God is Already at Work
Living in Babylon: An Exposition of Daniel

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All right; are you ready to continue? We’re going through the book of Daniel, and this morning, we’re going to be in chapter four. We’ve been in this series for four weeks now. Just out of curiosity, how many have been on the ride the whole way? Lift your hand quickly. A lot of you, most of you have. Maybe it’s your first time here and, I think, you’ll probably want to go back and read the first three chapters after you are here today. It’s a wonderful word that we’re going to be studying today.

We’ve entitled this series, “Living in Babylon,” as we’re going verse by verse in the book of Daniel. “Living in Babylon;” the word, Babylon, is symbolic in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, of the world. It is symbolic of this idea of the world’s economy, the world’s government, the world system and the world’s way of life. You see, what happened is a man named Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They had been citizens of Jerusalem, and they were conquered by the King of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, who carried them away in exile to the city of Babylon. And so, here they are; they’re foreigners. They were probably teenage boys who grew up from that place. They’re living as exiles in a foreign land.

The reason it applies to us is, because as believers in Christ, we are citizens of heaven, but this world we live in is not our home. We’re just passing through but we need help. Don’t we need instruction on how to live in this world until Jesus comes and gets us and takes us to our heavenly home?

In the meantime, we need to know how to live in Babylon. So we found this word from Daniel, written 600 BC, so 2600 years ago, just as relevant today as it was then; living in this world, living in Babylon. That’s what we’re talking about now in chapter four. My goodness, the book of Daniel is amazing enough on its own, but there’s not another chapter like it in the whole Bible. The whole Bible is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, including chapter four.

Chapter four of Daniel is apparently written by a pagan king put into the book of Daniel by Daniel under the Holy Spirit. This chapter is unique because it’s in the first person from old King Nebuchadnezzar who made a royal decree to tell the whole world what God had done for him. “Neb” said, let me tell you what God did for me, and he put it out with the royal seal and sent it out to all languages, all nations and all people.

It would be like, if you will, President Trump at his State of the Union address, getting up and reading his testimony of what God had done for him and then printing it out on the presidential seal so that it went out to every governor, senator and congressman in the United States. It would be on the front page of every newspaper, and it would be on all the major news networks. Then, it would be carried by satellite throughout the world to all the heads of the nations. “What God has done for me” would be what he would be talking about. That’s what happened in chapter four; King Nebuchadnezzar says, let me tell you, let me put out a royal decree telling the whole world what the most high God has done for me.

Do you know that God’s already at work? Do you realize that He was already at work in your life before you were born? Some of you are here this morning and you’re a believer; you have Christ in your life and you’re the one saying, “Amen.” I hope, right now, that you’re looking back on your life and you saw him at work there.

I didn’t know it at the time but when I look back on it, I see how He was at work with my grandmother, who was reading the Bible and with my mother with my dad, who took me the church with my brother and my sister. He was at work with my co-worker and my neighbor. He was at work with that experience and even that difficulty; even in that storm, He was at work. I see it now that I look back on it.

Some of you are here this morning and you don’t see it yet. You don’t see that God, even before you were born, did all that was necessary to save you. He’s given you Jesus. He’s finished the work and He’s at work in your life right now but maybe you don’t recognize it yet. Here’s my prayer for you; that before you leave this morning, you will recognize it. God is at work in your life. For those of you that know that, I pray you would be like old “Neb” and you let other people know; here’s what God’s done for me. This is what a Christian testimony is supposed to be. That’s what a witness is. What does it mean to be a witness of Jesus that you tell others what Christ has done for you ?

Here’s a question for those of you that are in our small groups. I don’t know if it will be on the questionnaire this week. I don’t write the questions; some of my other teaching team does. But here’s my question, from your pastor to your small group, “Will we see old “Neb” in Heaven?” As we go through this sermon today, think about that. Did King Nebuchadnezzar get saved? That’s who I’m talking about. He sure is bragging on God. We’ll talk about that this week. You chew on that a little bit.

Let’s dig in. In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed the signs and wonders that the most high God had done for him to all who dwelt on the earth. I believe this morning that we can recognize that God’s already at work in our lives. As we look at the sermon today, we’re going to answer the question, “How can we see that the Lord is already at work in our lives?”

