I Don't Want To Be Like Nebuchadnezzar, Part 2

Pride. That’s the issue that kept coming up in Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and where it got him. Nebuchadnezzar states three times in Daniel 4 that he has made himself great.  He proclaims that his kingdom is all of his doing. He has proclaimed that his majesty is above all others. God has something to say about that. Chapter 4 records the lesson God gave Nebuchadnezzar to prove that God is supreme over creation and mankind.

Daniel 4:17 is included in Nebuchadnezzar’s retelling of the dream he had: “This sentence is by the 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, And bestows it on whom He wishes, And sets over it the lowliest of men.” This is what the “angelic watcher” was telling the king, in the dream. For some reason, Nebuchadnezzar did not lay aside his pride to acknowledge this truth.

Daniel 4:25 gives us Daniel’s recounting of the dream as he’s giving the interpretation: “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, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” [Emphasis added] So, thus far the angelic watcher has told Nebuchadnezzar the fault in his thinking and the danger his pride is going to bring him, and Daniel in his interpretation of the dream tells Nebuchadnezzar that he needs to recognize the Most High as the ultimate ruler. Then God gives the king a year, exactly twelve months (vs. 29), to repent and change his thinking and attitude. But the king does not do it. If anything, he gets more prideful (vs. 30).

Finally, at the end of his seven-year illness/insanity Nebuchadnezzar finally gets it. Daniel 4:34-35 contains the following statements by the king:

. . . 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.

And 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 earth;

And no one can ward off His hand

Or say to Him, “What has Thou done?”

Nebuchadnezzar’s attitude and perspective has changed. He now praises and honors the all powerful and sovereign God. It was a hard, seven-year, lesson but he finally got the message and chose to worship the one true Most High God. His pride was overcome.

I decided to memorize Proverb 16:18 as a reminder to myself to keep my perspective focused on the Most High God and not on my own accomplishments:

Pride goes before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Hopefully, this will remind me to worship the One and Only Truly Sovereign God.