(The audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded here after the Sunday service.)
“Those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37)
Today we will start reading the book of Daniel, chapter 4. Today’s theme is walking in humility. It is the humble who belong to the kingdom of heaven. Daniel 4:37 says, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” This is today’s theme: walking in humility.
Let’s read chapter 4. Verses 2 and 3 say, “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” Chapter 4 begins with words of praise from King Nebuchadnezzar, who understood the importance of walking in humility. What happened to King Nebuchadnezzar? Let me explain briefly. He had a dream. The dream is described in verses 10-12, which begin with “These are the visions I saw while lying on my bed.” There was a tree in the middle of the land. The tree was unusually large. It “grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.” The king’s vision was a tree in the middle of Babylon that grew until it reached the heavens. Its leaves were beautiful, it had abundant fruit, and it provided food to every creature around. The large tree clearly symbolized King Nebuchadnezzar himself. He was truly a great king and had achieved much prosperity.
However, verses 13-15 say, “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven. He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground . . .” The vision clearly showed that the king’s era of prosperity was coming to an end. The judgment is found in verse 16: “Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.” The king would lose his reason and become like a wild animal for an appointed period of time. Daniel clearly explains it like this:
Daniel says to the king in verse 25, “You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.” The “seven times” mentioned could be 7 years, but in any case seven was considered a perfect number and so it might simply represent a period that God considered the right amount of time. After that, Daniel advised the king. Verse 27, “Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.” Human beings tend to become prideful without realizing it. We tend to forget our mission or duty, be controlled by our greed, become self-centered, and forget to care for others. We become proud of our strength, we mistakenly believe ourselves to be better than others, and we succumb to the desire to make a name for ourselves in history. Verses 29-32 say, “Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’ Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, ‘This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.’”
God’s judgment was coming upon him. God the Most High rules over all nations, and He can entrust kingdoms to whomever who He wants to. King Nebuchadnezzar would come to know that he was allowed to live because of God’s great plan. Verse 33: “Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” He was driven away by people and wandered in the field, eating grass like an ox, wet with the dew of heaven, his hair and nails left uncut, and lost his rational mind. Can you imagine how he looked?
However, he did recover. Verses 34 to 35 say, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” King Nebuchadnezzar came to a realization. There is an eternal God, a God who is to be worshipped. The kingdom of heaven is here. This kingdom will last forever. In this kingdom, our earthly power and fame mean nothing. Only by God’s grace are we saved; only by God’s grace do we live. The book of Daniel tells us what King Nebuchadnezzar experienced and came to understand.
I have been preaching about how the book of Daniel contains revelations about the Savior. Daniel prophesied that there would be a stone that is cut out of the mountain but not by human hands and it would shatter the world—this happened during the time of the Roman Empire. That prophecy is in Daniel 2:45. Daniel 2:44 says, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” This kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, would be ushered in by the Messiah. Today, you and I are experiencing the kingdom of heaven. We decided to believe in Christ, receive pardon for our sins, repent, and live with God. That is the life of a Christian. The great king Nebuchadnezzar experienced a taste of the kingdom of heaven. He experienced it by going through a great trial. This is what chapter 4 of Daniel is about.
The kingdom of God stands forever. It has no end. Our earthly reputation and power are fleeting, and they count for nothing in the eyes of God. What matters is that we encounter God and by the power of Jesus Christ, we are transformed to be more and more like Him. We are given the desire to do all things for the glory of God, even in ordinary things like eating and drinking. Our life is being changed to become a life of praising God. We are given the desire to follow Jesus’ footsteps. Not walking in pride but in humility and living with God. That is the Christian life. Nebuchadnezzar learned some of these things and declared in 4:2, “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.” Once again, let each of us ponder how we should live before the eyes of God. We want to remember once more that the walk of a Christian is to walk humbly. (See Philippians 2:4-5)
Last Sunday, the latest sumo tournament came to an end. A new yokozuna was born—yokozuna is the highest rank in sumo. The new champion’s uncle was one of the great yokozuna. He won 25 top division tournaments. However, this uncle Asashoryuu was investigated a number of times for misconduct. He was criticized for inappropriate behavior in the ring, as well as for playing soccer in his home country Mongolia while he was supposed to be on medical leave from tournaments. In 2010, he took responsibility for acting out in violence, by retiring from the sport. His nephew has observed all this while working hard to become the newest yokozuna. Tokyo Shimbun reported in an article on January 29: Measured against the great, he confronted himself and took hold of the position of 74th yokozuna. Upon receiving his rank, he vowed, “I want to show that this is who I am, both in my personal life and in the ring. I will show a new self.” The greatest rank demands great dignity. How will he carry out these words as he continues enjoying this sport? With determination, he will grow as Yokozuna Hoshoryuu. We are excited to see what kind of yokozuna he will become.
During this time, I would like to pray for our current Prime Minister of Japan who is a Christian, as well as for the President of the United States whom many Christians are praying for—that they do not fall because of pride and forget their mission as a leader. God is sovereign and able to give kingdoms to anyone he wishes. Let us pray that our leaders will be humble and seek the kingdom of God.