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Daniel 4
4:1 3:31 in Aramaic</note>">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 2 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. 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 gods3—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.”
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.”
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 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 right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
[1] 4:1
[2] 4:4
[3] 4:8
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Invite you to open your bibles to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. The whole chapter is also in your worship guide. I'm going to begin reading at verse 19. We'll read some of the other parts later.
Jeffrey Heine:Daniel chapter 4 beginning in verse 19. Then Daniel whose name was Belteshazzar was dismissed for or 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. The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to the heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beast of the field found shade, and whose branches the birds of the heaven lived.
Jeffrey Heine:It is you, oh king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one coming down from heaven and saying, chop down the tree and destroy it, Believe the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, and the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beast of the field till 7 periods of time pass over him. This is the interpretation, oh king. It is a decree of the most high, which is come upon my lord the king, That you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field.
Jeffrey Heine:You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and 7 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. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the rocks of the tree, or a stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, oh 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.
Jeffrey Heine:All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 12 months, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence, and for the glory of my majesty? And while the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven. Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox.
Jeffrey Heine: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. 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 eagle's feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. At the end of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the most high, and praise and honor him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
Jeffrey Heine:All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of men and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? 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. 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. Pray with me.
Jeffrey Heine:Our father, we thank you that we get to open up your word and to hear you speak to us through the power of your spirit. That's our hope, and that's our expectation tonight. Lord, I pray that redeemer would be a place where sinners feel welcome, but yet we don't remain in our sin. Where there's freedom to come and to hurt here, yet this would also be a place of healing. And so spirit, we ask that you would do that.
Jeffrey Heine:My words won't do that. Singing won't do that, but you, through the power of your Spirit working in our hearts, can, and that's our hope and expectation. So I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but, lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:John Bunyan, who wrote the classic Pilgrim's Progress, he he was a very gifted preacher. And on one occasion, he was at a church, and he preached a powerful sermon. And right after he had finished preaching this and he was going back to take his seat, a young man whispered in his ear and said, that sermon was amazing. And he said, I know. Satan already told me.
Jeffrey Heine:There is nothing that Satan would rather do than to puff you up and to fuel your pride. We got to see that last week as Jeff preached lead me not to temptation. We got to see that pride was really Peter's downfall. Peter said, if everybody else, all of these nominal Christians over here, if if they fall away, just know that I won't. And how often have we brought that attitude in this place, where we kind of look to the person to right or left, and we think, you know, they're a hypocrite.
Jeffrey Heine:I I love God more than they do. I I'm really lot of times, pride even hits the way that we confess in a church, and we feel superior. A lot of times pride even hits the way that we confess in a church, in which we might pray to God, and say, God, I can't believe I did it again. Would you forgive me? And what we're saying is, I can't believe I.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, I could believe it if all these other people did the same thing, but but me? I I'm different. I'm above these people. Pride even enters into the way we confess our sin. Pride is so prevalent in the church, and Satan uses it to tear us down.
Jeffrey Heine:The story here is about pride. It's about the pride of Nebuchadnezzar. This is the last story we have of King Nebuchadnezzar. Personally, I'm happy because I have to type out his name every time, and and I mess up every single time. This is the story of a man who he reaches the pinnacle of his power, the pinnacle of wealth, he got everything he could possibly want, and then his life fell apart.
Jeffrey Heine:And he was really glad it did. He rejoiced that it did. I I mean, you can't have a greater fall than Nebuchadnezzar had, and yet he tells us that falling from such great heights was the best thing that ever happened to him, because it removed pride from his life, and it drew him closer to God. And he says, it was worth it being humiliated. It was worth it losing everything.
Jeffrey Heine:That's why a lot of the stories in first person, he wants to be the one who tells the story. Now, it begins with Nebuchadnezzar at ease in his palace. If you look at verse 4, it says, I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at at ease in my house, and I was prospering in my palace. So, he's at the height of his power. He has rest from all of his enemies, he seemingly doesn't have a care in the world, and yet just like before, all it takes is a dream.
Jeffrey Heine:All it takes is a thought, and all this comes crashing down. It makes him afraid. He has a dream. This time, the dream is is not of a statue being mighty tree. A tree that's that grows really big, but it's eventually, it's cut down.
Jeffrey Heine:And so he calls for all the magicians, he calls the sorcerers, the Chaldeans. He says, can you interpret this dream for me? And when they can't, he finally goes to Daniel, and this tells where his heart is all along. Despite all the many ways that god has provided for him in the past, the many ways god has spoken for him in the past, he still is only gonna turn to god when he could get no other answers any place else. So he's gonna try every other avenue, and when none of that works, he's like, alright, bring in Daniel.
