Bulletins - Sheridan Lake Bible Church -9

His Mercy Is More
From Everlasting (Psalm 90)
Approach My Soul
- - Ephesians 2:8–10KJV1900
All the Way My Savior Leads Me
His Strength Is Perfect
A Shelter In The Time Of Storm (Shelter In Storm)
My Jesus I Love Thee
Let’s begin this morning in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
We come to You, Jehovah Tsur, the Lord our Rock. You are the One we can come to when we are facing storms in our life and in You we find Shelter. You are the Rock Divine, our Refuge dear, our Helper Who is always near.
Father now, as we look into the pages of Your Word, we ask that You would speak to us, that our hearts and minds would attentive to the powerful truths from this mornings passage as You sovereignty, even over powerful pagan rulers becomes clear. May we trust in Your sovereignty in our life as well, trusting Your perfect plan in our lives.
Father, may we diligently apply what we learn this morning, that we would become more and more like Jesus.
We pray these things in His matchless Name,
Amen.
Would you please turn in your copies of God’s Word to Daniel chapter 4. We will be reading verses 1-18 shortly, so please have these verses marked and ready for that time.
All month long we have been focusing on Sola Gratia, pointing out each week that the salvation we have received through Jesus is by grace, through faith alone. In fact Sola Gratia means Grace Alone. In this mornings passage we will also see that, more often than not, God’s great patience precedes His great grace. While our current passage covers a period of 8 years, God’s patience with King Nebuchadnezzar began at least 27 years earlier, in Daniel chapter 2, after Daniel not only gave the king an interpretation to his dream, but actually told the king exactly what his dream was, something non of his other advisors could accomplish. As a result, in verse 47, King Nebuchadnezzar declared; “
English Standard Version Chapter 2
“Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery”
God continued to provide proof of His sovereignty in chapter 3, last weeks passage, when He protected Hananiah, Azariah and Misheal in the fiery furnace, which occured 10-17 years before this mornings passage. Chapter 3 culminates with the kings powerful declaration in Daniel 3:28
Daniel 3:28 ESV
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who has sent His angel and delivered His servants, who trusted in Him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.”
His sovereignty over all things is undeniable, yet we find out in chapter 4 that King Nebuchadnezzar is still holding on to his own pride, not yet willing to acknowledge that the God of Daniel is the One Who lifts kings up and puts them down. By the end of chapter 4 he finally takes hold of the grace God had given to him.
With that, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word?
Daniel 4:1–18 ESV
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 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 gods—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.”
May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.
As we begin this morning’s passage, we are introduced to;
The Testimony of a Gentile King.
Daniel chapter 4 is an incredibly unique chapter compared to the rest of Scripture. It comes entirely from the writings of a Gentile king. Either Daniel, in the original writings, which by the way there are no original manuscripts of any portion of Scripture, only copies. But back to my original thought, either Daniel, in the original writings inserted chapter 4 literally from the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar, or he copied, verbatim, what the king wrote. This is the only place in all of Scripture where an entire portion of Scripture comes from the hand of a Gentile king.
There are other small portions attributed to pagan kings, such as;
Cyrus the Great: The decree of Cyrus authorizing the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is quoted in Ezra 1:2-4 and 2 Chronicles 36:23.
The next small portion attributed to a pagan king was;
Darius the Great: A memorandum and decree from Darius authorizing the completion of the Temple, found in Ezra 6:3-12.
And the last;
Artaxerxes I: A letter from Artaxerxes to Ezra, giving him authority and resources, which is recorded in Ezra 7:12-26.
These documents function similarly to Daniel 4, where the foreign monarch’s own words are included, highlighting God's sovereignty over secular rulers. God’s sovereignty is all the more highlighted by the fact that King Cyrus was written about by the prophet Isaiah 100 years before he was born, and Isaiah literally named him and gave specific details about what he would accomplish 150 years before he fulfilled what was accomplished. We see this in Isaiah 44:28
Isaiah 44:28 ESV
“..who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he shall fulfill all My purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid. ”
Isaiah wrote this around 700 BC, King Cyrus wasn’t born until between 600-590 BC, and he issued his decree around 538-537 BC.
By the way, a related side note on this, Daniel was alive when Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire. Which we will read about in Daniel chapter 5, and it is widely believed by Biblical historians that Daniel literally showed Cyrus the scroll of Isaiah and pointed out to him how he was literally name by God 150 years earlier and 100 years before he was even born.
