God is the Greatest
May 8, 2016

Scripture: Daniel 4

I. God uses His greatness to humble you.

A. Nebuchadnezzar begins the story of his humbling experience with the end result (vs. 3). He learned that there is no one like our God. The king had another dream. This time the dream was not about a giant statue. The dream instead was about a giant tree in the midst of the earth (vs. 10). This tree was the center of the universe. Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar (vs. 22) that the king was the tree. Just like the king was the head of gold on the statue in Daniel 2 now the king is the giant tree at the center of the universe. Clearly, Nebuchadnezzar was a great king.

B. I’m sure that the king liked hearing that he was the center of the world. This fed his pride. But disaster was coming for the king. Because of the king’s pride God was going to become a lumberjack (vs. 14). This king who saw himself as a god worthy of the world’s worship according to Daniel chapter 3 was not only going to have his kingdom removed. He was also going to have his humanity removed according to vs. 16. His mind would be changed from a man’s to that of a beast. He needed to learn that God humbles the proud.

II. God uses His greatness to lead us to repent.

A. Daniel gave the king a warning (vs. 27). If the king repented of his sin by turning away from pride and wickedness, then Daniel said perhaps there would be a lengthening of the king’s prosperity. But if Nebuchadnezzar did not repent, the implication was that all the bad things that he dreamed about would happen to him. Daniel said to the king, “If you humble yourself now, then God will not need to humble you later. But if you do not repent of your pride, you are going to find out who really is in control of the universe. You will find out who is the greatest.”

B. God gave Nebuchadnezzar a whole year to repent (vs. 29). But a year later in vs. 30 we read that the king is still full of pride. The king still sees himself as the center of the universe. So God fulfilled everything He told the king would happen in his dream. The king lost his power and position. He became like an animal according to vs. 33. In order to cure Nebuchadnezzar of his deadly pride God had to bring a disaster on him. You don’t want to put God in a position where He must bring you through a disaster in order to get you to change and humble yourself.

III. God uses His greatness to show us mercy.

A. Nebuchadnezzar repented (vs. 36). He looked up to God for mercy. God always gives mercy to the humble. The humble live with two truths in their heart. The first truth is found in the words Jesus spoke in John 15:5: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Without Jesus she can do nothing. But she also has the truth of Philippians 4:13 in her heart: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” The humble person knows that she can accomplish whatever God designs for her to do.

Application:
Ask God for mercy. He reveals His greatness by giving us mercy.

Sources:
The prophecy of Daniel
Commentaries on Daniel by Iain Duguid, Tremper Longman III, and Joyce Baldwin