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Have you attained everything only
to find it was nothing?
Have you striven for the top and
found yourself literally at the bottom?
Has everything that means anything
been taken away from you?
Are you reduced to nothing?
Have you been brought as low as you
can go?
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Then raise your eyes toward heaven...when
everything else is gone, GOD IS ENOUGH!
If you take the truths of God's Word and
live by then...the result? Your PEACE will abound.
Nebuchadnezzar's desire is that every
person in every nation know that the MOST HIGH GOD is great, His dominion and kingdom are everlasting.
Daniel 4:34-35 "But at the end of that period I,
Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason 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 endures
from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are
accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of
heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF
DANIEL 4
626- 539BC
Neo-Babylonian Empire was the dominant world power, 539BC marking the defeat
by the Assyrians.
612BC Nabopolassar
(Nebuchadnezzar's father) conquered Assyria.
605 - 562BC
Nebuchadnezzar’s
rule
Babylonians were noted for keeping
excellent records which has yielded much archeological data. These
archeological discoveries show that the first half of Nebuchadnezzar's reign
was a time of conquest and the second half was a time peace. Daniel 4
probably reflects events that occurred in the second half of
Nebuchadnezzar's rule. His dream
probably occurred somewhere during the time of 570-569BC.
586BC Nebuchadnezzar's third siege
resulted in the destruction
of Jerusalem. Now just imagine
how he felt, having destroyed the Solomon's Temple, etc.
572BC
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Tyre
Nebuchadnezzar saw the God who delivered
the Hebrew boys as... the
Most High God which corresponds to the Hebrew, El Elyon,
(Ed note:
Click here for "Names of God") which speaks of God's
sovereignty
or the fact that He rules
over all mankind.
Ezekiel 29:17-20 "Now in the
twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word
of the LORD came to me saying, 'Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every
shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the
labor that he had performed against it." Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,
"Behold, I shall give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
And he will carry off her wealth, and capture her spoil and seize her
plunder; and it will be wages for his army. I have given him the land
of Egypt (Ed note: Babylonian Chronicles imply that Babylon invaded
Egypt about 568BC, having conquered Tyre about 4 years earlier. This verse
clearly shows that God is sovereign over all nations) for his labor
which he performed, because they acted for Me," declares the Lord
GOD."
This section shows the kindness of God.
God is saying in essence since Nebuchadnezzar worked hard to conquer Tyre
without much spoil and so He would give him Egypt for his labor. Remember
that God is showing this kindness to a pagan king who does not know Him.
There are many men who do not know God and yet He is kind to them (cf,
Ro 2:4 ''kindness of God leads you to repentance'')
Jeremiah 43:8-12 further
illustrates El Elyon's sovereign rule over all the realm of mankind. "Then
the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes (Ed note: located in
the eastern delta region of Egypt), saying, 'Take some large stones in
your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the
entrance of Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews
and say to them (Ed note: these Jews had fled Judea in an attempt to
escape judgment but they would be discovered by God), 'Thus says the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am going to send and get
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set
his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread
his canopy over them (Ed note: the stones were buried over the exact
spot where Nebuchadnezzar would rule when he invaded Egypt). He will also
come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be
given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the
sword to the sword. And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of
Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself
with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment
(reflecting the ease with which Nebuchadnezzar would defeat Pharaoh), and
he will depart from there safely."
Jeremiah 44:26-30 "Nevertheless
hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt,
'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the LORD, 'never shall My name
be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt,
saying, "As the Lord GOD lives." 'Behold, I am watching over them for
harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land
of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are
completely gone. 'And those who escape the sword will return out of the
land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of
Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose
word will stand, Mine or theirs. And this will be the sign to you,' declares
the LORD, 'that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know
that My words will surely stand against you for harm.' "Thus says the LORD,
'Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of
his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over
Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who
was his enemy and was seeking his life.'"
God says that the Jews who think they can
run to Egypt to escape His judgment will not escape from Him. As David
declared ...you can't hide from Him even in the night (cf,
Ps139:12 "Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night
is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee.").
A similar event after Adam and Eve had
sinned Genesis recording that after they sinned "Then the eyes of both of
them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed
fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the
sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the
man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among
the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said
to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in
the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."
(Ge3:7-10)
God's question to Adam ''Where are you Adam?'' was not because
God did not know where Adam was. The question forced Adam to explain why he
was hiding. (Ed note: Note that God took the initiative in seeking out the
sinners to re-establish a relationship with them).
In
Jer 44:28 God declared that "all the
remnant...will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs" and without
question God's Word will stand. You can try to deny it
or resist it but God is God and His Word abides forever. Witness, for
example, all the attempts by men over the centuries to try to destroy God’s
Holy Word. God's Word and work will not be quenched and the gates of
Hell will not prevail. So what do you and I need to do?
