Who Are You | Just Look Up - Daniel 4 | October 5

INTRO

Hey Family!

It’s so, so good to be back together.

Thank you to all who have been so faithfully helping and pouring out your life over the past weeks during this recovery from Hurricane Helene. I know sometimes it seems insignificant and like you haven’t done anything, but every little bit truly helps. And there will be much more need over the months to come.

But for now, I know there are also many of you who need this time to refresh and recharge and just be. Just as the Bible continually uses the word “Beloved”, especially in the New Testament. It is so important for us to come together like this, even in the midst of tragedy, and be loved.

We are going to stay in Daniel. We are looking at chapter four and continuing to ask the question, Who are you? Because the book of Daniel is all about identity. And the truth that we’ve been seeing over and over again is, if you know who God is, you will know who you are, and you will know what to do. You will know your purpose.

In chapter 4 we’ll see another truth with regard to identity that has already been introduced, but is even more apparent now. And that is what you look at, you will worship. And what you worship you will become. You become what you worship. And what you worship is determined by where you are looking. Where are you looking?

In Matthew 6, Jesus says, “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

What are you looking at? Are you looking down at created things, at people, at your own desires and achievements? Or are you looking up? These verses in Matthew have every bit of the reality that what you’re looking at is what you’re trusting in. Where is your faith? Where are you looking?

It is times like these. Times of tragedy. Times of hurt and suffering for so many people that remind us most obviously that we are no longer in Eden. We are outside of the Garden. This is life in exile. We are in exile. It is for this reason we suffer earthly sorrows. But we are not to escape exile, or suffering even for that matter, we are called to stand and work for peace, rest, and the welfare of those around us.

God has appointed us for times such as these.

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

I know there are some of you have been listening to the Bible Recap with Tara Leigh Cobble. I happened upon an interview where she talked about how, when she entered into full-time ministry, she hadn’t read the Bible all the way through until a pastor friend of hers challenged her to do just that.

By the end of that year, when she had read the whole Bible, and although she had a fuller understanding of the story of who God is, she found herself not liking God.

She says, “I realized that this whole book is true. I believed it was true, cover to cover. I just didn’t like who God revealed Himself to be.” And this was a real problem, because she was in full time ministry and she didn’t like the God she was serving or telling other people they should love.

And so she shared this with her pastor friend who, because he had been walking on this journey with her, immediately knew why. Because when she was reading through the Bible she was looking for herself.

She said, “I wanted God to tell me what I could do so that I could be a good Christian and earn His approval or figure out what promises I could use to back Him into a corner to get what I wanted from Him…” He’s not this transactional God, and that really frustrated her because she wanted the Bible to be about her.

So again her friend challenged her to read through the Bible, only this time, looking to see God more clearly, to know God, to answer the question, who is God?

And that changed everything for her.

She was halfway through the Old Testament that second time, where you would least expect it to happen, and she fell in love with the God of the Bible, the God you encounter through His words. It was the same book, but with a different lens. And she said, “It just absolutely transformed not only the way [she] read Scripture, but the way [she] lived [her] life, the way [she] engaged in [her] relationship with God, the way [she] engaged with the world around [her]…everything was different.”

It’s not about you.

The Bible is a book about God, and we’ve been building a picture of God through these opening chapters of Daniel – the Most High God.

IT’S ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

That’s the way Daniel chooses to refer to God, more than any other way.

The Most High God.

In fact, it happens chapter after chapter. There are these repeated summary statements that clue you into the flow of the story, building a picture of the Most High God – a picture of God’s sovereignty.

As Daniel sings in chapter two, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. 21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. 22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.”

God is in control of all human history. God is sovereign. It means He is in control. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s important to remember that now more than ever.

Nebuchadnezzar makes this confession himself, “7 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings…” (Daniel 2:7).

Daniel had just said this about Nebuchadnezzar that, humanly speaking Nebuchadnezzar was the king of kings. And now Nebuchadnezzar himself, the king of kings, declares that Daniel’s God is “God of gods and Lord of kings.”

In chapter three, as God rescues Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego through the fire, we see another powerful confession from Nebuchadnezzar, he says in verse 28, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him… There is no other god who can rescue like this!”

He alone is God. There is none other. No one is like our God. There are no other gods in Heaven or on Earth. (Jeremiah 10:6, Psalm 86:8-10)

He is sovereign. It means He is unique. He is solitary. In the words of Sinéad O'Connor “Nothing compares — — — to you”.

Then here in chapter four, we get a final confession of Nebuchadnezzar, written by his own hand, or at least in his own voice, 2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me. 3 How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations… 34 His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. 35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’”

“Not only is he God of gods and able to rescue, but his kingdom is everlasting.