We’re going to look at three places that we see in the Scripture today. We’re going to go through these three ways that the Lord’s already at work in your life. We are going to take it in four portions because it’s a long reading. Let’s read the first eighteen verses. They will talk about what we see in these first eighteen verses.

Daniel 4:1-18 (ESV) 1 King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! 2 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. 3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. 4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. as a lay in bed. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. 6 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation. 8 At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods—and I told him the dream, saying, 9 “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation. 10 The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. 13 “I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. 14 He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’ 18 This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” This is God’s word. Amen. Here’s the first place that the Lord is already at work:

1. Revelation.

One word; revelation. Our God is a revealing God. Our God wants us to know Him. He has done miracle after miracle, throughout the ages, so that we might know our God through revelation. Let’s look for it in the first eighteen verses. Where was God revealing? Just as soon as we start, he says in his decree. King , Nebuchadnezzar says, 2 “It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

I noticed a couple things about this; God had given him signs and wonders. Signs are probably like those dreams. This is his second dream, recorded in the book of Daniel. The first dream was an earlier one; it was of that statue with the golden head, the clay feet and the ten toes, and Daniel was the only one that could interpret it. This was back in chapter two. Now, he’s got a second dream of this tree; then signs and wonders, which is what God does.

Last week in chapter three, God gave him the wonderful event of the fiery furnace with that fourth man who was like the son of God walking with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It seems good to him to tell everybody what God has done for him. He sees God now as a personal god. He sees God as one who would deal with him personally. You see, he says that he needs to tell all of you about these signs and wonders.

What did God do for him? Well, I see two things in verses one through 18 that God did for him. He gave him a dream and He gave him Daniel.Without Daniel, the dream would have been just disturbing. But with Daniel, he got a word. He gave him the word and He gave him a preacher to tell him what it meant. He’s a revealing God. He gives us His word. And then he gives us people who have been students and given the power of the Holy Spirit and called to interpret it so that we can apply it to our lives. He gave him a dream and He gave him Daniel. We’ll cover the dream a little bit more in our second point when we get the interpretation. But, the dream really messed old Nebuchadnezzar up.

This is about 30 years later as you see, from the last chapter, whenever Daniel was first carried into exile. Daniel is probably 15 or 16 years old; he and his three friends are sent to “Babylonian U,” a three- year program, and graduated with advanced degrees in Chaldean literature and the Babylonian language of Aramaic and Arcadian. Daniel became the number one counselor to the king. And now, 30 years have passed and Daniel is about 50 years old; he’s still the number one adviser. King Nebuchadnezzar went through all of his advisers. Daniel, his number one adviser, probably sat back there and said, OK, you boys go first, then I’ll tell him what it really means. 8 “At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods…” He’s still a polytheist; polytheism means many gods. King Nebuchadnezzar still worships all kinds of gods. He’s not quite there yet, is he? He does see something special in old Daniel. In the dream there is a watcher. The chapters in the middle here of the book of Daniel are not in Hebrew; they are unique. There’s more Aramaic in The book of Daniel than any other book, in pretty much the whole old Testament, written in the Hebrew New Testament, largely written in Greek. There’s a little splattering of Aramaic in the New Testament. “Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani,” my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That’s in Aramaic. Chapter four of Daniel is written in Aramaic. It was the language of the Middle East, underneath Hebrew and Arabic.

Here, he’s saying, “Watcher.” A “Watcher” is an angel that came down from heaven. and said that Nebuchadnezzar will lose his mind and be like a beast in the field . Daniel is getting ready to tell the king what this means, but right now we see that God’s working. God gave him a word and He gave him Daniel. He gave him Daniel; He gave him a preacher.

How does God reveal today? I will give you some theological training here; are you ready? The first category of how God reveals today is called, in theological terms, General Revelation. General, meaning to everyone.

