We’re going to look at Daniel chapter 4 tonight. Daniel chapter 4. And these are narrative passages; so, we’re taking them in kind of large chunks. Daniel chapter 4 has 37 verses. Now, if that was 37 verses of Pauline theology, it would probably take us about 37 weeks to get through it. But since it’s a basically narrative passage, you kind of flow with the story a little bit. And you can keep moving along, and we’ll see how far we get tonight.

We’ve entitled this fourth chapter “How Are the Mighty Fallen?” How are the mighty fallen? Perhaps the most destructive word in any language is the word “pride.” Pride. Pride damned Satan and his angels. Pride has damned men throughout human history. Pride is destructive because it breaks that first and great command that we are to have no other God’s before God Himself. God is to be the first and only God. God is the only one to be worshipped, the only one to be praised, the only one to be served, and His will is absolutely supreme. Pride asserts that man is to take a place of superiority over God, or that an angel is to take a place of superiority over God. Pride places self above God. That’s the essence of pride. And in the Scripture, through the prophets, God said, “My glory will I not give to another.” And He laid down a basic premise. “My glory will I not give to another” means that He will not tolerate a usurper elevating Himself above God.

Listen to what God said about pride. Proverbs 21:4, He said, “A proud heart is sin.” Proverbs 6, He said, “These things doth the Lord hate: A proud look.” Proverbs 16:5, “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and arrogance.” Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 29:23 says, “A man’s pride shall bring him low.” And Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes shame.”

Now, just from the book of proverbs, we gain an insight into how God feels about the matter of pride. It is a serious and severe sin and condemned repeatedly throughout the Scripture. It leads to abomination because it desecrates the name of God and the rightful place that He has. It brings about destruction, for the end of pride is judgment, and it leads to a fall and to shame.

In Jeremiah chapter 49, there’s a very interesting verse where the Lord gives a prophesy against Edom. You don’t need to turn to it, but Edom was very, very proud, because Edom was an area in – east and south of Jerusalem, an area in the wilderness and the desert that had many natural fortresses, and particularly the city of Petra, the great capital city of Edom, was a city fortified by virtue of the fact that it was in the midst of walls of great, high cliffs.

And the only entrance – and I’ve been through that entrance – is just one wide enough for a single individual to pass. And so, it was very easy for that city to be guarded by one soldier and almost invulnerable.

In Jeremiah 49 and 16, Jeremiah gives a prophecy against Edom, “‘Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the heights of the hill, thou – though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle’” – watch this line – “‘I will bring thee down from there,’ saith the Lord. ‘Also, Edom shall be a desolation, and every one that goes by it shall be appalled and hiss at its plagues.’” But if you were to go there today as I have, you would find that it is absolutely empty. There’s no city there anymore.

You say, “How could it ever happen?”

Well, Petra had water coming into the city in little troughs flowing down the sides of the cliffs. The troughs are still there. They cut off the water supply, and pretty soon the people had to give up because they had no water. God brought them down.

James 4:6 sums it up, and you ought to jot that Scripture down; it’s a very important one. It sums up God’s view toward pride. It says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” God resists the proud but give grace – gives grace to the humble. Now, that is the lesson of Daniel chapter 4: God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. If you ever were looking for an illustration for James 4:6, you’d find it in Daniel 4. It is an apt and graphic illustration of that very basic truth. When you are proud, God fights against you; when you are humble, God gives you grace.

Now, a proper recognition of the sovereignty of God, a proper recognition of the supremacy of God, a proper recognition of the humility of man is what this chapter is all about. And the key phrase in the chapter – notice in verse 17 – is “that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.” That’s the key phrase.

The whole chapter is set to teach that truth, that everybody may know that the Most High – that is God – rules in the kingdom of men. No man can set himself up above God. You’ll notice in verse 25 again, the same thing, “till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.” You’ll notice in verse 32 that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.” In verse 34, “I blessed the Most High, praised and honored Him who liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion; His kingdom is from generation to generation.”

The theme then is to recognize that God is the ruler in the kingdom of men. Now, when you don’t realize that, you’re in trouble. In Acts chapter 12, Herod was beginning to feel proud and lifted up and boastful. And he gave a great speech, and the people all shouted that it was the voice of a god and not a man,” and he was feeding his soul on the glory that was coming his way. And he became puffed up and proud.

And in Acts chapter 12 and verse 20 to 23, the Bible says, “Very suddenly he was smitten by God and eaten by worms, and he died on the spot.” And the text says, “Because he gave not God the glory.”

In Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah said to the people of God, “Give God glory, and if you don’t give God glory, He’ll cause you to stumble on the dark mountains. He’ll trip you up, and you’ll fall into death.”

In Romans chapter 1, it says, “Because mankind gave not God the glory, He gave them over to a reprobate mind.” It is a severe thing to set oneself up above God, because God fights against the proud and spares His grace for the humble.

Now, in this chapter, we meet a proud man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Babylonian Empire, the first of the great monarchs of the four empires that ruled that part of the world. The great Babylonian Empire. And this man - monarch of monarch, king of kings, ruling all the world that he perceived - became proud, and puffed up, and bloated, and inflated, and self-centered, and set himself up as god. And we saw in the last chapter he even built a great big, 90-foot high idol out of gold as an image of himself, and forced everybody to bow down and worship. And when three didn’t, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. So, we understand a little about his ego.

But in this chapter, we see how God brings this man low and then gives grace to him in his humility. He resists him in his pride; He gives grace to him in his humility. And if I can extrapolate a little bit, I’d like to do that. I think there’s more in this chapter than just the story of Nebuchadnezzar. I think Nebuchadnezzar is a symbol of several things. First of all, I believe He is a symbol of any other individual in history who tries to do the same thing. He is sort of a model or a pattern for how that works out.

For all of the shahs, and the ayatollahs, and the imams, and the Hitlers, and the Mussolinis and the whoever-elses of the world, who want to set up their petty, puny little kingdoms and rule as the monarch of their own self-designed empires, and set themselves up in their egos as that which is beyond and above God, this is a warning to them as well. And Nebuchadnezzar stands as a symbol of what God does with all people like that. But beyond that, I think there is here a warning to us who may never rule any empire, other than the little one we invent for ourselves. And we, who in our simplicity of a very uncomplex life and in our lack of public notoriety, build an empire and crawl up on top and crown ourselves king, this is a warning to us also.

And I think even in a broader vein, I think what we see with Nebuchadnezzar here is a symbol also of how God will deal with all of the proud empires of the times of the Gentiles, for He crushed the Babylonian Empire; He crushed the Medo-Persian Empire; He crushed the Greek Empire; He crushed the Roman Empire – it’ll revive; He’ll crush it again and establish the kingdom of Christ.

So, you see, this is not just Nebuchadnezzar; this is any other would-be monarch of the world. And it is any man, woman, or young person of the world who sets up his own little empire and crawls up on top and declares himself king and defies God. And it is also a symbol of how God has dealt with the whole of the Gentile period known as the times of the Gentiles. And so, we learn much from it. A fitting symbol of how God judges pride and gives grace where there’s humility.

Now, I have to tell you this, so you’ll know going in, this is the climax of the spiritual biography of Nebuchadnezzar. Now, we know that in the first three chapters, the Lord is working on Nebuchadnezzar, don’t we? He drops Daniel in his lap.

Daniel first of all defies him by not being willing - along with his friends Mishael, Azariah, and Hananiah – not being willing to eat the king’s meat, or drink the king’s wine, or do certain things that they do. And so, immediately, he is forced to be confronted by these four young men. As he confronts them and questions them and deals with them, he finds that they are far and away beyond anybody in his kingdom in terms of their integrity, and their intelligence, and their education, and their education, and their wisdom, etcetera, etcetera.

So, beginningly, then, in chapter 1, God begins to build an affinity toward them. And then we find, in chapter 2, that Daniel is given the responsibility of solving and incredible problem. The man had a dream, and nobody knew what it was, and nobody could interpret it. But Daniel could. And we remember that Nebuchadnezzar was struck by the amazing capability of Daniel to read visions and dreams and rightly interpret them. And again, God was driving a wedge, as it were, into the mind of Nebuchadnezzar.

Then in the third chapter, when the decree went out that they were to bow to the idol, and they didn’t – the three did not – Daniel must have been out of town somewhere – immediately they were thrown in the fiery furnace, and there appeared with them one like – with them one like a son of the gods. And they came out. There wasn’t any burning; there wasn’t any smell of smoke. And Nebuchadnezzar again had seen God at work. Once in every chapter.

And now we come, in the fourth chapter, to the climax of his spiritual biography. I really believe in my heart – and this is a – you can’t be totally dogmatic about this. I’ll try to show you why I believe it, but I believe at the end of this chapter Nebuchadnezzar truly comes to faith in the true God.

Some have entitled the chapter “The Conversion of Nebuchadnezzar.” I hate to let you in on the ending of the chapter.” Why did I do that? Anyway, I wanted you to know how exciting it’s going to be as we progress through, because I want you to know something wonderful is coming.

Now, as we look at this chapter, we focus then on the spiritual biography of Nebuchadnezzar, an incredible, astounding, amazing man, one of the geniuses of all of human history, brilliant beyond those of his time, equipped in many, many ways, in a human sense, puffed and proud as the ruler of the world, and how God literally crushes him into nothing and turns him around. And He does it, beloved, through another dream. Another dream.

In Job 33:14, it says, “For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings on the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that He may withdraw man from His purpose and hide pride from man.”

Now, here in Job 33, the statement is made that God uses dreams to draw pride out of men’s hearts. It almost seems as if this is a fulfillment of that passage, for God uses a dream to break the pride of this mighty monarch.

Now, let’s look at the introduction in the first three verses very quickly. “Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages” – we said that that little triad simply encompasses everybody; it’s just a common phrase of the time to embody all the people who would be in sound of this decree or this testimony – “Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth, ‘Peace be multiplied unto you.’”

And by the way, peace as a greeting – shalom or whatever – was not common only to Israel, it was used all over the ancient world. We find it in multiple writings of multiple nations, and it was the commonest form of greeting. So, he says, “‘Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are His signs! And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.’” Stop right there. Now, this is really amazing. This is amazing.

You say, “Who wrote this chapter?”

Nebuchadnezzar did. Now, I think he probably had it edited a little by Daniel.

You say, “Well, was Nebuchadnezzar an aspired writer?” No, but God made sure that what Nebuchadnezzar said was accurately recorded. The Bible – the Bible is accurate in this sense. When the devil speaks something in the Bible, it isn’t always true, is it? But it’s truly recorded that that’s what he said.

And so, here it isn’t that Nebuchadnezzar is an inspired writer; it is that Nebuchadnezzar is giving his testimony, and Daniel was able to record it exactly as it was given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The wonderful thing about it is that it happens to be a wonderful testimony. And I believe that’s why the spirit of God instructed Daniel to put it in.

