the true & living God.

* This so us that anyone can be saved.

No one is beyond the reach of God.

* This chapter is Nebuchadnezzar's testimony.

It shows us how he gets saved.

*1.

Nebuchadnezzar's Need*

 

4* I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace.

*

 

Some students believe that twenty or thirty years may have elapsed between the episode of the fiery furnace described in chapter 3 and the events described in this chapter.

* Nebuchadnezzar was now enjoying a time of peace and security.

* After defeating all his enemies and completing several impressive building projects, he was able at last to rest at home and delight in what had been accomplished.

* Nebuchadnezzar thought that he was the builder of "Babylon the great" and the architect of its peace and prosperity, but he was soon to learn that all these things had been permitted by the will of the Most High God.

* Nebuchadnezzar was a rich & powerful man.

* On the outside all looked well.

* He had nice palace to live in.

(With wonderful meals to enjoy.)

* His kingdom was growing & prospering.

* What more could a man wanted?

* Because of his physical & material well being Nebuchadnezzar did not see his need for God.

Nebuchadnezzar was a rich & powerful man.On the outside all looked well.

He had nice palace to live in.

(With wonderful meals to enjoy.)

His kingdom was growing & prospering.

What more could a man wanted?

Because of his physical & material well being Nebuchadnezzar did not see his need for God.

Many people are like this.

* This is pride!

To think you can get on without God.

* The truth was God had given him all that he had .

He owned God for the good life he was living.

* The truth is we all own God for what we have.

* Our riches & blessings in life.

* To the food we eat & the air we breath.

* It is pride for us not to recognize our need & dependents on God.

*5 I saw a dream that made me afraid.

As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.

6 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.

*

 

This was the second dream that Nebuchadnezzar had that troubled him.

When trouble where did Nebuchadnezzar turn to for answers?

* Right back to the worldly wise men as before.

* They could not give the answer before & they could not give the answer to the dream this time.

* We must learn to turn to the Lord for answers to spiritual problems we have in life.

* It is the Lord alone that has the answers we need for lives biggest problems.

Lucky Nebuchadnezzar does remember Daniel & answers he had last time the king needed help.

*2.

Daniel's Witness*

 

*8 At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods —and I told him the dream, saying, \\ 9 "O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.

*

 

A.

A Holy Life

 

Daniel was different than the rest of the wise men & the king knew it.

* Even this pagan king knew that the Spirit of God was in Daniel.

* Daniel's witness to the king had not gone unnoticed.

* I'm sure it seemed that way at times to Daniel & his three friends.

* But the king knew that there was something different about Daniel.

* His holiness & stand for the Lord meant he was different than all the other wise men.

* If we want to have a witness or impact for the Lord like Daniel did than we need to be like Daniel.

* Stand up for the Lord.

* Live in holiness & obedience to the Lord.

* Seek to declare the power & glory of the Lord.

* A holy life is made possible only by the presence & power of Holy Spirit with us.

*10 The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

11 The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

12 Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all.

The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

*13* "I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.

14 He proclaimed aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.

Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.

15 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.

\\ 16 Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him.

17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end 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.' 18 This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw.

And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

*

 

So the king's dream was of a great tree that gets chopped down & turns into a beast.

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

The king answered and said, "Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you."

Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!

*

 

B.

A Loving Heart

 

Daniel was alarmed & slow to answer when he heard the kings dream.

Why was this?

* While he knew the dream was not good news for the king.

* So, it could be that he was a afraid to tell the king.

* But I do not think this was the case.