The book of Romans gives us an example of General Revelation:

Nature reveals God to us: Romans 1:18-20 (ESV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.The creation points to the creator, except for those who desire to suppress the truth and say it exists with some other explanation. But God says, I have revealed something. Just by flinging the stars in the sky and planting the Earth and the sun and the moon and the exact kind of rotation so that life could exist on Planet Earth. I made you. This is general revelation. But yet because of sin, we suppress the truth.

Then he gives us Conscience. This is general revelation. He puts a conscience in you. Conscience reveals God to us. Romans 2:14-15 (ESV) “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” So God puts a conscience in us so that we know right from wrong, but, because of sin, we reverse polls and we make wrong right and right wrong. That’s what sin does. It twists. We come up with new explanations for creation; scientific ones which are really just man made mythologies, to try to suppress the truth so that we don’t see the Creator. We worship the creation instead of the Creator and make right wrong and wrong right.

These are general revelations of God; He gives them to everybody so that no one is without excuse. No matter what time or place on planet earth you’ve been born, you were given general revelation.

Then there’s a second category of revelation. In theological terms, it’s called Specific Revelation. That’s what King Nebuchadnezzar got; he got Specific Revelation looking at scripture. There are examples of people receiving dreams, visions and having angelic visitation. They got a dream or a vision with an angel, a “watcher” who came and spoke to him. God must really love Nebuchadnezzar; God must really love you, too, to give you the Word of God, that you might know the will of God and that you might know the person of God. So he gives him these. He gives a scripture, in 2 Timothy 3:16. Scripture is very specific about revealing who God is. We said this last week. Scripture is primarily a story about God and, ultimately, the centerpiece is Christ. Scripture was written to point us to Christ. 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” He breathes, through the Holy Spirit, into men who wrote down what the Holy Spirit told him to say. We have specific revelation to Scripture.

As we move forward, we move to the ultimate, which is Christ through the Gospel. Romans 1:16-17 (ESV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” We have the gospel, the good news. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He was raised on the third day and He lives today. For those that would recognize that He died for you and you repented of your sins and received Him as Lord and Savior, you’ve received the good news so that you might know God personally. This is specific revelation.

Have you heard the gospel? It’s really hard to say you haven’t and, also, say you made it this far in this nation called America. But, we muddy it up; we misunderstand it, but it’s being declared everywhere.

This past week we lost one who would say all he lived for was to preach the gospel. His name was Billy, as he preferred to be called, Billy Graham. He’s with the Lord now. I think the Lord has said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I wrote about this earlier this week. I went to see Billy Graham in a crusade; in 1970, I rode a church bus with my good buddy Gordon Balthus. He invited me to go with his church. The crusade was at the UT Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Billy Graham said everything that you expected him to say. He said, “and the buses will wait;” thousands of people came forward. I can still remember a lot of details about that even though I was young. This past month, one of my best childhood friends, Gordon Balthus, went to be with the Lord and Billy Graham showed up, too. I have confidence in that because I I know that Gordon accepted the gospel and I know that Billy preached the gospel.

The ultimate revelation, specifically, is the person of Jesus. Certainly, the gospel is about Jesus. But the person of Jesus is the supreme revelation of God. Jesus says this in Matthew 11:27 (ESV) , (this is Jesus speaking) “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” If you want to know God, you must know Jesus because He’s the only one that will tell you about God. He wants you to know what I want to tell you.

In Acts 8, an Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah in his chariot when the Spirit told Philip to go alongside. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. So, Philip explained to him the reading from Isaiah that spoke of the One who was “led like a sheep to the slaughter.” The eunuch wanted to know the identity of the sheep and Philip preached the Good News about Jesus to him and he believed and was baptized.

In Acts 10, at Caesarea a Roman Centurion named Cornelius saw a vision of an angel at 3pm in the afternoon who instructed him to send for Peter who was staying at the home of Simon the tanner in Joppa.

