Shining in Babylon | Daniel 4

In Daniel 4, we see an incredible story of grace and restoration for an unlikely candidate – Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Here is a brief overview of this chapter and what we can learn from it!

*This blog post is a summary from Pastor Bobby’s sermon on 6/19/2022. You can find the sermon video below.

Daniel 4

In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar recounts another dream that deeply troubled him. Once again, he calls on the wise men of Babylon to interpret the dream for him and once again, they all fail to do so. Finally, Daniel is called in and successfully interprets the dream.

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that – because of his pride – he will be driven away from society and be forced to live among animals. Daniel encourages him to repent of his pride and to acknowledge God but he does not. As a result, the dream’s interpretation becomes a reality and Nebuchadnezzar loses his kingdom.

After some time living in the wilderness, Nebuchadnezzar says that his “reason returned” to him and he praises God. At the same time, his kingdom is returned to him and all that was lost is fully restored.

Conclusion

We all have a tendency to think the problems in the world are somewhere “out there.” We are blinded by our own pride and cannot see that our biggest problem is really inside us. Our pride can also make us forget that all things come from God, that we are completely vulnerable without God, and that our default tendency is to be self-centered.

Despite our blinding pride, God is not giving us what we deserve. Like Nebuchadnezzar, our sin problem is far worse than we realize, and yet God is working to bring us back to Himself. We can be encouraged that, although the world seems dark, God is at work and is doing something powerful behind the scenes!