We need to bring ourselves low before He has to
flatten us. We need to recognize that alone He is the source of every good thing and
we need to thank Him. Nebuchadnezzar did not recognize that all he had and
had conquered (including Judah and Tyre) was from God, El Elyon. So it is in
this context of Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Israel and Tyre, that He had
the "tree
Da 4:17 "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic
watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the
living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of
mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of
men." The truth in this verse is so profound that if will embrace it, it
will hold you through any tragedy.
It is fascinating to find that Nebuchadnezzar's father,
Nabopolassar, wrote repeatedly ''I am a son of a
nobody.'' As the
Da4:17 states God "sets over it the lowliest of men."
Whatever it takes...no matter how much He
has to humble you or what He has to take away from you, if you recognize and
embrace this truth (God is over all) you will be enabled to experience peace
in any circumstance and will find that God is enough because in God we have
all that we need (cf "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Phil 4:13)
Daniel looked different = a
spirit of the holy gods
(used to describe Daniel three times in chapter 4,
Da4:8,9,18, and once in
Da5:11). The question for us is "Can others see Him in you?"
Because of the way you react do they ask themselves "How can you have such peace in the
midst of a horrible trial?"
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God's Sovereignty
and
Man's Accountability |
Ps 103:3 describes God as the One "Who
pardons all your iniquities (Nebuchadnezzar was a man of great iniquity)
and the One "Who heals all your diseases." Nebuchadnezzar may
have suffered from the medical condition referred to as lycanthropy
(Ed note: Describes the condition in which a human assumes the appearance or
characteristics of an animal and is a form of insanity in which a person
believes himself to be an animal and behaves accordingly. The Greek word is
lykanthropia derived from lykos = wolf +
anthropos = man)
Daniel 4:34 records that "at the end of that period (?
lycanthropy) I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my
reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored
Him who lives forever."
Has God brought you low?
If so then raise your eyes toward heaven,
so that your reason might return.
Oh, the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has
known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first
given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and
through Him and to Him are all things. To Him [be] the glory forever. Amen."
(Ro11:33-36) When God begins to move, man can't simply raise his
fist and say ''What are You doing?'' God is the Most High God,
totally sovereign, completely in control and not answerable to any man.
In (Isaiah
14:24-27) God is warning Judah of judgment but is also giving
them hope (Ed note: God as a reflection of His sovereignty over nations,
predicts the destruction of Judah's enemy Assyria). "The LORD of hosts
has sworn saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and
just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I
will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them,
and his burden removed from their shoulder. This is the plan devised against
the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the
nations. "For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?
And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?""
In (Isaiah
46:9-10) God testifies that He is absolutely sovereign, declaring
"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 (Ed
note: proof of His sovereignty is His ability to control the future),
saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good
pleasure."
Isaiah (45:1-6)
records "Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed (Ed note:
Hebrew transliteration is "messiah" used here to refer to Cyrus, the king
God set apart for His purposes, specifically issuing a decree permitting the
Babylonian captives to return to Judah), whom I have taken by the right
hand, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open
doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and
make the rough places smooth. I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut
through their iron bars. And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and
hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the
LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of
Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your
name. I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. I am
the LORD, and there is no other. Besides Me there is no God. I will gird
you, though you have not known Me that men may know from the rising to the
setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there
is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being
and creating calamity (KJV = "evil", NIV = "disaster"). I am
the LORD who does all these."
At the time of Isaiah's prophecy, the
future Persian emperor Cyrus was not even born! This whole passage
emphasizes God's sovereign control over all the circumstances and events of
life. And so whatever it takes for you and I to
"look up" and
recognize that God is totally sovereign is worth it.
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Why does God create adversity?
("I am the LORD...causing well-being
and creating calamity") |
God does so that we might run to Him; that we might know that
He is God; that we might find out what is real, true, lasting and abiding; that
the dead might find peace; that those in turmoil might find peace; that those in
want might find all of their needs supplied; that we who so desperately need
to be loved might discover the truth that "I have loved you with an
everlasting love’’ and "’with lovingkindness I have drawn you to Myself’’.
In
Jeremiah 29:11 God (speaking to Israel but
applicable to all the redeemed, to every believer) declares "I know the
plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not
for calamity to give you a future and a hope."
In (Job34:10-15)
Elihu explains to Job that God is
not unjust or wicked! (Ed note: the context is Elihu answering Job's charge
that God has wrongly afflicted an innocent man) Elihu says "listen to me,
you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, and
from the Almighty to do wrong. For He pays a man according to his work, and
makes him find it according to his way. Surely, God will not act
wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Who gave Him authority
over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? If He should
determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His spirit and His
breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. But
if you have understanding, hear this, listen to the sound of my words."
Even
Satan needs permission to sift the child of God
In (Luke
22:31-32) Jesus declared to Peter "Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan has demanded [permission] to sift (Ed note: Grain was
shaken in a kind sieve, leaving the grain and allowing the separated chaff
to be thrown away) you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your
faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen
your brothers."
Job 1-2 teaches us
that Satan has no authority to do as he pleases without God's permission.
