Daniel 4
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Daniel 4
Wiersbe applies this section to us, especially those of us who like to preach, teach or study prophecy... Unlike some preachers, Daniel didn’t divorce truth from responsibility. There was a “therefore” in his message. I have participated in numerous prophetic conferences and heard a great deal of interpretation and some speculation, but I haven’t always heard personal and practical application. Some of the speakers talked a great deal about what God would do in the future, but they said very little about what He expected of His people in the present. An understanding of God’s plan imposes on the hearer the responsibility to do God’s will. (Wiersbe, W. W. Be Resolute) Daniel 4:28 All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. Pr 10:24 Zec 1:6 Mt 24:35 Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries All this happened - God's Word is sure and it will come to pass just as He stated (Isa 14:24, 46:10). Moses testifies that "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Nu 23:19, cp Joshua's last warning to Israel - Josh 23:15, 16) Daniel 4:29 "Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. Ge 6:3 Ec 8:11 1Pe 3:20 2Pe 3:9,10,15 Rev 2:21 Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries GOD'S "GRACE PERIOD" God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time! Twelve months later - Nebuchadnezzar was without excuse. God gave the pride filled king ample time to repent (Rev 2:21-note, cp Ge 6:3) for personal repentance of every person is God's desire (2Pe 3:9-note, Ezek 18:23, cp 1Ti 2:3,4), but he refused to repent even after the prophet Daniel had lovingly confronted him (Da 4:27). This passage is clear evidence of God's gracious (truly undeserved) forbearance which Paul described in Romans 2 rhetorically asking... Or do you think lightly (kataphroneo) of the riches (ploutos) of His kindness (chrestotes) and forbearance (anoche) and patience (makrothumia), not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance (metanoia)? (God had even used His prophet Daniel to call on the king to repent!) (Ro 2:4-note) In view of the Most High's rich kindness how should we respond when we are confronted by God's word of conviction concerning some aspect of the sin of pride in our life? We would be wise to heed Peter's exhortation... Humble (tapeinoo in the aorist imperative = command to make this decision now! Don't delay! It is urgent! You make have 12 months like Nebuchadnezzar but you may not!) yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1Peter 5:6-note) Comment: Yes, pride precedes humiliation, but here we see humiliation precedes exaltation as the remainder of this chapter dramatically illustrates! On the roof - Better to see the majesty and splendor of his great Babylon. The roof of the palace can be a dangerous place for kings as David found out (Read 2Sa 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-17). Jamieson observes of Nebuchadnezzar that... At the first announcement of the coming judgment he was alarmed, as Ahab (1Ki 21:27), but did not thoroughly repent; so when judgment was not executed at once, he thought it would never come, and so returned to his former pride (Read Ec 8:11). Read Joe Stowell's devotional "Who's In the Spotlight?" (at the bottom of the page he references Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:29-31). Daniel 4:30 "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' Is not: Da 5:20 Ps 73:8 Pr 16:18 Hab 1:15,16 2:4,5 Lk 12:19,20 14:11 1Pe 5:5 great: Ge 10:10 11:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Rev 16:19 17:5 18:10,21 which: 1Ch 29:12, 13, 14 2Ch 2:5,6 Isa 10:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 37:24,25 Eze 28:2, 3, 4, 5 29:3 and for: Da 5:18, Da 5:19 Es 1:4 Ps 49:20 104:1 145:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 1Co 10:31 Rev 21:24, 25, 26 Daniel 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries I myself have built...my power...my majesty - His repeated self affirmation emphasizes his self centered state and is clear evidence that he has a severe case of "perpendicular "I"-itis". Nebuchadnezzar is a classic illustration of man boasting in what he thinks he can do apart from God. Through Jeremiah Jehovah tells man what to boast in... Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jer 9:23, 24, 1Cor 1:31, cp Gal 6:14-note, Php 3:3-note) Here is one of Nebuchadnezzar's prayers to his "god" Marduk... Like dear life I love thy exalted lodging place: in no place have I made a town more glorious than thy city of Babylon Showers notes that - From a purely human viewpoint, Nebuchadnezzar had good reason to boast. He probably was the greatest builder in ancient times. Forty-nine building inscriptions of this king have been uncovered thus far. Most of the bricks recovered from ancient Babylon bear this inscription: “I am Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.” He himself declared that his heart impelled him to build. Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the old palace of his father, then built two more palaces. He built seventeen religious temples in Babylon and its suburb, Borsippa. He completed the two great walls that surrounded the city. The outer wall was wide enough for chariots to pass each other on its top. The king installed great fortifications to protect the city and had canals dug from one end of the city to another to facilitate commerce. One of Nebuchadnezzar’s most splendid projects was the magnificent Ishtar Gate. This was a double gateway through the walls of the city. The walls of this gate were covered with bulls and four-legged dragons in high relief. The approach to the gate was between strong fortress walls on which were rows of lions in relief and covered with brightly colored tiles. The king’s greatest building feat was the Hanging Gardens. One of Nebuchadnezzar’s wives, the princess of Media, grew homesick for the mountains of her homeland. In order to satisfy her, the king had mountains built on the roof of the royal palace complex. These mountains were planted with trees and other kinds of plants. An ingenious hydraulic machine system was devised to lift water from the Euphrates River to water the elevated gardens. These Hanging Gardens became so famous that the Greeks named them one of the Seven Wonders of the World. (The Most High God- A Commentary on the Book of Daniel). Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. (Pr 16:18) C S Lewis calls pride "the great sin" writing that - There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when they see it in others; and of which hardly any people, except some Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves; and the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. THE SUBTLE SIGNS OF A PROUD HEART Lest we read over this narrative too quickly thinking it has little application to our life, let us ask the Spirit of the Living God to search each of our hearts (Ps 139:23, 24), for vestiges of that horrid sin that God hates (see Pr 8:13, note which sin is first in the list in Pr 6:16, 17, 18), and which always leads to ruination in one form or another. Ponder the following thoughts as you allow the ultimate Watcher to search your heart (Pr 15:3, 2Chr 16:9)... Some of the warning signs of a proud heart are: - Usually thinks that he is right. - Easily offended. - Does not like to be corrected. - Often complains about circumstances or people. - Usually ungrateful. - Often impatient with others and sometimes with God. - Not afraid of temptations. - Secretly ashamed of serving Christ. - Likes to talk more than listen; freely offers opinions. - Desires to be first or best. - Needs to be noticed. - Obstinate towards authority. - Quick to find fault with others. - Bold to contradict others. - Demanding and hard to please. - Much more sensitive to personal desires than to the needs of others. - Boasts about achievements. - Lives beyond his means. - Has a hard time forgiving others. - Pride makes people covetous, liars, flatterers, hypocrites, men-pleasers, and contentious. NOTE: I do not remember where I found the previous lists of traits of the pride heart. That said here is a link to a very similar listing which is better because it contrasts the proud heart with the broken heart and is used by highly recommended ministry Life Action Ministries as one of their worksheets for the heart that is seeking revival. See Proud/Broken People (and be convicted as I am each time I look at this list!) which is shown below... PROUD PEOPLE ><> BROKEN PEOPLE Focus on the failures of others ><> Overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need A critical, fault-finding spirit; look at everyone else’s faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescope ><> Compassionate; can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven Self-righteous; look down on others ><> Esteem all others better than themselves Independent, self-sufficient spirit ><> Have a dependent spirit; recognize their need for others Have to prove that they are right ><> Willing to yield the right to be right Claim rights; have a demanding spirit ><> Yield their rights; have a meek spirit Self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation ><> Self-denying Desire to be served Motivated to serve others ><> Desire to be a success Motivated to be faithful and to make others a success Desire self-advancement ><> Desire to promote others Have a drive to be recognized and appreciated ><> Have a sense of their own unworthiness; thrilled that God would use them at all Wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked ><> Eager for others to get the credit; rejoice when others are lifted up Unapproachable or defensive when criticized ><> Receive criticism with a humble, open spirit Feel confident in how much they know ><> Humbled by how very much they have to learn Quick to blame others ><> Accept personal responsibility and can see where they are wrong in a situation Keep others at arms’ length ><> Willing to risk getting close to others and to take risks of loving intimately Self-conscious ><> Not concerned with self at all Unapproachable or defensive when criticized ><> Receive criticism with a humble, open spirit Concerned with being respectable, with what others think; work to protect their own image and reputation ><> Concerned with being real; what matters to them is not what others think but what God knows; are willing to die to their own reputation Find it difficult to share their spiritual need with others ><> Willing to be open and transparent with others as God directs