Pride, Humiliation, and the Restoration of a Kingdom

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 100
• Hymn — All People That on Earth Do Dwell
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — adapted from Psalm 51
• Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 51:17
• Scripture Reading — Luke 3:10-22
• Hymn — Hail to the Lord's Anointed
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — All to Jesus I Surrender
• Sermon
• Prayer of Application
• Hymn — Join All the Glorious Names
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: Pride, Humiliation, and the Restoration of a Kingdom

Scripture: Daniel 4:28-37

I. The Humiliation of a King

A. The word of the Lord against Nebuchadnezzar comes to pass (Daniel 4:28-33)

1. Nebuchadnezzar walks on his roof, boasting: "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power?" (Daniel 4:30)
2. Immediately the kingdom is stripped from him and he is driven from among men, eating grass like an ox
3. His appearance becomes like an animal — hair like eagle's feathers, nails like bird's claws

B. Proverbs 16:18 — "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall"

1. Nebuchadnezzar is a near-perfect illustration of this proverb
2. Adam's fall is the original; Nebuchadnezzar's fall is a close second

C. The theological connection: to refuse humble submission to God is to become like an animal

1. Nebuchadnezzar held dominion to the ends of the earth (Daniel 4:22); in pride he becomes subject to beasts
2. Parallel with Adam: given dominion over all creatures, yet in pride he becomes subject to a serpent
3. The man possessed by Legion in Mark 5 illustrates how a life in rebellion to God produces animal-like degradation
4. Darwinian thought trains us to see ourselves as no different from animals; Nebuchadnezzar's story exposes where that leads

D. True human dignity is found in obedience and submission to the Lord God

1. Nebuchadnezzar's insanity was a lesson on where true dignity resides
2. Extra-biblical Babylonian records corroborate a period when Nebuchadnezzar was removed from the throne

II. The Exaltation of the King

A. Nebuchadnezzar lifts his eyes to heaven and his reason returns (Daniel 4:34-35)

1. A step-by-step causal relationship: looking to heaven → reason restored → blessing of the Most High
2. Correlates with Daniel 4:26 — he will live like an animal "until he knows that Heaven rules"
3. Pride and sin suppress transcendent truth within fallen man; empiricism alone cannot provide a foundation for life

B. Nebuchadnezzar proclaims the absolute sovereignty of God

1. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion … all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing" (Daniel 4:34-35)
2. None can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

C. Nebuchadnezzar's prior theology: transcendence without holiness

1. The gods of Babylon (chief: Marduk) were grand replicas of their worshippers and kings
2. Nebuchadnezzar now encounters holy transcendence — a God whose will is not bound by or manipulated by mankind

D. Absolute sovereignty does not contradict justice (Daniel 4:37)

1. "All his works are right and all his ways are just"
2. God's sovereign free will is always in accord with his righteousness, justice, and truth
3. What humanity cannot understand of God's hidden will may be left in confidence that whatever he has done is perfectly just

E. Humanity's full potential is to glorify and enjoy the sovereign Lord

1. Verse 30 vs. verses 34-35: two contradictory answers to "reaching full potential"
2. By worldly standards, Nebuchadnezzar had reached humanity's full potential; outside of God, the greatest accomplishments of man make one no more than a beast
3. Through humbling, Nebuchadnezzar realized that humanity's full potential is to glorify the sovereign Lord of heaven and enjoy him forever
4. The great equalizer among mankind is our image-bearing quality — rich or poor, accomplished or not, we all reach our full potential when we praise and extol the sovereign Lord
5. In Christ Jesus — Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female — we together reach our shared full potential as we glorify the King of Heaven (Galatians 3:28)

III. The Restoration of a Kingdom

A. Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, majesty, and splendor are restored — with even more greatness added (Daniel 4:36)

B. The U-shaped trajectory of the passage

1. Self-exalted pride at the top → humbled by the Lord → extols the true King → restored to the top with greater glory
2. Parallels Job: humbled, given a lesson in God's sovereignty, then restored with a double portion

C. Jesus' teaching: those who exalt themselves will be humbled; those who humble themselves will be exalted

1. Daniel 4 uniquely presents both realities in one person and one chapter
2. Nebuchadnezzar's self-exaltation leads to humiliation; his humiliation leads to even greater exaltation — now received from the Lord rather than grasped in pride
3. Adam's pattern contrasted: he received dominion but grasped equality with God in pride

D. The U-shaped trajectory finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ

1. Christ did not need humbling by God, but humbled himself, counting equality with God not a thing to be grasped, even to the point of death on a cross
2. Therefore he is now highly exalted in the heavenly places (Philippians 2:8-9)
3. All who trust in Christ are invited into this same U-shaped life as his disciples

E. Mark 10:29-31 — those who leave all for Christ's sake and the gospel's will receive a hundredfold now and eternal life in the age to come; many who are first will be last and the last first

F. Proverbs 3:9-10 — honor the Lord with your wealth and firstfruits; your barns will be filled with plenty

1. Give away all for Christ and receive in eternity the riches of his treasures in the age to come
2. Pride comes before the fall; humility comes before the eternal riches of Christ's kingdom