When Pride Breaks | Daniel 4 | May 24th, 2025

One dream. One towering tree. One sentence that cuts through our noise: “the Most High rules the kingdom of men.” Daniel 4 is a story about the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, but it lands on all of us because pride rarely announces itself. Sometimes it looks like competence, independence, or the quiet belief that we can run our lives without help, without prayer, and without surrender.

We walk through the dream that turns from a beautiful picture of strength into a warning from heaven, then we sit with the mercy tucked inside the severity: the stump remains, the suffering has a limit, and God’s intent is restoration, not destruction. Along the way, we notice Daniel’s surprising heart for the king who harmed him and connect that to Jesus’ call to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you.

We also get practical about repentance, because Daniel’s counsel is not sentimental. Repentance is not vague regret; it is turning with action, practicing righteousness, and showing mercy where we have ignored it. The turning point for Nebuchadnezzar is simple and life-changing: he lifts his eyes to heaven, and his reason returns.

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Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Reading

Will Hawk 0:53

I was hoping that you were like having some good conversation and we had to send Thomas, but was you want to get a mic too? We have them up here. There's one, right? You want this one?

unknown 1:02

Hey everybody.

Will Hawk 1:02

Hey guys, this is Nora. Somehow she got on staff at this place. We're not sure exactly how that happened. Okay, hang on. Tell me what you were doing before you came in. How'd you get stuck out there instead of being in here?

SPEAKER_01 1:16

I was talking to servant volunteers.

Will Hawk 1:18

All right, we'll let it pass. All right, where does everybody need to flip?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Okay, we're gonna do Daniel chapter four on page 740 in the Pew Bibles. And you're gonna follow along as I read God's word. But um yeah, I'll tell you, I'm Nora. So if you text 812 Midtree, um, I get those texts. So the I'm the lady who responds to you. If you want to get plugged in, please text me and I'll help you get plugged into the church. Okay. Um, Daniel 4, verse 4. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. 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 uh interpretation of the dream. 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.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

At last Yango came in before me, he who is named Beltishar, after the name of my God, and whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and I told him the dream, saying O Beltishar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in your in you, and there in that no mystery is too difficult for you. Tell me the visions of my dreams that I saw in their interpretation. The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these. I saw and behold the tree of the mist of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

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. This is the word of the Lord.

Will Hawk 3:17

Thank you, Nora and crew. I got it. Yeah, you can leave that one. And then Reagan, if you want, you can just stick that one on the handle right there. That'd be great. Well, good morning, guys. Excited to hang out with you. As you can see, we're in Daniel chapter four. It's just one of the neatest chapters in all of the book of Daniel because Daniel barely makes a glimpse into it. The main character of this chapter is actually Nebuchadnezzar. And I wasn't joking when I said, I love the fact that we would begin with a little bit of humiliation because that is what this chapter is going to be about. You're going to watch the mightiest man on the earth at the time be absolutely humiliated. However, let me breach from just general good storytelling and tell you the end of the story from the beginning. The reason is I want you to be able to lean into this. None of you are kings. None of you have any type