Now, I want you to notice that it’s in the first person. “Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all the people,” etcetera. This is his personal testimony. This is kind of like Nebuchadnezzar giving his testimony of how he came to believe in the true God. This is his personal spiritual biography.

Verse 2, “I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.” Now, he has finally seen – and this is, of course, a recap, really, of what you’re going to see in the story. He is saying, “I’m going to tell you the testimony of how I came to believe in the high God, the God above all of the deities of my own people.”

“How great are His signs” – he says in verse 3. Oh, He proved himself. “And His might – how mighty are His wonders!” And by the way, signs and wonders are used together frequently in the Hebrew, in the Old Testament, to indicate miracles. He says, “I’ve seen enough miracles to know that His kingdom is beyond mine; it’s everlasting. His dominion is beyond mine; it is from generation to generation.”

Now, notice in verse 1 that he was speaking to all the earth; as far as he perceived it, he ruled the whole earth. As far as the capacity that they had in that day to extend themselves and discover people and nations, they believed they ruled the world. And so, he’s saying, “I’m telling everybody, the whole world as far as I see it, the story of the high God, the one who is the Supreme Being. I have seen enough miracles, enough signs and wonders to know that this God is beyond any other god.”

So, you have here the personal testimony of a pagan king, the first monarch of the times of the Gentiles giving you his spiritual biography.

All right, let’s look at the dream. Point number one, the reception of the dream. Verse 4, the reception of the dream. This is his firsthand account. It begins in verse 4 with what word? What is the first word? “I.” “I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace. And I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.”

Now, the word for “rest” means free from apprehension and free from fear. His kingdom did not have any significant problems at the time. The empire was very settled at this time. He was experiencing no serious attacks. He was prospering in a fantastic way. And by the way, the word “flourishing” there means to grow green. To grow green. Everything was greening in Babylon. Everything was flourishing in Babylon.

Now, I would venture to say that this is likely between his thirtieth and thirty-fifth year of reigning, because we’re getting toward the end of his life. It’s probably – get this – 25 to 30 years after the fiery furnace that this takes place. And by now, Daniel would be 45 to 50 years of age. So, we have a tremendous time gap between 3 and 4 of 25 to 30 years. And God brings this second dream. It panicked him. It blew him right out of his comfort and his rest, and he was totally fearful.

Now, how did he react to this? Verse 6, “Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me” – boy, does he have a short memory. Those losers? The last time they came in, they couldn’t tell him anything, and he said he was going to kill them all. Well, 25 years, you know, and you got to keep the system moving I guess; so, they are still around. So, “He made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

“Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans” – and they were the highest of the system of castes that they had – “the soothsayers. And I told them dream to them, but they did not make known to me its interpretation.” Now, he calls back these same bunch of losers who couldn’t help him at all last time, and he goes through this same routine.

And in verse 18, the reason they didn’t tell them the interpretation is it says, “They’re not able to make known the interpretation.” They couldn’t tell him because they didn’t know, but this time they didn’t admit they didn’t know, they just didn’t tell them. And so, he gives them the dream, and they’re incapacitated. And here we are right back at the folly of human wisdom.

I tell you, I was listening the other night – Patricia and I were driving up to the Couples Conference, and we were listening to a tape. We do talk now and then, but this time we were listening to a tape. And there was a man who was being asked multiples of questions about all of the problems in the world in the Church, and he just kept giving answers and answers and answers out of his own mind. And it was so frustrating. I kept thinking to myself, “If he would just refer to such-and-such a verse, that would answer that question.”

But he would say, “Now, according to what I believe, and I am an educated man, so-and-so and so-and-so.” It was a lot of double talk, beating around a bush and never saying anything. And by the time we were all done, we thought we’d arrived back at home because we hadn’t gone anywhere. Around in circles.

The world doesn’t have any answers. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural man understandeth not the things of God.” Jesus said He’d hidden the things from the wise and prudent of the world and revealed them to babes. The world never knows; they’re ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And so, he’s right back in the same pit again, with the same guys who claim to know it all and don’t know it at all.

Verse 8. I love this. I mean Daniel was cool. He had a sense of timing. Get this, “But at the last, Daniel came in” – don’t you like that? At the last, Daniel came in. He just came in and saw the chaos, waited for the setup for his moment. And then it says, “Whose name is Belteshazzar” - and since this is a testimony made by Nebuchadnezzar to the Babylonians in chapter 4, he wants them to know who Daniel is so he uses his Babylonian name, “according to the name of my God” – his god was Baal – “in whom” – I like this – “is the Spirit of the holy God.”

Now, we don’t want to spend all evening tonight trying to go back and forth, back and forth on whether it means gods plural, and he’s talking about some deities that he has in his mind, or whether it means the true God. After my study, I lean to the fact that he’s referring to the holy God. And for those of you who would like a little support for that, try Leon Wood’s book on Daniel. He takes that same view. And so – and he’s one of the finest writers on Daniel, just to give you a footnote so you don’t think I’m in left field all alone.

But anyway, “Daniel came in, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God” – watch – “in whom is the Spirit of the holy God.” Now, where did he get that information? Well, how – I mean he said he was the Most High God, way back when the first dream was told, didn’t he? And he said he was the Most High God way back when the fiery furnace happened 25 or 30 years before. But where did he get the idea that God was a holy God? I’ll tell you where. In the 25 and 30 years intervening, do you think Daniel never told him anything? You better believe that in that 25 to 30 years, Daniel, who was the prime minister in the whole empire of Babylon, was feeding everything he could feed into the mind of that man. He cared about him. And we’ll see that in a moment.

Now, I don’t know where Daniel had been when he came in at the right moment, but he had a great strategic sense of timing. And when all the chaos was going on, and they were all standing there with a blank look on their faces, and their mouths shut, and the king was trying to get the answer, he just came in at the last and relieved all of the pressure by giving him the answer.

Isn’t it wonderful that Nebuchadnezzar recognized, as the years went by, that the Spirit of the holy God dwelt in this man? And the deities you see of the Babylonians were not holy deities. Pagan deities are not any better than the men that worshipped them. But there was a holy God, and His Spirit dwelt in Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar knew that. He had a fuller understanding of the nature of God now than he did before. I think it was not only what Daniel taught him, but I think it was probably what Daniel was like. I think he got an idea of the holiness of God from the holiness of Daniel. Don’t you?

Daniel wouldn’t defile himself with the king’s meat, and Daniel wouldn’t drink the king’s wine, and Daniel wouldn’t indulge in the immoralities and the excesses of behavior that are against God. Daniel lived a pure and a holy and a virtuous life, and the conclusion of Nebuchadnezzar would be that he had a holy and a virtuous God. Because a man worships a God, and that worship will reflect what he believes that God to be.

When Stanley found David Livingstone in the heart of Africa, he stayed with him for six months. And Stanley was a professed skeptic when he found Livingstone, but he came away from six months with David Livingstone a Christian. And someone asked what Livingstone said that converted him, to which Stanley replied, “It was not what Livingstone said, it was what Livingstone was that brought me to Christ.”

Livingstone, according to Stanley’s report, never asked Stanley if he were a Christian; he never preached to him, nor seemed to pray for his conversion. But Livingstone was so thoroughly a Christian that it dawned on upon Stanley that one who was not a Christian was something less than a Christian. Very simple. Livingstone was a man of God who permitted the Lord to live through him; and, consequently, his life was a life of victory and blessing. And by the sheer influence and impact of his virtue, he brought that man to Christ.

And that, I think, is probably, in Daniel’s case, what may have happened. Daniel not only spoke of the character of God, but manifested it as well. And so, we see the reception of the dream. He received it.

And now let’s look at the second point, the recitation of the dream. Daniel comes in, and he comes in at a strategic moment to solve the problem. Listen, I got to add another footnote to this. I don’t think Daniel even hung around with the rest of that bunch. Even though he was a wise man, and even though he was one of the erudite, educated, and one of the courtiers of the Babylonian court, I just get a feeling that he never messed with that bunch. He operated in a class by himself. They came in, and later he came in. He made clear there was a distinction of identification.

Verse 9, “O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians” – now he gives him the highest possible title, superior to everybody else.

And by the way, the word “magicians,” in order to be fair about it, is probably a word that should be translated, in the broadest way, scholars. It embodied both mystical things, and education, and culture, and science, and wisdom, and all of that. And maybe we’d be more fair to translate it in another way so that you don’t think it’s pulling rabbits out of a hat. But the master of the magicians was basically the chief scholar. Here was the chief scholar, the most erudite, the most wise, the most knowledgeable, the most gifted. In fact, Daniel literally became a byword for knowledge, a byword for wisdom.

In Ezekiel 28:3, it says, “Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel,” and that statement is made to the prince of Tyre. And behind the prince of Tyre is Satan. I mean for a man, Daniel had incredible knowledge and wisdom. And so, he comes in. And he not only had that, but he says, “I know that the Spirit of the holy God is in you. You not only have all the education, you not only have all the intellectual capacity, but you’ve got the Spirit of the holy God in you” - and watch this - “and no secret trouble you” – I know that there’s no secret that’s a problem for you – “tell me the interpretation of the visions of my dream that I have seen. Interpret my dream,” he says, “nothing’s too hard for you.”

“Now, here’s my dream,” verse 10. And this is a strange one, watch. “Thus were the visions of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height of it was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached unto heaven” – that’s a big tree. It just keeps growing and growing and growing, sticking right out of the flat plain of the earth, seemingly nothing around. It ascends. “And the sight of it extended to the end of all the earth.” Now, that’s a big tree, folks.

Verse 12, “It’s leaves were fair; it’s fruit much, and in it was food for all. And the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in its boughs, and all flesh was fed from it.”

Now, here’s a tree that rises out of the earth in a solitary manner, extends into the heavens glorious so that the whole earth can see it it’s so tall. And all of the beasts gather under its shadow, all of the birds land in it, and they’re provided food. And the whole earth can eat of its provision. That’s what he saw in his dream.

Now, by the way, I might add this, trees were frequently used in ancient times to symbolize great rulers. That’s true if you check out Ezekiel 17:22; it seems to be a parallel reference. If you check out Ezekiel 31:3, it refers to pharaoh as a tree. And in Amos 2:9, there’s another indication along similar lines. And in some other ancient records, we see trees identified with a great ruler.

So, I really think it wasn’t that tough a dream to interpret. The tree seems to be Nebuchadnezzar. And this was some tree. Oh, a beautiful tree; a productive, fruitful, flourishing tree; and the whole world was enjoying its abundance, and it was feeding and providing for the world.

But the dream had a second part, and this was the shocker, verse 13, “I kept looking, in the vision of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher” – now, that’s Nebuchadnezzar’s word for an angel; that’s his word for an angel, one who is vigilant; it means a watchful one, a vigilant one, a guardian, which, of course, is an angel. And he is seeing this angelic being – “and an holy one” – a watcher and a holy one. Now, not two words could better describe the angels. They are vigilant, they are guardians, and they are holy.

