The Peril and Pitfall of Pride, Part 2

Turn with me in your Bible to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4.

You know, perhaps the most destructive attitude one can ever have is a prideful attitude. I think for the most part all of us would see pride as something that was grotesque, evil, wrong. But sometimes I'm not sure that we understand what's behind pride. It's an incredible love of self. Self-love causes us to be arrogant, boastful, and prideful.

Satan was filled with pride. He loved himself.

As a created being, he wanted to be above the one who is an uncreated being, the Lord God of the universe. He is immortal, He is eternal, and He was the creator of all things. And yet, Satan wanted to usurp the role of the living God. He can't do that.

That's why pride is said to be so deceptive. Because those who are arrogant are deceived as to what reality truly is. For Satan, he was deceived, thinking that he could overtake the immortal, eternal, all-powerful God. He's even deceived as to what's going to happen in the future. He still thinks he can win. He still thinks that he can indwell the Antichrist and gain world rulership and overcome the Christians and destroy them, destroy Israel, and be the ruler of the world and destroy the living God. He can't. But he's deceived himself into thinking that.

And don't think for a moment that he doesn't know about the book of Revelation. Oh, he knows the book. He knows what it says. He's very orthodox in his theology. He knows all there is to know about God. That's why he disguises himself as an angel of light. He knows all those things. And yet he is so incredibly deceived.

And the reason it's so hated is because it's idolatry at its highest form. That somehow I think I can control my life. I think that I can rule my life. I think I'm in charge. And Satan was an idolater. He believed that he was more important than the living God. He believed that he could overthrow God.

Well, if you're into self-love, it truly is a form of idolatry. That somehow I love myself so much. And people say, "Well, people don't always love themselves." Yes, they do, because the Bible says in Ephesians 5:29 that no man has ever hated his own flesh. So, in other words, the Bible says nobody hates himself. Every man loves himself. That's why the Bible says, as a man loves himself, so he is to love his wife. He's already in love with himself. Well, now you've got to transfer that love and direction and affection towards your wife. We are filled with self-love. And it equates to incredible, destructive arrogance, boastfulness, and pride.

And so when the world refuses to recognize God for who He is and honor God as God, Romans 1:28 tells us that we're filled with unrighteousness, or Romans 1:30 says we're filled with arrogant boasting and pride. It fills us up. When we refuse to recognize God for who He is, everything about our lives is filled up with everything God isn't, and we become arrogant and boastful, and we can only think of ourselves.

The Lord said in Isaiah 48, verse 11: "My glory I will not give to anybody else." Said in Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 48, He is the only one to be glorified. And He's not going to relinquish that glory because man was created for His glory. Everything about creation was about God and His glory. So the Lord knows that, and so He's not going to relinquish any of that glory to any individual.

The Bible says so much about pride. In the book of Proverbs, it says in Proverbs 21, verse number 4: "Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin." In other words, haughty eyes and a proud heart are the lamp, are the light, are the path of those who are committed to sin. In other words, everything that they see, they see through a lamp filled with haughty eyes and a prideful life.

Over in Proverbs chapter 16, verse number 5, these words are given to us: "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Assuredly, he will not be unpunished." Those are strong words. That God says, if you're proud in heart, you're not going to go without punishment.

It says over in verse number 18 of chapter 16: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." So before a man's destroyed, there's pride because the result of an arrogant, boastful life is destruction.

Proverbs 15, verse number 25 says, "The Lord will tear down the house of the proud." Isn't that interesting? The Lord will tear down the house of the proud. Over in Proverbs chapter 8, verse number 13, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. It's to hate pride, arrogance, and the evil way." Proverbs 11, verse number 2: "When pride comes, then comes dishonor." Proverbs chapter 29, verse number 23 reads this way. Proverbs 29, verse number 23 says, "A man's pride will bring him low. But a humble spirit will obtain honor."