Why Daniel 4 Is About Worship

Will Hawk 4:11

of wealth, power, or prominence compared to what Nebuchadnezzar has. Very few of us can relate to Daniel's experience. And I want you to be able to lean into this. So this text, and therefore this sermon, is going to have some weighty, gravity, uh contemplative, thoughtful pieces. But this is really a chapter of worship. This is a chapter I love. Where's Luke? Luke, Luke, Luke, where you at? Is he getting coffee now? Dude, who whose idea was I'm coming back to the heart of worship from 1998? Was that the wife's? Bro, I I made myself like finish the coffee and run in here because I haven't sung I'm coming back to the heart of worship since I was like in my 20s five years ago. And so I wanted to quiet you, quiet you. Dude, I literally made a beeline. There are people I should have loved so much better in the hallway. And I was like, sorry, we're singing I'm coming back to the heart of worship. I gotta get in there. This is Nebuchadnezzar not coming back to the heart of worship. He's finding it. He's finding for the very first time what hopefully many of us need to remind ourselves of. And so uh what I'm titling this sermon is A Mad King, a beastly fall, and restoring grace. And I will tell you, we will not spend the majority of our time on that last piece, but it is the baseline, it is the kick drum of the entire text in Daniel chapter four. If you want the notes, most of you know what to do, and you are already doing it. Daniel chapter four is an autobiography. It begins with Nebuchadnezzar saying, I want to take a moment and tell you my side of the story. I want to tell you what it was like to be me for a moment. You've been reading about me. Now let me invite you into my own life and my own world. Now, this has already been read to you, but I just want you to notice all of the worship that is tucked into it. And I want you to see this really is an autobiography. King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, I want the world to know what the king of heaven has done for me. Now, I hope this is not a point in my sermon. All of you need a Daniel chapter four type of reality in your life. Uh, whether it lives on a note on your phone, whether you shared your testimony at 10 years old next to a swimming pool before you got baptized on June 2nd of 1992, whatever it is, you need to have a Daniel chapter 4 short breakdown of what the Lord has done for you. And if you wouldn't even know where to begin, if you're questioning, if God has done anything good for you, please stay tuned. I think he has a lot in store for us this morning. To all the peoples, I want you to know this. Verse 2 it seemed good to me to tell you the signs and the wonders that the Most High has done. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders, and on and on it goes. Now, let me show you the end. This is verse 34. This is when we get to the end. At the end of the days, so he begins his autobiography by saying, This is a story of worshiping the king of heaven. Now, when I start telling you my story, you might be surprised for us to end there. But where we are going to find ourselves at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am going to lift up my eyes to heaven. This is the entire beginning and end of our morning together. One note on Daniel because he doesn't get a ton of play. Nora read this in verse seven. The magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, the astrologers, all the smartest people came in to help Nebuchadnezzar with another one of his weirdo dreams. But they could not make known to me its interpretation. I need you to circle, you can't italicize it if it's in front of you. I need you to make a note of the first two words in verse eight in your mind, in your heart, in your Bible somewhere. If you have ever seen the movie Troy, which I don't think I can recommend from the pulpit because it's been a long time since I've seen it. And now all I watch are clips on YouTube of Brad Pitt in slick armor just slaying folks. All right. That's I can't recommend it. But there is this moment where a huge

When Human Wisdom Runs Out

Will Hawk 8:31

army is about to go to war against another huge army. And the kings look at each other and they say, let's just settle this in the old ways. My champion versus your champion. And one of the armies calls out this like Goliath-looking dude whose name starts with a B. Does anybody remember that for bonus points at the camp store? Who said it? All right. I mean, let's hang out. Let's grab coffee. All right. Boagrius comes out, and the dude is a titan. He is a mountain of a man, scarred up, shaved head, and he's like ready to go. And all of a sudden, the other king, he has to call forth his champion. He just turns and he yells, Achilles. All right. This is the Achilles moment in Daniel. Nobody can do this. In fact, this is the way it reads. The smartest people in the world can't do this thing. So Nebuchadnezzar goes, Achilles, except he says, Daniel, and at last, Daniel presents himself on the battlefield of confusion and ideas. Again, Daniel doesn't get a ton of play in chapter four. Nebuchadnezzar does. But I just want you to appreciate this. What they could not do, Daniel just steps in and does. Now let me apply this for us today. We do not have magicians, and if we do, they go to kids' parties, okay? Generally speaking. Enchanters, Chaldeans, astrologers, we got some of those floating around. But what we would probably say is when we are looking at a problem in our life and we don't know what to do, when the next step is eluding us and the future is fuzzy, you may go to a college professor or a CEO. You may go to an influencer or a specific type of self-help book. That is how this begins. The greatest knowledge, the most interesting perspectives are all presented. And Nebuchadnezzar says, not gonna cut it. And at last, Christians lean in. I know that maybe not everybody here is a Christian. Christians lean in. At last, a Christian steps on the stage. At last, somebody with wisdom, somebody who knows the God who created the world and created man in his own image, who not only brings answers but gives us the very questions that draw us to him. At last, Daniel shows up. And this vision, which starts off quite beautifully, it's this massive tree with thick, shiny green leaves providing dark shade for all the animals and abundant fruit. All of a sudden, the vision is going to change. And boy, does he want somebody who knows what is going on in the world. I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed and behold, a watcher, a holy one. It's probably an angel. Watcher comes up three times in this text. Every time it is giving a message from God, probably an angel, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus, chop down the tree, 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, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth,