And so, he sees an angel, “And he comes down from heaven, and he cries aloud, and he said thus, ‘Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches’” – in other words, the whole deal comes crashing down. That’s the devastation and the destruction of the tree.

Well, there’s a fascinating feature in verse 15, “‘Nevertheless, leave the stump and its roots’” – and it includes the stumps and the roots – “‘in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze’” – and this was a probably a fence; the best way to interpret that is you leave the stump and its roots - it’s still alive – and put a fence around it - “‘leave it in the tender grass of the field’” – and then notice this, an amazing thing happens, verse 15 - “‘and let him’” – where did that come from? I never heard of a tree called him, have you? And now we’re sneaking up on the interpretation, aren’t we? Now we know the tree is a man. “‘Let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth’” – and we have come to a significant change. Him? That’s a man. Let his portion? So, we come to him and his, and now we’re beginning to catch the interpretation.

The tree is destroyed, chopped down. The whole thing comes to a crashing halt, but the stump is left, and the stump is alive, and the roots are alive, and a fence is around it so nobody can harm it, and it’s protected.

Verse 16, “‘Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.’” Now, the tree is a man. And the man is to give up his man’s heart – watch it – and to get a beast’s heart. And it is to be seven times that he endures this.

You say, “What are seven times?”

Well, in Daniel 7:25, we find out, because there it says that the end of the tribulation, the last half will be – watch it – a time, times – and what? – half a time. A time, then, equals – what? – one year. Seven years this individual is to be there, his kingdom cut off, the roots still alive, and protected.

Now, notice back in verse 16 for a minute, “‘Let his heart be changed’” – and the heart – you have to understand, the heart has reference to all of the thinking, cognitive, reasoning processes of man which control everything. And his mind is literally to become that of an animal. This is a monstrous psychological affliction known as lycanthropy from lukos wolf, anthrōpos man. The wolfman, the werewolf concept comes from this. The guy who thinks he’s an animal.

Raymond Harrison recites a personal experience with a modern case similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar that was observed in a mental hospital in 1946. And Harrison wrote this, and I thought it was interesting. He said, “A great many doctors spend an entire busy, professional career without once encountering an instance of the kind of monomania described in the book of Daniel. The present writer, therefore, considers himself particularly fortunate to have actually observed a clinical case of boanthropy.”

And by the way, boanthropy is the word bous, which means bull or cow, and that is a form of lycanthropy, where a person thinks they’re a cow or a bull. Now, it sounds kind of funny to us, but it wasn’t too funny, I’m sure, to the people who go around eating grass and acting silly like that.

Anyway, “They observed,” he says, “a clinical case of boanthropy in a British mental institution in 1946. The patient was in his early 20s. He reportedly had been hospitalized for about five years. His symptoms were well developed on admission and diagnosis was immediate and conclusive. He was of average height and weight, with a good physique, in excellent bodily health. His mental symptoms included pronounced antisocial tendencies. And because of this, he spent the entire day, from dawn to dusk, outdoors, on the grounds of the institution.

“His daily routine consisted of wandering around the magnificent lawns, in which the otherwise dingy hospital situation was graced, and it was his custom to pluck up and eat handfuls of the grass as he went along. On observation, he was seen to discriminate between grass and weeds, and on inquiry from the attendant, the writer was told the diet of this patient consisted exclusively of grass from hospital lawns. He never ate institutional food with other inmates, and his only drink was water.

“The writer was able to examine him cursorily, and the only physical abnormality noted consisted of a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickened condition of the fingernails. Without institutional care, the patient would have manifested precisely the identical physical conditions as those mentioned in Daniel chapter 4.”

So, this is not an unknown psychological phenomenon. In this case, it is induced by God. Now let’s look at verse 17 and find out the point for all this. “This matter is by the decree” – and he’s still telling the dream here – “This matter” – this whole deal – “happened by the decree of the watchers” - or the angels – “and the demand by the word of the holy ones” – these angels, and the reason is – “to the intent that the living may know” – watch it – “that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”

In other words, in the dream, the watchers or the angels actually told Nebuchadnezzar that the whole point of this dream was to show that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever it will.

Now verse 18, “This dream I Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar” – or Daniel – “declare the interpretation of it, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation, but that art able” – and here he says this for the third time – “for the Spirit of the holy God is in thee.” Oh, isn’t it wonderful how Daniel stood out in the middle of his society because of a Spirit-controlled and Spirit-filled life, if we can use New Testament terminology.

So, we see the reception of the dream in verses 4 to 7 of 8, and then we see from 9 to 18 the recitation. Now the revelation of the dream. Do you want to know what it means? Here it comes, verse 19, “Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was perplexed for one hour” – now, the one hour is probably not literally one hour; the phrase means for a little while – “and his thoughts troubled him.” Was he perplexed because he didn’t know the answer to the dream? No. Why was he troubled? Why was he disturbed? He was disturbed – now mark it – because he did know the interpretation of the dream, and his heart was a heart of compassion to Nebuchadnezzar, and he was sorry and sad that it had to come to this. You see?

And I want you to know something else, a fascinating thing takes place right here. Nebuchadnezzar stops speaking in the first person. Why? From here on out, folks, Nebuchadnezzar is no longer able to speak for himself because he becomes a raving maniac. And he goes back to the first person only in verse 34, when he gets back his senses. But in the interim, it moves from the first person, as if it is moving away from him, because he’s totally unable to reflect rationally on what happens.

Daniel stands there for a little while and doesn’t say anything. “The king spoke and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or its interpretation trouble thee” – don’t be afraid to tell me.

“Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation of it to thine enemies.’” And what he’s saying is, “I wish what I have to say was true of your enemies and not you.” What a compassionate man. It wasn’t the silence of perplexity; it was the silence of compassion. He just didn’t want to tell him what he had to tell him.

And I think in even saying that, he sealed, in the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, that he loved him. If he’d have just blurted out the condemnation, Nebuchadnezzar might have questioned Daniel’s compassion. But this is what proves again to that man how deeply Daniel cared. It’s a great lesson there, beloved. We know the message, and we know there’s a message of judgment and doom and hell, but we never preach that message with a vindictive heart, do we? We never preach it in a harsh and damning and unloving and judgmental way. But I could never – and I hope you can’t either – talk to anybody about the loss of their eternal soul, about the judgment of God in their life without a sense of sadness and compassion. That was Daniel. Daniel hurt because he had to tell this king, with whom he had been these many years, and for whom he had prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed year after year, and to whom he had manifested the virtue of his faith in God – he had to tell him something he did not want to tell him. We should have that kind of compassion.

J. Allen Blair says, “Years ago in London there was a large gathering of noted people. Among the invited guests was a famous preacher of his day by the name of César Malan. A young lady played and sang charmingly, and everyone was thrilled and very graciously, tactfully, and yet boldly the preacher went up to her after her music had ceased. ‘I thought, as I listened to you tonight, young lady, how tremendously the cause of Christ would be benefited if your talents were dedicated to Him,’ he said. ‘You know, young lady, you are a sinner in the sight of God, but I am glad to tell you that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses you from all sin.’

“Well, the young lady was shocked, and she snapped out a rebuke for Malan, to which he replied, ‘Lady, I mean no offense. I pray God’s Spirit will convict you.’”

Blair says, “They all went to their homes. The young woman retired, but couldn’t sleep. The face of the preacher appeared before her, and his words rang through her mind. At 2:00 in the morning, she sprang from her bed. She grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, and with tears running down her face, this young lady, Charlotte Elliott, wrote these words, ‘Just as I am, without one plea/But that Thy blood was shed for me/And that Thou bidst me come to Thee/O Lamb of God I come,’ because one preacher was compassionate enough to be confrontive.”

There’s a balance there. So, Daniel cared, but he went on anyway and spoke the thing that he had to speak. And what did he say? Hear it well, verse 20, “The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight of it to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all, and under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation” – here it comes, underline it, verse 22, “It is thou, O king” - remember what Nathan said to David? “Thou art the man.” “It is you, O king.” Most preachers back down in a crisis like that. Daniel didn’t. “You’re the man.”

Then came the second part, verse 23, “And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven” – this angel – “and saying, ‘Cut the tree down and destroy it, yet leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a fence of iron and bronze’” – a strong fence - “‘in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field’” – and by the way, he recites the dream just verbatim - “‘till seven times pass over him,’ this is the interpretation O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king” – here it comes – “That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat” – and the word is literally herbage – “they shall make thee to eat herbage” – or grass – “like oxen. They shall wet thee with the dew of heaven” – that is living outdoors with dew, just like the rest of the earth – “and seven years shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.”

Now listen, just summing it up, it’s clear. Nebuchadnezzar was going to be humiliated. He was going to lose his mind. He was going to become a beast, insane for seven full years. Now, you can’t perceive this in the drama that it occurred, because you cannot perceive Nebuchadnezzar at the height of his glory. If you can imagine, for example, the president of the United States becoming a raving maniac, stuck out on the White House lawn, and enclosed in a little fence where everybody could see him, crawling around, eating grass for seven years, you might begin to conceive of what was going on. What an incredible, unbelievable humiliation.

But verse 26, “And whereas they command to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.” And there is a ray of hope. Look at that, verse 26. The reason the stump was left was because Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t going to die. But after 7 years, he would get his throne back again, after he learned his lesson. And the lesson he needed to learn was this: every kingdom is God’s, and God rules everything. And if He sets up some base man, as verse 17 says, it’s only because God has done it, not because that man has done it.

Having said that, Daniel makes an appeal in verse 27, “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel acceptable unto thee; break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” In other words, let there be righteousness in the life, and let there be the proof of it by the deeds to those in need. The king must break with sin and enter in a righteous relationship with God, and then he must prove that righteous relationship by virtuous deeds. Sounds to me like what Jesus said in Matthew 22, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your” – what? – “neighbor as yourself.” First get your relationship right with God, turn from sin, accept His righteousness, and then begin to do good to those around you.

Isaiah 55:7 puts it this way, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, and He will abundantly pardon.” He’s calling for Nebuchadnezzar to repent, turn from his sin, turn to the Lord, accept the righteous standard, and begin to be merciful. And by the way - we don’t have time to go into it - he was a merciless, murderous king.

And so, there was much to change. But do you know what? Even after this dream and its interpretation, Nebuchadnezzar refused to repent. He refused. Like Felix – you know? – who said to Paul, “When I have a convenient seasons, I’ll call for you; I can’t be bothered right now.” He refused to repent. If Nebuchadnezzar – I believe, in verse 27, if he’d of repented, God would have never allowed this to happen.

You say, “Well, what makes you think that?”

Well, God said he was going to destroy Nineveh, but Nineveh repented, and He didn’t do it. Right? God speaks judgment, but when men repent, God turns from His judgment. But Nebuchadnezzar didn’t repent.