So many times we don't see ourselves as arrogant. And we closed with this last week, but let me read to you what James says in James 4. He says, "Come now," verse number 13. "You say, 'Today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

It is arrogant to say, "We're going to go to this city and that city, and we're going to obtain this job and that job. We're going to make this and make that. We're going to live happily ever after. That's what we're going to do." Without saying if this is the Lord's will, you have no idea how long your life's going to last.

Listen, I'm all for making plans. I think you ought to have goals. I think you ought to make plans. I think you ought to map out your life, but not outside the will of the Lord. You can make all these plans and die tonight on the way home. I don't want to be nasty about that, but that could obviously happen, right? And so we make all these plans, but we do it without trusting the Lord, depending upon the Lord, and saying, "If this is what the Lord wills for me, I will be involved in this."

I'm hoping to be here on Sunday if the Lord wills. I don't know if I'm going to make it to Sunday or not. You don't know if you're going to make it to Sunday or not. Nobody knows, right? I'm just glad I made it here tonight. I'm glad I was able to make it through the day so I could preach tonight. I mean, those are just an answer to prayer, right? And yet, so many times we pass ourselves off as humble people. We don't think we're arrogant. But that's how deceptive pride is.

I love the book of Obadiah. Very small book. But it's God's judgment pronounced upon Edom. Edom are the descendants of Esau. They're called the Edomites. When they were finally moved out of Petra, they became the Idumeans. If you remember, Herod the Great was an Idumean.

But the Edomites are given a prophecy. And the prophecy in Obadiah is historical as well as prophetical. In other words, it was given about 300 years before it actually happened, but it's already happened. It happened in 300 BC. And so from a history standpoint, the Edomites were destroyed. But there's coming a time in the history, verses 15 and following, in terms of prophecy, in terms of its fulfillment, is that the Edomites will be completely destroyed off the face of the earth. It doesn't mean that, and that's the modern-day Palestinians, by the way, that God doesn't save Palestinians. He does, He saves individual people. But the nation at large will be destroyed.

Now, over the years, and if you've been with me to Israel, about every three trips we go to Petra. And Petra's a long, long journey from Jerusalem. But we make the journey because I think it's important to understand prophecy and what's going to happen in the end times. But we make our way down to Petra because it's that rose-red city of the rocks. It's a fabulous place to be. But yet, there's so much about prophecy and the coming of the Messiah centered around that region of the world. Specifically Bozra, which is the ancient capital of Edom, and Petra is located in Edom.

And the Bible says these words in the book of Obadiah: "Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a report from the Lord, and an envoy has been sent among the nations, saying, 'Arise and let us go against her for battle.' Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you."

And that's so true. Arrogant people are easily deceived. They don't think they are, but they are. And Satan, of course, is a perfect example. "You who live in the clefts of the rock." And that's exactly where they lived.

And the way into Petra is about a mile long, and you make your way down this gorge, which at some points it's eight feet wide, at other points it's thirty feet wide, but it's about a mile long walk to get into the city of Petra. And the walls on the side are anywhere between 600 to 800 feet tall. And when you get into the city itself, those walls are up to 2,000 feet tall. The city of Petra is 25 square miles when you get down inside the rocks. It's a city literally carved out of the rock. It's one of the ancient wonders of the world.

And the Edomites believed that they lived in an impregnable fortress. They could not be defeated. There's only one way in. And you can't fit a whole army in one way, and we can destroy you on your way in because there's more of us than there is you, and you can't get everybody in there at one time. So we're going to win. You can't beat us.

But the arrogance of the heart deceived them. It says, "You live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to earth?' Is there anybody who can defeat us? Nah. Now we're undefeated. Nobody's going to beat us."

It says, "Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the Lord. And sure enough, in 300 BC, the Nabataeans came in and were able to cut off the water supply to Petra and were able to run them out of the city. And they lived there until 105 AD when the Romans came in and destroyed the Nabataeans.

But the point of the matter is this: that we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're better than we actually are.

Well, this was Nebuchadnezzar. But in fairness to Nebuchadnezzar, he was the ultimate world ruler. He defeated everybody. There was no one else to beat. And when you beat everybody, what else do you do? There are no more battles to be fought, no more nations to conquer, no more people to trample down. I mean, after all, you can look around and say, "Look at this great kingdom I have built. This is great."

