Ferrier, George: Conversion of a Beast ~ Daniel 4

Hello again. We- don't we love to hear testimonies? Don't we love to hear the story of how someone came to know the Lord Jesus as their savior? In Daniel chapter four, we have the testimony of the most powerful man on earth at that time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And in this chapter, he gives a testimony, a- a- a witness to the fact of his conversion to the God of Daniel, the true God, the God of heaven. And so he begins in, uh, verse one: Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare to you the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders, his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. This king who had been concerned about his own kingdom, as he been given in chapter two the, the, the meaning of his dream about the image and how his kingdom would not last. Uh, and we see in chapter three where he built an image, and uh, we see, uh, his desire for his kingdom to go on forever. But here he's giving, uh, witness to the fact that, and an acknowledgement that there is the God of heaven whose kingdom will last forever, and his dominion is over the whole, uh, pl- place of the earth. So he thought it good to declare it, and isn't that true of anyone that has truly come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior? Think about people today that they want to tell others about it, they want others to know about it. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, it's- it's something that we do. It- it shows that we have believed in him in our heart, and if we truly believe in him in our heart, we want to c- we will want to confess him with our mouth. And so Nebuchadnezzar desired to do that. And so he's going to s- now say how that came about, and it was through a dream. So as he's giving this account, he's going to give an account of a dream he had eight years previously. Most people believe that this, uh, these events occurred about fifteen years after those of chapter three. and so it's well after he had acknowledged the God of Daniel, but he had not believed in him himself. He still had his own gods, but he did tell Daniel that his gods were, were, were good, but he did not yet truly believe. Didn't believe in chapter two. he didn't believe in chapter three. but now we're going to see the events that bring him to that point, and it begins with a dream here in chapter four. And he talks about a dream in verse, uh, 4. He says, I was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace. This is at a time when there's general peace. He- he's won his major battles. He basically has dominion over- over the known world at that time. It's a time of peace and prosperity and a feeling of ease, and all is good, and he- he's walking at rest in his house, and then suddenly something comes in to break his peace. He says, I saw a dream which made me afraid, and thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. And so he brought in the, the, um, wise men and the Chaldeans to, to, um, try to interpret the dream, but they did not make known to me that its interpretation. So it says in verse eight, at last Daniel came in, whose name is Belteshazzar. Here we see his respect for Daniel, and we know that word Daniel means, uh, God is my judge, and it speaks of the true God, Jehovah God. But he had been given this name, this Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, that as- ascribes glory to, to, um, a, a god in Babylon, the god Bel. And so he says it's according to the name of my god. He's acknowledging that the god of Daniel is different than my god. And he says, but he says, in whom is the spirit of the holy god, the separate god. And so even though he's saying that Daniel's god is different than mine, he's kind of saying that Daniel's god is special. There's something different, and it's not like all my gods. It- there's something holy and separate and set apart. Um, there's no one like God, no one like Daniel's God. And so he says, I told my dream to him, and I guess we're not sure why he wouldn't have started with Daniel, like he- didn't he learn his lesson from, uh, when he had the dream about the image and he first tried his magicians and sorcerers and then chanters, but they couldn't help him, and yet he tries them first, and maybe that shows the pride, shows the stubbornness of the, of the sinful heart. But he sees that these men can do nothing, so then he calls in Daniel, and he knows that Daniel has a God that is, is special, holy, set apart. And so he makes known the dream, uh, to, to Daniel, and he tells him about a tree that grew and became strong in verse eleven. Its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and it was food for all. But then he says, and he talks about the birds coming and and dwelling under its bra- branches, and there's a idea that this tree is valuable to to all the the animal kingdom as well to the whole world. But then this watcher comes, and he tells, uh, people to chop down the tree and to cut off its branches and to strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts come out from under it and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump, but put a band of iron and bronze around the stump, and let this one, this one, now it's personifying the tree as a person. It says, let this one, um, graze with the beasts on the gra- and on the- on the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from that of a man. Let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him. And we know from other, uh, verses in, in Revelation that when it speaks of times, it's referring to a year. And so it's saying, let him be a beast for seven years. And then it says, this is the decree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the holy ones. And we, and there's, most would agree that this watcher is an angel sent from God, and it's referred to the decree of the holy ones, other, other angels. So there, there was a this word given from Go- by God to the, to the angels, that a decree from heaven that this was to happen. And it's interesting, the Watcher is referred to as one of the holy ones, and and so we know that angels were created, uh, before this world, and that angels, uh, were created perfect, but that one third of them rebelled with the devil, that that Lucifer, who was an angel himself, a a beautiful