Returning Glory to Where it Belongs

Welcome, everyone, to our current sermon series "His Kingdom Come," from the Old Testament prophetic book of Daniel. In our previous gatherings, we've been unpacking the theme that reoccurs in Daniel's narrative, which focuses on the collision of God's kingdom with our world. In the first three chapters, we discover how three young boys named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, are exiled into a foreign nation called Babylon. Taken as prisoners, and then enrolled in the Babylon University and became Wisemen for King Nebuchadnezzar. During their stay, the boys must choose either to stand up for the Lord. Or be overcome by the social, cultural, and political of their time.

So far, in their quest to remain loyal to God's kingdom versus Babylon, the boys had to endure trials by eating only vegetables and drinking water for three years, interpreting the king's dream, and being cast in alive in a fiery furnace. In all these events, God shows up and works a miracle by fatting the boys up, giving the contents of the dream to Daniel, and sending an angel to save the three friends. God proves over and over again that he is sovereign and is in control of the situation.

Covering the first three chapters, we now jump into Daniel chapter four. We imagine the most almighty mighty King Nebuchadnezzar is standing outside his palace balcony praising the Most High God. Daniel records the king's praise because the Lord has shown him all the signs and wonders, as we mentioned previously, the miracles happened before the king. Now in awe of the Lord, he exclaims from his palace walls! "How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

But, the narrative takes an exciting twist; the scripture that's the reader reads turns from a third-person view to a first, and the story comes from the king's perspective.

He recounts how he had another terrifying dream, similar to chapter two. Calling all his Wisemen, he asks them to interpret his dream. Remember, this was the standard practice in the Babylonian culture to tell your vision's contents, and then the people would interpret the meaning.

However, this time even with their dream commentaries in hand. None of the Wisemen of the country could make known to the king the dream. But hope arrived when Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar (named after his god), came into the king's presence.

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

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

Knowing the king's temperament, Daniel knew this wasn't a flattering dream to tell. "O king, I want to tell you. You are going to be like a wild animal that lives outside the palace for seven periods. Yeah, I know! I wish this for your enemies, but the good news is if you give up your sins and recognize where your power comes from, everything will be fine." No one likes the messenger of bad news, so it's not surprising that fear came over Daniel when he heard the dream.

However, through the king's reassurance, Belteshazzar answered and said, 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! The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,' this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 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."

Daniel's interpretation explained how the king was the tree. The tree stretched to the heavens. Picture the coast redwood trees found in Califonia. Tall and wide! For a while, the tree that symbolizes King Nebuchadnezzar provided protection and comfort to everyone. Until, the watcher or in other translations, an angel came and him down. His roots, shades, branches that extended the whole earth would come crashing down to earth, and all that would be left is a stump. The worse part of the dream is how the king would be covered with the earth's dew, be transformed into a wild animal, and endure it for seven periods.

The Lord's whole point giving the king this dream was for Daniel to emphasize this central idea: "till you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will."

And then Daniel gives the king a conditional clause. 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.”

At this moment, the king had an opportunity to change the outcome of this dream. He could either listen to his servant's voice and acknowledge that the Lord is in charge or continue living in sin and reject the Lord's divine will for his life. As you continue reading, you see, he chooses the latter.

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

Confronting our greatness (From Myself or the Lord)

The king goes from being the most powerful man in the world to a wild animal who lost his mind. All because he stole God's glory. As the king looks upon his empire, he makes the bold claim that it was built with his mighty power.

He boasted about his blessings, greatness, and glory and failed to recognize where it ultimately came. So in his pride, the Lord humbled him by banishing him from his kingdom by making Nebuchadnezzar a wild animal, talking about severe punishment for sin. Yet, this would have never happened if the king would praise God that his greatness came from heaven.

This application should hit our hearts too. It too easy to admire the things we have built up in this lifetime: house, family, business, education, and then steal the glory from God. That was the main problem for the king. He stole something that didn't belong to him and credited it to himself his success, but all along, it was God that tearing down his walls. The Lord appointed him as the most powerful ruler of the world. It wasn't his doing, but God's work.

We need to confront where our greatness comes from every day. The only reason we succeed in life, job, the family is that God is doing all the heavy lifting, and we need to stop taking his divine glory but start sending back up to him in praise. "Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the ability to built these great things in my life. Without you, I'm nothing!"

Slaying the monster in my heart (Looking to heaven)

But I think there something more to the story than God turning Nebuchadnezzar into something other than a royal king. Honestly, the king's pride in his greatness turned himself into a monster.

We, too, can fall into the same temptation and hold onto our pride, and the result will be that we'll turn into giant ugly monsters.

The worse kinds of people in life to deal with are those who think that their stuff doesn't stink. They have it all figured out—those of the prideful people that need to eat a piece of humble pie.

How many of you love hanging out with prideful people? That's what I thought. The deadly part of pride causes us to look only inwardly. It makes us selfish and anti-Christian. To be prideful is to love yourself, and that goes against love God and our neighbor.

Perhaps you're struggling with pride. You are not focusing on anyone other than yourself; thankfully, we have an example of overcoming pride.

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

When we look up to heaven and see God, all our pride dies. Our reason returns, and we understand our purpose in life, which is to serve the kingdom that reigns forever! The pride monster is slain when we look up to the one who demonstrated real humility.

Sharing in God's glory through humiliation with Jesus. (Letting Jesus shine through your spirit)

Only by giving God back his glory and slaying the monster can we enjoy God's glory that he gives to his people.

At the end of the story, King Nebuchadnezzar tells us what happens to him after looking up to heaven and recognizes that the Lod is sovereign.

At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, 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.

Humility brings about change. Now the king is restored to his kingdom. He now understands who is in control. Who can humble the prideful and who reigns for all creation.

Instead, even coming to the point of pride, God wants us to conform to a life of humility. Not only does he expects it, but Jesus shows it.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

In doing so, we will share in God's glory by humbling ourselves as Jesus did. We will gain the blessing, greatness, and glory of God while living according to his will when we bow down to God's greatness and glory.

If you want to be great in this life, have the blessing, and have an experience full of glory. Then put others before yourself as Jesus did for us. When you and I live intentionally every moment with humility, God can shine glory onto us and make us brighter in this world. If you want to be great in this world, you cannot look towards yourself.

Real greatness comes in the shape of a humble servant.