That was Nebuchadnezzar. He felt like he was the man, and in all reality, humanly speaking, he was the man. He was the king. He was the epitome of world rulership. Probably the greatest ruler to ever exist on this planet.

And the Bible tells us that his life was at ease. Why? There was nothing else to do. Nobody else to conquer. And he was all in the middle of this easiness, in the middle of all this comfort. He has a dream. And that dream will change his entire life.

We began last week by talking to you about the conditions surrounding the dream. The conditions were important. Because Nebuchadnezzar had been king for just about 35 years up to the fourth chapter of the book of Daniel. And in those 35 years, he became the world's greatest leader. And yet he had seen miraculous things. He had seen Daniel tell him what his dream was and then interpret the dream. And show him that he was the golden head of the image and that he was the ruler of the world. And no one had come to destroy him.

He knew that there was going to be a destruction that was going to come. There was going to come this small stone that would crush the ten toes, and the whole thing would come tumbling down. That hasn't even happened yet. There's no sign of that. Who's going to destroy him? He thinks to himself, "Man, this is so great, I am on top of the world."

And then he was convinced by the Chaldeans and the magicians that everybody should bow down to his image. And so he made this golden image that would stand out in the desert, so everyone could see it when the sun glistened on it, and everybody came and bowed down to it. When the trumpets began to blow and the music began to ring loud, everybody bowed before it except for three guys. They weren't going to do that.

And he was curious. When you're the greatest in the world, and there are three people who don't see you as great, well, they got to die. They got to go. And so he gives them an opportunity, though, to bow down before him one more time, and they won't. So he heats the fire seven times hotter than it normally is. I'm not sure I even understand that. How hot can hotter be? You know? And these men who throw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fire, they're consumed by the fire. They die. That's a pretty hot fire in anybody's book, right?

But yes, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they're good. They're walking around in there. There's an angel in there with them. And King Nebuchadnezzar looks in and says, "Hey, I thought we threw three guys in there. There's four people in there. What is going on?" And all of a sudden, he compels them to come out, and they don't even smell like smoke. They don't even smell like smoke. Their hair hasn't even been singed. The hair on their arms is perfectly put together. Nothing's wrong with them.

And so there's this miracle that takes place in Nebuchadnezzar's palace that helps them understand that there is this Most High God, and he now commands everybody: "Don't dare speak against their God, because if you do, we're going to tear out your limbs and we're going to burn down your houses."

So, no one's going to speak against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God because they're afraid they're going to die, right? But Nebuchadnezzar is yet to be converted because miracles don't save people, right? So for thirty-five years, he's with Daniel. For thirty-five years, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are a part of all that's taken place. So he has four unique men who are strong in their testimony, who will not bow down, who will not compromise.

And if in Daniel chapter 1, verse number 8, you had that beautiful passage that says that he would not be defiled. He had purposed in his heart that nothing he would do that would defile his body. He lived a pure and holy life. And the king would see this. And I really do believe that the king was absolutely dumbfounded as well as enamored with these three Hebrew boys who now have become young men. Because now, 35 years later, and they were taken captive when they were 15 or 16, now they're a lot older. And now they're men. And they still haven't defiled themselves. They still haven't compromised their stand. So he sees this.

And I firmly believe that over time, even Daniel had this affinity for Nebuchadnezzar. I'm sure he saw him as someone who needed to understand the Lord God of Israel. And I'm sure that there were many conversations that must have taken place, but on this day in Daniel 4, something unique happens. The king has a dream.

And so you move from the conditions that surround the dream to the summation of the dream. And that's in verses one to three of Daniel chapter 4, when Daniel records these words: "Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth, may your peace abound. It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominions from generation to generation."

That's the summation of the dream. That's the conclusion of all this taking place with Nebuchadnezzar. So Daniel, who's writing the book of Daniel, gives us up front the summation of what the dream is all about because it all comes to Nebuchadnezzar recognizing who the Most High God is. And now he moves from the conditions surrounding the dream to the summation of the dream, to the specifics of the dream or the description of the dream.