Three more stories; it is not like you don’t have enough stories. But here comes three more. God just keeps repeating this throughout the Bible. I’m gonna give you one old Testament and two new Testament stories. The first is about Joseph and Pharoah, back there in Genesis. Pharaoh had a dream. Does this sound familiar? – Pharaoh had a dream of 7 fat cows and 7 thin scrawny ones. And the 7 fat ones at the scrawny ones. Then, he dreamed of 7 fat heads of grain and 7 shriveled ones. And the the seven fat ones swallowed the shriveled. Only Joseph could interpret the dream (Genesis 41) The king is very disturbed; He calls Joseph out of prison. Joseph’s an interpreter of dreams, and he interprets the dream. He says, you know what this is Pharaoh? Its seven years of bounty and blessing followed by seven years of famine. So the Pharaoh elevates Joseph to number two in command. And so, Egypt is rescued, and so are the people of God and the Children of Jacob. God gave him a dream and a preacher, a dream and a Joseph. For today’s sermon, a dream and a Daniel, and then, in the New Testament, because God knows we’re kind of slow and He has to keep repeating things, so we’ll get it.

We have in Acts, chapter eight, a Ethiopian eunuch who traveled up to Jerusalem and bought himself a very expensive copy of the scroll of Isaiah. He’s carrying it back. He’s in his chariot. And then, the Holy Spirit commanded Philip, the newly appointed deacon, to go up alongside the chariot. Philip, who was obedient to the Holy Spirit, went up, listened in and he overheard him reading from the Book of Isaiah. Phillip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And so, Philip climbed up in the chariot and he noticed that the man was reading from a particular portion of the Book of Isaiah that speaks of the suffering servant that would come, this Messiah that would come. It said, in Isaiah, “like a sheep to the slaughter.” The man asks who is this that Isaiah is talking about? Phillips says, he’s talking about Jesus the Christ; let me tell you about him.The Ethiopian eunuch got saved; they pulled the chariot over and he got baptized right there. He got right with God.

In Acts, chapter 10, there was a Roman Centurion named Cornelius, living in Caesarea by the sea next to the Mediterranean there in Israel. At about three in the afternoon, he saw a vision of an angel, who instructed him to send for Peter who was staying at the home of Simon the tanner in Joppa. Send your servants down to the city of Joppa to the home of Simon the tanner; there’s a man named Peter there who can tell you about how to get a relationship with God. They didn’t have GPS in those days, and they didn’t have postal zip codes if you wanted someone’s address. The Holy Spirit knew where everybody lived and He still does; He knows where you live. Peter was staying at the house of Simon the tanner in the city of Joppa. And so, the servants were sent down there. They went down there about that time the next day; at noon. Peter had a vision on Simon’s rooftop at noon of a great sheet with unclean animals on it and the Lord told him to “Rise, kill and eat.” Jews aren’t supposed to eat non kosher, and he heard a voice from heaven say, Peter, kill and eat. Paul says, Lord, I’ve never eaten this before. About that time, there’s a knock at the front door of Simon the Tanner’s house. It was the servants from Cornelius the Centurion, asking Paul to come and tell their Gentile boss about God. Peter got some people to travel with him and he went up there and told Cornelius about God. They were all saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. Peter found out that the Kingdom of God was going to the Gentiles too; not just to the Jews.

God keeps repeating this, friends. He gives you a word, either through a dream, an angel,a vision, the word of God, or through your studying the stars. It constantly is trying to reach you. And then he sends you to explain it. He fills you with the Spirit of the Holy God to tell about it.

How has God been trying to reveal Himself to you? Was it a grandmother? Was it a friend? Was it a preacher? Was it a radio TV show? Was it Billy Graham? Maybe, you’re still sitting there and nothing’s changed. Is God showing you something today? I hope He does.

Let’s keep reading in Revelation.

Daniel 4:19-27 (ESV) 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while ,and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21 whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23 And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24 this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25 that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

The first word was Revelation. The second word on how the Lord is already at work is:

2. Repentance.

This preacher, Daniel, boldly says in verse 27, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you:” Stop being so egotistical; start being merciful and gracious. Give God the credit; would you listen to my counsel? Maybe, perhaps, if you would obey and repent, maybe God would let your prosperity continue.