The Tree Dream Turns Personal

Will Hawk 11:51

bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. If you're reading in your Bibles, just uh heads on the screen for just a moment here. And then the sentence changes at the end of verse 15. It's let the tree, let the tree, let the tree, cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, take off its fruit, the tree, the tree, the tree. But then notice this let him be wet with the dew of heaven. All of a sudden, this dream and this watcher, this person who is speaking, he's talking about a tree, and then all of all of a sudden, in a moment, everything changes. The tree becomes a hymn, the tree becomes a person. And what is going to happen to this person? Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. That could sound good on its face. All right. If you've read some Psalms, the dew of heavens, oh, what a what a beautiful like the anointing, the blessing of the Lord. That's not what this means. It's gonna get a lot dicier. Let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the earth. 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. Him, his, his, him, him. All of a sudden, a person of great prominence that has provided for a great many people that seems glorious from afar, he is going to be stripped and cut down. His mind, his kingdom, his glory, his majesty, his power, his prestige. Everything that has made him anything is going to be taken from him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones. To the end, all of this is going to happen for one reason. If you're alive, you're a part of it. 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. This is not only the main theme of chapter four, I would argue it is the main theme of the book of Daniel. That when you look at your world, and by the way, it doesn't matter how old you are in this room. If if you're sort of grown and doing life and whatnot,

Heaven Rules Over Every Kingdom

Will Hawk 14:11

you may see this that the most high rules, you may be thinking about a president, a senator, or a governor. Other people in here may be thinking about a college admissions person, uh, a teacher, somebody might be thinking of a coach. Some of your kids might be thinking of you as mom or dad. But whoever it is that we find in authority over us, when we go to the polls for voting, when November rolls around, when stress increases and all of these things, the book of Daniel is there to tell you. The living ought to know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. He gives it to whom he will. Now, this is what I want you to realize. Because for us to move further quickly would be to steal the glory that I think God's word wants us to have in this very moment. When it comes to kingdoms, he removes kings and he sets up kings. The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And the one who sits on the throne was the one he placed on the cross. The most high rules the kingdom of men, gives it to whom he will, till you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will, until you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. This is something you cannot miss in the book of Daniel. He does according to his will among the hosts of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth. The most high God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whomever he will. This is the main point. But what's fascinating is, and let me give you a moment just to absorb that, okay? Whoever is in authority over you, and by the way, none of us are in authority unto ourselves. There's always somebody to step up that could absolutely make or ruin your life, okay? There's always somebody who can do that. When you see this, I do wonder what it causes you to feel. And what I would encourage you to do, and I'm going to give you a moment to do this, if you have to go into your past, that's fine. Who ruled over the affairs of your life and did so poorly? Who ruled over the affairs of your life and did so unjustly? Who ruled over the affairs of your life and made it miserable? Who ruled over the affairs of your life and just simply made life unfair? Now I'm gonna give you a minute because I need you to come up with a picture. If you can't come up with a picture, I am so grateful for you. I am. I'm also excited about you turning 16. But I need you to come up with one. I need you to come up with two. Otherwise, you're gonna miss out on some of the sweetness out of this passage. Here is Daniel's reply when he gives this horrible news to Nebuchadnezzar. Your mind's about to be taken. You're gonna turn into a madman. You're gonna crawl around on the ground like an animal. When he has to give him this news, here is how it goes. Daniel, whose name was Beltushazzar, was dismayed for a while. Let me tell you why he wasn't dismayed. He wasn't dismayed because he doesn't know what this dream means. At last, Daniel, Achilles, this guy knows what's going on. He has his finger on the pulse of the brain and the heart of the king, and God has given him a direct line to knowing what is going on in Nebuchadnezzar's life. That's not why he's dismayed. He is not dismayed because he is nervous, like, well, now what if all of a sudden things go bad for me? That's not who Daniel is. Daniel was dismayed and