And so, we see the reception of the dream through verse 8, and the recitation through verse 18, and through revelation through verse worldly. And now the realization in verse 28. Watch what happened; it came to pass. But look, “All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.” When?” At the end of” – how long? – “twelve months.” Now, you tell me God isn’t a patient, gracious God. How long did God give Nebuchadnezzar to get his act straightened out? One whole year. And Nebuchadnezzar was a vile and evil and murderous man. But God gave him 12 months to hear the wonderful and gracious appeal of Daniel. God is so patient. You know, you think about the flood, God says, “I will destroy the world by water.” He told them. Do you know how long it was till he did it? One hundred and twenty years. Now, that’s patience, isn’t it? And the whole time God waited, he had Noah as a preacher of righteousness. God gave him a year, and God had already given him 30 years of Daniel’s influence before this.

The Lord God said to Samuel, when he was mourning over Saul, “I have given him years and years to repent and change. And now I’ve rejected him.” In other words, “It’s too late to be mourning; I gave him time.”

By the Spirit of the Lord, Jeremiah cried to wicked Judah, “Repent.” They refused to repent, and in judgment Nebuchadnezzar came in 605. Jeremiah lifted up his voice again and said, “Repent.” And Nebuchadnezzar, when they didn’t repent, came back in 598. And Jeremiah lifted up his voice again and said, “Repent.” And they didn’t. And so, he came back again in 586. But God made it in shifts, as it were, each time giving them another opportunity to repent, and they refused.

Verse 30, just to show you how far he was from repentance, catch this, “The king spoke and said” – he’s standing on the top of his palace, looking around at this incredible city, “‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’” That’s pretty disgusting, frankly. I mean he is so bloated. He looked over all of that stuff. I mean you – Babylon was the largest and most powerful city of antiquity. The city was a perfect square, 15 miles square. There were wide streets strong fortifications, numerous public buildings, sufficient land for farming and pasture. The population was approximately 1,200,000. The city was surrounded by a deep, wide moat filled with water, and the wall was 87 feet high and 300 – or rather 87 feet wide and 350 feet high. Now, that’s a wall, folks.

The city was literally fortified. There were streets so – b the way, on the wall they could drive chariots, four abreast. The streets were intersecting through the city and running to 12 different gates. The Euphrates River ran through the city. There were tremendous levies in the city. There was all of this: incredible palaces; there were the hanging gardens, which was the first that we know of in ancient times of an air conditioned building. Unbelievable how he did it, with all the greenery at the top, and the water tripping through, and it air conditioned the whole thing. He built it to please his wife. Men have done stranger things to please their wife.

Actually, you know what he did? In the middle of the city, he built – he literally, on a flat plain, in the middle of the desert, he built a 400-foot mountain for his wife and turned it into the Hanging Gardens to keep her cool. And she could climb up to the top - and just sit there and soak up the wonderful, cool air - by a great big, huge, ten-foot wide staircase. And I don’t even have time to go into all the rest of it. There was gold everywhere and brass everywhere, and it was just something else. And he got up there and looked at it all and just said to himself, “You’re the hottest thing since sliced bread; you might as well admit it.”

And just like Herod, in Acts chapter 12, when those words were in his mouth, it happened, verse 31, “And while the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, ‘O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee.’” God gave him 12 months. At the end of 12 months, that’s where he was.

God said, “That’s it. They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.”

You know, some people are just hard cases, aren’t they? “And the same hour” – verse 33 – “was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” Stop right there.

A pretty awesome event, wouldn’t you say? There he is outside. Everybody can see him. Somehow he was fenced in, crawling around like an animal, on the ground, eating grass. His hair like the feathers of an eagle; his fingers like birds’ claws, with their nails thick, crusted, curved. A raving maniac for seven years.

Now, I’ll tell you something, in a kingdom like that, you’ve got a lot of grasping underlings. You got a lot of people who would like to knock off Nebuchadnezzar. But God never let one of those grasping, ambitious nobles in that kingdom lay a hand on that throne, because God said Nebuchadnezzar would get it back.

If you go later on in the history, and you find after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, you find an incredible milieu of political intrigue as they try to take over that throne. But for seven years, while the man is a raving maniac, nobody lays a hand on that throne. And I believe God used Daniel, in the meantime, to control it until it could be given back to him. I daresay again that all the shahs, and ayatollahs, and imams, and all the Maos, and Hitlers, and all the rest of the would-be people who want to dominate the world and stand on their towers and say how great they are, ought to take a great lesson and a good look at Daniel chapter 4 and learn that it is God who gives men the kingdoms they have.

God brought him down. But the story doesn’t end here. From the reception of the dream, the recitation of the dream, the revelation, the realization, we come to the restoration. Fabulous.

Now, I’m going to just very quickly, a couple of minutes, and we’ll be done. Verse 34, notice, “And at the end of the days” – what’s the next word? “I.” Back to the first person; he’s back to his senses. – “I Nebuchadnezzar” – ah, restored, transformed, and what did he do? – “I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and I honored Him who liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation” – oh, man, David ought to put music to that; sounds like a psalm – “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What doest Thou?’” Oh, he got the message didn’t he? He’s transformed.

Jeremiah says, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not a mighty man boast of his might, and let not a rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord.’”

And Nebuchadnezzar finally knew it at last. Beloved, God can save the high and the mighty if they get humbled. Do you know that? And I’ll tell you something, God will humble every man someday. Best that we be humbled while we still have the opportunity to accept his grace. Right? Maybe that’s how you got saved.

I remember that I was stiff in my neck against God, and God threw me out of a car at 75 miles an hour and slammed me down the pavement, slammed me in the hospital for three months and broke me. And out of pride came humility, and out of humility came repentance, and out of repentance came redemption.

And so, this is Nebuchadnezzar’s own testimony. Verse 36, “At the same time my reason returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.” Not, get that. His reason came back, his glorious kingdom, his honor, his brightness returned – and watch this – even the counselors and the lords sought after him. They didn’t say, “Don’t go near that raving maniac; he’s been freaked out for seven years; stay away.”

Everybody accepted him. The kingdom accepted. The whole deal as if nothing had happened, “And I was established, and excellent majesty was added unto me.” All that a king could be, but I had the right reaction, “Now I Nebuchadnezzar” – what do I do with my life? – “I praise, I extol, I honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those that walk in pride, He is able to humble.” Did he get the message? Well, you know it.

Want to know something, folks? You may meet Nebuchadnezzar in heaven. And then, when you’re there, you can get him together with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and you can discuss as long as you want what went on in the fiery furnace and everywhere else. What a great truth. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

I close with a poem. Listen, “Like a bird that trails a broken wing, I have come home to Thee/Home from a flight and freedom that was never meant for me/And I who have known far spaces and the fierce heat of the sun/Ask only the shelter of Thy wings now that my day is done/Like a bird that trails a broken wing, I have come home at last/Oh, hold me to Thy heart once more and hide me from my past.” Let’s pray together.

May I pray a prayer, as we close, of an old Puritan, and may it be our prayer: Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths, but see Thee in the heights. Hemmed in by mountains of my sin, I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up. That to be low is to be high. That the broken heart is the healed heart. That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit. That the repenting soul is the victorious soul. That to have nothing is to possess everything. That to bear the cross is to wear the crown. That to give is to receive.

Lord, in the daytimes, stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells, the brighter the stars. Let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley, in Christ’s name. Amen.

我们今晚要看但以理书第 4 章。但以理书 第 4 章。这些是叙述性段落;所以，我们把它们分成几块。但以理书第 4 章有 37 节经文。如果那是保罗神学的 37 节经文，我们可能需要大约 37 周才能读完。但是，由于它基本上是一段叙事性段落，所以你会稍微顺应故事的节奏。你可以继续前进，我们会看到今晚能走多远。

我们将第四章的标题定为“强者是如何堕落的？强者是如何堕落的？也许任何语言中最具破坏性的词是 “骄傲” 这个词。自豪。骄傲诅咒撒旦和他的天使。纵观人类历史，骄傲一直诅咒着男人。骄傲是毁灭性的，因为它违背了第一条也是最伟大的命令，即我们在 上帝本人之前，没有别的 上帝。上帝是第一个也是唯一的上帝。上帝是唯一被崇拜的，唯一被赞美的，唯一被侍奉的，他的旨意绝对是至高无上的。骄傲断言，人要取代比上帝优越的位置，或者天使要取代比上帝优越的位置。骄傲将自我置于上帝之上。这就是自豪感的本质。在圣经中，上帝通过先知说：“我不会将我的荣耀归给别人。他定下了一个基本前提。“我必不将我的荣耀归给别人”的意思是他不会容忍一个篡位者将自己抬高到上帝之上。

请听听神是怎样说关于骄傲的。箴言 21：4，他说：“骄傲的心就是罪。箴言 6，他说：“耶和华所恨恶的这些事：骄傲的眼神。箴言 16：5，“凡心里骄傲的，都是耶和华所憎恶的。箴言 8：13，“敬畏耶和华就是恨恶邪恶、骄傲和狂妄。箴言 16：18，“骄傲在败坏以先，狂心在跌倒以先。箴言 29：23 说：“人的骄傲必使他低落。箴言 11：2 说，“骄傲来了，羞耻就来了。

现在，仅从箴言中，我们就能洞察到 上帝对骄傲这件事的感觉。这是严重的罪，在整本圣经中都被反复地定罪。它导致可憎，因为它亵渎了上帝的名和他所拥有的合法地位。它带来毁灭，因为骄傲的结局是审判，它导致堕落和羞愧。

在耶利米书49章中，有一节非常有趣的经文，神对以东说预言。你不需要转向它，但以东非常非常自豪，因为以东是耶路撒冷东部和南部的一个地区，一个位于旷野和沙漠中的地区，有许多天然堡垒，特别是以东的大都城佩特拉城，是一座坚固的城市，因为它位于高墙中间。 高高的悬崖。

唯一的入口——我也穿过过那个入口——只有一个足够一个人通过的宽度。因此，那座城市很容易由一名士兵守卫，几乎刀枪不入。

在耶利米书 49 章和 16 章中，耶利米对以东预言，“'你的可畏迷惑了你和你心中的骄傲，你这住在岩石缝隙中，高耸入云的山丘啊，你——虽然你把巢筑得像鹰一样高'”——请看这句话——“'我要从那里领你下来，'主说。'以东必是荒凉的，凡经过它的人都要因它的灾殃而惊惶和嘶嘶作响。但是，如果你今天像我一样去那里，你会发现它绝对是空的。那里已经没有城市了。

你说，“怎么会这样？

嗯，佩特拉有水通过小槽流入城市，沿着悬崖的两侧流下。水槽仍然存在。他们切断了供水，很快人们就不得不放弃，因为他们没有水。上帝把他们打倒了。

雅各书 4：6 总结了这一点，你应该把那节经文记下来;这是一个非常重要的问题。它总结了神对骄傲的看法。它说：“上帝抵挡骄傲的人，但恩典赐给谦卑的人。上帝抵挡骄傲的人，但赐予恩典 – 将恩典赐给谦卑的人。这就是但以理书第四章的教训：神抵挡骄傲的人，把恩典赐给谦卑的人。如果你曾经在寻找雅各书 4：6 的例证，你会在但以理书 4 章中找到它。这是对这个非常基本的事实的恰当而生动的例证。当你骄傲时，上帝会与你争战;当你谦卑时，上帝会赐给你恩典。

