Sermon - Daniel 4:28-37 - Proclamation Finale - May 3, 2020

This morning we are wrapping up our review of King Nebuchadnezzar’s Royal Proclamation to all who live in his kingdom. The king is retelling the events of another dream that bothered him, the interpretation given by Daniel, and today we will see how it all ends.

So far, we saw that the king called Daniel and told him that all of his pagan wise men could not help him and that Daniel was the only one who was touched by God. This was God’s way of giving Daniel an opportunity to share with anyone listening and even to share with us today. It is a reminder that all of us have those opportunities. People are watching us and most do not want to see us fail, they want to believe that God can work in our lives in hope that God can someday work in theirs. When we are given an opportunity to share, we need to be prepared and let the Holy Spirit guide us.

In the verses we reviewed last week God spoke through Daniel providing the interpretation, but that was not all. God gave Daniel the wisdom to be politically correct when needed, but also to speak plainly as required. Daniel let God guide so that the king would be receptive to the message when it was shared.

The God given wisdom opened the door for Daniel to not only provide the interpretation, but to tell the king that all will be restored once he acknowledges that Heaven rules, or said another way, that God is in control. He encouraged the king to turn from his sinful ways and do what is right by showing mercy to those in need. God gave Daniel the opportunity and the wisdom to speak truth into the king’s life and to call him to repent of his sins.

God works in each of us this same way. We need to be praying that the Holy Spirit will give us the opportunities to share God’s message of grace and mercy to all.

Let’s take a look at how the events played out.

Daniel 4:28-30

“²⁸ All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, ³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?””

Twelve months after the king heard the interpretation of the dream, twelve months after Daniel encouraged the king to turn from his ways, twelve months after Daniel told the king that he needed to recognize that God is the one who is in charge, it appears that the king either did not listen at all or that he started down the correct path and then turned away for one reason or another.

Whichever it was, it kept the king from truly acknowledging that God is in control, turning from his ways, and kept him from doing what is right.

Look at verse 30 again.

Daniel 4:30

“³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?””

The king is taking all the credit for what has been accomplished during his reign. He is exclaiming that he built the great kingdom of Babylon as his royal residence by his own power and for his own glory.

If the king ever heard anything Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said about the Most High God, it had not sunk in yet. The king had seen the power of the Most High God when the guys were saved from the blazing furnace. He saw that God knew all things when He provided the dream and its interpretation when no one else could. 

The king let his pride and arrogance keep him from really turning to the Most High God. If we are honest with ourselves, it might not be arrogance or pride, but we have let things get in the way of us following God.

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

We are looking at Nebuchadnezzar, but it applies to all of us. I know there are several of us that could tell of a time in our own lives where we did not think we needed God. We may have thought we could handle it all on our own. We may have been building our careers, our lives, or our families without God’s help. For others it could have been some other sin that led them to think they did not need God.

God will let us handle things on our own for a while, He will give us grace up to a point. Without a Savior in our lives, sooner or later judgement will come.

As we think of the king and his pride, I would like to encourage you to reflect on the sin in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the ways you let pride, greed, deceitfulness, lust, hatred, or any other sin interfere with listening to God. Then ask the Holy Spirit to work in you to let go of that sin and to listen to God more.

The king did not let go of his sin, he did not head the interpretation of the dream provided by God, and he did not listen to Daniel’s plea.

Daniel 4:31-32

“³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you. ³² You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.””

Here we are a year after the dream was interpreted and from what Scripture shows us, the king did not listen to the warning in the dream or the plea of his advisor Daniel. He was arguably the same arrogant prideful man that he has been all these years. If we go back to Daniel’s plea to the king, we might believe that he did not separate himself from his sins, he did not do what was right, and did not show mercy to the needy.

It might be easy to look down at the king, but all of us have been there. Loved ones have spoken the truth to us and we did not listen. We may have known what the correct path to take was, but we felt we should blaze our own trail in our own way. At one point in our lives we did not hear what God was trying to tell us and we to deserved judgement. Some hearing these words today may still believe that they do not need to listen to God or to the truth that someone is sharing with us. I encourage you to open your eyes and ears. Grace is available today, grasp it before judgement comes.

Daniel 4:33

“³³ At that moment the message against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people. He ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

The day that was foretold came. The dream became reality. The king was being judged for his arrogance and pride, he was being judged because he believed he did it all without God, he was being judged because he did not repent and turn from his sin.

Judgement day is coming and one day we will have to answer for the choices we make and for the sin in our life. The question is, will we be standing there all alone or will we be recognized as a Child of God?

Acts 3:19

“Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out”

We need to repent of our sins and through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, our sins will be wiped away. The king was old that when he acknowledged that the Most High God has dominion over all human kingdoms, he will be restored.

Daniel 4:34

“³⁴ But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified him who lives forever: For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.”

After the prophesied time, the king looked to the sky and his sanity returned, he Praised God, Honored God, and Glorified God. The king recognized that the Most High God lives forever and that God’s kingdom lasts longer than the king can comprehend.

While we do not know what is in the king’s heart, he appears to finally get it.

Daniel 4:35

“³⁵ All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, “What have you done?””

All inhabitants, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, you, me… are counted as nothing. We are all nothing compared to the Most High God of Daniel.

If you recall from early in Daniel, we talked a little about how those who worshipped the pagan gods really lived their lives and made their choices as they wanted. They may have prayed to the pagan gods, they may have said they followed them, but reality is they treated it more like that they expected their gods to bless what they wanted. The king is realizing that it does not work that way with the One True God. With the Only Real God, He is in charge not us.

The king realized what every person will realize one day.

Romans 14:11

“For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.”

There will come a time when everyone will know beyond any doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord. All will bow before Him and confess that He is God. Some will do it on this side of eternity as we give our lives to Him and others will realize their mistake when they stand before Jesus in judgement.

As the Lord leads, we need to share the Love of Christ with all so that they will hear the message and repent before it is to late.

Daniel 4:36-37

“³⁶ At that time my sanity returned to me, and my majesty and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and my nobles sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and even more greatness came to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

As the king finishes his royal proclamation, he acknowledges that he was restored as the king of Babylon, but goes on to give praise, exaltation, and glory to the King of Heavens. He recognizes that the ways of God are Ture and Just. The king is saying that the King of Heavens was right and justified to judge Nebuchadnezzar for his pride.

This chapter in Daniel shows that God can work in anyone’s life. If He can reach out to king Nebuchadnezzar and open his eyes and ears, He can do that for us and those we are praying for.

Earlier I mentioned that we should ask the Holy Spirit to point to the sin in our lives and then we should pray for Him to help us overcome it. I want to encourage that once again. We all have sin in our lives that we need to give to God. Ask Him to take it from you and to give you the strength to walk away from it.

In addition, we need to be praying that God opens the eyes of our unsaved family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We need to be praying that God opens doors for the Gospel to be shared with them, whether by us or someone else sharing it. Remember, God uses people to reach people.

If you do not know Jesus…. please listen to me. All of us are sinners and are doomed for an eternity in hell. We are in need of a savior, and it is only through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His Resurrection on the third day that we have Hope. If we repent of our sins and give our lives to Jesus, then we will be saved. If you would like to start that journey, if you want to give you life to Jesus, please repeat after me.

Jesus, I am a sinner. I believe that you died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe that you rose from the dead to give me new life. Jesus, I repent of my sins and ask for you to come into my life. I put my trust in you. Thank You Jesus, Amen.