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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Rodney den Boer > The Most High God makes his rule known through Nebuchadnezzar | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Read: Daniel 4 Sing: Ps 145:1, 4; Ps 19:6; Ps 37:1, 14, 16; Hy 23:1, 2, 4; Hy 23:5, 6 and Hy 84:1, 2 Questions for reflection/discussion
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Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
As we looked at the first three chapters of Daniel, we saw the challenge of living in Babylon. God’s children were taken away from their country and Nebuchadnezzar tried to brainwash them so that they would forget their God and their people. Then, their lives were endangered when no one could tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream in chapter 2, and in chapter 3, Daniel’s three friends were thrown into the fire because they refused to worship the great statue.
And yet, we’ve also begun to see in this book that God reveals his rule, his kingdom. Despite all appearances, God is King. Yes, the temple is in ruins. Yes, his people are away in exile. But look, he gives Daniel and his friends everything they need – remember that word in ch1 – the Lord gave… And look, he reveals the eternal nature of his kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream in ch2 – remember the stone that crushes the other kingdoms and fills the earth? And look, he preserves Daniel’s friends through fire, just as he has promised to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And in Daniel 4, we see the truth of God’s rule brought home to Nebuchadnezzar, so that he acknowledged: “God is king.” And through Nebuchadnezzar, God’s rule was declared to all nations. In our time, too, the kingdom of God continues to be proclaimed, through the preaching of faithful messengers throughout the world, and sometimes in very obvious ways. Last year that was shown at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, after he was murdered. There, the gospel was proclaimed, it was shown in the offer of forgiveness by his wife, Erika Kirk. God is king. There’s no doubt about it. Dear congregation, this truth ought to give us courage to stand up for the kingdom of Christ. Yes, we live in a world that is hostile; but it is God’s world, he rules, and his kingdom continues to advance. In Daniel 4, we see how:
The Most High God makes his rule known through Nebuchadnezzar
- Through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
- Through Nebuchadnezzar’s dishonour
- Through Nebuchadnezzar’s decree
1. The Most High God makes his rule known through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
The chapter begins with a decree made by King Nebuchadnezzar to all nations. You get the impression that Nebuchadnezzar never does things by halves – he wants the whole world to know what’s happened. He tells about another dream. It gives you a bit of déjà vu, doesn’t it, as you read this chapter. He’s had a dream before. Remember in ch2, he was troubled and he couldn’t sleep. And here again, the man at the top of the universe has a dream and was afraid and troubled. Again, he is insecure.
And again, what does he do? He turns to his sorcerers and his magic men. Why does he go to them? They didn’t help him last time; they were exposed as charlatans. They did not have access to true knowledge; they did not have access to God. Why doesn’t he go straight to Daniel? Daniel was the only one who revealed his dream last time.
Well, why do we sometimes try and solve our problems ourselves, before we go to God? Why do we not instinctively pray and ask God for help when we get stuck in life? Sometimes we do, but not always. Why not? You’d think it’s obvious, God is both willing and able to help us. And yet we turn first to medicine or the internet or ChatGPT to give us answers. Why? It’s the same reason: human pride. By nature, we want to run life ourselves, without God. We don’t want his help. We want to do it ourselves.
Nebuchadnezzar has been resisting God, pushing him away. Will he turn to him for help? Unlikely. Only when his own resources have been proven to be useless. And so, when they cannot tell him what the dream meant, he, at last, went to Daniel, and told him the dream. Daniel, in whom, he acknowledged, was the Spirit of the holy God. The Spirit of revelation, which Daniel already showed, and who gave Daniel the ability to understand the dream.
The dream involved a tree. Trees were symbolically used more often by people in the Middle East to show the rise and fall of human power. The image is used in a similar way in Ezekiel 31 to describe the prosperity of the kingdom of Assyria. It had long branches, the birds made their nests in it, the beasts came to find shade under it. This imagery now describes the prosperity of Babylon.
But then a watcher came, a holy one from heaven. Notice he came down from heaven. He is a messenger from the God of heaven. He is called a watcher. Nebuchadnezzar, like the great tree, was prospering, but someone was watching him. He might have thought he was sovereign, but there was someone above him. He might have thought his decree was final, but v17 speaks about the decree of the watchers, the sentence by the word of the holy ones, and their decree trumped his. Their decree was to cut down the tree, to cut off its branches, to strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. The prosperity would be shattered.
And as Daniel explained, the tree is you, Nebuchadnezzar! The word of God came to him, personally applied. You are the man! Nebuchadnezzar was the tree under whom the nations found their rest and provision. And he would be cut down. His heart would be changed from that of a man, to become that of a beast. In Hebrew, the heart refers to the mind. He would lose the gift of reason in his mind and become like an animal. He would be humbled. Daniel made it clear in v25-26 that would be humbled “till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men,” and his kingdom would be restored “after you come to know that Heaven rules.”
King Nebuchadnezzar should have already known that. In chapter 2, the vision was very clear, yes, Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, but that head of gold would be crushed by the eternal kingdom of the stone that would fill the earth. And when he tried to force God’s children to bow to his image in chapter 3, he could not subjugate these servants of the true God. Nebuchadnezzar knew about the king of kings, God had revealed his kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. But had he submitted to the true God? Clearly not. Now God makes it even more clear with this personal message.