现在，正确地承认上帝的主权，正确地承认上帝的至高无上，正确地承认人的谦卑，这就是这一章的全部内容。这一章的关键词 – 注意第17节 – 是 “使活着的人知道至高者在人的国度里掌权”。这是关键短语。

整章经文都是为了教导这个真理，让每个人都知道至高者——也就是上帝——在人的国度里掌管着。没有人能把自己凌驾于上帝之上。你会再次注意到第25节，同样的事情，“直到你知道至高者掌管人的国度。你会注意到在第32节，“至高者掌管人国”。在第34节中，“我赞颂至高者，赞美荣耀那永远活着的，他的权能是永远的权能;他的国代代相传。

然后的主题是认识到 上帝是人类国度的统治者。现在，当你没有意识到这一点时，你就有麻烦了。在使徒行传第12章中，希律开始感到骄傲、高傲和自夸。他发表了精彩的演讲，人们都大喊这是神的声音，而不是人的声音，“他正在用即将到来的荣耀喂养自己的灵魂。他变得自大和骄傲。

在使徒行传12章和20到23节，《圣经》说，“忽然间，他被 上帝击打，被虫子吃掉，当场就死了。经文说，“因为他没有把荣耀归给神。

在耶利米书13章中，耶利米对上帝的子民说：“把荣耀归给上帝，如果你不把荣耀归给上帝，他就会使你在黑暗的山上绊倒。他会绊倒你，你会掉进死里。

在罗马书第一章中，它说：“因为人类没有将荣耀归给神，他就任凭他们放纵邪僻的心。将自己置于 神之上是一件很严厉的事情，因为 神与骄傲的人争战，为谦卑的人饶恕他的恩典。

现在，在这一章中，我们遇到了一个骄傲的人，尼布甲尼撒，巴比伦帝国的国王，统治世界那个地区的四个帝国的伟大君主中的第一位。伟大的巴比伦帝国。而这个人——君中的君，万王之王，统治着他所认为的整个世界——变得骄傲、膨胀、自我中心，并把自己树立为神。在上一章中，我们看到他甚至用金子建造了一个巨大的、90英尺高的偶像作为自己的形象，并强迫每个人跪下敬拜。当三个人没有时，他们就被扔进了火炉里。所以，我们对他的自我有一点了解。

但在这一章中，我们看到神如何使这个人变得卑微，然后在他的谦卑中赐予恩典。他因骄傲而抗拒他;他以谦卑的心赐予他恩典。如果我能稍微推断一下，我想这样做。我认为这一章不仅仅是尼布甲尼撒的故事。我认为尼布甲尼撒是几个事物的象征。首先，我相信他是历史上任何其他试图做同样事情的人的象征。他有点像一个模型或模式。

对于所有的沙阿、阿亚图拉、伊玛目、希特勒、墨索里尼和世界上的任何人，他们都想建立他们微不足道的小王国，以他们自己设计的帝国的君主的身份进行统治，并在他们的自我中将自己设定为超越和超越上帝的事物， 这也是对他们的警告。尼布甲尼撒是上帝如何对待所有这样的人。但除此之外，我认为这里有一个警告，我们可能永远不会统治任何帝国，除了我们为自己发明的小帝国。而我们，以我们非常简单的生活，在我们没有公众名声的情况下，建立了一个帝国，爬上了顶峰，为自己加冕为国王，这也是对我们的警告。

我认为，即使从更广泛的角度来看，我认为我们在这里看到的尼布甲尼撒也象征着 上帝将如何对付外邦人时代所有骄傲的帝国，因为他粉碎了巴比伦帝国;他粉碎了米底亚-波斯帝国;他粉碎了希腊帝国;他粉碎了罗马帝国——它会复兴;他会再次粉碎它，建立基督的国度。

所以，你看，这不仅仅是尼布甲尼撒;这是世界上任何其他潜在的君主。世界上任何一个男人、女人或年轻人，只要建立自己的小帝国，爬上去，宣布自己为王，蔑视上帝。它也象征着 上帝如何对待整个外邦时期，即外邦人的时期。因此，我们从中学到了很多东西。一个恰当的象征，象征着上帝如何审判骄傲，并在谦卑的地方赐予恩典。

现在，我必须告诉你这些，这样你就会知道，这是尼布甲尼撒属灵传记的高潮。现在，我们知道在前三章中，神在尼布甲尼撒身上做工，不是吗？他把丹尼尔放在他的腿上。

首先，但以理违抗他，不愿意——和他的朋友米沙利、亚撒利雅和哈拿尼雅一起——不愿意吃王的肉，喝王的酒，或做他们所做的某些事情。因此，他立即被迫面对这四个年轻人。当他面对他们、询问他们、与他们打交道时，他发现他们在正直、他们的智慧、他们的教育、他们的教育、他们的智慧、等等方面，远远超过了他王国中的任何人。

因此，从第一章开始，上帝开始建立对他们的亲和力。然后我们发现，在第 2 章中，但以理被赋予了解决令人难以置信的问题的责任。这个男人做了一个梦，没有人知道它是什么，也没有人能解释它。但丹尼尔可以。我们记得尼布甲尼撒被但以理的惊人能力所震撼，他能读懂异象和梦，并正确地解释它们。再一次，上帝仿佛在尼布甲尼撒的心中打了一个楔子。

然后在第三章，当谕旨发出，要他们向偶像下拜时，他们没有 – 三个人没有 – 但以理一定是在城外的某个地方 – 他们立即被扔进火炉里，与他们一起出现的是一个像 – 一个像众神的儿子。他们就出来了。没有任何燃烧;没有任何烟味。尼布甲尼撒再次看到 上帝在工作。每章一次。

现在，在第四章中，我们来到了他的属灵传记的高潮。我真的相信我心里 – 这是 – 你不能完全教条地对待这个问题。我会试着告诉你我为什么相信它，但我相信在这一章的结尾，尼布甲尼撒真正信了真神。

有些人将这一章的标题定为“尼布甲尼撒的皈依”。我讨厌让你知道这一章的结尾。我为什么要这样做？无论如何，我想让你知道，随着我们的进展，这将是多么令人兴奋，因为我想让你知道一些美妙的事情即将到来。

现在，当我们看这一章时，我们关注尼布甲尼撒的属灵传记，他是一个不可思议、令人震惊、令人惊奇的人，是人类历史上的天才之一，超越了他那个时代的才华，在许多方面都配备了装备，在人类的意义上，作为世界的统治者，他自大自大，骄傲自大，以及上帝如何真的把他压碎成虚无，使他回过神来。亲爱的，他通过另一个梦做到了。另一个梦。

在约伯记 33：14 中说：“因为神说一次，是的，两次，但人却没有察觉。在梦中，在黑夜的异象中，当人们沉睡时，在床上打盹;然后他打开人的耳朵，封住他们的教训，使他能使人偏离他的目的，向人隐藏骄傲。

现在，在约伯记33章中，神用梦来引取人心中的骄傲。这似乎是那段话的应验，因为上帝用一个梦来打破这位强大君主的骄傲。

现在，让我们快速看一下前三节的引言。“尼布甲尼撒王，对万民、万国、各方语言”——我们说过，这个小小的三位一体就包括了所有人;这只是那个时代的一句常用语，用来体现所有愿意听到这个法令或这个见证的人——“尼布甲尼撒王，对住在全地的万民、各国、各方语言说：'愿平安多多地归给你们。

顺便说一句，和平作为问候 – 平安或其他什么 – 不仅在以色列很常见，而且在整个古代世界都被使用。我们在多个国家的多篇著作中找到它，它是最常见的问候形式。所以，他说：“愿平安多多地加给你们。我认为展示至高的上帝向我行的神迹奇事是好的。他的神迹何等伟大！他的奇事何等强大！他的国是永远的国，他的权柄是世世代代的。停在那里。现在，这真是太神奇了。这太神奇了。

你说，“谁写了这一章？

尼布甲尼撒做到了。现在，我想他可能让 Daniel 稍微编辑了一下。

你说，“嗯，尼布甲尼撒是一位有抱负的作家吗？」没有，但神确保尼布甲尼撒所说的话被准确地记录下来。圣经 – 从这个意义上说，圣经是准确的。当魔鬼在圣经中说些什么时，它并不总是真的，不是吗？但确实有记录表明，这就是他说的。

所以，这里并不是说尼布甲尼撒是一位受启发的作家;而是尼布甲尼撒正在作见证，而但以理能够完全按照在圣灵的默示下所作的来记录下来。它的奇妙之处在于它恰好是一个美妙的见证。我相信这就是为什么 上帝的灵指示但以理把它放进去。

现在，我希望你注意到它是第一人称的。“尼布甲尼撒王，向全体人民宣告”，等等。这是他个人的见证。这有点像尼布甲尼撒为他如何开始相信真神的见证。这是他个人的精神传记。

第 2 节，“我以为将至高的神向我所行的神迹奇事显现出来，是好的。现在，他终于看到了——当然，这是你将在故事中看到的内容的回顾。祂实在说：「我要告诉你们，我是如何开始相信至高的 神，这 神超乎我百姓的一切神祇之上。

“祂的神迹何等伟大” ── 他在第3节中说。哦，他证明了自己。“还有他的大能 – 他的奇事何等大能！”顺便说一句，在希伯来文和旧约《圣经》中，神迹和奇事经常一起使用，用来表示神迹。他说：「我见过足够多的奇迹，知道祂的国度在我之外;它是永恒的。他的统治范围超出了我的范围;它是代代相传的。

现在，请注意在第1节中，他是在对全地说话;在他看来，他统治着整个地球。就他们在那个时代所拥有的扩展自我和发现人民和国家的能力而言，他们相信他们统治了世界。所以，他说..「我告诉每一个人，就我所看到的整个世界，至高无上的上帝的故事，那位至高无上的主宰。我已经见过足够多的奇迹、足够多的迹象和奇事，知道这位神超越了任何其他神。

所以，你这里有一位异教国王的个人见证，他是外邦人时代的第一位君王，给你他的属灵传记。

好了，让我们看看这个梦。第一点，梦想的接收。第 4 节，梦的接受。这是他的第一手资料。它从第4节开始，用什么词？第一个词是什么？“我。”“我尼布甲尼撒在我的家里安息，在我的宫殿里兴旺。我看到了一个使我害怕的梦，我床上的思绪和我脑海中的异象使我感到不安。

现在，“安息” 这个词的意思是摆脱忧虑和恐惧。他的王国当时没有任何重大问题。此时的帝国已经非常稳定了。他没有经历严重的发作。他以一种奇妙的方式繁荣起来。顺便说一句，这里的 “flourishing” 这个词的意思是绿色生长。为了绿色生长。巴比伦的一切都在绿意盎然。巴比伦的一切都很繁荣。

