Daniel 4

Daniel is the author of the book, but Nebuchadnezzar is the one telling the story of chapter 4. It is his testimony – his personal account of how the Lord changed his life. Daniel knew the story well and was probably very excited to add it to his book. The story is an incredible picture of God’s sovereignty. He knows exactly what He is doing even in the midst of what we would see as a horrible tragedy.

The great tragedy was not the outcast of Nebuchadnezzar from his throne and kingdom. That was tragic for Nebuchadnezzar, but it was extremely small compared to the overall picture. Remember who Nebuchadnezzar was. He was the king of Babylon who overthrew Jerusalem and all of Judah. Judah was the last of the two kingdoms of Israel to fall. Israel (the northern kingdom) fell about 150 years earlier to the Assyrians. Judah was the only kingdom to have kings who feared the Lord, although they were few. The conquering of Judah was the final blow to God’s chosen people. Israel as a nation has never really recovered. But the Lord was still at work. That’s what is so amazing about Him.

He warned His people over and over, but in the end, they did not listen. Read Deuteronomy 8 and see the warnings of becoming too content in your own power. So tragedy struck at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He slaughtered many of God’s chosen people and took many as captives (see 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chron. 36). He selected the best of the captives and made them eunuchs within his palace walls. This most certainly included Daniel and his friends. Daniel 1:3 and Isaiah 39:7 use the Hebrew term for eunuchs. The term “official” is used in some translations. Here is Wikipedia’s definition of a eunuch: “A eunuch is a castrated man, in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past. Servants or slaves were usually castrated in order to make them safer servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence.” This was the strict practice of any king of that day, and especially Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a very evil king who had no mercy upon God’s people. He kept some alive only for his own benefit. But the Lord had a different benefit in mind for Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar’s first acknowledgement of the one true God was at the end of chapter 3. "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." He acknowledged the Lord in a very serious and reverent manner, but he did not seek after Him. The Lord was not done. Respectable reverence was not what the Lord was looking for – even though the king would tear any opposition limb from limb and turn their house into a rubbish heap!

Chapter 4 is about the continuation of successfully bringing a VERY proud man to his knees in true desperation – so that in response he would give his entire life over to the Lord. It was God’s plan. He took the sin of man and brought glory to Himself. God’s chosen people rebelled and they experienced a time of great tragedy – brutal death, loss of freedom, destruction of home and family, castration, and slavery. Daniel was right in the middle of it. All by the hand of an evil king who is now praising the name of the Lord. "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."

Can you imagine the tears of joy running down Daniel’s face as he wrote this story? Through such great loss came such tremendous victory. One day we will be able to sit in person and listen to the full version of this story told by these two men – side by side.

What will it take for the Lord to humble us before Him?

--David Jones, CEO