Daniel’s Mercy Toward His Enemy

Will Hawk 17:51

his thoughts alarmed him. King, I don't want to tell you what this dream means. Is he afraid the king's gonna get angry? Is he afraid the king's gonna kill him? No. He is Achilles. He is the king's greatest advisor, his trump card, his greatest advocate, the wisest mind, even at the king's angriest, he's not touching Daniel. Why is Daniel dismayed to tell the king the interpretation? I think it's because he's his friend. The king answered and said, Beltishar, let not the dream or its interpretation alarm you. Daniel, don't worry about what it is. Just give me the truth, man. We've been through a lot together. You've never steered me wrong. Just tell me what is going on. I don't want you to worry about what's gonna happen if you tell me the truth. Belteshazzar Daniel answered and said, My Lord, notice this. If you go back to the movie Troy, Achilles comes out, slays Boagrius, one swipe of his sword, like anticlimactic but amazing. He turns around, and when Boagrius falls, that guy's king walks up and he hands the scepter to uh to Achilles. And he says, Give this to your king, whoever holds this rules over the armies of Secaly. And Achilles looks at him, he says, He's not my king. You see, in this moment, Daniel is calling him Lord. Lowercase L. You are a king, and I can honor you as a king, but you are not the king. There is a king coming. You are not in charge of the affairs of man. God has given you momentary power. My Lord, may the dreams be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies. I don't want this to happen to you. Verse 22. But it is you, O King, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and it reaches to heaven and your dominion to the ends of the earth. This is going to be the most important thing I say to most of you in the room today. Even after Nebuchadnezzar attacked Daniel's home, killed the people he held most dear, even after he separated Daniel from his family, even after Nebuchadnezzar changed his name, rerouted his education, and changed his culture and his language, even after, I haven't told y'all this yet, but in all likelihood, even after Nebuchadnezzar most likely made Daniel a eunuch, costing him his own future potential family. Even after he has taken everything from Daniel. Daniel wants the best for him. That is an otherworldly kind of spirit. Daniel's not the main character. But I can't steal from you the guy who in this chapter would win best supporting actor. Okay? Daniel has the world taken from him. And as soon as he gets an itch that the man who cost him everything is about to fall, he's heartbroken. He wants the best for the man who cost him everything. Because he somehow managed to develop a friendship with him. Do you know how many times we've seen Nebuchadnezzar apologize to Daniel for what he's done? A zero. None. Not once. Why? That Christians for thousands of years would realize what Jesus made very plain. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. I'm gonna pause. Just look at that first line because you probably need to take one of those things and run it right now. Do you need to do good to someone who has hated you? Do you need to bless someone? Do you need to give words of encouragement and affirmation to somebody who has only spoken negatives to you? Do you need to pray for those who have been abusive toward you? And then Jesus says, Hey, let me just make this really clear. If you want to be a follower of mine, if you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. But love your enemies. Do good. Lend. Expect nothing. In return, and your reward, listen, uh appreciate the goodness. Your reward, it's gonna be great. You're gonna be sons of the most high, daughters of the most high. He is kind to the ungrateful and to the evil, just like Nebuchadnezzar. Be merciful, even as your father is merciful. Daniel shows incredible mercy. But Daniel's not the only one who shows mercy to Nebuchadnezzar. God does. And if you've been paying any attention at all this morning, you must be like, uh, well, God's about to show incredible mercy. He's about to rip his mind out, turn him into an animal. He's gonna crawl around on the ground, eating grass, and everyone who has respected him is gonna be like, whatever happened to that guy? This happens every high school reunion, okay? Right? Like every high school reunion or whatever, you see somebody from a long time ago, and some of them you're just like, Well, I didn't expect that. They're doing great. I sort of expected them to be incarcerated by now. And they have a

