Daniel 4
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King
of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And
those who walk in pride he is able to humble. v37
In my previous post, we saw Nebuchadnezzar begin to
recognize the true nature of God as the God who reigns over all. Today we see Nebuchadnezzar greatly humbled
and he makes continued progress towards seeing God for who He truly is.
In verse 27, Daniel interprets a new dream from the king and
encourages him to repent, humble himself before God, and to be kind to the
oppressed. Yet we don't see this (verse
28) and Daniel's interpretation of the dream (v19-26) comes to pass and
Nebuchadnezzar becomes a beast of the field.
John Piper's team discusses here the arrogance that can lead many of us
to be transformed into a beast. Piper's
team writes: ..."we won’t be that impressed with our salvation until we're
thoroughly disgusted by the perversion we're saved from". It's likely Nebuchadnezzar begins to reach
this point and in v34-36 he is restored to his throne and offers worship of
God. John Piper does not believe however that Nebuchadnezzar becomes a true convert.
I am left with how destruction awaits us (either now in this
life or at the end of our live on judgement day) if we fail to heed God's words
for us or if we refuse to submit to Him as our Lord and Savior.