Daniel calls Nebuchadnezzar to repentance. He gives him the interpretation of the dream. He adds a “preacher’s voice” there. Daniel knows that this is risky business, but this shows you the closeness of this relationship. As I said before, Daniel is about 50 years old. Daniel has been the #1 adviser to King Nebuchadnezzar for 30 years. The king asked for interpretation; he didn’t ask for advice. Daniel felt he needed to give the king some advice anyway.

It reminds me of a relationship I had when I was still working at the Jack Eckerd Corporation running drugstores. I ran drugstores for 12 years; I was a district manager. When I would get promoted, my boss would get promoted ahead of me and he’d be my boss again. I can now understand why God was allowing that to happen. The way I was praying then was, Get me away from this boss because he’s hard to work for. He had a bad temper. He would lose it at times. You were never ready and you just never knew where you stood. I was trying to get away from him. I prayed, God, give me another boss. Get me out of here. But, every time I get promoted, he would get promoted. Over time though, those prayers turned into, God, save him. God help him. I started changing from not wanting to be under him to really caring about him. Ultimately, God gave me a love for the man that I had been praying to get rid of. Funny how you pray for something and instead of changing the circumstances, He changes your heart.

This man that gave me such a hard time always showed me favor. God always gave me favor with this man. Over time, our relationship changed. In the last years of our relationship, we would be riding in the car somewhere to visit stores. I would talk to him about the Lord, about my testimony and about my growing up days, and he would talk about his. We became very close. He was not a believer.

Two years after I left this place of employment and I had planted this church, I got a call on a Sunday night. I’d preached that morning over at Forest Hills Middle School, back when we used to set up and tear down. I got a call that night, Hey, boy, he said, which is what he called me. I said, Hey, boss, which is what I always called him. Even though two years had gone by, he still sounded like the boss to me. His voice broke as he said, I got saved today. Then he said, I figured I’d better call you. Me and my wife got saved and baptized this afternoon at the evening service, and I told her I’d better call ‘the boy’ and tell him. I know you prayed for me and that you witnessed to me and I thought you’d want to know. You just never know, Huh? I’m not bragging on myself. Don’t misunderstand this story. I am bragging on God because my prayer was, Get me out of there. Remember that part of the story?

Here’s old Daniel; he cares about Nebuchadnezzar. I hate to have to tell you the news, but God’s getting ready to judge you. He’s getting ready to really put one on you if you don’t repent of your sin.

I’m not talking about saying that you got caught like you did when you were kids. You threw a rock and hit Johnny in the head and your mom saw it. What you were sorry about is that she saw it; not that you hit Johnny in the head with a rock. If you had a mom like mine, saying, I’m sorry was not good enough. My mom believed in kissing and hugging and telling them that you love them. So you couldn’t just say, I’m sorry I hit you in the head with a rock. You had to kiss them on the cheek and say, Will you forgive me? and then hug them and say you loved them. I hated that stuff. I would have been fine with saying, I’m sorry, because then, in my head, it was just that I was caught.

My brother, Barry, is four years younger than me. My mom was a poet. She named me Gary Wayne and my brother, Barry Blane. I have a sister and a younger brother. She realized that wasn’t a good idea because we would both come when she yelled for us. She didn’t do the “poet thing” on the next two. But, I used to beat on my brother, Barry, all the time. I don’t know why; maybe, because I was a sinner and he was younger. Barry would go and tell our mother. And then, Mom would say, Gary, tell him you’re sorry. I’m sorry. Then I would have to kiss him on the cheek. When I would go to kiss him on the cheek, she wouldn’t see his face. He would be smirking at me. Now, tell him you love him and put your arms around him. And I tell him I love you. That’s what repentance really looks like. It’s not you’re sorry that you got caught; it’s saying you’re sorry to the person that you offended and doing the opposite. Instead of hurting them, you say you love them because you actually do love them.

Repentance is followed by a life change. It’s not just saying you are sorry because you got caught. Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar how to do it; he says, “break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” Break off your sins and start practicing righteousness and start showing mercy instead of, like your favorite go to is terrible, limb from limb and burn their house down. That’s what Daniel tells everybody; read the first three chapters. If you don’t do this, someone will tear you limb from limb and burn your house down. Stop doing that.