In Job 1 we read "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the
LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD
and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." And
the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no
one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and
turning away from evil." Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God
for nothing? "Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all
that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his
possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Thy hand now and touch
all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face." Then the LORD said
to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth
your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD." (Job1:6-12)
Why does even Satan need permission from
God? Because of
Da 4:35
which declares that God "does according to His will in the host
(KJV=army) of heaven."
Beware of greatness, strength, power,
plenty
Moses warned Israel that
"...when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities
which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did
not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees
which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be satisfied, then watch
yourself, lest you forget the LORD who brought you from the land
of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Deut
6:10-12)
The warning for all of us is to be
careful when you have much, because then you think you don’t need God
and your heart turns away from Him.
We are often better off spiritually when we are
physically needy (which was certainly true in Nebuchadnezzar's case).
How long (after Daniel had interpreted
the dream for him) did God give Nebuchadnezzar to repent? " "Twelve
months later he (Nebuchadnezzar) was walking on the roof of the
royal palace of Babylon." (Da 4:29)
So God gave Nebuchadnezzar
one full year to respond to what He had spoken to him in a dream. We
too so often hear a warning from the Lord and nothing happens so we think we
are "okay". Beware!
"Babylon the Great"
"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?"
(Da 4:30)
What Nebuchadnezzar declares is the essence of "humanism" or of man doing
great things for man, with man as the center of everything. This certainly
describes one of the modern day "gods" in America. Nebuchadnezzar's
assessment of Babylon may have been that it was "great" but in fact "magnificent"
Babylon was
filled with decadence, vice, brutality, sorcery, etc!
In Jeremiah 27 God says in essence
"Look at what I gave you, Nebuchadnezzar", countering Nebuchadnezzar's boast
of "Look at what I have done." Jeremiah records "In the beginning
of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to
Jeremiah from the LORD, saying--thus says the LORD to me-- "Make for
yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck, and send word to the
king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the
king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to
Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. And command them to go to their
masters, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you
shall say to your masters, (note especially verse 5-6) "I have
made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by
My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who
is pleasing in My sight. "And now I have given all these lands into
the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him
also the wild animals of the field to serve him. And all the nations
shall serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the time of his own
land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.
nd it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the
yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with
famine, and with pestilence," declares the LORD, "until I have destroyed it
by his hand. But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners,
your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you,
saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon.' For they prophesy a lie
to you, in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out,
and you will perish. But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke
of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land,"
declares the LORD, "and they will till it and dwell in it." (Jer27:1-11)
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Hanging gardens of Babylon
Seventh Wonder of the World |
"Babylon the great" was filled with pagan temples and most
Babylonians had
great fear of demons. But their so-called gods could not predict the future
as could Daniel's God. Nebuchadnezzar was
indeed in deep darkness. But if God can rescue Nebuchadnezzar, then it does
not matter how deep the darkness
or pit you or your loved one is trapped in -- God is still able to reach down and pull you out.
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Ziggurat |
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Click to
enlarge |
Nebuchadnezzar's "ziggurat" (see drawing above) was 288 feet
high. Babylon had a majestic processional street with the Ishtar gate
(see illustration below) at the north end. From a human perspective "Babylon
was great". But God declares "I am the LORD, that is My name. I will not
give My glory to another" (Isa
42:8) and so in an instant, the head of gold, King
Nebuchadnezzar, was brought low.
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Ishtar Gate |
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Click to enlarge |
During America's Great Depression in
1929, many men jumped
to their death, because they failed to recognize that God is always in control.
We all need to remember that even if
circumstances are difficult and trying, it is still the "goodness of God"
which "leads you to repentance." So when you are brought low,
look up and say "Lord I am Yours. I am putty in Your hands. Do to me as you
please." God will take that "band off the stump" of your life and He will
bring you back and give to you even as He gave to Job (see
Job 42:12ff), far more than you had before.
Why? Because then you have true life and you have it eternally and you have
the blessed
assurance that whatever comes into your life will
be filtered through His fingers of love. The Most High God, El Elyon, holds
you in His sovereign, omnipotent hand, and no one can touch you without His
permission.
The God that reduced Nebuchadnezzar to an
animal is also
the same God that sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ "Who although He
existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being
made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on
a cross." (Phil
2:6-8) God is love and His supreme demonstration of His love for
prideful mankind is the gift of His only begotten Son that whoever believes
in Him may not perish but have everlasting life. Whatever it takes for God to
bring you to the point that you know Who He
is, He will do it in love and it will be filtered through His fingers of love. Then you can say
that all things work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For
whom God foreknew, He predestined to become conformed to the image of His
Son. This is what God did to Nebuchadnezzar.
He wants to do the same with you, beloved.
Bow
now before He has to bring you low
There is great peace in knowing
that God rules...
In the realm of mankind
Over the hosts of heaven
Over the inhabitants of the earth
And that...
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As
God has planned
So it shall come to pass
Amen. |