And it goes as follows: "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream, and it made me fearful. These fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon and that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream."

Question is why? Why would you do that? You've brought them in before, and they couldn't do anything for you in the past. Why would you bring them in now? We told you last week. When man refuses to recognize God any longer, he's given over to a reprobate mind. He can't think straight. He's a fool. And Nebuchadnezzar, as great as a military warrior that he was, he was a fool. Because he brings the same guys back in. They can't tell him anything. What do they know? They have the wisdom of the world, but not the wisdom of God.

"Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. But finally, Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar. According to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And I related the dream to him."

Now he calls him Belteshazzar. Remember the name means, very simply, "my God is your protector." And he was named that specifically because Daniel's name means "God is my judge." So Nebuchadnezzar says, "Look, I'm going to name you Belteshazzar. Why? Because my God will protect you against your God, who is the judge. And I'm going to show you that my God is greater than your God. He'll always protect you." So he calls them Belteshazzar.

"And sure enough, O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you. Tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation."

Now, twice he says, what? The Spirit of the Holy Gods is in you. He says it again a third time in verse number 18. See, because that's what is needed in the White House. A godly man in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and everybody knows it. That's what's needed in any kind of Senate. Or any kind of congressional hearing, or any kind of Supreme Court, or any kind of parliament. You need holy men of God because, unless you have those kinds of men, guess what? Fools will be fools. And they'll still do foolish things.

You've got to have somebody that's going to direct them in the right way who has not worldly wisdom, but godly wisdom, wisdom from above. Remember, James tells us that wisdom from below is demonic. Wisdom from above is godly, but wisdom from below is demonic wisdom. The best that your professors can give you is demonic wisdom. The best that the unbelieving world can give you is demonic wisdom. It can't give you godly wisdom. But those who know the Lord, who submit to Him, have wisdom from above, and they can give you godly wisdom.

So Nebuchadnezzar calls them and says, "No, I know that you dwell with the holy gods. I know there's a spirit about you that's different than everybody else. Tell me my dream. Interpret it for me."

"Now, there were the visions in my mind as I lay in my bed. I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew large, it became strong, and its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant. And in it was food, for all the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all the living creatures fed themselves from it.

I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed. And behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted and spoke as follows: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches. Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground. With a band of iron and bronze around it, or yes, in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. And let him share with the beasts and the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let a beast's mind be given to him. And let seven periods of time pass over him. The sentence is by 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.'"

That's the purpose of the dream. That there is a ruler over the realm of mankind. It's the Most High God. Everybody who in government does not recognize that is in for a heap of trouble. Because the Most High God, El Elion, is the one who rules over the realm of mankind. He's in charge, it says, and bestows it on whom he wishes. In other words, he does whatever he wants. And then it says, and sets over it the lowliest of men.

"This is a dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now, you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you," three times. Three times he recognizes that the Spirit of the Holy God is in this man. Tell me my dream.

So you move to the fourth point, which simply states the interpretation of the dream. It says, "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him."

What was he alarmed about? What appalled him? He knew the answer. He knew that the king was in big trouble. And I think in the recesses of his mind, he was thinking, "I've got to deliver this news. And over the years, I've grown to appreciate this man, as arrogant as he is, as boastful as he is. As wrong as he is on so many things, and even though he hasn't believed in my God, I still have to tell him the truth. I have to speak to him the truth." So he began to weigh how he would say it.

The king responded and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you. Don't be alarmed. Just give it to me straight. Don't water it down. Tell me what it is. I got to know. I'm waiting for somebody to tell me."

Belteshazzar replied, "My Lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries. Oh, I wish I could tell you that this is all about the people who hate you. But it's not, it has to do with you. You."

He says, "The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all under the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged. That's you. You're the guy. You're the man." It's like Nathan when he said to David, "You're the man." You're the king. You're the person. You're the tree. Everybody's come to you. You provided shade. You provided for people's lives. The beasts of the field come to you. You have a kingdom that's visible for all to see. You're the guy. You're the tree in the dream. O King.