We are getting a multidimensional view of the Most High God in the height and depth and extent of his sovereignty.

He is God. He does as he pleases. He is sovereign. God of gods. Able to rescue as he chooses. And his power and reign will not expire. His kingdom is everlasting. None can hold him back.”

“The clear implication in all the terms used to describe God is that He is the highest possible object of our worship… (Deuteronomy 27:13; Revelation 9:20).”

“In the title LORD Most High, the Hebrew words are Elohim Yahweh. We describe objects of exaltation as being “higher” than we are: higher in rank, in title, in beauty, in position, or in intelligence. Even authority is referred to in terms of height, from top-level management down to the common worker. Height conveys the idea of superiority in power, strength, and authority. So God Most High or LORD Most High means that there is no god, idol, or created being that should be worshiped or exalted above Yahweh, the LORD, because He is superior in every way.”

He is the highest authority. He is the highest power. He is the highest good. He is the greatest desire. He is the Most High God. Our God, who alone is sovereign.

These are all powerful confessions made, not by some faithful Israelite, but by the seemingly faithless enemy of God’s people, King Nebuchadnezzar himself. Nebuchadnezzar had seen, but he hadn’t yet believed.

This is his testimony from death to life – from pride to praise.

IT’S GOTTA GRAB YOUR HEART

Chapter four is about the sovereign God who makes all things new, who changes hearts and minds, even the heart of the greatest king on earth.

Chapter four is a story about one man’s journey. It’s the testimony of a man who had a life changing experience through an encounter with the living God.

Sure, Nebuchadnezzar had seen God work. He had seen Him move. Nebuchadnezzar had seen, but he had not yet believed. He had yet to look up.

In Job 42:5, Job makes the confession, “my ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” Nebuchadnezzar had seen many wonderful things. Still he had yet to turn his eyes to God.

In our leader team meetings we have talked about asking better questions. Not just how are you? How was your weekend? But good questions that lead us to God questions. And there is one question that I’ve tried out a couple times and it is amazing the response you’ll get from people.

The question is: “Have you ever had an experience that made you think there might be a God?” I asked some college students this question and they both shared the most amazing story. Now, they had already begun on their faith journey. But it’s amazing the experiences people will have that at the end of it don’t end in belief.

There will be so many opportunities for stories like these in the coming months. Lord, I pray that they will produce faith.

This was not Nebuchadnezzar.

He has had the most incredible experiences. And true, he recognizes God. He gives God props. But he doesn’t surrender his life. He doesn’t believe. To believe is not just to understand, but to respond in faith.

“We have seen the progress of Nebuchadnezzar coming to recognize that God is Lord of all. Daniel has shared the message of God’s kingdom with him, he had interpreted an important dream, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been miraculously delivered from the fiery furnace. These things got his attention, but not his heart.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was still full of such pride – such – arrogance really.

FROM PRIDE

Two things we know, “God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13). In Isaiah 2:11 God said, “Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.” God hates pride. And we as a people are so proud. Humans are so full of pride.

I just read a story where a grandfather is writing about his grandchildren. One of his granddaughters grabbed a ski cap and said, “Hey, Mommy and Daddy, watch how well I know our house. I can walk down the hallway without seeing." She took two steps and walked head first into a door jamb. On the second step! Her brothers and sisters thought it was a joke until she started crying.

We are so full of pride.

“But God also loves proud sinners. That’s why he sent his Son into the world to save us from the power and the penalty of our pride.”

Nebuchadnezzar was so proud. And he had good reason to be.

Verse 30 says, “30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.”

Greek historian Herodotus wrote about Babylon in the fifth century B.C.E. and his descriptions made the city famous in the ancient world.

“Assyria possesses a vast number of great cities, whereof the most renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon… The city stands on a broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no city that approaches to it…”

The hanging gardens of Babylon were so majestic that they are considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

During King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon, there was great wealth and expansion, a great amount of building using around 15,000,000 bricks. Thousands of these bore his name and titles stamped into the clay: "Nebuchadnezzar...the eldest son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I"

“Pride loves to think of itself as the source (the originator) and the recipient (the object). The origin of great achievement (by my power!) and the recipient of great praise (for my glory!). We have here in Nebuchadnezzar, the essence of pride: the enjoyment of self-sufficiency rather than God-sufficiency and the enjoyment of self-exaltation rather than God-exaltation.

“By my power and for my glory I have built this great Babylon!”

Nebuchadnezzar was so proud. We are so proud. Even if we attain some level of humility we find ourselves proud to be so humble. This is a story about pride, in some ways it’s the old adage that pride comes before the fall. Which is from the Bible, by the way, Proverbs 16:18.