angel, but yet he wanted to be like the Most High. He was filled with pride, and so he led a third of the angels in rebellion against God, and we read about that in Isaiah fourteen, uh, Ezekiel twenty eight, and he led this rebellion. And so here we have a distinction between, uh, good angels and bad, and the good ones are referred to as holy ones. And so it's referring to this, uh, message given to the holy ones. And so Nebuchadnezzar has, um, given this, uh, dream to Daniel, and so he says, now I want you to, to give me the interpretation. And so then Daniel seems to be given the interpretation right away by the Lord, and he's very troubled by it. It says in verse nineteen that he was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. But the king said, Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you. And Belteshazzar answered, my lord, may the dream concern those who hate you and its interpretation concern your enemies. Daniel recognized that this dream was not good news for, for the king, and so he was saying, I wish this was something that was going to happen to your enemies, not to you, king. Daniel had an affection for the king, even though he, he, uh, had been led away captive and his life had changed, uh, for- forever by being led away captive. He had been used of the Lord. He had an influence in the kingdom. He was in government in a pretty high position, and he, and he, even though the king was a sinful man, a, a wicked man, Daniel was a godly man, and he had an influence on him, and he wa- and he had a, a, a, a concern for the king, and he, he cared about him. So he tells him then, at the king's urging, he tells him what the dream means, and he says, the tree which you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens, and which could be seen by all the earth, and its leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, and it was food for all. He said, it is you, O king, it is you who have grown and become strong, for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And he says, that watcher, holy one, comes down from heaven to chop down the tree, and he says, King, the interpretation of this from the Most High has come to me, and you shall be driven, uh, away, and you'll become like a beast until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses. But, and he says to this idea of a binding of the bronze and the iron is, is a sense of him being bound in this, uh, as an animal for, for seven years. But the, the leaving of the stump, that the ch- chopping of the tree, there was a stump left. There's an indication that, that after your kingdom will be restored to you, king, that the kingdom will not be taken away, but you will be temporarily for seven years, you'll be living as a beast in a field, but after this has passed, you will have your kingdom restored, and you will know that the Most High God rules, uh, and has dominion and sovereignty over the kingdom of men. And so he says, but king, maybe you can forestall it. Verse twenty seven, he says, let my advice be acceptable to you. Let break off your sins by being righteous and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity. Maybe you can forestall it, or maybe you can a- avoid having it happening if you repent of your sin and you change and you, and you stopped mistreating the poor and you act like a righteous king, and you acknowledge the God of heaven. If you will repent, perhaps you can forestall it. And we know that God, even when he's planning on bringing judgment, he will forestall if there's true repentance. Don't we have the example of Jonah preaching to Nineveh, that wicked city, preaching to them, and yet they repented, and so the Lord did not bring destruction upon them. The pre- they responded to the preaching of Jonah. And so the Lord desires, he doesn't have any pleasure, he desires repentance, he has no pleasure in the punishment of the wicked. And so, but we see here that Nebuchadnezzar did not repent. Twelve months go by, and he says in verse twenty nine, at the end of twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon, and the king started being filled with pride, and he says, is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty? Didn't I do it for my own glory? And indeed, he was a master builder. There were magnificent builder- buildings in Babylon, and we- there's one of the seven wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens was there, and so he had done a great work, but it was for his glory, and he was filled with pride, and at that very moment, the word came from the Lord. While he was still boasting, filled with pride, the conceit in his heart, the Lord said, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, the kingdom has departed from you, and they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and you're going to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you. And so here again, the seven times as indicated in the dream, seven years will go by until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives to it whomever he chooses. And that very hour, the word was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven away to eat grass like oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nail like bird's claws. He had had a, a form of, uh, mental illness, and that illness exists and has existed in humanity at times where people actually believe that they are animals. And so that's affliction came upon Nebuchadnezzar, and most believe that he would have been protected by Daniel and some of the key advisors. He would have been kept in a enclosure some way, uh, somewhere near the, the palace, and he would not have been left open to ridicule by the people, but people would have wondered, you know, for seven years, where is the king? What's happened to him? And so there would have been a tendency maybe for people to overthrow his rule because they would say he's gone, but Daniel and the advisors would have, um, Daniel would have told the advisors that this is only temporary, that he will be healed, uh, and they would have protected his kingdom during that time, and with the, certainly with the help of our, the Lord God who had said his kingdom would be restored, so the Lord would bring that about. So, um, as we look at this passage, even today in the news, there's been the story out of North Korea recently that they