Daniel 4:1–37 - The Hellish Horrors of Pride

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Skyscrapers—Must Dig Deep if you Want to Build High

Chicago is a city of skycrapers. And I believe the image of the skyscraper is fitting for the direction of today’s message. Skyscrapers are incredible achievements of mankind. Who would have thought that we could build such extravagence so high in the sky. Anybody who has worked in architecture or has a basic knowledge of building high buildings will tell you, that if you want to go high, you must first dig deep. The deeper you dig the foundation, the higher the roof can go.

Personal

In much the same way, so it is with the work of God upon your life. If you truly want to soar in the heights of the heavens, and live a life of rich devotion and joy with God, and consistent communion and fellowship with your maker and redeemer, you must first learn to go very deep. The deeper we permit God to excavate the true and often very unpleasant realities about ourselves, the higher we can build. Today we will discuss the hellish horrors of the sin of pride. We will attempt to mine deep into the crevices our heart in orde to discover the rot that pervades as a result of pride. The book of Proverbs speaks often of this terminal disease called Pride.

Proverbs 16:5 “5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.”

Proverbs 25:27 “27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.”

The deeper you trudge through the muck and the mire of the honest naked truth of the wicked reality of your own pride, the greater the spiritual edifice that can be built upon your life.

Contextual

In today’s text we have the second dream and its interpretation from King Nebuchadnezzar. What makes this chapter utterly unique not only in the book of Daniel, but in all of the Bible, is that this most of this chapter is written in the first person from Nebuchadnezzar himself. In the text today Nebuchadnezzar will experience an utter transformation of character from a pagan proud King, to a God-worshiping humbled servant of the one true King. It’s a remarkable transformation but one that was not easily come by. I pray today that you will trully pay attention. Today’s text revolves around the sin of pride, the depth of the sin of pride, the nastiness of the sin of pride. And my aim is to work this theme in such a way that each of us are forced to wrestle with our own proclivity towards pride. Pride is the wicked delusion that we are more than we are, and that God is less than He is. And if left unrepentant, pride will destroy you.

Move 1: The Story

Nebuchadnezzar’s Doxology

If you look at the text, it begins and ends with what we call a doxology. Verse 3, and then verses 34-35 form a sort of border for this text, a border of poetic praise. Listen the words of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 4:1-3 “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.”

Remember, Nebuchadnezzar is writing this after the events of the chapter had taken place, and then he looks back and tells the story of what happened to him. Look at how he praises the God of the Bible. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful on the planet. His Kingdom lasted for about 43 years. As he writes this doxology he says, “God’s Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom.” He’s aware that while his own kingdom is marvelous from an Earthly perspective, it pails in comparison to the everlasting Kingdom of God. This is why we pray for our governmental leaders, because God can and has changed even the hardest of hearts.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision

There is a similar series of events to chapter 2, if you recall. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that frightens him. And so, seeking an interpretation for the dream, he calls in all of his enchanters and astrologers (6-7), but none of them are able to give the dream’s interpretation. Finally he calls his greatest counselor, the one who in chapter 2 was able to give the true intepretation of the dream, and Daniel is able to interpet it again. The contents of the dream begin in verse 10:

Daniel 4:10-17 “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 hi…”

The dream is that of a great tree over the entire Earth that is chopped down by angels and an iron band placed around its stump. These angels are designated with the title “watchers.” As these watchers speak of cutting the tree down an in verse 15 they suddenly are no longer speaking about a tree, but rather about a person. They say in verse 16 that this person will go mad and have the mind of a beast. Verse 17 is critical is the purpose statement for all of this. The purpose and reason why all this will happen is that the world that the one true God of Scripture controls empires and places Earthly Kingdoms in the hands of humble men.

Daniel’s Interpretation

Daniel, in verses 19-26 provides a fairly direct interpretation of the dream. He tells Nebuchadnezzar that the tree represent him.

Daniel 4:20-22 “20 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, 21 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— 22 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.”

The greatness and the size of Nebuchadnezzar’s is represented by the greatness of the size of this tree. Daniel goes on to say that Nebuchadnezzar himself, in accordance with the dream will be driven mad, and will behave for seven years like the beasts of the field.

Daniel 4:24-25 “24 this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25 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.”