Jeffrey Heine:Let him tell me what the Lord has to say about this. And then he hears the interpretation, and he is warned by Daniel. And when he hears this warning that he knows is from the Lord, he doesn't change. You get to verse 28, and this happens a year later. We're reading a year later, and now Nebuchadnezzar, he is walking on the roof of his royal palace, and he is looking over his kingdom, and the view from the roof of his palace would have been spectacular.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, we've heard about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that he built. 1 of the 7 wonders of the world, and these are one of the real seven wonders. I know everybody says they're one of the 7 wonders of the world, and I took a trip out west and be like the biggest ball of yarn. 7 wonder of the world. And this is a legitimate, real, 7 one one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Jeffrey Heine:It was spectacular. He he got to see the new temple that he had just built for the god of Marduk. Right next to the temple was a ziggurat he had built that was 288 feet tall. That's a 30 story building. Then he got to see some of the 53 new temples that he had built in his lifetime to all of the other gods that were there.
Jeffrey Heine:And he got to see the the mighty wall that surrounded his whole city, and there was 8 famous gates that people would come to Babylon just to look at the gates. And it was a spectacular sight, and impressive does not begin to describe what he would see there. And he begins to feel pretty good about it. I mean, Babylon is the most powerful city on Earth. He's king of it.
Jeffrey Heine:He's the most powerful king on earth, and so he says so in verse 30. He says, the king answered and said, is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence, and for the glory of my majesty? And it's right here that you see the essence of pride. Pride is built on 2 tragic misunderstandings that you see in that verse right there. There there are 2 words that you need to look at.
Jeffrey Heine:Two words are key to understanding the difference between humility and pride. Let's read it again. It's the words by, and it's the words for. And the king answered and said, is this is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty. Nebuchadnezzar was right to say that Babylon was great.
Jeffrey Heine:He was right to say that he built it, but he was wrong in saying that it was by his power, and it was for his glory. It was by god's mighty power, and it was for god's glory. You see, pride your pride says that you are who you are, and you've gotten to where you've gotten in life, because you have worked harder than other people. Because you're smarter than other people. You've gotten to where you are in life because you deserve to be there.
Jeffrey Heine:Pride says, I'm the cause of the things that happened in my life. I'm the one in control. Therefore, I get to do the things I want for my own glory. And we see that this is delusional thinking. Pride is gonna tell you that you got the job you got because you worked harder than anybody else in school.
Jeffrey Heine:You worked really hard to get those good grades, and so because you did that, and you pursued every single lead, and because you're a likable person, you got the job that you got. Pride is going to tell you that the reason you have the house you have, or do you have the car that you drive is because you made good decisions when other people did not, that you were wise or you were smart enough to make a timely investment. Other others didn't have the foresight that you had. Pride believes that you are the cause of your blessings, and and if you believe that you are the cause of your own blessings, then you will believe that those things are to be used for your glory. And once again, this is delusional.
Jeffrey Heine:It's delusional because everything comes from god. I want you right now to think of the things that have most shaped you in life. The things that have most shaped you and made you who you are. Who here can take credit first for being born? No one can take credit for the very life that they're given.
Jeffrey Heine:Or how about being born into the nation that you were born in? In the time period, the most prosperous time that has ever existed. Can you take credit for that? Forbes Magazine, I was reading this past week, it re recently published an article saying this, that if you were in the lowest 5% in income in America, the lowest 5%, you are still wealthier than 68% of the rest of the world. It says, if you hit the 10%, if you're in the lowest 10% bracket in America, you are still wealthier than the highest 10% in Russia, Portugal, Mexico.
Jeffrey Heine:We have an enormous blessing here in this country at this time. You had nothing to do with that. You were born into it. Do you think that you would be where you are in life if you were born, let's say, to to refugees living in Sudan? If that's where you were born, would you have the same privileges?
Jeffrey Heine:No. You had nothing to do with that. Do you think you would be in the financial position you're in now, let's say, if you were born in 1929, right when the Great Depression is happening? You had nothing to do where you're born, the place you're born in. You had nothing to do with the education that you received as a child.
Jeffrey Heine:You had nothing to do with race, which has greatly shaped every one of us. Health, which has shaped us. One bad blood test, one sick spouse or sick child, and the entire course of your life is altered. And so what we start realizing is the major things that have shaped us, we've had nothing to do with, comes from the Lord's hands. I've heard that if you think other than this, if if you think otherwise, what you're committing is cosmic plagiarism, and I love that term.
