The Reflection of a King - pt.3 (2)

We have been going through Daniel chapter 4 and looking at “The Reflection of a King”. Last week we looked at this second dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had (his first dream is recorded in Chapter 2).

You might remember that he called all of his occult advisors in to interpret the dream and once again they could not. Daniel comes in and N relays the dream to him… Today, as we look at part 3 of this chapter, we are going to see the interpretation of this 2nd dream.

As we get into the interpretation of N’s dream this morning, I want to start out by saying a few things… I touched on this in a previous message, when N presented the “Dream Challenge” back in chapter 2…

Research has concluded that dreams may be caused for a variety of reasons.

You may dream because of poor blood circulation

because of improper ventilation

because you are in an uncomfortable sleeping position

What you dream can be affected by the food you eat

It can also be affected by what you think about, watch, or read just before going to sleep.

However, dreams today are NOT new revelations from God. It is through prayer and the studying of God’s Word that we are guided, by the Holy Spirit, to God’s perfect plan for our lives.

Remember, back in Daniel’s day, they did not have the complete written word of God and so yes, at times, God did use dreams in order to reveal His will to different people. We are going to look at the interpretation of one of those dreams today…

Turn in your Bible to Daniel 4… as we look at…

The Reflection Of A King - pt.3

The Dream’s Interpretation:

Meat:

Last week we looked at the dream as N described it to Daniel and now this week Daniel is repeating each part of the dream as he gives N the interpretation of it.

But before he gives the interpretation… the first thing that I want you to take note of this morning is…

1. Daniel’s Hesitation

Daniel 4:19 “19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him… ”

Where the NKJV says that Daniel was astonished, it seems that every translation has there own word there… Daniel was Dismayed, Greatly perplexed, Appalled… Daniel was stunned for a time…

I believe it is the KJV that puts an actual time stamp on this… and says that he was “astonished for one hour”… but it was…

1.1 Not For Lack Of Understanding

The reason that Daniel hesitated to give the interpretation of the dream was not because he didn’t know what the interpretation was. He knew exactly what the interpretation was and that is why he hesitated…

Daniel hesitated…

1.2 Because Of The Message

He knew that N was anxious to hear what this dream meant, but he also knew that it wasn’t good news for N…

Ill: Think of it this way… You make the decision to go to medical school because you want to help people live a long, healthy life. You are fresh out of medical school and are starting to build a portfolio of new patients… A 20 year old patient comes in for some minor abdominal pain, you figure its probably just a stomach bug but you order a few scans anyway, just to be safe…

Scans come back and there it is… A big tumor that is engulfing several vital organs… no biopsy needed, all the signs are there… its cancer and there is no treatment that will stop it or slow down its growth…

This isn’t what you wanted to do… you wanted to help people… people go to the doctor to get help with their sicknesses… and now I have to tell this 20 year old that they only have… maybe 3 months to live and there is nothing we can do…

I bet you’d hesitate a little before making that phone call or stepping back into that exam room, to give your patient the news…

We know that Daniel was a man of prayer and it would stand to reason that a major focus point of his prayer would be that N, this pagan king, would turn his heart to the One True God of Heaven.

It is possible that Daniel may have even seen some subtle changes in N before this dream was revealed… but now Daniel realizes that it is going to take a much more unpleasant experience for N to truly know The One, True, Sovereign God.

Dr. David Jeremiah, in his book “Agents of Babylon”, quotes the 19th century scholar C. F. Keil who writes, “As Daniel at once understood the interpretation of the dream, he was for a moment so astonished that he could not speak for terror at the thoughts which moved his soul. The amazement seized him because he wished well to the king, and yet he must now announce to him a weighty judgement from God.”

The rest of v. 19 shows us that Daniel hesitated…

1.3 In-spite of the King’s Anxiousness

Daniel 4:19 “19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!”

N knows that Daniel is a man of God and that he will not mince his words, so, he tells him “just tell me what the dream means”. Nebuchadnezzar knows that it must be significant and that it has something to do with him…

So finally, Daniel speaks up… and he expresses his wish that the dream applied to the king's enemies and not to the king. “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!”

The second thing that I want you to take note of is…

2. Daniel’s Interpretation

The interpretation ultimately came from God, but He gave it through Daniel, so I have labeled it as Daniel’s Interpretation…

Daniel begins to explain the features of the dream majoring upon three specific things...

First of all… “The Tree”, Which represented Nebuchadnezzar…

2.1 The Tree - Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 4:20-22 “20 “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, 21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.”

I mentioned last week that as you study God’s Word you will see that trees are often used in a symbolic way… I gave you several examples from the book of Psalms…

Trees are often used in Scripture to symbolize political authority such as kings, nations and empires…

Ezekiel 31:3 NKJV

3 Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs.

Amos 2:9 NKJV

9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was as strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit above And his roots beneath.