现在，我敢说，这很可能是在他统治的三十岁到第三十五年之间，因为我们已经接近他生命的尽头了。这可能是在炽热的熔炉之后 25 到 30 年才发生的。到现在，丹尼尔已经 45 到 50 岁了。因此，我们在 25 到 30 年中的 3 到 4 年之间有一个巨大的时间间隔。上帝带来了第二个梦。这让他感到恐慌。这让他从舒适和休息中惊醒，他完全害怕。

那么，他对此有何反应呢？第 6 节，“所以我定旨，将巴比伦所有的哲士都带到我面前”——天哪，他的记忆力是不是很短。那些失败者？上次他们进来时，什么都没告诉他，他说他要把他们全都杀了。嗯，你知道的，25 年了，我猜你必须保持系统运转;所以，他们仍然存在。所以，“他定了旨，要把巴比伦所有的哲士都带到我面前，好让他们把梦的解释告诉我。

“然后出现了魔术师、占星家、迦勒底人”——他们是他们所拥有的种姓制度中最高的——“占卜师。我告诉他们梦，但他们没有告诉我梦的解释。现在，他把这群上次根本帮不了他的失败者叫回来，他也经历了同样的例行公事。

在第18节，他们没有告诉他们解释的原因是，它说，“他们不能把解释告诉别人。他们不能告诉他，因为他们不知道，但这次他们不承认他们不知道，他们就是没有告诉他们。所以，他给了他们梦想，他们就失去了行动能力。而现在，我们又回到了人类智慧的愚蠢之处。

我告诉你，那天晚上我正在听 – Patricia 和我开车去参加情侣会议，我们当时在听一盘磁带。我们确实时不时地聊天，但这次我们听的是磁带。有个人被问了好几个问题，关于教会里世界上所有的问题，他只是不停地给出答案，再回答，再给出自己心中的答案。这太令人沮丧了。我一直在想，“如果他只提到某某节经文，那就会回答这个问题。

“但他会说..「现在，根据我的信仰，我是一个受过教育的人，某某某。〝那是很多双关语，拐弯抹角，什么也没说。当我们都完成时，我们以为我们已经回到了家，因为我们哪儿都没去。兜圈子。

世界没有任何答案。哥林多前书 2：14 说：“自然人不明白神的事。耶稣说他把这些事藏起来，不让世上有智慧和聪明的人知道，又把它们启示给婴孩。世界永远不知道;他们一直在学习，但从未能够认识真理。所以，他又回到了同一个坑里，和那些声称什么都知道，但根本不知道的家伙在一起。

第 8 节。我喜欢这个。我的意思是丹尼尔很酷。他有一种时机感。明白这句话，“但最后，但以理进来了”——你不喜欢吗？最后，丹尼尔进来了。他只是进来，看到一片混乱，等待着他的时刻。然后它说，“他的名字叫伯提沙撒”——因为这是尼布甲尼撒在第四章里对巴比伦人所做的见证，他想让他们知道但以理是谁，所以他用他的巴比伦名字，“照我神的名”——他的神是巴力——“在他里面”——我喜欢这个——“是圣洁神的灵”。

现在，我们不想今晚整晚都试图来回讨论这是否意味着神是复数，他在谈论他心中的一些神，或者它是否意味着真神。在我学习之后，我倾向于他指的是圣洁的上帝。对于那些希望对此提供一点支持的人，可以试试 Leon Wood 关于 Daniel 的书。他也持同样的观点。所以——他是关于但以理书的最佳作家之一，只是给你一个脚注，这样你就不会认为我一个人在左边。

但无论如何，“但以理，名叫伯提沙撒，照我神的名进来了” – 请看 – “圣洁神的灵在他里面”。那么，他从哪里得到这些信息呢？嗯，怎么——我的意思是他说他是至高的神，很久以前，当第一个梦被告知时，不是吗？他说，早在25或30年前，当火炉发生时，他就是至高的上帝。但是他从哪里得到 上帝是圣洁 上帝的观念呢？我告诉你在哪里。在这 25 年和 30 年里，你认为丹尼尔从来没有告诉过他任何事情吗？你最好相信，在那 25 到 30 年里，但以理，作为整个巴比伦帝国的首相，他正在把他能喂养的一切喂养到那个人的心里。他关心他。我们稍后会看到这一点。

现在，我不知道丹尼尔在适当的时候上任时去了哪里，但他有很强的战略时机意识。当所有的混乱都在进行，他们都站在那里，脸上一脸茫然，闭上了嘴巴，国王试图得到答案，他终于进来了，给了他答案，缓解了所有的压力。

随着岁月的流逝，尼布甲尼撒认识到圣洁上帝的灵住在这个人里面，这不是很奇妙吗？你看到的巴比伦人的神不是圣洁的神。异教神灵并不比崇拜他们的人好多少。但有一位圣洁的 神，他的灵住在但以理里面，尼布甲尼撒知道这一点。他现在对神的本质有了比以前更全面的理解。我认为这不仅是丹尼尔教给他的，而且我认为这可能是丹尼尔的样子。我认为他从但以理的圣洁中得到了神的圣洁的概念。不是吗？

但以理不会用王的肉玷污自己，但以理不会喝王的酒，但以理也不会沉溺于违背神的不道德和过激行为。但以理过着纯洁、圣洁、有德行的生活，尼布甲尼撒的结论是他有一位圣洁、有德行的神。因为一个人崇拜一个上帝，而这种崇拜会反映出他认为上帝是什么。

当斯坦利在非洲中心找到大卫·利文斯通 （David Livingstone） 时，他和他一起住了六个月。斯坦利在找到利文斯通时，自称是一个怀疑论者，但他在与基督徒大卫·利文斯通在一起六个月后就离开了。有人问利文斯通说了什么使他获得了转变，斯坦利回答说，“不是利文斯通说的，而是利文斯通是什么把我带到了基督面前。

根据斯坦利的报告，利文斯通从未问过斯坦利是否是基督徒;他从未向他宣道，似乎也从未为他的转变祈祷。但利文斯通是如此彻底的基督徒，以至于斯坦利突然意识到，一个不是基督徒的人就不是基督徒。很简单。利文斯通是一位神人，他允许主通过他而活;因此，他的一生是胜利和祝福的一生。他凭着纯粹的影响力和美德，把那个人带到基督面前。

我认为，在丹尼尔的案例中，这可能是可能发生的事情。但以理不仅讲到 上帝的品格，也彰显了 上帝的品格。因此，我们看到了梦的接受。他收到了。

现在让我们看看第二点，梦的背诵。丹尼尔进来了，他在一个关键时刻进来解决问题。听着，我得为此添加另一个脚注。我不认为丹尼尔甚至没有和那群人在一起。尽管他是一个聪明人，尽管他是一个博学、受过教育的人，也是巴比伦宫廷的朝臣之一，但我只是觉得他从来没有惹过那群人。他自己在一个班上作。他们进来了，后来他也进来了。他明确表示，身份是有区别的。

第9节，“伯提沙撒啊，术士的主人”——现在他给了他最高可能的头衔，比任何人都优越。

顺便说一句，“魔术师”这个词，为了公平起见，可能是一个应该被翻译成最广义的学者的词。它体现了神秘的事物，以及教育、文化、科学、智慧等等。也许我们用另一种方式翻译它会更公平，这样你就不会认为它是从帽子里拉出兔子。但魔法师的师傅基本上是首席学者。这是首席学者，最博学、最睿智、最博学、最有天赋。事实上，但以理确实成为知识的代名词，智慧的代名词。

在以西结书 28：3 中，它说：“看哪，你比但以理更有智慧”，这句话是对推罗的王子说的。推罗王子的背后是撒旦。我的意思是，对于一个男人来说，丹尼尔拥有令人难以置信的知识和智慧。所以，他进来了。他不仅有这点，而且他说，“我知道圣洁 上帝的灵在你里面。你不仅受过所有的教育，不仅有所有的智力，而且你里面有圣洁上帝的灵“——看着这个——”没有秘密麻烦你“——我知道没有秘密对你来说是个问题——”告诉我我所看到的梦中异象的解释。解读我的梦，“他说，”对你来说，没有什么难的。

“现在，这是我的梦”，第 10 节。这是一个奇怪的，看。“我在床上头的异象是这样的：我看见，又看见地中有一棵树，树高很大。那棵树长大了，很强壮，高到天上“——那是一棵大树。它就这样不断生长、生长、再生长，从平坦的地球平原上伸出来，周围似乎什么都没有。它上升。“这景象一直延伸到全地的尽头。”现在，那是一棵大树，伙计们。

第12节，“它的叶子是美丽的;它有很多水果，里面有所有人的食物。田野的走兽在它下面有影子，天上的飞鸟住在它的枝条上，所有的肉都是从它吃的。

现在，有一棵树孤零零地从地上拔地而起，伸向天空，光荣无比，以至于整个地球都可以看到它，它是如此高大。所有的野兽都聚集在它的阴影下，所有的鸟都降落在里面，它们得到了食物。全地都可以吃它的粮食。这就是他在梦中看到的。

现在，顺便说一句，我可以补充一点，树木在古代经常被用来象征伟大的统治者。如果你查看以西结书 17：22;它似乎是一个平行的引用。如果你查看以西结书 31：3，它把法老称为一棵树。在阿摩司书2章9节，还有另一个类似的指示。在其他一些古代记录中，我们看到树木与一位伟大的统治者相提并论。

所以，我真的认为这并不是一个难解的梦。这棵树似乎是尼布甲尼撒。这是一棵树。哦，一棵美丽的树;一棵多产、多产、茂盛的树;全世界都在享受它的丰盛，它为世界提供食物和供应。

但这个梦还有第二部分，这就是令人震惊的，第 13 节，“我在床上头的异象中不断观看，看哪，有一位守望者”——这就是尼布甲尼撒对天使的称呼;这是他对天使、警惕者的话;它的意思是一个守望者，一个警惕者，一个守护者，当然，他是一个天使。他看到的是这位天使 – “和圣者” – 一位守望者和圣者。没有两个词能更好地描述天使。他们保持警惕，他们是守护者，他们是圣洁的。

所以，他看到一位天使，“他从天上降下来，大声呼喊，他说：'砍倒这棵树，砍掉它的枝条，抖掉它的叶子，撒上它的果子。让野兽从它下面逃走，让飞鸟从它的树枝上逃走'“——换句话说，整个交易都崩溃了。这就是这棵树的破坏和破坏。