Jeffrey Heine:You're you're taking credit for somebody else's work. God is the one who's done the work, but you really want to take credit for it. And what I think is, Georgia, my youngest, she is, she turns 6 this month. A couple of years ago, we went hiking, and we went hiking up a pretty big mountain. And of course, she can't hike up a big mountain.
Jeffrey Heine:And so I had one of those little child carriers, and and she was pretty big for the child carrier, but she was too small to hike up the mountain, but it it didn't matter. I had to put her on my back, and after 2 hours of hiking up this thing, I'm about dead, and she goes, daddy, can we stop? I'm really tired. Like, hiking is just wearing me out. Can I have some more water?
Jeffrey Heine:And this is how we we view our life. God's carrying us up. And we're like, oh gosh, man, this is just exhausting. Can can I have a little more I deserve this for all that I'm doing. Cosmic plagiarism.
Jeffrey Heine:Now now, one of the results of pride, and we see this in Nebuchadnezzar and we certainly feel this in our life. One of the results of pride is we begin seeing everything as a threat. Because if you believe you built your life, then you will believe that somebody or something else can tear it down. If you believe that you're responsible for your own wealth, you'll be scared to death that somebody can take it away from you. So anxiety, deep anxiety is what we see as the deadly fruit of pride.
Jeffrey Heine:Once again, look at Nebuchadnezzar. He's at the height of his profession. There's I don't care how great you are. There's not one person here who can climb up as high as Nebuchadnezzar was. 1 of the 20 most powerful men who has ever lived, and yet all it took was a thought, all it took was a dream to fill him with terror once again.
Jeffrey Heine:Pride does this, and listen, you've heard me confess this. Pastors are not immune. I mean, if anything, pastors struggle with this more than anything because if I believe that this church is something that I built through my own hard work and through my own talents that I have built this, that when I hear about some young pastor starting a church down the street, immediately, I'm gonna feel threatened. And I'm gonna circle the wagons, and I'm gonna wanna build up the walls, and I'm gonna try not to lose anybody. My defenses will be up, and I'll be filled with anxiety.
Jeffrey Heine:Since I built this church, I've got to preserve it. And can can any of you relate to that? Are any of you suffering through anxiety simply from the fear of losing something? Yeah. I I found it interesting that Lauren and my oldest girl, Caroline, they just got there from Haiti, and they work in a pharmacy there, some they're always stocking that.
Jeffrey Heine:And one thing that you're never gonna find in Haiti is, medicine for depression or anxiety. They don't ask for it. And you would think of all the places, but they don't have to fear losing anything because they've lost everything. It's the fear of what might be taken away. The fear of what you have built that somebody else might remove.
Jeffrey Heine:Such anxiety. And some of you are terrified of losing things, and the reason that you are terrified of losing something is because you don't see those things as gifts. You see them as rewards. You see them as payment. You worked hard to get where you are, and you have to work hard to keep it.
Jeffrey Heine:As a result, you're filled with this anxiety and humility is it's the polar opposite of this. Humility sees everything as it's it's unexpected. It's it's an undeserved gift. And because of this, the humble person is always filled with joy. He's always filled with a sense of wonder, of, like, I can't believe I got this.
Jeffrey Heine:Every blessing. You find, think in your mind right now, one of the most humble people you know, and I guarantee you that that person is one of the most joyful people that you know. Because they realize it all comes from the Lord's hand. I don't want you to think please don't think that a humble person, we make this mistake a lot. A humble person is somebody who's always down on their themselves, somebody, you know, with low self esteem.
Jeffrey Heine:That is not humility. It's actually just another form of pride. Because if you're constantly thinking bad about yourself, if you're constantly unhappy, it's because you think you're not getting what you deserve, but your thoughts are still about you and what you deserve and not embracing everything that you have as a gift. Humility is when you understand everything comes from God, and then you joyfully receive it. I I like to think of it this way, pride pride is when when you're always looking inside for something.
Jeffrey Heine:You're you're looking inside for that drink of water that you want, but the problem is you're a broken cistern, and you can't hold water. But you think everything has to originate with you, that you're the cause of everything, so you're always looking inward. Humility is when you don't look inward, you're always looking outward. You're always looking upward at God who is an ever flowing stream, and you're constantly drinking and drinking from the joy that comes from his presence. So far we've looked at the by of pride.