2.1 The Tree - Nebuchadnezzar

Getting back to N’s dream… The towering tree in the middle of the Earth represented the king and his empire. This included many things. The empire's economic prosperity, the protection and security that it provided, the greatness that it had achieved...

The military strength, the vast expansion, and the impact of its influence around the world… … All these achievements had been primarily accomplished during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. So, this mighty tree represented the king and his empire… …

Daniel continues with the interpretation and the next feature is… “The Message” - which was a message of judgement…

2.2 The Message - Judgement

Daniel 4:23-25 “23 “And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him’; 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

N has a problem with pride… so much so, that it morphs into a problem with violent anger. This was evident in chapter 3 when he forced everyone to bow down to his golden statue and tried to incinerate the three men that chose not to bow down.

The message that N recieved stated that God was going to judge him for his sinful pride, in a way that would turn his prideful heart into a humble one… Let me break it down for you…

Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world at the time, was going to be humiliated. Being drenched with the dew of heaven and living like the animals was a symbol of the king's losing his mind. He would become insane, living outside like a beast exposed to the elements. His wild, irrational behavior would last for seven long years.

It can be hard to imagine what this looks like… but John MacArthur illustrates it this way...

“If you can imagine, for example, the president of the United States becoming a raving maniac, stuck out on the White House lawn, and enclosed in a little fence where everybody could see him, crawling around, eating grass for seven years,… (if you can imagine that) you might begin to conceive what was going on.”… …

What an incredible, unbelievable humiliation… His insanity was actually a discipline of God and would continue until he finally humbled himself and acknowledged that God is sovereign - - that God Alone controls all the kingdoms and affairs of the human race.

And then the last thing that Daniel hones in on during this interpretation was… “The Stump”, which symbolized Restoration...

2.3 The Stump - Restoration

Daniel 4:26 “26 “And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.”

The reason the stump was left was because Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t going to die. But after 7 years, he would get his throne back again, after he learned his lesson.

Although the towering tree was cut down, a stump with roots was left. Nebuchadnezzar would be physically healed and restored to the throne of Babylon.

But remember that his healing and his restoration would not take place until he acknowledged the Lord and that it is the Lord alone Who rules and controls the affairs of this world…

In his notes, Pastor Thompson says this “God is the One who controls the time of the humiliation and the time of the exaltation… One might ask - How long does the humiliation last?… … Until we learn the lessons that God wants us to learn.”

In looking at our passage of Scripture this morning, we have taken note of…

Daniel’s Hesitation…

Daniel’s Interpretation…

And finally this morning… I want you take note of…

3. Daniel’s Appeal

Daniel 4:27 “Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.””

Daniel’s appeal to N was for…

3.1 Repentance

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he needs to repent of and turn from his sins. He needs to turn to God and to a life of righteousness. Daniel advises N to repent in order to reverse the coming judgment.

Daniel also makes the appeal that for N to…

3.2 Live Righteously

N should no longer live selfishly, coveting more and more wealth and neglecting the poor of society. No longer should he oppress and exploit people nor allow injustice within the courts of the empire… He had to establish a society of mercy and justice…

There was only one way that Nebuchadnezzar could escape the judgment… if he truly repented of his sins and lived righteously, to honor Almighty God.

Closing:

The warning that God gave to N through this dream, is the exact same warning that He gives to us…

God's judgment will come upon the sinful and wicked people of this earth. Everyone who commits evil of any kind will have to face God's judgement…

But as always, God gives us a plan of escape… and we have the same escape that was offered to King Nebuchadnezzar… That escape is repentance, true repentance.

If we genuinely renounce our sins and live righteously, we will escape the condemnation of God. The Lord will accept us and give us the wonderful inheritance of eternal life.

Isaiah 55:7 NASB95

7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

The reality of the matter is… that there are many alive today who have a false sense of security… They think they will get to heaven because they go to church, they give to charity, they don’t smoke or drink, they don’t cuss… they have all sorts of reasons…

But when the day comes that God sends a messenger to cut down their personal tree of life… none of those reasons will amount to anything without true repentance, and righteous living for God.

Those who have put their faith in Christ, repented of their sins and live in a way that honors God, don’t have anything to worry about… “For God will abundantly pardon” them…

However, those who have not repented of their sins, have not asked Christ to forgive them, and are not living in an honorable way… they need to realize that they are on shaky ground…

God has given us His written Word and has given us the same warning that He spoke to N.

James 4:14 “… you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

In other words… tomorrow is not a guarantee… the time of Salvation is now.

Acts 16:31 “... “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved… ”” Don’t let your pride get in the way… Humble yourself before God, repent of your sins and live righteously by obeying His Word…

Prayer:

Lord, you tell us to ourselves before you and in return you will exalt us…

Help us to heed Daniel’s appeal...

To repent and live righteously...

Help us to live humbly… Not pridefully

and if we boast about anything… let it be about what you have done for us through Your Son, Jesus Christ…