嗯，第15节有一个有趣的特点，“'然而，要离开树桩和根'”——它包括树桩和根——“在地里，就是用铁和铜带做的'”——这可能是一个栅栏;最好的解释是你离开树桩和它的根——它仍然活着——并在它周围用栅栏围住它——“把它留在田野的嫩草里'”——然后注意这一点，一件奇妙的事情发生了，第15节——“'让他去吧'”——这是从哪里来的？我从来没听说过有一棵树叫他，对吧？现在我们偷偷地进行解释，不是吗？现在我们知道这棵树是一个人。“'让他被天上的露水打湿，让他的分与地上的草中的野兽同在'”——我们已经来到了一个重大的变化。他？那是一个男人。让他的那份？所以，我们来谈谈他和他的，现在我们开始了解他的解释。

树被毁坏，被砍倒。整个事情都戛然而止，但树桩还活着，树根还活着，周围有栅栏，没有人可以伤害它，而且它受到了保护。

第16节，“'愿他的心离开人的心，愿将兽的心赐给他;让七次从他身上过去。现在，这棵树是一个人。而这个人要放弃他男人的心 – 小心翼翼 – 得到野兽的心。他要忍受七次。

你说..「七次是什么？」

在但以理书7章25节，我们发现了这一点，因为那里说大灾难的结束，后半段将是——看吧——一个时期，一个时期——然后是什么？– 半时间。那么，一个时间等于——什么？– 一年。这个人要在那里七年，他的王国被切断，根部还活着，受到保护。

现在，请留意一下第16节，“'愿他的心改变'”——还有心——你必须明白，心指的是人所有的思考、认知、推理过程，它们控制着一切。他的思想实际上是要变成动物的思想。这是一种可怕的心理折磨，被称为狼人，来自 anthrōpos 人 lukos wolf。狼人、狼人的概念就来源于此。那个认为自己是动物的家伙。

雷蒙德·哈里森 （Raymond Harrison） 讲述了一个类似于 1946 年在精神病院观察到的尼布甲尼撒的现代案例的个人经历。哈里森写了这篇文章，我觉得这很有趣。他说，“许多医生在忙碌的职业生涯中，从未遇到过但以理书中描述的那种狂躁狂症。因此，本文作者认为自己特别幸运，能够实际观察到一个野猪病的临床病例。

顺便说一句，boanthropy 是 bous 这个词，意思是公牛或奶牛，这是 lycanthropy 的一种形式，一个人认为他们是一头奶牛或一头公牛。现在，这听起来有点好笑，但我相信，对于那些到处吃草和做出那样愚蠢行为的人来说，这并不太好笑。

无论如何，“他们观察到，”他说，“1946 年在英国一家精神病院里出现了一个疯狂的临床病例。患者 20 岁出头。据报道，他已经住院了大约五年。入院时症状发展良好，诊断是立即和决定性的。他身高和体重一般，体格健壮，身体健康。他的精神症状包括明显的反社会倾向。正因为如此，他从黎明到黄昏，在户外度过了一整天。

“他的日常生活包括在宏伟的草坪上闲逛，原本肮脏的医院情况得到了改善，他的习惯是边走边拔草吃一把。通过观察，人们看到他能区分草和杂草，在向服务员询问时，作者被告知这位患者的饮食完全由医院草坪上的草组成。他从不和其他囚犯一起吃机构的食物，他唯一的饮料是水。

“作者能够粗略地检查他，唯一注意到的身体异常包括头发变长和指甲粗糙、增厚。如果没有机构的照顾，病人的身体状况将与但以理书第4章提到的完全相同。

所以，这并不是一个未知的心理现象。在这种情况下，它是由上帝诱导的。现在让我们看看第17节，找出这一切的重点。“这事是凭着定令定下来的”——他仍然在这里讲述梦——“这件事”——这整件事——“是守望者的定意”——或天使——“和圣民的话的要求”——这些天使，原因是——“为了让活着的人知道”——看守——“至高者统治人国，把国赐给他愿意的人， 最卑微的人都站在它上面。

换句话说，在梦中，守望者或天使实际上告诉尼布甲尼撒，这个梦的全部意义在于表明至高者统治着人类的王国，并把它赐给任何愿意的人。

现在是第18节，“我尼布甲尼撒看见了这个梦。伯提沙撒啊，现在你宣告它的解释，因为我国度的所有智者都不能告诉我解释，但那人能知道“——他在这里第三次说了这句话——”因为圣神的灵在你里面。哦，如果我们能用新约的术语来说，但以理如何在他的社会中脱颖而出，因为他的生活被圣灵控制和被圣灵充满，这不是很美妙吗？

因此，我们在 8 节的第 4 节到第 7 节看到对梦的接受，然后我们看到从 9 到 18 节的背诵。现在是梦的启示。您想知道它是什么意思吗？“第19节是这样，”但以理名叫伯提沙撒，困惑了一小时“——现在，一小时可能不是字面上的一小时;这句话的意思是 – “他的思想使他感到不安”。他是否因为不知道梦的答案而感到困惑？不。他为什么感到困扰呢？他为什么感到不安？他很不安 – 现在记下它 – 因为他确实知道梦的解释，他的心是对尼布甲尼撒的怜悯之心，他为事情必须发展到这个地步而感到遗憾和难过。你看？

我想让你知道一些其他的事情，一件有趣的事情就在这里发生。尼布甲尼撒停止以第一人称说话。为什么？从现在开始，伙计们，尼布甲尼撒再也无法为自己说话了，因为他变成了一个狂热的疯子。他只有在第34节才回到第一人称，当他恢复理智时。但在此期间，它从第一人称开始移动，仿佛它正在远离他，因为他完全无法理性地反思发生的事情。

丹尼尔在那儿站了一会儿，什么也没说。“王说：'伯提沙撒，不要让梦和梦的解释困扰你”——不要害怕告诉我。

“伯提沙撒回答说：'我主，愿这梦归于恨你的人，愿你的仇敌明白这梦。'他所说的是，“我希望我所要说的对你的敌人是真的，而不是对你。多么富有同情心的人。这不是困惑的沉默;那是同情心的沉默。他只是不想告诉他必须告诉他的事情。

我认为，即使这样说，他也在尼布甲尼撒的心中印证了他爱他。如果他只是脱口而出谴责，尼布甲尼撒可能会质疑但以理的同情心。但这再次向那个人证明了 Daniel 有多么深切的关心。亲爱的，这是一个很好的教训。我们知道这个信息，我们知道有审判、厄运和地狱的信息，但我们从来没有怀着报复的心来传讲这个信息，不是吗？我们从不以严厉、诅咒、无爱心和评判的方式来传讲它。但我永远不能——我希望你也不能——在没有悲伤和同情的情况下与任何人谈论他们永恒灵魂的丧失，关于上帝对他们生命的审判。那是丹尼尔。但以理很伤心，因为他必须告诉这位国王，他多年来一直与他在一起，他为他祈祷、祈祷、祈祷、年复一年地祈祷，向他展示了他对上帝的信仰的美德——他必须告诉这位国王一些他不想告诉他的事情。我们应该有这种同情心。

J. Allen Blair 说：“几年前，在伦敦，有一大群知名人士的聚会。受邀嘉宾中有一位当时著名的传教士，名叫塞萨尔·马兰 （César Malan）。一位年轻的女士弹唱动人，每个人都很激动，非常亲切、委婉，然而，在她的音乐停止后，传教士大胆地走到她面前。他说：“我想，当我今晚听你说话时，年轻的女士，如果你的才能奉献给基督，基督的事业将得到多么巨大的好处。“你知道吗，年轻的女士，你在上帝眼中是个罪人，但我很高兴地告诉你，他的儿子耶稣基督的血可以洗净你所有的罪。”

“嗯，那位年轻的女士很震惊，她突然斥责了马兰，他回答说，'女士，我没有冒犯的意思。我祈求神的灵能使你知罪。

布莱尔说，“他们都回家了。这位年轻女子退了下来，但无法入睡。传教士的面孔出现在她面前，他的话在她的脑海中回响。凌晨 2：00，她从床上跳了起来。她抓起一支铅笔和一张纸，泪流满面，这位年轻的女士，夏洛特·埃利奥特（Charlotte Elliott），写下了这些话，'就像我一样，没有一丝恳求/但你的血是为我流淌的/你叫我到你面前/上帝的羔羊啊，我来了'，因为一位传道人富有同情心，足以对抗。

那里有一个平衡。所以，丹尼尔很关心，但他还是继续说了他必须说的话。他说了什么呢？请仔细听，第20节，“你所看见的那棵树，长得茂盛，高耸入天，遍地都能看到，树叶美丽，果实多，里面有众人的食物，田野的走兽住在这树下，天上的飞鸟也住在树枝上”——它来了， 在第22节下划线，“王啊，就是你”——还记得拿单对大卫说的话吗？“你就是那个人。”“是你，国王。”大多数传道人在这样的危机中退缩了。丹尼尔没有。“你就是那个男人。”

然后是第二部分，第23节，“王看见一位守望者，一位圣者从天上降下来”——这位天使——“说：'砍倒树干毁，把树根的树桩留在地上，用铁铜做篱笆'”——坚固的篱笆——“在田野的嫩草中， 愿他被天上的甘露打湿，愿他的份与田野的野兽同在'“——顺便说一句，他一字不差地背诵了这个梦——”'直到他七次过去'，这是国王啊，这是至高者的命令，临到我主我王身上“——事情来了——”他们要把你从人那里赶出去， 你必与田野的走兽同住，它们要使你吃“——这个词的字面意思是草——”它们要使你吃草“——或青草——”像牛一样”。他们要用天上的露水打湿你“——就是像地上其他的地方一样，生活在外面的露水里——”七年要过去你，直到你知道至高者统治着人间，把国度赐给他愿意的人。

现在听着，只是总结一下，就很清楚了。尼布甲尼撒将要受到羞辱。他快要疯了。他要变成一头野兽，疯狂了整整七年。现在，你不能在它发生的戏剧中感知到这一点，因为你无法感知到尼布甲尼撒在他荣耀的巅峰时期。例如，如果你能想象美国总统变成一个疯狂的疯子，站在白宫的草坪上，被一个小栅栏围起来，每个人都能看到他，爬来爬去，吃草七年，你可能会开始想象发生了什么。多么不可思议、难以置信的羞辱。

但是第26节，“虽然他们吩咐你离开树根，但你知道天掌权之后，你的国必向你保证。而且有一线希望。请看第 26 节。留下树桩的原因是尼布甲尼撒不会死。但 7 年后，在他吸取教训后，他会再次夺回他的王位。他需要学习的功课是：每个国度都是 上帝的，上帝掌管万物。如果他设立了一个卑微的人，如第17节所说的，那只是因为神做了这件事，而不是因为那个人做了。

话虽如此，但以理在第27节中呼吁说：“所以，王啊，求你悦纳我的劝告;靠公义摆脱你的罪恶，通过怜悯穷人来摆脱你的罪孽。换句话说，生命中要有公义，要用行为向有需要的人证明。君王必须与罪决裂，与上帝建立公义的关系，然后他必须通过美德的行为来证明这种公义的关系。在我看来，这听起来像耶稣在马太福音 22 章中所说的，“尽心、尽性、尽意、尽力爱主你的神，也爱你的”——什么？– “像你自己一样。”首先，你要与神建立正确的关系，离弃罪恶，接受他的公义，然后开始对你周围的人行善。