don't know where the leader is, and people are wondering, is he, is he dead? Is he sick? Where is he? And there's a lot of speculation, and you can just imagine at the, during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, people have been asking the same questions. Where is the king? Is he sick? Is he dead? What's happened to him? And, and that one year goes by, and two years, and three, and four, and five, 5, and and six, and seven. and eventually we come to the time where Nebuchadnezzar is going to lift his eyes to heaven. It's always the key to salvation is to lift your eyes to the Lord God in heaven. And it says in verse thirty four, at the end of the time, at the end of these seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding 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 is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. We're nothing compared to the Most High God. He's the creator. We are the creation. He goes on to say, he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. In other words, God's sovereignty is in heaven, and his sovereignty is over the whole earth. One of the key themes throughout the book of Daniel is the sovereignty of God. We see that with the image in chapter two, uh, the dream about the image in chapter two, and then the Lord intervening, uh, with the, uh, men, uh, and cast into the fiery furnace. And here we see his intervention in Nebuchadnezzar's life. And he's shown to him the truth that God rules in heaven and earth. And he goes on to say, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? No one, not even my gods could have done anything against it. He- he's the most high God. He's the one who is in charge in heaven and earth, and all of the gods I've worshipped previously, they are nothing compared to this one. They can't say to him, no man can, or no god can say to them, what have you done? At the same time, my reason returned to me. Upon his, when he looked to heaven, his reason instantly returned to him. He became normal again. His illness was cured. And for the glory of my kingdom and my honor and splendor returned to me, my kingdom was restored to me, my counselors and nobles were returned to me, and I re- had my kingdom restored, and excellent majesty was added to me. But lest we think that he was now filled with pride again when he speaks about his excellent majesty, we see in the very next verse he's giving glory to the God of heaven. He said, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. The King of heaven is the same God that Daniel worshipped. That's the one he is acknowledging and praising and honoring. All of whose works are truth, all his ways justice, and those who walk in pride he is able to put down. Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself. It take- took great humility to be able to recount the story. A proud man, after this was over, would have just tried to put it in the shadows, put it behind him, and just, um, say, I don't want anyone to know what I've been doing the last seven years. But no, Nebuchadnezzar wanted this known because of what had, what had happened from it, that he now was a believer in the Lord God of heaven. And he's saying, I want you to know that the Lord who walk, who is the one who is sovereign over all the earth, he can deal with people who are filled with pride, and he knows how to put them down and humble them. People like me, he's saying, people like me, even though I'm the greatest one over all the earth, my dominion is over the known earth, and I- I'm the the number one ruler in all the earth. The Lord God knows how to humble even someone like that, and he humbled me, and now I extol him and praise him and honor him and acknowledge him as the ruler of- of all the earth, of all the heavens, the one who is dominion is forever and ever and ever. I acknowledge him, the- the Lord God, and he had come to know him. His pride had been dealt with. Isn't that one of the biggest stumbling blocks to someone coming to faith in Christ? It's our pride. We want to say what we can do. We want to seek our own glory, but we must recognize that if we're going to come to salvation, if we're going to come to know the God of heaven, if we're going to come to faith that leads to heaven, we must b- believe on the Lord Jesus Christ's work at Calvary. There's nothing we can do but to believe on the work that Christ did, his finished work at Calvary, and when we put our faith and trust in him, the Bible says we will be saved. But one of the biggest roadblocks is to get over ourselves, to get over our pride, to admit that we are helpless, that wi- while we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. We are ungodly, we are wicked, in our hearts is, uh, is the wickedness of sin, and there's nothing we can do about it, but we must trust in the one who paid the penalty for our sin and put our faith and trust in him. And if we will humble ourselves in that way and admit that, that we are helpless, then the Lord delights to save us as we recognize him as the only Savior, the one who loved us and gave himself for us. And so, isn't it wonderful to see even a Gentile ruler, but not just any ruler, the one who was the most powerful man over all the earth, he himself could be saved. And it should always encourage us that as we pray for friends and and loved ones who do not yet know the Lord Jesus, we should never give up. We see a great time period from chapters two and three, probably over thirty years until we get to chapter four. and after the all that time, Nebuchadnezzar was a beneficiary of the prayers of Daniel, of the of the witness and testimony of Daniel in his life. Let it encourage us to not lose hearts, to not be discouraged, to not, uh, lose patience with others, but to recognize we continue to be a shining light in their life, to be a testimony, to be, uh, an example in word and deed, and to keep praying for them. And the Lord can do a work in anyone's heart, even a a a wicked man like Nebuchadnezzar. And so we see here that after his salvation, if we have the time period right, he would have been king for just another one or two years before he passed from this earth. What a magnificent display of God's grace. This man was saved a year or two before he died and went into eternity, and God can save anyone, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.