"For you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth. In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the new grass of the field, let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him.'"

Four times that we'll say seven periods of time. Those seven periods, according to chapter 7, verse number 25, are seven years, a specific amount of time. That's how accurate the prophecy is. And so he says, "This is the interpretation, O King, and this is the decree of the Most High. Which has come upon my Lord the King, that you be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field. And you be given grass to eat like cattle, and be drenched with the dew of heaven. And seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind."

Again, it says the same thing. You got to recognize this. You haven't recognized it yet, so this is going to happen until you do. You're going to dwell with the beasts of the field. No longer will you be in your sleep number bed at night. No longer will you be under those cushy covers and get warm. And no longer will you be able to turn the AC on when it gets hot or turn the heat on when it gets cold. All those delicacies that are at your disposal? Well, you can eat grass. That's where it's going. And when you go to sleep at night, you're going to be drenched with dew.

People always ask me, "Why don't you like to camp?" This is why. I don't want to be drenched with dew. I don't want to be cold at night. I don't care about being underneath the stars. I don't care about looking at God's beautiful creation. None of that interests me.

I want my AC when I'm hot. I want my heat when I'm cold. And I want my comforter. And I want my nice cushy bed - I want all those luxuries. Listen, if God wanted me to be a camper, I'd have been born hundreds of years ago. But he didn't, I wasn't birthed back then. I'm not born to be a camper. Neither was Nebuchadnezzar. But God was going to make him like the beasts of the field, be drenched with dew when he went out at night.

The Most High has ruled over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes, and in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree. Your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is heaven or that God rules.

An interesting statement. No one's going to vie for your kingdom. No one's going to grab your kingdom. God's going to protect your kingdom. Usually, when the king is gone, there's somebody who's going to rise up and say, "I'm going to become the ruler, I'm going to be in charge." There's somebody else next in line, right? Somebody's always vying to be the top dog. But everybody knew that Nebuchadnezzar was the alpha dog. He was the guy, Alpha King. This is the man.

And even though this was a prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar had a hard time digesting it.

"Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. In case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity." Nebuchadnezzar warns him: "Hey, listen. This doesn't have to happen. If you repent, if you turn from the evil of your ways, if you, as John the Baptist said, bring forth fruit equivalent to repentance, showing that there's a change of life, that God has done a work in your heart, guess what? This won't happen. But you got to repent."

But isn't it interesting? He pronounces judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar. "You're going down. But you need to repent." That's the way it should always be with us, right? When we preach the gospel to people, we tell them God's going to judge you.

You're going to have to pay the penalty of your sin and that separation from God for all eternity in a place called hell. You better repent. Better turn from the wickedness of your ways. Follow the Lord God of Israel. But you got to turn because if you don't turn, you'll burn. We don't like to preach that message, but that really is a truth, right?

You see, the inevitability of judgment demands the necessity of the gospel, the urgency of the truth. Because God is coming to judge, where is the sense of urgency? I'm going to tell you why. We don't have this urgency because we don't see God as the ultimate judge of the universe, that He really rules over the realm of mankind. We are not compelled to share Christ because we think that judgment's so far away, it's so yet in the future. And so, therefore, we're not that eager to go and tell people about the gospel and tell them the truth that they might repent of their sins, so they won't have to experience the judgment of God.

But Daniel knew it was coming because God gave him the interpretation of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar relayed the dream to him. As soon as he did, he knew the answer. But he had to give the news. Why? Because you see, that's what godly men do.

They tell the truth. Godly men are not afraid to tell the truth. Godly men are strong in the Lord. That's why we will see in weeks ahead, Daniel 11:32: "Those who know their God will display strength and take action." Daniel knew his God. He knew his God meant what he said. He knew his God was El Elyon, the Most High God. He knew his God ruled over the realm of mankind. He knew all that. He was fixed on that. Because he knew his God, he was able to display strength and take necessary action.

