Theme: Nebuchadnezzar’s Failure and God’s Forgiveness
1. What it meant to lead
2. The proper use of wealth
3. The essence of humanity
At the time of our text, it was Babylon’s golden age. It was already well known throughout the world that Babylon was the major international power at this time. In chapter two, God even revealed that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was the head of gold on the figurative statue, greater than even the other kingdoms that would follow.
What we know from history and archaeology has confirmed the same thing. Consider some of these magnificent elements of ancient Babylon:
·
A wall around the main city more than 14
miles long and 136 feet thick.
·
The famed Ishtar Gate, decorated with
575 dragons, bulls, and lions.
·
The mysterious Babylonian Hanging
Gardens, although never found, believed to have been one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world.
·
Nebuchadnezzar’s own throne, a spectacle
56 feet wide and 168 feet long.
·
And even the plot of land believed to
have been the foundation of the Tower of Babel.
All of these finds, and more, confirm from archaeology and history what we see in the book of Daniel. Babylon was unrivaled in wealth and power, and King Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest of their rulers. It’s no surprise, then, that we’re told that Nebuchadnezzar was “carefree” in his house and “prospering” in his palace (v.4). It’s also no surprise that he remarked in verse 30: “Isn’t this the great Babylon that I built for a royal residence by my mighty power and my majestic glory?”
It’s no wonder that such wealth could go to a person’s head. Nebuchadnezzar was not the first, or the last, to succumb to such prideful behavior. And God certainly condemned such pride in this chapter. But pride and greed are often easy targets in the moral scope of modern human thinking. We still live at a time when such attitudes are eagerly called out, though such moralizing seems to do very little to actually stem any actual wickedness.
The deeper sin of Nebuchadnezzar was thinking of himself as an equal to God – the one true God. He had already said, in full view of the true God’s power, that Daniel’s God really was the only God. But, how easily the king’s thoughts shifted. How quickly he returned to his former beliefs. Here in chapter 4, even amid Daniel’s continued gifts and favor under God, Nebuchadnezzar sees the true God as nothing more than another deity in a long line. In great ignorance he says in verse 8: Afterward, Daniel came before me (whose name is Belteshazzar, like the name of my god, and a spirit of the holy gods dwells in him), and I told him the dream.
We don’t know what Nebuchadnezzar believed at the end of his days. We hope that the lessons we study in the book of Daniel took root in his heart and caused him to repent and believe in the only God. But, in this immediate context, the lesson had not taken hold, and the LORD God Almighty humbled this king who had achieved so much in human terms.
This is the lesson. Earthly blessings – whether they be wealth, honor, glory, peace, or tranquility – mean nothing if the recipient is not also right with God in their heart. So many people continue to fall into the same pit as Nebuchadnezzar. They spend their lives accumulating their treasures only to neglect their life with God in the process. They see God not as their Lord, but as a rival competing with them for time, space, glory, and attention. And given the choice, which God allows, mankind so often chooses themselves. And is it any wonder? We continue to see pride, greed, and self-glory as true reflections of the world we live in – probably more so than at Daniel’s time.
Moralistic people pity stupid Nebuchadnezzar, who was cast down from king to cow, without realizing God is preaching the same message to them. Like the parable of the rich fool, people continue to find peace and hope in their accomplishments – resting on the laurels of the filled storehouses of acquired possessions and favor in the world. Yet without the slightest clue of the actual truth, that it is all gone in a moment – in the blinking of the eye – and we are left standing exposed before the eternal God.
We sit back and smile at the sheer ignorance and blindness of Nebuchadnezzar – what a fool! - that after all he had seen he still didn’t learn his lesson! But, so often we are walking the very same path in our lives – and doing so under the name of “Christian.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s failures are brought to light in this chapter. His failure to lead. His failure to use wealth appropriately. And his failure to understand his purpose under the true God. May God bless us as we seek to learn from His Word, so that we may avoid repeating the same mistakes in our lives.
We consider the first two points together because they were connected for Nebuchadnezzar. His authority as king led to his acquisition of riches. And his vast riches granted him many long years on the throne. They were tied to one another. Nebuchadnezzar lived with the mindset that his authority was a tool to increase his wealth, and his wealth was a tool to extend his authority. His story is not unique in human history. Many individuals, leaders, organizations, and nations have risen and fallen upon the same principles.
