He Will Humble The Proud

November 22

Daniel 3-4

Psalm 128

Proverbs 28:3-5

1 Peter 3:1-12

He Will Humble The Proud

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold…but whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”  Daniel 3:1, 6 LSB

“You will be driven away from mankind and your place of habitation be with the beasts of the field, and you will be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of Heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes.  Immediately, the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was accomplished;…But at the end of those days, I Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward Heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever…Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of Heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” 

Daniel 4:25, 33-34, 37 LSB 

Nebuchadnezzar missed the whole point of the dream about the statue.  Instead of understanding that it pointed to the sovereignty of God and His control over human history, he chose to make it about himself.  Since the dream pictured him and his empire as the head of gold, he made a huge gold statue to represent himself and ordered everyone to bow down and worship it.  The dream was intended to make him bow down and worship God, but he exalted himself so that others were compelled to worship him.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down and were thrown into the fiery furnace.  Jesus walked through the furnace with them and rescued them from the flames giving Nebuchadnezzar another chance to turn to God.  He said the right words but apparently his heart had not repented because God gave him another dream.  In the dream he saw a large tree that provided shelter and protection for many creatures.  But then the tree was cut down, leaving only a stump.  Daniel interpreted the dream to mean that Nebuchadnezzar was going to lose his kingdom, be driven from among men and live in the wild for seven years.  In his power, luxury and leisure the king ignored God.  He knew that Daniel’s God was the one true God, but he was too focused on his own power and majesty to submit to the power and majesty of God.  He decided to humble the king until he chose to acknowledge that God alone deserves to be worshiped.  Nebuchadnezzar was driven out into the wild and began “eating grass like a cow, and his body was drenched with the dew of Heaven until his hair had grown like eagle’s feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”  He was reduced from the most powerful man in the world to a beast in the wild.  God had given him a kingdom and God took it away. 

After seven years, Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity and his kingdom were restored when He acknowledged God’s sovereignty and his own pride.  His confession in 4:34-37 demonstrated humility and repentance.  “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18 NIV   It is much better to humble ourselves than to have to be humbled by God.   It is good to examine our hearts regularly for any evidence of pride, and then to confess it and repent.