Back to our heading of;
The Testimony of a Gentile King
Chapter 4, in it’s entirety, is the literal testimony of a Gentile king. It begins with him lifting praises to the God of heaven.
King Nebuchadnezzar Praises the God of Heaven. Daniel 4:2-3
We read; Daniel 4:2-3
Daniel 4:2–3 ESV
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.
Don’t forget, if we look back at chapter 2 and Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the giant statue, Daniel makes it clear that only One will have an everlasting reign, and it wasn’t Nebuchadnezzar! Then in chapter 3, we kinda get the impression that Nebuchadnezzar was challenging that vision when he had an idol made, perhaps in his image, which was completely covered in gold.
How much of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in chapter 2, was made of Gold?
(Only the head)
Who did the head of gold represent?
(King Nebuchadnezzar)
So you can easily presume that Nebuchadnezzar was challenging the interpretation of Daniel. What we see starting in verses 28-33 of chapter 4 does nothing but solidify that thought. Which will will look at next week.
From here we move to;
King Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Dream. Vs. 4-17
It would be hard to forget his 1st dream in chapter 2, where God laid out His plan from the days of Nebuchadnezzar until a time yet to come. Many theologians have given that dream, given to a Gentile king, and its historic interpretation the label “The Time of the Gentiles”. Really for a couple of reasons, the key one being that the dream, while relevant to Jew and Gentile alike, mostly revolved around Gentile rulers. Another thing to note, and I believe I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, starting in the second part of chapter 2 verse 4 and continuing through chapter 7 verse 28, everything was recorded in Aramaic, not Hebrew. The only other Old Testament book that included a significant portion in Aramaic is the Book of Ezra, where Ezra is recording historic documents and correspondence from the Persian Empire.
Let’s look at this second dream. Daniel 4:5
Daniel 4:5 ESV
I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.
As I just mentioned, this portion of Daniel was written in Aramaic. the Aramaic word Nebuchadnezzar used for “afraid” meant “to slink” or in our vernacular “to flee, to make afraid, terrified”. When we get to the interpretation next week, as well as how it was fulfilled, we will clearly understand the terror. Verse 5 ends with the king stating the dream alarmed him. The NASB translates the Aramaic word as “kept alarming me”. In other words, this was not merely a momentary time of being alarmed, it had a lasting affect on the king. Next we see the king decree to;
Summon His Advisors. Vs. 6
Look at verse 6;
Daniel 4:6 ESV
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.
We find out in the following verses that whoever did the summoning neglected to summon the wisest of all of his advisors, he neglected to summon Daniel.
Notice the difference with what takes place here in chapter 4 with what took place in chapter 2.
What did Nebuchadnezzar demand of his advisors in chapter 2?
(He demanded they not only interpret the dream, but tell him the dream!)
What do we see here in chapter 4 verse 7?
(He told them what the dream was.)
Do you remember what I told you a couple weeks ago in reference to how they were able to, somewhat, accurately interpret dreams?
They had studied dreams, documented dreams, documented who had the dreams, their status in the empire, what followed after the dreams. As a result they had libraries filled with books written about dreams. Which meant when some one would come to them with a dream, they would thumb through their libraries and find a dream and scenario similar to the dream they were being asked about and used that knowledge to provide an interpretation of the current dream.
Perhaps right now your wondering, “Why is that important in this instance? Which honestly is an excellent question. It is important because of what we read at the end of verse 7.
The Advisor Wouldn’t Provide an Interpretation. Vs. 7
I used the word “wouldn’t” in this slide on purpose. In my mind there is no conceivable way, or as Vizzini so eloquently put it in The Princess Bride, “”It’s inconceivable” that the advisors could not come up with an interpretation. Not with all the research they had done, not with the volume after volume after volume of books on dreams. I mean seriously, lets take a moment and look at parts of the dream.
Daniel 4:10–12 ESV
“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.
I can see some confusion initially, that is until you get to verses 15 & 16, which we will look at shortly. Once you get there, it becomes abundantly clear, especially in light of all of their research on dreams and interpretations, that the tree represents a man and not foliage. Undoubtably and incredible man, a man unlike any other man on the face of the earth, but non-the-less a man.
Had the dream stopped at verse 12, everyone of the advisors hands would have shot up in the air!