Jeffrey Heine:Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power. Now I want us to look at the 4, the for the glory of my majesty. CS Lewis, one time, he was taking a walk with a friend of his, and he was approached by a beggar who asked for money, and C. S. Lewis gave him, I think, £5, and sent him on his way.
Jeffrey Heine:His friend goes, you you know he's just gonna waste that on booze. And this goes, that's alright. I was gonna do the same thing. And now, why is it that we so often feel like Lewis's friend in that story? Why is it that when we give money to a beggar, if they go and spend it on alcohol, we say, you wasted it.
Jeffrey Heine:But if we were to take that same money and not give it to them, and go home, and buy ourselves a beer, we would say, we deserve it after a long hard day. You waste it, I deserve it. Why do we think that? The reason we feel this way is because we believe that we are responsible for our own wealth and that when we are responsible for it, we get to use it for our own purposes, for our own glory. Well, Daniel, after he interprets this dream for Nebuchadnezzar, he he counsels him as to a way you could avoid judgment, and this is a very, medicinal counsel here.
Jeffrey Heine:He says, please, please do this, and perhaps God will let you prosper, and we see this in verse 27. He says, therefore, oh king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. Break off the sins of break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that they may perhaps that there may be perhaps a lengthening of your prosperity. So, Daniel asked Nebuchadnezzar, show mercy to the oppressed. Now, this looks like it's kind of not attached to pride here, that he's talking about 2 different things.
Jeffrey Heine:Pride is one thing, showing mercy to the oppressed is something else, but they are very closely related. To have mercy on the oppressed or to give money to the poor. This is how we show that we believe everything comes from God's hand, and is to be used for his glory. To give to the poor means that you understand that you are no better than they are. That you cannot make any boast over them.
Jeffrey Heine:That you are not where you are because you're enjoying the just rewards of your hard labor. And I just wanna say, I I realize that this is foreign to a lot of you, and probably a lot of you are are just kind of bowing up against this, because you're looking at somebody who maybe grew up in the same situation you grew up in, maybe in the same family as you've grown up, and they've squandered their life. You've worked really hard. They haven't. So you have savings.
Jeffrey Heine:They don't. You have a good job. They don't. You have a stable family, and they don't, and you're like, it's because I have done all these things. And I realize that, but I want you to quit looking horizontal here.
Jeffrey Heine:Quit looking horizontal, and instead, look vertical. God has given you everything, And there are people who are smarter than you, have worked harder than you, and don't have nearly as much as you do. Everything you have is a gift from God. Quit looking that way and comparing yourself to them, instead, look upwards and be appreciative of all that God has poured into you. Now, there's a very interesting law in the book of Leviticus that I think kind of expounds a little bit what's going on here.
Jeffrey Heine:It gives insight into god's heart in the matter, and and it's a law that god gave the Israelites before they went into the the promised land because he told them in Deuteronomy, he said, when you're going to go into the promised land, I know what's going to happen. You're also gonna get this new land, you're gonna get all this wealth, you're gonna get all these great buildings, and you're gonna begin thinking, we're here by our own power. We we did this. We earned this, and if you don't think that, at least your children are gonna think that, and you're gonna forget that it's me who delivered you from the Egyptians. Me who delivered you from bondage.
Jeffrey Heine:And as a way of helping them to remember this, in Leviticus 25, he sets up a law, and it's called the year of jubilee. The year of jubilee. And what the year jubilee is is every 50 years, the Israelites were to give back all of their money, all of their land back to the original clan that it came from, and it was to be redistributed equally among everybody. Every 50 years. So if you had bought property, if you had accumulated all these cattle, if you had bought land, all of it at 50 years goes back.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a crazy law. Alright? If you're thinking, how in the world could you implement that, you're you're not alone. The Israelites never did it. Okay?
Jeffrey Heine:They never did it. There there's never a record of them ever doing the the year of jubilee, because it's crazy, and it's not fair. It's not fair. Why should I have to do that? I worked so hard to get where I was.
Jeffrey Heine:God's not up there saying, hey. I'm you know, I'm setting up a law to try to rob you of joy. You know, that's really I'm I'm up here. There's a lot of laws. There's over 600 of them in the in the bible.
Jeffrey Heine:Most of them are just to annoy you. Alright? God's not like that. So this isn't to rob you of joy, this is to keep you ever looking at me, and I'm a fountain of joy. This is to get rid of your anxiety, to get rid of your pride.