But the meaning of the iron band around the tree is also provided. Apparently, God would not leave Nebuchadnezzar in this pitiful state of behaving like a madman, but would restore his Kingdom to him.

Daniel 4:26 “26 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.”

Daniel’s Plea for Repentance

At the end of this interpretation of the dream, Daniel looks at Nebuchadnezzar, and he sees what is coming down the pipeline for his friend. He says:

Daniel 4:27 “27 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.””

I want you to see Daniel’s plea for Nebuchadnezzar at this moment. What a loving friend. Daniel knows his God. He knows that God is quick to forgive the humble and the repentant. He knows that God always offers an olive branch to those who repent. And Daniel has the both the courage and the compassion to look the most powerful in the world in the eye and tell him to repent before its too late. Its courageous, because many others (John the Baptist being a great example) have been killed for the same message. But its compassionate, because Daniel desires the consequences that are about to bear down on Nebuchadnezzar to be avoided.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Foolishness

Nebuchadnezzar fails to repent. Listen to what happens next:

Daniel 4:28-33 “28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 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?” 31 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, 32 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.” 33 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.”

What was the cause of this punishment on Nebuchadnezzar? It was pride. A simple statement that revealed a very dark sin, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have build by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty.” Before the words are even off of his lips, he is driven mad, and in fulfillment of the dream, and spends seven years of insanity living among the beasts.

Move 2: Discovering the Depth of Pride in Ourselves

Let’s pause here and examine this deadly disease called Pride. These next few moments are not for somebody else, they’re for you. I need you to permit yourself to lay utterly open before God. I do believe Nebuchadnezzar’s pride is not far off from the type of pride we all take for granted every day. Pride is the wicked delusion not only that we are more than we are, but the delusion that God is less than He is. Just like Nebuchadnezzar, our pride is seen in the little things. The little comments that elevate ourselves. The judging of others and considering ourselves as the model. Our lack of fervent prayer reveals an inner belief that we are more than we are, and that God is less than he is.

Pride is a Delusion

First, pride is a delusion. Nebuchadnezzar was deluded when he said,

Daniel 4:30 ““Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?””

Pride in every form, whether in the mouths of kings or the mouths of servants, is a delusion. In every proud and self centered thought and idea and statement, we rage against the reality that we are not in control, and that the world truly does not revolve around us. Like Nebuchadnezzar we find great satisfaction in our accomplishments and our self worth, in our wealth, in our resources, in all that we have created. But did we really create any of it. We did not choose our place of birth or our parents. We did not choose our minds or our personalities. We did not choose the circumstances that shaped us, the diseases that have or have not overtaken us. We did not choose the day of our birth, nor will we choose the day of our death. We did not choose whether we were born in a Muslim family in the outskirts of Afghanistan or a Christian family in the suburbs of Chicago. None of this was from you. Pride is the delusion that we are more than we are.

Pride Is Wicked

But it is also the delusion that God is less than he is.

Daniel 4:34-35 “...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; 35 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?””

It is only later after Nebuchadnezzar is restored that his mind is set straight and he is able to see that his earlier simple act of boastful thinking was first and foremost an affront to the glory of God. He was living as if God didn’t matter. As if God’s glory was of no concern to him.

Illustration: The Pits of Hell

I want to have you do something that is incredibly uncomfortable. I want you for a moment to imagine the deepest pit of the darkest corner of hell. I promise I will not leave you there, but for a moment permit yourself. In that deep dark corners its a man all alone. Whatever Hell is, we know it is the place where the presence and glory of Christ, God's messiah, is not present. Can you see him there.

That man in this world was considered a great man, a charitable man even. Other men looked up to that man. As a result, that man also thought very highly of himself. He was proud. See him now in his rags, in the darkness, in the torment of eternal hell, all alone, with no hope, for all eternity. The great delusion has been stripped away. It may not seem it, but in this destitute hellish place that proud man has everything he has ever wanted to its full extent.

In pride in this life, that man wanted to be his own king, never joyfully submitting to a higher authority, Here he is free to do that for all eternity, for in that place, Christ the true King is not present. This is pride lived in full.

He believed all he had acquired, his success, was a result of his greatness and his skills, his determination. He wanted to be surrounded by his success. Here, he can live with everything that he ever acquired on his own strength, nothing.