“I know, I know, King Nebuchadnezzar. You’re the tree! The tree represents you! Your the tree in the middle of the earth! I mean think about it highly honored king. It has to be you, all of the known world revolves around you! The tree has great height, well no one is higher than you. And as far as the tree growing stronger and stronger, is anyone stronger than you? And you just keep getting stronger! And then there’s the top reaching to heaven, have you forgotten, the God of heaven literally gave you a dream! Then there’s the beautiful leaves, abundant fruit and food for all. Shade for all of the beasts of the field and branches for the birds of the air, all flesh being fed from the tree. This has to be you, all of the known world is dependent upon you for practically everything!”
Had the dream stopped at verse 12, every one of them would have given the same interpretation. Unfortunately for them, the dream continued;
Daniel 4:13–17 ESV
“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.”
Look at the end of verse 15, the last 2 sentences. “Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.” It is clear here that this tree undoubtably represents a man!
As bad as verse 15 is, look at verse 16; “Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him”.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of his advisors. As we have stated before, King Nebuchadnezzar was anything but a reasonable man. Just in Daniel alone he is quick to threaten “tearing you limb from limb”. Making your home a “dung heap”. And here you are standing before him, there is little doubt in your mind the tree in the dream represents the king. Chances are you have witnessed multiple executions that took place by hasty decisions of the king. Would you interpret the dream? I highly doubt it.
Even less likely when we read verse 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.” Are you going to tell the king that the only reason he is even in power is because the God of heaven put him in power? Sure Daniel made this clear to the king, but that was years and years ago, and Daniel…..well Daniel was special!
On top of that, would you accuse the king of being “the lowliest of men”? Yeah……. not a chance!
This brings us to our closing verse, verse 18. There is one particular word in verse 18 that stands out to me, in our translations the word is holy. As I’ve mentioned, these verses were written in Aramaic. The Aramaic for “holy” meant “sacred, the Most High”, in the Hebrew it meant “separate or set apart”. Over the years King Nebuchadnezzar had learned a very important lesson.
The God of Daniel was “set apart” from all other gods.
He was superior!
He was in control!
His powers were unlimited!
He could literally open Daniels eyes up to a dream he himself didn’t dream!
He held all of time in the palm of his hands!
He had power over the fire in a fiery furnace, could control the flames in such a way that they could burn the ropes off of men who were thrown into the fire, but not burn them, not singe their hair, not burn their clothes, not even leave the smell of smoke on them.
And Daniel had a very special relationship with that God, so much so that He would reveal mysteries to him. Thus we read in Daniel 4:18
Daniel 4:18 ESV
“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.”
However, as I said at the close last Sunday, the head knowledge of the king had yet to move from his head to his heart. Which was a big reason why God Gave him yet another dream. As we will see next week, 8 years from the dream, his knowledge of God would move from a head knowledge to a heart knowledge.
Which in some ways brings us back to the beginning this morning. Don’t worry, I’m not going to start from the beginning and preach the sermon again, although I could because, honestly, I love this stuff, it is so powerful!
But at the beginning this morning I mentioned that the grace of God, that Sola Gratia, grace alone, through faith alone, that brings about salvation, is always preceded by God’s immeasurable patience. A patience for King Nebuchadnezzar lasted for at least 35 years.
The question each of us must answer is this, has my knowledge of God made the necessary journey from my head to my heart. A journey that brings with it a transformed life. Don’t forget, what King Nebuchadnezzar knew of Daniel’s God;
He was superior!
He was in control!
His powers were unlimited!
He could literally open Daniels eyes up to a dream he himself didn’t dream!
He held all of time in the palm of his hands!
He had power over the fire in a fiery furnace, could control the flames in such a way that they could burn the ropes off of men who were thrown into the fire, but not burn them, not singe their hair, not burn their clothes, not even leave the smell of smoke on them.
Have you surrendered your life to Him in a way that transforms? If not, why don’t you make that move today?
Let’s close our time in prayer.
- - Daniel 3:28KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:1–18KJV1900
- - Isaiah 44:28KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:2–3KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:5KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:6KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:10–12KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:13–17KJV1900
- - Daniel 4:18KJV1900
God Will Take Care of You
May the Lord

Ephesians 2:8–10KJV1900

Daniel 3:28KJV1900

Daniel 4:1–18KJV1900

Isaiah 44:28KJV1900

Daniel 4:2–3KJV1900

Daniel 4:5KJV1900

Daniel 4:6KJV1900

Daniel 4:10–12KJV1900

Daniel 4:13–17KJV1900

Daniel 4:18KJV1900