Suffering Has A Limit And Purpose

Will Hawk 23:51

family and children, they seem to seem to love them and they seem to receive love in return. And then you have others where you're like, You were voted most likely to succeed. You were valedictorian, you dated the salutatorian, and there's a bracelet on your ankle you didn't put. That's what's about to happen, and God is showing mercy. How is God showing mercy? Well, the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, All of these things are gonna happen. Cut him down, that doesn't feel like a lot of mercy to me. Destroy him, that doesn't feel like a lot of mercy to me. I'm not making uh a very good uh advocate push for what I'm telling you yet. Let him live like a beast. That doesn't sound like a lot of mercy, for likely seven years. Now, we don't know this for sure, but when it says, and let seven periods of time pass over him, in that day and age, it would have most likely been interpreted for one full year. So this doesn't happen to the guy for a minute. He he's not walking down the lunchroom and drop his tray and slip and get embarrassed, and everybody laughs, and he has to figure out how to navigate that for the next two weeks. For set happened, for seven years, this guy turns into a beast. How is God showing mercy? Because it's seven years, but not one moment more. Not one moment more. God gives him exactly what he needs for his heart to change. For Nebuchadnezzar, it took seven years. For some of you, it may take seventeen. For some of the people you are praying for, it may take seven months, seven weeks, seven moments, or some iteration in between. But regardless of what it is, God has placed a limit on your suffering. Your suffering has a beginning and an end, just like your life has a beginning and an end. Christian, listen to me. Your suffering has a definitive end, and then it turns into nothing but goodness and glory and praise and wonder. All right. But even in your life, many of the things, many, I cannot say all, because some of us will go into the grave with jacked up backs and askewed relationships and things that do not always end. But if you're trusting in Christ, when your eyes open, when you take that breath that Carrie was singing and praising God for that when Jesus took that one breath, everything changed. Nebuchadnezzar's suffering had a purpose and a boundary and an ending, and yours does too. Your suffering has a purpose. Your suffering has a boundary, and your suffering has an end, especially if you're in Christ. I love it when the Lord does fun little things in my life that apply to what I get to preach to you guys every Sunday. I think, where's my wife? I saw you a second ago. What's the name of the little plant that you're trying to bring back? The one that you were like, just cut it down to the roots. It's in a pot. You moved it down the steps yesterday. I couldn't find it last night. A fiddle leaf. Was it one of the ones that was up here for a while? Okay, it started doing poorly and then we took it home. Okay, so there used to be these little fiddle leaf trees on the side. Maybe you remember? Maybe you don't. I don't know what. Maybe we should spend more on it, maybe we should spend less. Whatever. The point is, the thing started getting sickly. So we took it home. My wife loves taking care of plants and propagating them and all this kind of stuff. And she, I just had this like dying, decrepit-looking tree, not Nebuchadnezzar style, like it didn't look beautiful. And I called her and I'm like, I'm working on the art. What am I supposed to do with this thing? And she said, I just want you to cut it down. Like, cut it down to the root, just leave a little stump. And I'm like, that thing is not gonna live. Like it's already not gonna live. If I shock it with this, it's not gonna make it. She was like, just do it, it'll be fine. Her father owned a landscaping company and a nursery and all this kind of stuff. And so, darn it, if she wasn't right. So, like, I walk out last night. The picture on the right is the one I took last night. The one on the left, I took to celebrate with her like one week after I had chopped this thing down to the stump. And I was like, it's amazing. You were right. Like that this, I told too long of a story to make my connection. Sorry, that happened. I do it all the time. Okay, not one moment more for seven years. Cut it down, bang, banded in iron. I don't need your help. I'm good. And then all of a sudden, life starts to flourish. Now, listen to me. What you see on the screen is encouraging. What's not is what had to happen first. It's encouraging to see life come. But, okay, let me get your eyes. Wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to be cut down in the first place? That's that's kind of my argument today. Wouldn't it be great if you could be humble without needing to be humiliated? Wouldn't that be wonderful? So I want to give you some time, like right now, to think where ought you to be humble so that you do not need humiliation. This is awesome. That is really awesome that God has built life to work this way. Guys, it'd be better if the tree just got healthy. It'd be better if it didn't require this. But Nebuchadnezzar did. The stump remained because God's purpose was never destruction but restoration. Even Nebuchadnezzar's suffering had a limit, and he would not get one moment more than was necessary for his humbling, his healing, and for God's glory, because all suffering has a purpose until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. If you're like, Will, I don't really know what I'm struggling with, I don't know where to be humble. It's anywhere this verse pushes against you. It's anywhere that Jesus has been called Savior but not Lord. It's anywhere where you feel like I can kind of navigate my life, and I don't really need this book, and I don't need your advice, and I don't need your prayers, I've got that on lockdown. And it may not always come across as pride. It might just come across as ability. It might just come across as confidence. Yes, it could be some sin that you know is there that you've needed to repent of, but it might be a little more nefarious than that. 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 you know that heaven rules. The sense I get is that Nebuchadnezzar's tree was lopped down. And for seven years people walked by and they looked and they were like, they were like, There is no life in that man. They would probably say, That man does not have a life, okay? And it took seven years for that bud to spring forward. Seven years. And it happened the moment he realized heaven rules. Verse 27. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. This, by the way, would be Daniel's words to you in the areas where you struggle with pride, ability, or acceptability in your own self. 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. Nebuchadnezzar, is there a way for this tree not to be cut down? Is there a way for you to make that call, send that text, offer that apology, restore that