See God’s mercy, beloved, in this revelation to King Nebuchadnezzar. He keeps revealing himself, he keeps giving Nebuchadnezzar opportunity to repent. Don’t you see, Nebuchadnezzar? I am King, not you; I have given you your throne. How long will you resist my rule? How long before you give up on your pride? How long before your heart softens and you acknowledge me? God keeps knocking on the door of Nebuchadnezzar’s heart.
But how does the king respond? Does he take the message to heart? It takes more than a dream before he submits to God; it takes the dishonour of losing his mind.
2. The Most High God makes his rule known through Nebuchadnezzar’s dishonour
Verses 28-30 describe his pride, and show that he did not take the message to heart. A year later, he was admiring his buildings. He is known in history as a great builder. His father, Nebopolassor, was more of a military strategist, and Nebuchadnezzar, inheriting a vast kingdom from him, showed his splendour in impressive building projects. He is believed to have constructed the beautiful hanging gardens in Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. These were admired by later writers of history. Babylon was great, the buildings were remarkable.
And Nebuchadnezzar attributed that to himself: “Is this not the city I have built by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty?” He boasts in himself. God told him that he had given the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. God gave him authority. God gave him power over other nations. God gave him resources for his buildings, God made all those plants in his hanging gardens, God gave him his genius mind to rule that kingdom. What did he have that had not been given to him by God? And yet, he said, “I made this, I’m so good.”
Do you recognise your heart in that, too? I recognise mine. Our sinful nature wants to attribute success to ourselves, doesn’t it. We quickly congratulate ourselves when we do well in business or school or our job or sports – I did it, look how good I am! We try and draw attention to what we’ve done, maybe in a subtle way so people don’t think we’re proud. How often is pride lurking behind a story that we tell about ourselves or something that we’ve done? We just want people to notice, even when we do good things. We want others to congratulate us, to acknowledge us. We may not be overtly proud like Nebuchadnezzar, but oh, doesn’t the same sin lurk in our hearts, creeping in our very motivations!
And then, in that very moment, a voice from heaven announced the judgement, “the kingdom has departed from you.” And it happened, Nebuchadnezzar was sent away from people and ate grass like a cow, and his hair and his nails grew long like that of an animal. Clearly, Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind. He was made to be insane. He was made like an animal.
There is a rare mental health disease called lycanthropy where people become insane and think they are an animal. That seems to be what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. And it was clearly the judgement of God. God humbled him, dishonour him. Nebuchadnezzar asserted himself as God, but he fell flat on his face. Pride came before his fall.
And this shows us something of God’s kingdom, of how he rules: he humbles the proud, and he exalts the lowly. Hannah, in her song in 1 Samuel 2, reflected on how God brings low and lifts up, and Mary echoed this truth in her song in Luke 1, when she said that God had looked on her lowly estate: “He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.” God scatters the proud, but he lifts up the humble who trust in him.
We see this supremely in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who showed the greatest humility, and has been given the greatest exaltation. How different is the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ to the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar! He is the perfect model of humility. Christ did not count his position of equality with God as something to be held on to for his own advantage, but made himself of no reputation, humbled himself by taking the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of men. He used his power for the weak, he showed mercy to the poor. He washed his disciples’ feet, did the task of a lowly slave, and humbled himself even unto death. How humble is our Saviour.
He humbled himself, and God lifted him up. Therefore, says Paul in Philippians 2, God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth. God lifted up his servant Jesus, his Son who had been humbled unto death. He raised him form the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that he is king. God raised him up and seated him at his RH. God humbled the proud Nebuchadnezzar, but exalted his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and placed him at his RH. It was not a proud tyrant who would rule the world, but a humble servant King.
And every proud knee will bow before him; the proud will be humbled on the day when Christ judges them for every careless word and thought. Those who assert themselves against God and his Christ, who say, “let’s cast off the chains of religion, let’s break away from the rule of God,” these will be humbled before him, the Lord has set his king at his right hand, and he has given Jesus authority to rule to the ends of the earth, and he will break them with a rod of iron, and dash them to pieces with a potter’s vessel. The proud kings and rulers who set themselves against God will be humbled.
But he lifts up the humble who trust in him. Those who come to him and admit their spiritual poverty are blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge that we are poor, spiritually. We have nothing to bring, we come to God with empty hands, we are sinners and deserve eternal punishment. We have no rights. In ourselves, we are poor, miserable sinners. To be humble means we acknowledge that. We cry out to God for mercy, we ask him to forgive our pride. We acknowledge that we are completely dependent on his grace.
And that humility begins to shape our life in his kingdom, in his church. There is no room for pride in the kingdom of heaven. There is no room for pride in the church. What have we achieved in our own strength? Sin and misery. That’s what we’ve contributed. Any progress in holiness has been worked in us by God. Any achievements for God are worked by his Spirit. If there is anything praiseworthy in us, God is the one who deserves that praise. There is no room for pride, where we assert ourselves and think we are better than others. God commands us, rather, to have the mindset of Christ, who showed humility by coming in the form of a servant and giving himself up for us.
