wkc Talk 2 Christine Dillon

Still looking out! – Still mission impossible?

Daniel 4

‘Instant’ Societies
We live in a society that wants things to happen instantly. We don’t have much patience to wait for things. But how long is long enough we ask ourselves in keeping praying for our non-Christian friends that they will come to know God. Most of us are being very impatience, but God is not like that. God was indeed patience toward the stubborn Nebuchadnezzar in winning his heart.

God kept reaching out to Nebuchadnezzar, in fact two to three times. Daniel 2 recorded one occasion. Then in Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar once again was given the opportunity to learn of a God who saved His people (i.e. God saved Daniel’s friends who were put in a fiery furnace of fire because they wouldn’t bow down to the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar built to represent himself). Nebuchadnezzar kept thinking that he wouldn’t give up in keeping God out of his life. But did God give him up, because Nebuchadnezzar was utterly stubborn and slow?

Who is Number 1?
Nebuchadnezzar had lots of reasons to think that he was someone special. He was a great military commander, a great king, a great builder of the hanging garden of the Babylon (one of the Seven Wonders of the World). He was an arrogant king who wasn’t ashamed at all in bragging his contended and prosperous life for his own glory.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Answer – I Am!! (v. 4-30)
Life was going really well with Nebuchadnezzar. God shake him up again, through the same mean, a dream, as was the previous occasion in Chapter 2. The magicians again failed to interpret the dream as it was told (v7). Therefore, Daniel was Nebuchadnezzar last resort. However, Nebuchadnezzar still refused to acknowledge that God was supposed to be his personal God, even though he knew that God was a ‘top’ God. Nebuchadnezzar only acknowledged that God was one of the gods, and Daniel was someone special, but it wasn’t because of God (i.e. in v18, Nebuchadnezzar said, “…but you [Daniel] can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you”).

Daniel understood that Nebuchadnezzar was still a stubborn un-believer. However, Daniel’s attitude was gentle toward Nebuchadnezzar; he wasn’t being judgmental at Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel offered advices (v27) out of his concern for Nebuchadnezzar’s salvation, instead of preaching him out right that might destroy the relationship (i.e. pointing finger at a sinner who still doesn’t acknowledge they are sinners in a turn-or-burn kind of ‘preaching’!).

There are many things in the Bible that are hard sayings, i.e. sin, judgment, and death. But we need to talk these truths out to others. However, we have to be very careful with the tone of our voice.

God had given Nebuchadnezzar lots of opportunities to learn of Him, but he refused to learn the easy way. Nebuchadnezzar still thought he was No. 1 (i.e. in v30, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”). How is that for a challenge toward God!

We are sometimes like Nebuchadnezzar, thinking that we are the centre of the universe, and everyone else is there to serve us, even ignoring God in our life! This is sin essentially, thinking that we are No. 1.

God’s Answer – I Am!! (v. 17, 31-37)
This time, God hid hard at Nebuchadnezzar, not for the sake of being harsh in His judgment because of Nebuchadnezzar‘s stubbornness, but because of His love for him. God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to repent. God had indeed been very generous toward Nebuchadnezzar in giving him the warning through the dream, then the interpretation, and twelve months to repent before the dream was fulfilled (v29). But Nebuchadnezzar had wasted all these time, until his royal throne was taken from him that he was driven away from the people and lived with animals (v31).

Mission Accomplished? (v. 1-3, 34-37)
God was teaching Nebuchadnezzar a lesson so that he would acknowledge, honor, and glorify God. After all these years, has the mission accomplished? Where was Nebuchadnezzar at, spiritually?

How do we know that we truly are Christians? Jesus gave us a simple test whether we are the true followers of Him. We are likened to a tree; a good tree will produce good fruit, vice versa that a bad tree will produce bad fruit. Our actions, words, and thoughts will show who the king of our life is, whether Jesus or ourselves. If Jesus is our King, people would expect us to be different from the world. The children of God show the likeness of the father. When we are the new-born Christians, we’re like sprouts, but as we grow in Him, we become trees that produce the good fruit. God is changing us, our characteristics, and even our heart that we would have concerns for others’ salvation as well. We will be compelled by love to make known the truth to others. (See Galatians 5:19-25 for a comparison between the good and bad fruit).

So, had Nebuchadnezzar shown the fruit? Was he a believer at that point? What were the evidences in his life?
· Nebuchadnezzar had come to a right understanding or view of himself that he was nothing before God (v34). God is able to humble those who take pride in himself (v37).
· He had come to a right view of God, that God alone is right and just (v37) and His dominion is an eternal dominion (v34). God does as He pleases and no one can hold back His hand (v35).
· In fact, the greatest evidence would be that Nebuchadnezzar had then acknowledged God as his own personal God (v2).

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we may be in the middle of a painful process as we’re being shaped by God. But God crafts us that we might be like diamonds being crafted by someone who knows what he is doing, so that others may be amazed of the final result and glorify the craftsman.

Nebuchadnezzar had then been a humble person. He was ready to lose face, evidenced by the letter he wrote as an account of his personal witness to all people who are reading (v1) as he acknowledged that he was a sinful stubborn person, a rebel against God, a sinner who didn’t deserve salvation but had then repented. Though humiliating, he was ready to give it all. If we think we can just shake our fist at God, thinking that He doesn’t exist, there will then be a great awakening in our life in the future, but don’t waste that time going through the hard lesson. God is not the God who’s only up there, He has come to us, and there’s only one way, which is through Christ, that we might come to Him.

For us believers, let Him be the King everyday. We are often just one little link of a longer chain that brings others closer to their salvation. Often, we don’t see the big picture, we don’t know how long it takes before Jesus will enter their life, but we have to keep persevering, keep praying, keep trusting God to work through us. Remember that God loves His people more than we do. We must wait for His time, but let’s rejoice when we are in our tough time, because God is also making a diamond of others through us.

Mission impossible, through Jesus, mission accomplished!