Repentance Is Turning With Action

Will Hawk 31:26

relationship, restore that business situation, whatever it is, is there a way for you to not need to be humiliated to find humbleness and realize you see what is Daniel asking Nebuchadnezzar to do in the New Testament word? Repent. He's asking him to turn. Hey, stop your sin, practice righteousness, show mercy to the oppressed, or turn from the way that you are living. Repentance is not vague regret. Let me say that again. If you're like, I've repented, I did this thing, or I treated somebody horribly for eight years, and then I was like, my bad, Lord, and then I moved on. Now, don't get me wrong. You ask forgiveness of that sin, you are cleansed. But repentance is not vague, this like vague regret where we go to God and we say, Oopsie. Listen, the Lord will hear every prayer of repentance, but repentance requires action. It does require turning. That's what most of us grew up in. Youth group being taught. Repentance means to turn and go in the other. It does. But only an idiot is like, I've spent 10 years getting to this place. There we go. No, like go move, restore, apologize, forgive, rebuild. And that's what Daniel tells him to do. Now there's something you need to notice about this chapter before I read one more verse. So far, nothing has happened. I don't know if you've noticed that. It's just been a bunch of people dreaming and talking to each other about what might be. All these pieces are put in place before one domino falls. And when it happens, it happens very fast. This is a picture, a rendition of what the temple of Nebuchadnezzar may have looked like. I give it to you because the next thing that happens in this chapter, he's on the tippy top of this thing. At the end, somebody check on that kid. At the end of twelve months, I love this. I love this. 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?

Twelve Months Of Patience Then Collapse

Will Hawk 33:56

Takes me eight seconds to read it. While the words were still in the king's mouth, how long did God give him to get his life straight? I underlined it like a hundred times. How long did God give him? Twelve months. Gives him one solid year to get his heart right. How long does it take for Nebuchadnezzar to cost him everything? Eight seconds. While the words are still in the king's mouth, they're fill a voice from heaven. And there's a little more mercy in this because God knows his name. Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar. I do love that King is put in that. I would have expected God to say, Oh, little Nebuchadnezzar, but he doesn't. Hey, you're a king. There's no doubt about it. Look how great and magic majestic you are. Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you. Past tense. It's already happened. You just don't know it yet. You shall be driven from among men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, 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. I timed myself in reading Nebuchadnezzar's part just to prove this point. Standard year has 31,536,000 seconds in it. It takes me eight seconds. That's how many seconds are in a given year. It takes me eight seconds to read Nebuchadnezzar's part, which means God's patience outpaces Nebuchadnezzar's pride to the tune of 3.9 million to one. And Nebuchadnezzar still doesn't repent. When you look at your life and you look at your pride, when you look at your need for humility, when you look at your accomplishments and your confidence in self, listen to this beautiful reality. God shows you patience 3.9 million to one. But if you don't figure it out by 3.899999, and that one comes, your life is going to change. And it is not because God hates you, but because he loves you. It's because he built you to know him, to be like him, to appreciate him, to see yourself in light of him. Immediately, the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox. 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. When we were doing the read-through of Daniel, I put a bunch of pictures up. The one that I've gotten the most response on was from this small passage, and it's because my son sent me an AI generation of this. And so I thought I would bring it back. It is probably not exactly what it looked like, okay? Probably not. I doubt the crown was still on his head. He probably did growl, I'm not gonna lie. I don't think his legs actually turned into beasts' legs, but something dramatic did change in him. And he was like this for seven years. I do not want you to answer this out loud, but I still want to ask the question. Did God overpunish Nebuchadnezzar? He made a mistake of eight seconds. And his consequence is seven years of misery. Does that seem unfair to you? There's uh another guy. Some of you will know. Now I do want a show of hands. How many of y'all know who Howard Hughes is? I know that the younger people in the room. Yeah, hands up so I can actually see him. Okay, thank you, Baptist. All right. Howard Hughes, he he died before I was born by a long shot, but um, Howard Hughes was probably, in my reading of his biography, was probably the closest thing to Tony Stark that we've had in America. The dude was uh an engineer, designer. He was also sort of a megalomaniac, and uh anyway, like did all kinds of crazy things. The guy on the left and the guy on the right are the same person. The story of Howard Hughes is the story of Nebuchadnezzar just set in the 1900s, has all the power, all the prominence,