以赛亚书 55：7 是这样说的：“恶人当离弃自己的道路，不义的人当离弃自己的意念，归向耶和华，耶和华就必怜悯他;归于我们的上帝，他必大赦。他呼吁尼布甲尼撒悔改，转离他的罪，归向耶和华，接受公义的标准，并开始怜悯。顺便说一句 - 我们没有时间深入探讨 - 他是一个无情、杀人如麻的国王。

因此，有很多事情需要改变。但你知道吗？即使在这个梦和它的解释之后，尼布甲尼撒仍然拒绝悔改。他拒绝了。就像 Felix 一样 – 你知道吗？他对保罗说：“等我有空的时候，我就叫你来;我现在不能被打扰。他拒绝悔改。如果尼布甲尼撒 – 我相信，在第27节，如果他悔改，神绝不会允许这种情况发生。

你说，“嗯，你为什么这么想？

上帝说他要毁灭尼尼微，但尼尼微悔改了，他没有这样做。右？神说审判，但当人悔改时，神就转离了他的审判。但尼布甲尼撒并没有悔改。

因此，我们看到通过第8节接受梦，通过第18节看到背诵，通过世俗的经文看到启示。现在是第28节的领悟。看看发生了什么;事情发生了。但请看，“这一切都临到尼布甲尼撒王身上。什么时候？在结尾“——多长时间？– “十二个月。”现在，你告诉我，神不是一位有耐心、有恩典的神。上帝给了尼布甲尼撒多长时间来纠正他的行为呢？一整年。尼布甲尼撒是个卑鄙、邪恶、凶残的人。然而，神给了他十二个月的时间，让他听见但以理奇妙而恩典的呼吁。上帝是如此的有耐心。你知道，你想想洪水，上帝说，“我要用水毁灭世界。他告诉他们。你知道他做这件事有多久了吗？一百二十年。现在，这就是耐心，不是吗？在上帝等待的整个过程中，他让挪亚成为公义的传道者。上帝给了他一年的时间，在此之前，上帝已经给了他 30 年的但以理影响力。

当撒母耳为扫罗哀悼时，耶和华 神对他说：「我赐给他年复一年的悔改和改变。现在我拒绝了他。换句话说，“哀悼已经太晚了;我给了他时间。

借着主的灵，耶利米向邪恶的犹大喊著：「悔改吧。他们拒绝悔改，于是尼布甲尼撒在公元605年来了。耶利米又提高了声音说：“悔改吧。尼布甲尼撒不悔改的时候，就在598年回来了。耶利米又提高声音说：“你们要悔改。但他们没有。所以，他在 586 年再次回来。但神仿佛是轮流行事的，每次都给他们另一个悔改的机会，他们拒绝了。

第30节，为了向你表明他离悔改还有多远，请听见，“王说了又说”——他站在宫殿的顶上，环顾着这座不可思议的城市，“这大巴比伦，不是我凭我的能力，为我的威严为天国的殿所建造的吗？坦率地说，这很恶心。我的意思是他太臃肿了。他把那些东西都看了一遍。我是说你 – 巴比伦是古代最大、最强大的城市。这座城市是一个完美的正方形，15 英里见方。有宽阔的街道、坚固的防御工事、众多的公共建筑、足够的耕地和牧场。人口约为 1,200,000 人。这座城市被一条深而宽的护城河所包围，护城河深而宽，城墙高 87 英尺，高 300 英尺，或者更确切地说是 87 英尺宽，高 350 英尺。现在，那是一堵墙，伙计们。

这座城市实际上是设防的。那里有街道，所以—— 在路上，他们可以在墙上驾驶四辆并排的战车。街道在城市中交汇，通往 12 个不同的大门。幼发拉底河流经这座城市。城里有巨大的征税。这里有这一切：令人难以置信的宫殿;有空中花园，这是我们在古代所知道的第一个空调建筑。令人难以置信的是，他是如何做到的，顶部绿树成荫，水绊倒，整个事情都用空调。他建造它是为了取悦他的妻子。男人做了更奇怪的事情来取悦他们的妻子。

其实，你知道他做了什么吗？在城市中心，他建造了——他真的在沙漠中央的平坦平原上，为他的妻子建造了一座 400 英尺高的山，并将其变成了空中花园，让她保持凉爽。她可以爬到顶部 - 然后坐在那里，通过一个 10 英尺宽的巨大、巨大的、 10 英尺宽的楼梯呼吸美妙、凉爽的空气。我什至没有时间深入讨论其余的所有内容。到处都是金子，到处都是黄铜，这只是其他东西。“他站起来，看着这一切，只是对自己说，”你是自切片面包以来最辣的东西;你还不如承认吧。

就像希律王一样，在使徒行传第12章中，当这些话话口中时，第31节发生了，“话刚口中王，有声音从天上降下来，说：'尼布甲尼撒王啊，这是对你说的;天国离开了你。』上帝给了他 12 个月的时间。12 个月结束时，他就是在那里。

神说：“就是这样。他们必把你从人那里赶出去，你的住处必与田野的走兽同住。他们要叫你吃草，像吃牛一样，七次越过你，直到你知道至高者统治着人类的王国，并将这地赐给他愿意的人。

你知道，有些人只是困难的案例，不是吗？“就在那时辰”——第33节——“尼布甲尼撒被应验了，他被赶出人间，像牛一样吃草，他的身体被天上的露水打湿，直到他的毛长得像鹰的羽毛，他的指甲像鸟的爪子。停在那里。

一个非常棒的活动，你不是说吗？他在外面。每个人都能看到他。不知何故，他被围起来了，像动物一样在地上爬来爬去，吃草。他的头发像鹰的羽毛;他的手指像鸟的爪子，指甲很厚，结了痂，弯曲了。一个狂热的疯子七年了。

现在，我告诉你一件事，在那样的王国里，你有很多贪婪的下属。你有很多人想打败尼布甲尼撒。但是 上帝从来没有让那个王国里那些贪婪、野心勃勃的贵族们把手放在那个宝座上，因为 上帝说尼布甲尼撒会夺回它。

如果你回顾历史的后期，你会发现在尼布甲尼撒死后，你会发现他们试图夺取那个王位时，有一个令人难以置信的政治阴谋环境。但七年来，虽然这个男人是一个狂热的疯子，但没有人把手放在那个宝座上。同时，我相信 上帝使用但以理来控制它，直到它能够归还给他。我敢再说一遍，所有的沙阿、阿亚图拉、伊玛目、毛泽东、希特勒，以及所有其他想要主宰世界、站在他们的塔楼上、说他们有多伟大的人，都应该好好教训，好好看看但以理书第四章，了解是上帝赐予人类他们所拥有的王国。

上帝使他失望。但故事并没有就此结束。从接受梦、背诵梦、启示、实现，我们来到了恢复。瑰。

现在，我很快就要开始了，几分钟，我们就完成了。第34节，请注意，“在日子的末了” – 下一个词是什么？“我。”回到第一人称;他恢复了理智。– “我尼布甲尼撒” – 啊，恢复了，改变了，他做了什么？– “我举目望天，我的理解归于我，我赞颂至高者，我赞美并尊崇那永远活着的，他的统治是永恒的统治，他的国度是世代相传的”——哦，伙计，大卫应该为此配乐;听起来像一首诗篇——“地上所有的居民都被誉为虚无，他在天上的军队和地上的居民中都按他的旨意行事。没有人能拦住他的手，也不能对他说：'你做什么呢？哦，他明白了，不是吗？他变了。

耶利米说：“耶和华这样说：'智慧人不可夸口他的智慧，勇士不可夸口他的勇壮，财主不可夸口他的财富。但那夸口的，应当夸口，说他明白我，认识我，说我是耶和华。

尼布甲尼撒终于知道了。蒙爱的信徒啊，如果高高在上的，如果能有的人谦卑下来，神就能拯救他们。你知道吗？我告诉你一件事，上帝总有一天会让每个人都谦卑。最好在我们还有机会接受他的恩典时谦卑。右？也许你就是这样得救的。

我记得我曾硬着脖子抵挡神，神以每小时 75 英里的速度把我从车里扔出去，把我砸在人行道上，把我在医院撞了三个月，把我弄坏了。骄傲带来了谦卑，谦卑带来了悔改，悔改带来了救赎。

所以，这就是尼布甲尼撒自己的见证。第36节，“与此同时，我的理智回到了我身边;为了我王国的荣耀，我的尊荣和光明归给我;我的谋士和我的主眷寻求我;我在我的王国里站稳了脚跟，又加了极好的威严。不，明白了。他的理智回来了，他荣耀的王国，他的荣誉，他的光明回来了——看吧——甚至谋士和领主也都寻求他。他们没有说，“不要靠近那个疯狂的疯子;他已经被吓坏了七年了;离你远点。

每个人都接受了他。王国接受了。整件事仿佛什么都没发生过一样，“我就站稳了，又加了极高的威严。一个国王可以成为的一切，但我的反应是正确的，“现在是我尼布甲尼撒”——我该如何度过我的生命？– “我赞美，我赞美，我尊崇天上的王，他的一切行为都是真理，他的道路都是正义的。而那些骄傲行事的人，他能谦卑。他收到了信息吗？嗯，你知道的。

想知道一些事情吗，伙计们？你可能会在天堂遇见尼布甲尼撒。然后，当你在那里时，你可以让他与但以理、沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌聚在一起，只要你愿意，你可以讨论火炉里和其他地方发生的事情。多么伟大的真理。上帝抵挡骄傲的人，将恩典赐给谦卑的人。

我以一首诗结束。听，“就像一只拖着折断的翅膀的鸟儿，我回到了你身边/从来不属于我的飞行和自由的家/而我，那些了解遥远的太空和烈日炎炎的人/现在我的一天已经结束，只求你翅膀的庇护/像一只拖着折断的翅膀的鸟， 我终于回家了/哦，再一次把我抱在你的心里，把我从我的过去中隐藏起来。让我们一起祈祷。

在我们结束的时候，请允许我为一位老清教徒祈祷，愿这是我们的祈祷：主啊，至高圣洁，温顺与卑微，您已将我带到异象之谷，我住在深处，但在高处看到您。被我罪孽的山峦包围，我看到了你的荣耀。让我通过悖论来了解到，下降的路就是上升的路。低就是高。破碎的心就是被治愈的心。痛悔的灵就是喜乐的灵。悔改的灵魂是胜利的灵魂。一无所有就是拥有一切。背负十字架就是戴上冠冕。给予就是接受。

主啊，在白天，可以从最深的井中看到星星，井越深，星星就越亮。让我在黑暗中找到你的光明，在我的死亡中找到你的生命，在我的悲伤中找到你的喜乐，在我的罪恶中找到你的恩典，在我的贫穷中找到你的财富，在我的山谷中寻找你的荣耀，奉基督的名。阿门。