And humility will be blessed in God’s kingdom. He exalts the humble. He freely forgives ours sins and shortcomings. He gives us the righteousness of Christ. He gives us a place at his table in his kingdom, he adopts us into his family. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This was the pattern of God’s kingdom being revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, whom God humbled, and revealed more fully revealed through Jesus Christ, whom God exalted.
And this truth that God reigns is being proclaimed to the ends of the earth, with the call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. We’ll see how God makes himself known through Nebuchadnezzar’s decree.
3. The Most High God makes himself known through Nebuchadnezzar’s decree
Daniel 4 is written in the form of a decree. Nebuchadnezzar is writing to all peoples, nations, and languages. It reminds us that his kingdom extended throughout the known world. We saw that in chapter 3, too, when he built the image of gold, and commanded all peoples, nations and languages to bow down before the image. He sent this decree to all of them, telling them about his experience of being humbled by the Most High God. He says in v3, “how great are his signs, and how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.” At the end of the chapter, in v34-37, he repeats this truth, that God’s kingdom is from generation to generation, and no one can resist his rule.
Dear brothers and sisters, we can see the work of God here, in making his kingdom known. Through the most powerful man in the world, he spreads the gospel, the truth that he is king, that he reigns. He uses Nebuchadnezzar as his mouthpiece to make his kingdom known.
We don’t know how deeply the lesson went for Nebuchadnezzar. Did it lead to true, heartfelt change? Some commentators think that he was sending this decree simply to reinstate himself as the ruler, as a way of telling people he had his sanity back and they had to again submit to him. Others say that he was a very young believer, he still mentions Bel as his god in v8, but this chapter does seem to suggest real change. The chapter doesn’t give us a full picture into his heart. Whatever the case, God used this decree to make the knowledge of his own rule spread to all peoples, nations, and languages.
And that shows us that God wants to make himself known. He wants to be known by humans and have a relationship with us. We can see this throughout the OT, and more fully in God’s Son. Even after the fall into sin, God made a covenant with Abraham, and said to him that his intention was to bless Abraham, and that in him the blessing of God would extend to all families or nations. Even when God dealt exclusively with the family of Abraham, it was his purpose to make himself known to all peoples. The people of Israel were called to obey God’s law so that the nations would know God through them. When Solomon built the temple, he prayed in 1 Kings 8 that when foreigners came to that temple to pray, that God would hear them. King David and Solomon had great international affairs and God was made known through their rule – think of the Queen of Sheba who came from the South to hear the wisdom that God gave Solomon.
And now again in book of Daniel, when God’s people had not shown his character through obedience to his law, when the temple of God was in ruins, we again see God making himself known, through this decree of Nebuchadnezzar. He proclaims his rule to all nations. God wants his rule to be known.
And we see this more fully in God’s Son. We’ve seen that our Lord Jesus reigns, and one day every knee will bow to him. He sits at God’s right hand until all his enemies are beneath his feet. And this gospel is being proclaimed to the ends of the earth. It is the truth that God’s heralds are proclaiming to all peoples, nations, and tongues. How beautiful are the feet upon the mountains are those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “your God reigns!” The message of God’s reign, of true peace, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, is being made known to the ends of the earth.
And so, this text gives us great courage and presents us with a challenge. The Holy Spirit shows us in this text that God makes his rule known, through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, through his dishonour, and through his decree. It is God’s good pleasure to make his kingdom known to the ends of the earth. This gives us great courage, that God is king. He is ruling. He is showing that to our world in sometimes obvious ways, like when the gospel was proclaimed at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. God continues to make his rule known. He does it through the faithful preaching of his servants in churches throughout the world, to all peoples, nations, and languages.
And the challenge this leave us with is this: is this also our desire? Is it also our purpose to make Christ’s kingdom known? Is it our desire that our community here would know the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessings of his rule? Do we long for the proud people around us to know Jesus Christ, to know that if they do not humble themselves before him, they will be eternally humbled, they will face the eternal disgrace and dishonour of hell? Do we desire all peoples, nations, and languages to know that Jesus Christ humbled himself to take the deepest dishonour for us, so that those who humble themselves before him can enjoy the blessings of his rule?
It is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer. We pray for God’s name to be hallowed, to be recognised and made known and celebrated throughout the world. We pray for God’s kingdom to come, that he would preserve and increase his church. Let’s make this our prayer, that Christ would be known, that more people would humble themselves under his rule.
And let’s publish abroad his wonderful name, the name all victorious of Jesus extol; his kingdom is glorious and rules over all. Let’s speak of Christ’s rule to the people with whom we work or study or live; to those who are moving into our suburbs, the mission fields that are all around us. Let’s be faithful in our calling to declare his rule. Our God reigns, the LORD God almighty. In this hostile world, remember that: Jesus Christ is king! When you fight sin and the devil, remember that: Jesus Christ is King! Indeed, hallelujah, our God reigns. Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Rodney den Boer, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Rodney den Boer
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