Failures As Fertilizer Or Ruin

Will Hawk 38:26

made films and starred in some, I think, if I'm remembering correctly, or made cameos. He was known the world, over built planes, flew in them, crashed them, did things that nobody else has ever done before. But by the end of his life, he was bottling his own urine, wouldn't touch people, his hair was growing, he wouldn't cut his fingernails, he has boxes on his feet instead of shoes. He absolutely loses it. I give you this example to tell you God will deal with us. This is not a Daniel, 600, 800 years before Jesus, all these millennia removed. God still moves in ways like this. What you have to decide is are your failures gonna turn into fertilizer or are they gonna turn you into it? Are your failures gonna turn into fertilizer for growth at the stump of your brokenness, or are they gonna turn you into it? Nebuchadnezzar had all the pride, and so did Howard Hughes. Both of them humiliated. The question is, when God, look at me for just a minute, when God loves you enough to humiliate you, what do you do next? You either find humility or you find deterioration. And if you want to move to a place of restoration rather than tragedy, this is where it happens. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven. He found it. My reason returned to me. I blessed the Most High, I praised and honored him, even though it was seven years of torment. He lives forever, his dominion, an everlasting dominion, his kingdom endures from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. Let me challenge y'all as we close.

Restoration Starts With Looking Up

Will Hawk 40:26

Or say to him, What have you done? Before I close this out, let me give you one more moment before I bring this all the way back up. Where are you looking at God and saying, What have you done? Where in your life are you looking at God and saying, What were you thinking? What have you allowed? Because Nebuchadnezzar gets to the end of these seven years and he says, No one can say this. Will I'm not there. Give it just another minute. Let it cook. At the same time, my reason returned to me. And for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor, it returned to me as well. My counselors and my lords, they sought me. I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. I told you, this is a worship text. This is Nebuchadnezzar saying, Yeah, it was a horrible seven years, and I was a horrible guy to deserve those seven years. But on the other side of those seven, I couldn't even ask God ever again, what are you doing? Because it all made sense. He gave me everything I had and a million times more. I gave you a bunch of math, so let me give you one more. It was one year of waiting, or one year of mercy that God showed him. Eight seconds of pride, seven years of humiliation. But how long did it take when Nebuchadnezzar turned? At the same time. How long did restoration take? Just one moment before the king of heaven. And if you look at that question and you say, Will, like I am asking God questions. Verse 37. Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise, I extol, that means lift up. I honor the King of heaven. For all seven of those years were right. All of his ways were just. And those who walk in pride, he said, You may not be able to say, No, I don't have any questions for God. I would never ask him what he's doing in my life. What I want you to know is this if you could see it from the other side, this is Nebuchadnezzar's autobiography. If you will allow yourself through faith to see what God is doing, you will look at every season of seven minutes, seven months, or seven years, seventeen, seventy, and you will say, His works, they're right. His ways, they are just. Which means the goodness or the badness of a season is actually determined by what it produces. That's what determines whether the season you are currently in is good or bad. Not what you feel right now, not what you see, not what you think or experience, but by what it is producing. Nebuchadnezzar looks and says, My suffering was right, my humiliation was right.

Closing Questions And Response

Will Hawk 43:51

I would do nothing different because of what that season produced. I want this for us so bad. I want this for you. There are a lot of things I've tried to get you to think about. Maybe you were scratching to try to figure out, okay, who's done this to me? Who's I is the season you're in good or bad? You actually don't know. You get to be a part of making it good. If you can believe and see that God is producing something in it. As a band comes up, I would encourage you with a couple of questions. Has God been warning you about something that you continue to ignore? What if the season that you resent most is the season God is using most deeply? And just as Nebuchadnezzar did, might I encourage you to find in worship what it would look like for you to lift your eyes to heaven today? We'll respond as We typically do by standing and singing or filling out a response card, giving an offering, or praying on the porch. But take a moment and draw near to this God who has drawn ever so near to you.