It is a story about pride. It is a story about the eyes. Where are you looking?

Nebuchadnezzar looked at himself and his achievements.

The story of Babel, as Jake connected the dots for us last week. The story of Babel, which is the same city as Babylon (it is Babylon), is a story of people growing tall and looking down.

It’s about the eyes. Where are you looking? It’s about identity. Who do you think you are? Do you think more highly of yourself or of God? Who’s sovereign in your eyes?

Nebuchadnezzar spent his whole life looking down.

Until he was made to be one of the lowly. “Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.” (Daniel 4:33)

TO PRAISE

He thought he was strong but discovered he was weak. He thought he was self-sufficient only to discover that he was utterly dependent on God — for life and breath and everything. When everything was stripped away he had nowhere else to look.

What is the biblical opposite of pride?

Humility – you might say. What is humility?

I can tell you what it’s not.

Humility is not Devine depression. You don’t become more humble by thinking less of yourself. You don’t become humble through self-abasement. Pride has the funny trait of being found at the extremes. If you think too much of yourself you fall into pride. And also, if you think to little of yourself you are simply measuring yourself by the standards of the pride you cannot attain.

Humility is not about being lower. It’s about living in truth and responding in gratitude. “It’s living in gratitude to the one who is with you and who strengthens you and responding in gratitude that overflows into peace and love to the world around you.”

It’s about knowing the depths of your brokenness as well as the depths of your beauty. Knowing who God is and what He has done for you and responding in kind.

Humility is akin to contentment. Contentment is controlling what you can and releasing what you can’t. There’s really only one thing you can control - how will you respond. You don’t have control of your circumstances, that’s God’s domain. You can control how you persist in those circumstances.

Life in exile is not about putting on a happy face and pretending everything is okay. It’s about knowing who God is so that you can correctly assess who you are. So you can answer the question: who are you? And you can respond in gratitude. You can look up.

There are two ways to be humbled. Either you can humble yourself or let God do it. I don’t recommend defaulting to the latter.

Nebuchadnezzar is humbled.

A time passes – and then… Nebuchadnezzar looks up. Nebuchadnezzar finally looks up.

Where are you looking? Nebuchadnezzar looked up and his reason returned to him.

D. L. Moody said, “I believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride, selfishness and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts.”

Where are you looking?

“The opposite of pride in man’s strength is praise for God’s sovereignty.”

JUST LOOK UP

Nebuchadnezzar had seen. He had heard. But he had not yet believed.

So Daniel invites Nebuchadnezzar to repent and believe. To answer for himself the question: who will you be? What will your life say about you? Will it demonstrate pride in your own achievements, or will it shine light on the sovereignty of God?

What’s your testimony from death to life?

Here’s Nebuchadnezzar's:

“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was dead in my arrogance and pride, looking down on everything and everyone, but God revealed Himself to me. I looked up and saw the greatness of the Most High God and now I will praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

It took the loss of everything for Nebuchadnezzar to come to this realization.

He was turned over to his animal passions and found there was no life there.

I can’t help but to see how this story, this testimony, is basically Paul’s words to the church in Rome. I’m not going to read it all right now, but I encourage you this week, read Romans chapter 1 to 3. God does not force Himself upon us. He lets us choose. He releases us to the animalistic desires of our hearts, just like Nbuchadnezzar, desiring at all times for us to see Him through the passions of the world.

1 John 2:15 says, “15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

God wants us to look up. He wants your friends, and neighbors, and coworkers, those whom you love and those whom you’ve just met to look up to Him who is above all.

God wants to be glorified through our lives.

We are to give all the glory to Him through our lives, through our words, through our actions. If we continue to live a boastful and selfish life, God will give us over to the desires of this earth.

OUTRO

Where are you looking?

What does your life say about the Most High God?

Who is God in your life?

A person's life can say many things about their relationship with the Most High God.

Some people look for God in every situation, big or small, and thank him for the people in their lives. Some people pray and include God in their thoughts throughout the day. Some people trust God to lead them and believe that God's will for them is better than anything they could deserve. Some people recognize that God's love for them is greater than anything they could earn. Some people believe that God's greatest desire is to be in relationship with his people and that his purpose for them is to become more like him.

Has God gotten such a hold of your heart that you are willing to share it with everyone?

Daniel four started out with Nebuchadnezzar saying, “I want you all to know (every people, every race, every nation, and every language of the world) about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God

Has God gotten such a hold of your heart that you are willing to share it with everyone?

If not, what is holding you back? Is it pride, fear, shame, selfish ambition?

Whatever it may be, be brutally honest and confess it to Jesus. Then ask for the courage you need to tell others about what Jesus has done for you.