And that's why we reiterate over and over and over again, it's so important for us as parents to instill strength in the lives of our children by helping them understand the character and nature of the living God. That's what matters. They need to know the Lord God of Israel. Because if you know him, you'll display strength and take action. If you don't know him, you're going to be weak. You're going to be frail. You're going to be intimidated. You're going to be unwilling to speak truth. If that's you, that's simply because you don't know the God you say you serve.

You need to know him. Not a bunch of facts about him. That's irrelevant. Not a bunch of litany of all kinds of information about him either. You just need to know him in a personal sense, in an intimate sense, where you walk with God, you talk with God, you live for God, you honor God. That's who he is. That's what I want to do. Listen, we don't need to know all there is to know about God. You're not going to know it all anyway, this side of eternity. But you need to walk in intimacy with Him. Daniel did.

Daniel says, "Listen, if you repent, I know my God—He's a merciful God. I know my God, He's a loving God, He's a kind God, He's filled with grace. If you repent, turn from the error of your way, all things will go well." So you would think that Nebuchadnezzar would repent. That's not how the story goes.

Verse 28: "All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king." This is the realization of the dream. It becomes a reality. Daniel interprets it. And now comes the reality of it. All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.

The world ruler, the most powerful man ever to exist on planet Earth, the man whose kingship was visible around the world—the Alpha King went down twelve months later. That's grace. That's grace. Could have happened immediately, right? Nebuchadnezzar could have heard the words, "Hey, repent, you'll be okay." "Nah, I'm not doing that." When? No, God gave him 12 months. That's the grace of God. The Lord gave the citizens of this earth before the great flood 120 years as Noah built the ark, a preacher of righteousness. That's the patience of God.

Don't ever think that our God judges man unjustly or unkindly. Oh no, he judges them righteously because he's the God of justice. He's also God of grace and mercy. So he gives him time, twelve months. Twelve months later, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 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." It's all about my glory. God says, "I will not give my glory to another." And Nebuchadnezzar says, "This is all about my majesty. It's all about my glory. Boy, look how great I am. Look what I've done. Look what I've accomplished."

He's walking around his palace thinking, "Man, this is—I am just—I'm amazing. I'm amazed at myself. I can't believe how amazed I am at being amazed at myself because I'm so amazing." And so the Bible says very clearly: while the word was in the king's mouth—"My glory and my majesty"—while the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared, sovereignty has been removed from you. And you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind. You haven't recognized it yet. So I'm going to make sure you do. I'm going to pass judgment upon you. You're going down. And he bestows it on whomever he wishes."

Immediately, the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. Immediately. The voice comes from heaven: "You're done." Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled, and he was driven away from mankind, and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched like the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like birds' claws for seven years. He was driven out of the palace. He was driven to the fields. Listen, he was driven for everybody to see him. Complete and total humiliation. That has to happen. Because if it doesn't, he will not learn his lesson. Unless he is publicly humiliated, brought to a place of brokenness, he is shattered in his soul, he would not turn. But it happened for as long as God said—seven years. Not seven weeks, not seven months, not seven days, seven years. It's a long time.

So, as his hair began to grow, as claws began to grow, as he lived among the beasts of the field, all who walked by would marvel at what they saw. Maybe nobody would pursue the throne because they were scared to death of what might happen to them. God would use the life of Nebuchadnezzar and all of his humiliation, bringing him down to the lowest possible level for everybody to say, "You what? I'm not going to ascend that throne. I don't want to do that. I'm not in for that. That's Nebuchadnezzar. That's his deal. That's not my deal. I'm not going that direction." And maybe that's why God publicly put him out there for all to see.

But just like God prophesied, one day, it says, "But at the end of that period"—what period? Seven periods. Seven years. "I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven."

"And my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honor him who lives forever." Seven years ago, he's praised and honored himself. Seven years ago, he was the highest of the gods. But no, there is El Elyon, the Most High God. "For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 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 the earth, and no one can ward off his hand, or say to him, What have you done?"

