Daniel 4
Over the next few months, our morning gatherings will be working through the book of Hebrews, and our evening gatherings through the book of Daniel.
Readings for this week June 12 - 16
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings
Day 1 – The Power of Our Testimony
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 4:1-3
(We’re backtracking to Daniel 4 this week.) For the first three chapters of Daniel we were given a bird’s-eye-view of the story, an omniscient third-person narrator telling us about the conflict between Nebuchadnezzar and God, with Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego caught in the middle, buffeted by the winds of the king’s vindictive vacillation while remaining firmly planted in their faith in God’s faithfulness. Now, though, the telling changes and we find ourselves being directly addressed by Nebuchadnezzar himself, events related in his own words, from his own perspective. He tells us his story, his testimony, some of which we have already heard, some of which we are hearing for the first time. Some of it we may already know, but some of it we might find surprising, especially considering his rather bumpy road with God up to this point.
But what we will read is Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony of God’s work in his life. And there is power in his testimony – in anyone’s testimony – because he himself is testifying to God’s power to change him and the ways in which he sees God anew though the workings of his own life. He’s excited by what has happened to him and wants to share it with others. Our sharing with others what God has done – and is doing, let’s not forget that! – in our lives is a powerful sign of the power of God in our lives and the love that God has for each one of us. Meeting Jesus and sharing him – and our story with him – with others is a vital part in bringing God’s kingdom to this lost and hurting world.
Questions to Consider
What is your testimony? How would the power of God to change lives be shown in your story?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for changing me, transforming me from someone who didn’t know you into someone who lives for you and others. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – We Need to Talk…
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 4:4-12
There are two important things that this passage tells us. First, God speaks to everyone. There isn’t a special class of people that God limits his communication too; likewise, there aren’t groups of people that he ignores, holds himself aloof from, refuses to engage with. Rich and poor, old and young, followers and rebels, the faithful and unfaithful – all are potential recipients of messages from God. He may say very different things to different people in different circumstances, but God can talk to anyone he wants to – and he wants to talk to each one of us – even an indecisive, tyrannical king who has conquered God’s people and dragged them off to slavery in exile who needs to be warned about his mindless hubris.
This brings us to the second point. Sometimes what God says to us will make us uncomfortable – in fact, it is deliberately designed to make us uncomfortable, to bring us up short, to maybe stir guilt or sorrow or repentance within us. Nebuchadnezzar says that the dream he had “made [him] afraid,” but he still has the courage to pursue the meaning of the dream, even though it troubles him. We can’t ignore messages from God simply because we don’t like them, or they make us feel uncomfortable or engender responses in us that make us feel bad. When God has something important to say, sometimes getting our attention requires a bit of a jolt or shock to our system to get us to pay heed.
Questions to Consider
How do you respond to messages from God? How does he speak to you? How does he get your attention? What does he say?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for speaking to us. Even in our failures and our messes and our sorrows you still love us and still work tirelessly to keep the lines of communication open with us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Dream Warnings
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 4:13-18
We might not be as gifted as Daniel in the interpretation of dreams, and the dream may not send shivers of fear through us like it did Nebuchadnezzar, but even before hearing Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream, it’s obvious that the message of the dream isn’t a pleasant one. The key for why God has given this dream to Nebuchadnezzar comes at the end of this passage, in verse 17: “so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men.” As we have seen, this has been Nebuchadnezzar’s problem (read: sin) all along, the belief that he is all powerful and need answer to no one for his actions, not even God. He believes he can rule with sadistic impunity and that he is untouchable. But even without Daniel’s full interpretation, we can tell that a dream in which a man is forced to live with the animals – live like an animal, with the mind of an animal – is not a good thing for that man.
God has warnings for the rich and powerful and arrogant, for those who would ignore the rule of God, the cries of the poor, the silence of the lonely, the call to love. Through dreams and visions, through prophets, through scripture and through the words and work of his son Jesus, God warns those who live selfishly, give meagrely and love self-importantly to change their ways – to turn to him – or face the consequences. We may not be titled ‘kings’, but if we live like entitled kings at the expense of the poor and oppressed and ignored, then maybe we need our lives disturbed with troubling dreams too.
Questions to Consider
What warnings has God given you? What form did they take? What did you do about them?
Prayer
Gracious God, may I heed the warnings you give and take note of the way you want me to live for you. May I not stray from the path you set. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Unpleasant Truths
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 4:19-27
Whether he knew it or not, whether he acknowledged the truth of it or ignored it, Nebuchadnezzar needed Daniel in his life. Being surrounded by ‘Yes-men’ who only tell you the positive, encouraging things you want to hear, who, through fear and the desire to maintain their exalted status, refuse to tell you the uncomfortable things you need to hear but don’t want to, is never good. None of us want to hear dire news of the calamities that will befall us if we don’t change our direction, but we do need people in our lives – often friends and loved ones, but sometimes strangers too – who can tell us the hard facts, the unpleasant truths, the grim reality, and help drag us back to the true path. People who tell us the good about ourselves, yes, but also, when needed, the bad too. We need the eyes of others to prompt the tongues of others to tell us when we are messing up.
And the point isn’t to destroy us. God’s intention wasn’t to destroy Nebuchadnezzar. What God wanted was for the king to repent, change his attitude, and acknowledge God’s sovereignty over all so that “your kingdom will be restored to you” (verse 26). Daniel was doing God’s work in speaking harsh words of judgement to the king in the hope that Nebuchadnezzar would realise his sin, repent of it and turn to God. Daniel was courageous enough to tell the man who had the power of life and death over him that he was being an idiot and needed to pull his head in. We need people like that in our lives too.
Questions to Consider
Who are the people in your life you look to for a truthful reality check? What is it about them that makes you seek them out? How do they help?
Prayer
Loving Father, may I not be afraid of the truth from whichever direction it may come. May I be open to the word of truth spoken into my life. And may I be a source of love and truth into the lives of others. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – A Pilgrimage to Faith
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Daniel 4:28-37
Throughout his reign Nebuchadnezzar’s policy was much like the one adopted by the rulers of the later Roman Empire: letting conquered people keep their own gods made them more cooperative and easier to manage, and therefore made the conquerors’ lives (i.e. his own) much easier too. All well and good (in theory) for Nebuchadnezzar (and the Romans) – until he conquered Judah and came up against a God who would tolerate no rivals, whether human or ‘divine.’ In fact, even worse, the God of the Jews claimed that he had made Nebuchadnezzar everything that he was; that Nebuchadnezzar only ruled at God’s sufferance; that the sooner Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God’s sovereignty and acclaimed him Lord, the better it would be for him and for everyone.
The first four chapters of Daniel show us the long, painful pilgrimage of Nebuchadnezzar from arrogant megalomaniac to humbled king. He was given many chances and many warnings. Sometimes he heeded them, but any praise and honour he offered God was only transient at first, in the moment rather than for a lifetime. It took a long time and it took a lot of grief – no one would call several years of living with wild animals and eating grass fun – but finally Nebuchadnezzar got the message he had been failing to heed all along: God is in charge. Here, at the end of this account of Nebuchadnezzar, we see a king restored to himself and his throne, now humbled, but also acknowledging God’s greatness and finally, fully, admitting that “everything [God] does is right and his ways are just.”
Question to Consider
What have you learned from reading Nebuchadnezzar’s journey?
Prayer
Heavenly Lord, be gracious with me. Though I stumble and wander and get distracted sometimes, thank you for not giving up on me. Give me the wisdom and courage to hear your voice and act on what I hear. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)