Jeffrey Heine:So that every 50 years, you get a restart button, and you have to look up at me, and you're reminded that everything comes from my hand. Everything. What Daniel asked Nebuchadnezzar to do is equally insane. I mean, we kind of read, okay, show mercy to the oppressed or give give to the poor, but if you think at what or Nebuchadnezzar is being asked to do here, you realize this is pretty astonishing because Nebuchadnezzar has built his entire empire off oppressing the poor. He's literally gone into country after country after country, and ripped away their wealth, brought it into Babylon.
Jeffrey Heine:Taken people to be slaves and used their slave labor to build everything, his entire empire, his legacy, all of it is built on oppression. And so what Daniel is asking him to do, let it all go. Can he let it all go? Can you trust God that he can be the one to make you prosperous? Nebuchadnezzar says, not a chance.
Jeffrey Heine:A year goes by, and finally, he he says that those words of pride, and he says, look at everything I have built, and the result is God gives him this rare disease. It's called lycanthropy. I I had to look it up. Lycanthropy. It's it's a rare mental illness, and it's still around today where you actually think that you're an animal.
Jeffrey Heine:And and Nebuchadnezzar gets this, and so he he begins living outside. He begins, yes, endure the elements. He begins grazing like an ox for 7 times. We don't know what that is. 7 seasons, 7 months, or 7 years.
Jeffrey Heine:We're not sure. Whatever the the complete period is, he has to endure this. And what you're seeing here is that the punishment is fitting the crime. Because we were made as humans, we were made as humans to be ever looking up at God, and to be ever receiving joyfully from his hand. And when we begin looking inward, and trying to think we're the cause of everything, trying to drink from a cistern that's broken, when we begin looking inward, we become less than human.
Jeffrey Heine:We're going against what we were created to be. We become an animal, and that's what happens to Nebuchadnezzar. So what is the cure for all of this? As always, we look to Jesus. We look to Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:No other gospel so demonstrates the pride of man and humility of Jesus as the gospel of John. I'm so thankful that we've been working through this during the season of Lent in our devotions. It's in John that you find Jesus standing before Pilate, and I love this line. Pilate, in all of his pride and all of his arrogance, he says, don't you know it is in my power to release you? Jesus, it is in my power to crucify you.
Jeffrey Heine:And Jesus is almost always silent at trial. He actually speaks here, and he just says, no, it's not. You have no authority over me unless it has been given to you by God. And it says, and Pilate sought to release him. He saw authority.
Jeffrey Heine:He knew authority when he saw it. And it's in the same gospel when we get to John 13 that it says that Jesus, now knowing that the father has given him everything. Okay. So the father has given him everything. That's the world.
Jeffrey Heine:That's all rulership has given him everything. It says that he stood up from the table, and he got a towel, and he washed his disciples' feet. He humbled himself before them. Philippians 2 says that although Jesus was equal with God, and by that, it means that Jesus rightfully deserves everybody's affection, that that he can't commit pride because he deserves all honor. He has all authority.
Jeffrey Heine:That even though he was equal with God, he let it go. He let it go, and he humbled himself, and he took on the form of a servant, not just any servant, but one who went to the cross. And what we see is that Jesus lived the humble life we should have lived, and he died the humiliating life that we should have died. I mean, we live in anxiety over losing something, the possibility of losing something, but Christ lost everything for us. He did so that we might be forgiven and that we might be changed by him.
Jeffrey Heine:And so now we see that verse 27 really is true. When you look at verse 27, that this counsel, when we look at Jesus, says, therefore, oh king, let my counsel be accepted acceptable to you. Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. We have failed to do that, just like Nebuchadnezzar, but we can see Jesus who did never sin. Jesus who was completely righteous, Jesus who did serve the poor, actually lived among the poor, was poor.
Jeffrey Heine:He did that on our behalf in order that we might have the lengthening of our prosperity, or an order that we might be given a kingdom that will never be shaken. Christ has done that for us. And with his spirit living inside of us, that same spirit of humility now should flow through us. Not of humiliation, but of humility, which brings joy. Pray with me.
Jeffrey Heine:Lord, we confess. We believe that we got our job by our own power, and therefore, we get to do what we want for our own glory. We got our friends by our own power. We get to use it for our own glory. We we got our health by our own power, and we get to use it for our own glory.
Jeffrey Heine:So, lord, right now in this moment, we humbly, in our hearts, bow before you, and we say you are the author of all things. Everything we have is not a reward. It's not a payment. It is simply a blessing that comes from your hand, and we are so grateful. God, I want to be a joyful person.
Jeffrey Heine:And to do that, I've gotta look outside of myself and lift my eyes to you. And I pray that in this moment, in our midst, that that would happen with all of us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.