Wow, what a beautiful recognition of God's sovereignty, God's dignity, God's eternality, God's majesty, God's veracity. Everything about God—He speaks of God as everything. He does this. Who is like Him? And He does whatever He wants. We need to learn that lesson. God can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants. He's in charge.

That gives us great confidence that we go to prayer, right? That we pray to a God who's in charge of everything. And we can go to Him and say, "Lord, you do this. You make it happen. Lord, you're in charge. We're not." And so God would do a work in the life of Nebuchadnezzar.

So the Bible says these words: "At that time, my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out. So I was re-established in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven. For all his works are true, and his ways just, and he is able to humble those who walk in pride."

What a beautiful testimony to a man who came to realize that he wasn't in charge. That he didn't rule over their own mankind. That he wasn't the world ruler that he thought he was. But there is a world ruler, he's called El Elyon. And he humbles whomever he chooses. Because everybody reports to him. Everybody falls under his majesty. So important.

When I think about that, I always am reminded of Peter's words in 1 Peter 5, verse number 6: how we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. God's hand is a mighty hand. And Peter uses a phrase taken right directly from the book of Exodus: the mighty hand of God. Directly relating to Israel's destiny and their discipline. That's the mighty hand of God. Everybody is under the hand of God. He disciplines those whom he chooses. He directs those in the way that they should go. And Peter says that you likewise humble yourselves and do it under the mighty hand of God's purposeful destiny. Because God gives grace to the humble, but he rejects those who are prideful, because he does.

Peter knows a little bit about pride because he was a man filled with pride, right? "Do all men deny you? Not me. I'm Alpha Disciple. I'm top disciple. I'm big dog. And they, they might deny you, but not me." But he did tremendously. Now, they all denied him, right? They all did. They all forsook him and fled. But Peter is marked as one who truly spoke against him publicly. And Peter says, "You know what? You need to humble yourself under God's mighty hand of destiny. He's in charge."

You know, none of us here tonight are world rulers, nor will any of us ever be world rulers. None of us are as powerful as Nebuchadnezzar. But every one of us has that same innate desire to live in the realm of arrogance and pride.

We all do. All of us are selfish. To say that you're not is false humility. We truly are always looking out for our own selves because every man loves his own flesh. So while we may not be world rulers, kings, warriors, commanders, we are people who can very easily fall into the snare of the devil, which is pride and arrogance. It entrapped him. He wants to entrap us in that same way. And so we humble ourselves because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Which allows us to resist Satan. We can only resist him because we humble ourselves under God's sovereign rulership. May that be our desire. May that be what we want to see happen.

Nebuchadnezzar, I truly believe, was born again. He became a believer in the living God. It took some 35 years later, but he did. And God did a great work in his heart, and God can do a work in anybody's heart that you know—your family, friends that you have. I don't care how arrogant they are, God can break them and shatter their soul and bring them to a place of salvation because that's what God does. He saves the arrogant.

Paul was an arrogant fool. Oh, he killed Christians. He was so arrogant, God humbled him and saved him. God does that.

So I don't know who's in your family or what friends you have, or maybe it's even you tonight—you're filled with or deceived by your own arrogance. Please understand that God Himself is the only one who can save you and turn your life around.

God hates pride—He hates it. And all those who walk in pride are an abomination to him. May God give us the grace to humble ourselves before him and to live for the glory of his kingdom and not ours.

Let's pray.

Father, we're grateful for tonight and thank you once again for the opportunity we have to study your word. The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a fabulous story. How you worked in his life and how Daniel was instrumental in all that is so incredibly encouraging.

Yet we know, Lord, that the snare of the devil can easily entrap us. We can become arrogant in our own right. We don't want to do that, Lord. We want to honor you. We don't want to look at what we have done because that's irrelevant. We want to see all that you are and all that you have done and give you glory.

Give you honor, give you praise, exalt your name and not our own. May, Lord, that be us. Please help us to seek your face and your face only. We will give you the praise and honor and glory until we see you face to face, Lord.

In Jesus' name, amen.