Want to be sure that no one finds out when they have sinned; their instinct is to cover up ><> Once broken, don’t care who knows or who finds out; are willing to be exposed because they have nothing to lose Have a hard time saying, “I was wrong; will you please forgive me?” ><> Quick to admit failure and to seek forgiveness when necessary Tend to deal in generalities when confessing sin ><> Able to acknowledge specifics when confessing their sin Concerned about the consequences of their sin ><> Grieved over the cause, the root of their sin Remorseful over their sin, sorry that they got found out or got caught ><> Truly, genuinely repentant over their sin, evidenced in the fact that they forsake that sin ><> Compare themselves with others and feel worthy of honor ><> Compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy Blind to their true heart condition ><> Walk in the light Have a subconscious feeling, “This ministry/church is privileged to have me and my gifts”; think of what they can do for God ><> Heart attitude is, “I don’t deserve to have a part in any ministry”; know that they have nothing to offer God except the life of Jesus flowing through their broken lives Don’t think they have anything to repent of ><> Realize they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance Wait for the other to come and ask forgiveness when there is a misunderstanding or conflict in a relationship ><> Take the initiative to be reconciled when there is misunderstanding or conflict in relationships; they race to the cross; they see if they can get there first, no matter how wrong the other may have been Do we see ourselves anywhere in this list beloved? Or perhaps you might be like me, for I looked desperately for a line which did not at times apply to me! Oh my or oh me! Praise God for Pr 28:13, 1John 1:9. If you "passed the test" of the preceding pride "check list", you might also consider examining your heart using Dr Piper's summary of ten biblical observations about pride... 1) Pride Is Self-Satisfaction (Hos 13:4, 5, 6) 2) Pride Is Self-Sufficiency and Self-Reliance (cp warning in Dt 8:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) - God’s goodness is turned into self-sufficiency. 3) Pride Considers Itself Above Instruction (Jer 13:9, 10) - Pride stubbornly refuses to be taught the way of God, and makes its own wishes the measure of truth. 4) Pride Is Insubordinate (Psalm 119:21) - When the commandments of God are spoken, pride turns away and will not submit. It rejects the right and authority of God to command. 5) Pride Takes Credit for What God Alone Does (Da 4:30, 31, 32; cf. Isa 10:12) 6) Pride Exults in Being Made Much Of (Mt 23:6) 7) Pride Aspires to the Place of God. (Acts 12:21, 22, 23; cf. Is 14:12, 13, 14) 8) Pride Opposes the Very Existence of God (Ps10:4) - Pride knows that the simplest solution for its own survival would be that there be no God at all. That would be, as the Nazi’s might say, “The Final Solution” for the survival of pride. 9) Pride Refuses to Trust in God (Pr 28:25 contrasts arrogance and trust) - Pride cannot trust God. The posture of trust is too weak. Too dependent. It calls too much attention to the strength and wisdom of another. Trusting God is the heartbeat of humility, the opposite of pride. When pride keeps us from trusting in God to take care of us, there are two possibilities: one is that we feel a false security based on our own imagined power and shrewdness to avert catastrophe. The other is that we realize that we cannot guarantee our security, and so we feel anxious. 10) Pride Is Anxious About the Future (Is 51:12, 13) God says to anxious Israel that their problem is pride. (Read the entire message by John
Daniel 4
Wiersbe comments that... The king acknowledged the sovereignty of God (Dan. 4:35b), which was the main lesson God wanted him to learn through this difficult experience (Da 4:17, 25, 32). It’s too bad that this wonderful Bible doctrine has been so maligned and misinterpreted by amateur Bible students, because an understanding of God’s sovereignty brings the believer assurance, strength, comfort, and the kind of surrender that produces faith and freedom. The Bible teaches both divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and when you accept both, there is no contradiction or conflict. No person is more free than the believer who surrenders to the sovereign will of God. To ignore God’s sovereignty is to exalt human responsibility and make man his own savior, but to deny responsibility is to make man a robot without accountability. The Bible preserves a beautiful balance that exalts God and enables His people to live joyously and victoriously no matter what the circumstances might be (Acts 4:23-31; Ro 8:31-39). (Ibid) C H Spurgeon had this to say regarding God's sovereignty.... Most men quarrel with this [God's sovereignty]. But mark, the thing that you complain of in God is the very thing that you love in yourselves. Every man likes to feel that he has a right to do with his own as he pleases. We all like to be little sovereigns. Oh, for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God...No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God... (but) There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty...If God lights the candle, none can blow it out. J I Packer - To know that nothing happens in God's world apart from God's will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints. None can ward off His hand - His hand speaks of His authority and power. He is omnipotent. J Oswald Sanders rightly remarks that "God can never be outmaneuvered, taken by surprise, or caught at a disadvantage. He is a God who knows no crisis. Before an emergency arises, God in his providence has made adequately and perfectly timed provision to meet it. Here are some Scriptures that emphasize the doctrine of divine sovereignty... But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Ps 115:3). Isaiah 43:13 "Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?" Isaiah 45:9 "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'? Isaiah 46:9, 10 Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; John
Daniel 4
Wiersbe reminds us "No matter what position we have in life, God gave it to us, and He is sovereign. When man tries to take the place of God, he becomes like a beast. God still resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Lxx = tapeinos = not rising far from the ground, figuratively of a lowly condition, downhearted, lowly in spirit = humble) (Pr 3:34)." (With the Word Bible Commentary- With the Complete Text) Jesus gave a similar warning - Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Mt 23:12) Wake Up Calls - A strong, young brute often swaggered around town boasting that he could walk a barbed wire fence in his bare feet with a wildcat under each arm. So goes the story according to the Iron County Miner. The braggart got a rude awakening, however, when he married a strong-willed little lady who made him wash the dishes twice a day. Another rude awakening occurred when a platoon sergeant roused a new recruit after his first night in an army barracks. "It's four-thirty!" bellowed the sergeant. "Four-thirty!" gasped the rookie. "Man, you'd better go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow!" We are all inclined to dream our way through life until someone or something confronts us with the real world. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon, the wake-up call lacked humor. Before his encounter with God, he thought he had life well in hand. Suddenly he found himself on his hands and knees eating grass like an animal (Daniel 4:33). After 7 long years (Da 4:32) he learned that in the real world everyone must live under authority, everyone is on God's time, and everything we possess is a gift from His gracious hand. When life is all sunshine and days are bright, Our thoughts of the Lord may take wings of flight; But God is still ruler, His kingdom stands, And we all are subject to His commands. —K. De Haan A person who thinks too much of himself thinks too little of God. Empire Building - After being warned by Daniel about his pride, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was struck with insanity. The Lord restored his mind, but only after he spent 7 years in a field thinking he was a wild animal. Nebuchadnezzar went from boasting, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for . . . the honor of my majesty?" (Da 4:30) to a humble prayer: "I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven" (Da 4:37). He had repented of prideful empire building. Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee expressed concern about empire building in the church today. He advised Christian leaders, "Don't try to build a little empire of your church. I started out with that viewpoint, and I had never been more unhappy." He encouraged them to "build into the lives of people" and leave the results to God. When a church devotes undue energy to statistics, buildings, and programs, pride can enter in and the needs of God's people can be forgotten. Churches grow when people pray And pastors preach the Word, When love for Christ seeks out the lost To win them to the Lord. —D. De Haan Poor is the church that values programs above people. KING Nebuchadnezzar had it all. Power. Majesty. Greatness. But he forgot where he got it. He pranced around the pal-ace of Babylon boasting, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30) Before his last arrogant words had left his mouth, he was startled by the voice of the One who had placed him on the throne. God said, "Nebuchadnezzar, .. . the kingdom has departed from you!" (Da 4:31) But that's not all. The mighty king of Babylon also got a quick transfer from the palace to the pasture. As God had warned him in a dream, he became a crazed creature, grazing on grass like an ox. The proud monarch became a picture of humility. Not until this man-creature lifted his head heavenward and "blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever" (Da 4:34) was he allowed to return to sanity and to his throne. Everything we have, our possessions, our position, our potential, comes from God. He is the source of our strength, the giver of our talents, and the One who controls our circumstances. When we forget this, or take the credit, God may find it necessary to transfer us from a position of pride to humiliation. Knowing our position in relationship to God is the way to keep pride out of our lives. When we know how high and mighty He is, we'll have little trouble remembering how weak and lowly we are.—J D Brannon Daniel 5 Commentary