God says repent and show mercy. It’s confirmed, he says, seven periods of time . I think it’s seven years. He says, “Let my counsel be acceptable” Daniel is God’s spokesman here. He is saying, listen up and repent and God will show grace and mercy. Heed this warning.Let my counsel be acceptable. He’s trying to call him to repentance. If you repent and change your wicked ways, maybe God will just refrain from judging you. I think Daniel doesn’t really want him to get hurt like that and, to be honest, I don’t think God wants to do what He’s getting ready to do to him. That’s why He sent Nebuchadnezzar the dream. That’s why He sent him Daniel.

That’s why He sent you the word of God. That’s why He sent you this preacher. That’s why He’s calling you to repent. He really doesn’t want to judge you, but He will because He is holy. You can repent of your sin; you can stop sinning. You can stop playing with sin and calling it a “little white lie” when it’s just a lie. Stop being fuzzy with sin. Start saying, God, not only am I sorry, but I want to change.

Daniel said, in his interpretation, that there would be a a ring of brass put around the stump; it would protect his kingdom until he recognized that God was God. I don’t know if God, during those seven years, kept him from losing his kingdom. Maybe it was Daniel that was the ring of brass; Daniel was the number two man, and maybe he said ‘no, he’s still the king.’ He’s not acting like a king right now, but he’s still the king.

Let’s keep reading to see what happens. The first two points are revelation and repentance. Would you repent of your sin? We are at verse 28. All of this, in other words, everything that the Watcher and Daniel warned him about, all of this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months. Some of us forget a sermon by Tuesday. We have to give King Nebuchadnezzar a little bit of credit; it was 12 months. He apparently behaved himself for 12 months without stumbling. He’s up on the roof of the Royal Palace of Babylon and the king answered and said, in verse 30, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” Notice the words, “I” and “my.” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to 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; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” 36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

This is the third word:

(3) Redemption.

The first scene is in the palace with Daniel and the other counselors. The second scene is upon the roof on top of the palace, 12 months later. Look at this photo of this artist’s rendering of ancient Babylon. You’ll notice the big blue gate. It was called the Ishtar Gate. It had bulls and different images. It had the lion with wings, these different images on it. Saddam Hussein had a reproduction built of it. They found archaeological evidence of its base, and they knew the color was this blue stone. There was a mosaic on the front. It was a wondrous thing, 40 feet tall. The walls were double walled; there were two sets of walls with moats. In between, Babylon set a stride the river, Euphrates, which irrigated and brought a constant flow of water under the city gates and into the city . There were fifty-three temples to the gods inside the city. He had five palaces, five residences; he could go back and forth between one of his many, many wives. He built what was called, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He put, at every level, different trees and fruit trees. They had to solve the problem of how to pump water to the top to irrigate the whole thing. Herodotus, the Greek historian, said it was one of The Seven Wonders of the World. The tops of the walls, that were surrounding the city, were 20 feet tall. They were so wide that it was said that two chariots could pass like two lanes of traffic.

On top of the wall was this city. When Alexander the Great came through, he was astounded by the ruins of Babylon; this city that Nebuchadnezzar looked out upon from his rooftop.

Nebuchadnezzar said, in verse 30, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” Then he heard a voice from heaven; time for you to go eat grass, buddy. It’s a miracle that for seven periods of time, which I think was seven years, that he didn’t have someone usurp his kingdom. But I think Daniel kept it together under the power of God. I try to imagine these stories, don’t you? Nebuchadnezzar is eating grass and he has claws.

Have you ever gone on the Internet and have seen people who have let their fingernails and toenails grow long. You would have to get some sort of grinder after them . He looked like that seven years.His hair was like eagle’s feathers and dew was settling on his back. He’s like an animal.

I actually read some background on this. There is a psychological possibility that such a thing can happen; there is medical evidence. There are people who lose their minds, they think they’re a beast and they eat grass. It is well documented what God put on Nebuchadnezzar. They didn’t even need a goat during that time; he ate the grass. Seven years of eating grass. That’s the king out there. Somehow God preserved his kingdom.

