Sermon Tone Analysis

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.”