Pride Revealed

If at this point, you are confident that this man is not you, that such boasterous and proud thoughts, such raging against God’s glory is indicative of someone else, but not of you, then you my friend have fallen to the gravest form of pride of all, the grand delusion that you of all people have been released from pride’s grip. That you, have so probed the depth of authentic spirituality that you can honestly say like the Apostle that you truly believe you are the chief of sinners. That you have so studied and applied the Word of God that like Philippians 2:3 states, you at all times truly consider others as better than yourselves. That you have so wokred Christ’s teachings that you have truly become, “a servant of all.” If you believe that man in the agony of hell is not you, then I fear greatly for you, for it is revealed that you have yet to work Christ’s teaching to remove the log out of your own eye before attempting to take the speck out of your friends in any serious way. When you read of the spiritual giants that have gone before us, they labored at great lengths over their whole lives to constantly examine themselves and root every form of pride out. We have far to go.

If its Your, Repent Today

Friends, where is pride sneaking its way into your life. Where have you become prone to seeing yourself in a better light than you ought, of forsaking God in his glory. Where has Christ like humility been lacking. in Luke 5:32 Jesus said:

Luke 5:31-32 “31… “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.””

It took Nebuchadnezzar seven years under a strong delusion to finally repent. It took him seven years to realize how bad his condition was. It took him seven years to believe that his sin was as horrible as it truly was. It took him seven years to accept the fullness of his sin. Don’t let that be you. Today is the day of salvation. Be free from the curse of pride, and learn to live in the joy of Chris like selflessness and humility.

How Nebuchadnezzar Was Restored

How do you get there? Look at the passage again. What did Nebchadnezzar do? Did he pay off his debt to God? No, Nebuchadnezzar simply looked up, and received grace upon grace.

Daniel 4:34 “34 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;

By God’s grace, Nebuchadnezzar’s radical fall was not his end, it led him to repentance and trust in the God of the Bible. Grace is always extended if we will simply look up and recognize our need of help from a savior. Unfortunately, the reality of pride, is that not everyone takes the warnings as seriously as Nebuchadnezzar did.

The Good News of Jesus Christ

It took God but a single moment, a breath, to heal Nebuchadnezzar. All one must do is look up. If you recognize the depth of your sin, and you see that man in hell, and truly believe that is your destiny if left to yourself, then you are prepared for the precious reality of Christ’s work on the cross. The gospel is for Nebuchadnezzar’s, those who have come to end of themselves. The gospel is for those like the tax collector in Luke 18 who we are told,

Luke 18:13 “13 … standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”

If you will honestly repent of your sin, and cry out to God for mercy, he will have compassion on you. For our pride there is a debt to be paid. Each of us have one of two options. We can either pay that debt ourselves in the pits of hell. Or we can look to Jesus on the cross who paid that debt for us, substituting himself underneath the wrath of God on our behalf. The bright hope of the gospel is that if you will simply look up, to Jesus on the cross, to your King taking your place underneath death in all of its fulness, if you will but believe, God will not only fully forgive the full depth of your sin, but will restore you with a new heart. Like Nebuchadnezzar who began a new life of true praise and true humility, he will begin a new work in you. He will transform you from the inside out. He will take your heart of stone and transform it into a heart of flesh, that beats properly for the first time. Like Nebuchadnezzar you might sing out:

Daniel 4:34-35 “.. 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?””

Closing

Allow me to close with a practical word. The antidote to self-exhaltation is not self-loathing. In fact, self loathing can in many cases be just as sinful and full of pride as self exhaltation, because the one who is constantly self loathing is constantly looking into themselves and pointing others around them to themselves. Self loathing is pride just coming from a different angle. The opposite of self exultation is Christ like humility. It’s not thinking worse thoughts about yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. Learn to love Christ. The more you cherish Jesus, the more you behold Jesus, the more you sit at the feet of the great master, the more his humble spirit will become your own. Andrew Murray said:

“Accept every humiliation, look upon every fellow-man who tries or vexes you, as a means of grace to humble you. Use every opportunity of humbling yourself before your fellow-men as a help to abide humble before God. God will accept such humbling of yourself as the proof that your whole heart desires it, as the very best prayer for it, as your preparation for His mighty work of grace, when, by the mighty strengthening of His Holy Spirit, He reveals Christ fully in you, so that He, in His form of a servant, is truly formed in you, and dwells in your heart.”