He’s like Lucifer, in a way. If you go to the book of Isaiah, it reads, Isaiah 14:12-15 (NKJV) “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” It was satan within Nebuchadnezzar and it was also the flesh that said I, my, I will, I have. This is what God will not tolerate. And he was moved from the rooftop to the field.

I’m also reminded, not just of Satan, but of a New Testament story where there was a man named Herod Agrippa who had been persecuting the saints. He was trying to stop the word of God from going out, and it says in Acts 12:21-23 (ESV) “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voiceof a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”

God will not allow us to assume His glory; to say I am, I will. Even James warns us to not say, I will do this tomorrow. We should, instead, say, if God is willing, perhaps God will allow us to carry out His plan.

Finally, old Nebuchadnezzar, after seven periods of time, lifted his eyes up from the grass, looked to the heavens, and immediately his reason returned to him. He says, “I bless the most high. Look at these words, “I bless the most high.” In the first three chapters he calls God Daniel’s God. Daniel, your God is the most high God. He didn’t say Daniel’s God here. He says, “I praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” How can you stop Him ? How can you even say to Him, What have you done? He does what He wills. He’s unstoppable. You can’t stop Him. He does what He wants. His plans are carried out. He’s the most high God. This is what he’s saying.

36 “At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.” Here is what I want to say to some of you. Some of you have said, I’ve lost everything. How could God do anything? He will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. He gave Nebuchadnezzar back even more than he had. Why? Because he repented. He recognized the most high God. He says in 37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”Nebuchadnezzar finally hit bottom so he could look up. He got so low, there was no place to look but up. He realized God’s ways are just; what God did to him was just.

Those who walk in pride, He is able to humble them. I don’t know if Nebuchadnezzar is going to be there when we get to heaven or not. We’ll talk about that in our small groups this week. I do like the fact that he didn’t call God Daniel’s God anymore. He calls Him the most high God and he extols and praises Him. He gets some right theology there at the end.

God wants to redeem that; He allows some bad stuff to happen, sometimes to “spank” us, to where we’ll actually look up. He will let us hit rock bottom sometimes so that we’ll look up.

Romans 3:23-25 (ESV) “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Do you see what God is after? He wants to redeem you. He wants you to know Him personally through Jesus, His Son. Yeah, there’s bad stuff happening in “Babylon,” but that’s not God’s will for your life. Friends, we must repent of our sin and say, I’m not God. God, you are God. I am not. I recognize You and I will obey the revelation You’ve given me. I will repent of my sin. Redeem me. Make me Yours. Will you do it now? You have no excuse. You’ve got a revelation. You’ve got a preacher to interpret it to you. You’ve been called to repentance and the Holy Spirit’s telling you, right now, what you need to stop doing and give over to here. Ask the Lord Jesus to save you. If you’re a believer, ask Him to give you the Holy Spirit’s power now to repent and live a new life.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, You’re the one. You’re the ultimate revelation of God. You’re walking in the midst of this room right now. It’s You, speaking to human hearts right now. Lord, I know that Your Holy Spirit is calling people to repentance. Not because of me, but because of Your word and Your power. Would you say, “Yes,” to Him right now. Say, “Yes. I’m a sinner. Yes, I want to change.” If you’re here this morning and you came in, far from God, you can leave as a child of God today. Pray with me right now. Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner and I believe that Jesus died on the cross to save me, that He was raised from the grave and that He lives today. I invite Him, right now, to come into my life, forgive me of my sin and make me a child of God. I want Him to be my Lord and Savior. Humble yourself. Repent. He wants to redeem you. Others are here and you know Christ but you’ve stumbled into a sin pattern. You know it’s wrong. The Holy Spirit is talking to you right now. Would you repent and say, “I’m sorry, Lord. Holy spirit, not only cleanse me of this sin, but help me to do what You’d have me do.” For someone here, it’s not a sin of commission; it’s not something you’ve done, but it’s a sin of omission. I don’t know who you are, but there’s someone here, God’s told you to do something and you’re not doing it. You haven’t done what He told you to do. Would you repent and say, “God, my “Yes” is on the table. I’ll do what You said. I’m giving it all to You now, Lord.” It’s in Your name we pray, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.