But this thought is foreign to faith in the true God. God speaks a lot in His Word about leadership and wealth, but always for a special purpose. Leaders exist as servants of God to serve others. They are given their authority from God to help, bless, and care for others. Wealth is God’s gift to be viewed as the fruit of working hard and living a fair and decent life. It is within God’s design for us to enjoy life and to seek ways and opportunities at doing so.
When the Apostle Paul called upon Christians to pray for their leaders, he cited this reason: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” Paul also wrote to the Romans with the same encouragement, saying, “The king is God's servant for your good… (Romans 13:4).” God ties together authority with happiness on earth and he calls on citizens to be respectful, and rulers to be caring, to that end.
But God’s way is foreign to human nature. If you think only people like Nebuchadnezzar, or other ruthless rulers, apply here – you’re wrong and you’re missing the point. The cause of this failure and distortion of God’s will lies at the core of each sinner’s heart. We love to abuse power. We love to turn wealth into an idol. In fact, many goals, dreams, and activities today are driven by those very reasons while conducted under the false veneer of piety, Christianity, and humility.
The better Ruler to focus on would be Jesus, who while owning complete and full authority in all the earth and heaven – willingly subjected Himself to serve and save us - not because we’re free from corruption, but because our hearts are knee deep in it. And so, because Nebuchadnezzar had become so corrupted by wealth and power, and because he allowed these things to become more important than the one, true God – God provided a very explicit lesson that literally revealed the problem. And here’s where we see Nebuchadnezzar’s third problem.
Nebuchadnezzar’s image would be changed because he had changed God’s intended design. Nebuchadnezzar lost his humanity – because he was defiling that very gift from God. Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment was unique, but it was not unjustified, and it was not off-topic. There’s a lesson in the fact that this proud and mighty king was essentially turned into a farm animal. He became the physical manifestation of the way he was acting in his heart before the LORD. And it fit.
We see Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment continually echoed throughout the past and up to the present. People regularly become reflections of the way they treat God. As much as we try to hide what’s in our hearts, it eventually comes out for all to see. Many times, it involves the same failures as Nebuchadnezzar – ideas and lifestyles driven by the lust for power, control, wealth, and self-glory – all at the expense of God’s true intended design for humanity – to use our influence and power to serve Him.
We invest great amounts of time to ignore the truth, to contend with God’s will as if He’s our rival. We seek out attitudes and behaviors that numb us to the reality we don’t want to admit. These worldly therapies affect our attitudes, our attitudes develop habits, our habits turn into behaviors, and our behaviors become addictions. They all start with good intentions – the natural desire to avoid the uncomfortable, the inconvenient truth that we have issues and problems we can’t solve on our own. But these half-truth solutions become part of the problem – they further envelop us into the cyclical nature of rebellion against the one hope we have; the One who desperately calls us through His Word for deliverance. And deeper down we spiral, thinking of more ways to help ourselves, while becoming more and more like the beast with hair like eagle’s feathers and nails like bird’s claws – slinking away in the wet dew of our own schemes and plans.
If you came today to be commended as a Daniel, you came to the wrong place. We are a lot more like Nebuchadnezzar. We contend with God. We plan our own way. We lust for our own control. We use our blessings against others. We distort God’s intended design for our lives. Because we all have a fallen and corrupted heart. We so often become the very things in life that we despise most. And like Nebuchadnezzar needed, so we need the help of the only One who is up to the task – the one, true God.
God did not leave Nebuchadnezzar without witness of hope. God sent His servant, Daniel, to testify of repentance and forgiveness. So Daniel said, “Break away from your sins with righteousness and from your guilty deeds by showing mercy to the poor.” The message was to repent, and the fruit of that repentance would be stopping this continually rivalry with God and truly showing the works that accompany a heart that has been renewed by God’s mercy.
And, likewise, in our plight, God has not left us without a witness of hope. He has sent His Son and servant, Jesus – to testify to us of God’s grace and forgiveness and the need of repentance in receiving that renewal. God calls to us weekly, daily through His Word to “break away” from our sins - our false humility, our hypocritical pretenses, our distortions of His design, our contention against His will – and to be changed from our primal, animal-like nature under sin to the transformed and perfect image of our Savior.
May we heed this lesson and diligently listen to God’s promise in Jesus – to His glory, Amen.
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