Confronting Pride

Lesson 4

Source: Daniel 4-5; Proverbs 16:18; James 4:1-10

Living a nonconformist lifestyle is hard, like really hard. Why? We all have this desire to fit in, to be accepted and to go along with the crowd. Our hunger for “community” is so overwhelming at times that we will do whatever it takes to “belong.” The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard points to illustration of the crowd yelling, “crucify Him,” as evidence of the false courage and stupidity of the crowd. He points out how the crowd leads us to “untruth.”

Why do we naturally gravitate to the crowd? Because we can hide in the crowd. We won’t be seen for who we really are, yet our deepest longing in our heart is to be known. Ever since our first parents ate the forbidden fruit, they set a pattern of hiding from God. Every one of us has perpetuated that pattern by joining the crowd.  In the crowd, we pretend that God and others cannot see our sinfulness and our inadequacies. Yet, the being part of the crowd is the biggest evidence of our deep shame.

That’s why God calls us to be nonconformists according to Romans 12:1-2. A nonconformist is one whom God has given the grace to see that Christ is more important than the crowd. That by following Christ, they will receive a deeper satisfaction then the crowd could ever offer. There is no need to hide from God when you are in Christ, for Christ has paid your sin debt, He has reconciled you to the Father and given access to the Holy Spirit. As a Christ follower, you know the one true God and are known by Him, and He loves you!

Daniel understood this about God, that God knew him and had not forgotten him. Remember, Daniel and his friends were dragged away from their home and taken to a foreign land. They were taught a new language, new philosophies, given new names and surrounded by unbelievers. Right away, Daniel set up a pattern to follow God before the king and his obedience led to God’s protection of Daniel and his friends, and also to the benefit of the entire kingdom.

Daniel has been put to the test to join the crowd time and time again. He does not just face the natural pull toward the crowd, but he encounters the leader of the crowd time and again. Every time he takes a stand for God, he is risking his life. Every time he tells the king something the king wouldn’t want to hear, he is risking the king’s anger. Yet, Daniel continues to trust God with his wellbeing.

This week we see Daniel’s service to two different kings, Nebuchadnezzar and his grandson Belshazzar. In both stories, Daniel is called upon because his commitment to God has created a reputation as one who is filled with “an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding.” At the root of each story is the king’s pride and we see two very different outcomes.

From the Palace to the Field and Back Again

Chapter 4 opens with Nebuchadnezzar having a dream he wants interpreted. His dream was about a tree that was chopped down, but the stump remained. Not one of his astrologers, enchanters, magicians or wise men could tell him the interpretation. Until Daniel enters the story.

Daniel hears the dream and is troubled by it, because he cares for the king. The king reassures him that no matter the interpretation, Daniel should hold nothing back. The interpretation was that the king was becoming too confident in himself and his own pride was going to lead him to destruction. The king’s sanity and kingdom was going to ripped away from him and he was going to live as an animal for 7 years. Then he was going to find repentance and his sanity and kingdom would be restored.

Daniel finishes with the exhortation for the king to repent now and save himself from this humiliation.

“Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” (Daniel 4:27)

A year later, Nebuchadnezzar looked out upon his kingdom and boasted about how great he was. Immediately his senses were taken from him and he was removed from his position. He lived the next seven years as a beast of the field.

Until one day, his senses returned and he praised the living God!

“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35)

His senses were restored and he was given back his kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar has had several encounters with the wisdom and power of God. Some scholars disagree, but I believe he experienced genuine repentance and salvation at the end of chapter 4. Daniel’s consistent nonconformist life left an impression on the king and now we see his confession of God:

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37)

The Writing on the Wall

The next story jumps some 20 years in the future. Nebuchadnezzar has died and his son Nabonidus is now king. We don’t see Nabonidus in the book of Daniel, although it is believed the promise of being “third in the kingdom” is a reference to the fact that he was still alive. Nabonidus abdicated his throne for many years and enjoyed the desert oasis of Tayma, leaving his son, Belshazzar, to rule.

Belshazzar forgot about Nebuchadnezzar and his advisor Daniel. He enjoyed the prosperity and power others had worked hard for. He was partying it up and brought out the golden vessels that had been taken from the Temple of God in Israel to drink from them. This utter contempt for the holiness of God was met with a stunning display.

A finger appeared and wrote on the wall for all to see, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.” The king was scared and called anyone to come and tell him what it means. His mom remembered Daniel was blessed by God and told her son to summons him.

Daniel refused the offer of the prize and reminded Belshazzar of the lessons God taught his grandfather. He rebuked Belshazzar for his pride and arrogance for worshiping all these other gods, but not recognizing the God who holds his breath. He then interpreted the writings, “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting, and your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Belshazzar honors Daniel with the gifts and declares him to be third in his kingdom. Yet that very night, Darius the Mede had his forces sneak into the city while Belshazzar had partied, and killed Belshazzar and took Babylon.

The Testimony of the Nonconformist

Think back to chapter 1. How easy would it have been for Daniel to just give in and “enjoy” the pleasures of the world? How tempting was it for him to join the crowd? To go with the world’s pattern?

You know how easy it would be to give in, because each day you face the same questions. Sure, not the same level and in the same manner. But Daniel was just a human like you and me. He was no super human, but he was committed to honoring God above all else and God honored him (James 4:10).

How many of the wise men, astrologers, magicians and Chaldeans have drifted off forgotten in history? What significant story did they leave behind? How many other Hebrew children were taken by the Babylonians and bought into the crowd and missed the opportunity to show the glory of Yahweh?

Daniel’s decision to live as a nonconformist began in chapter 1, but it was lived out each and every day of his life. We see his influence over a king and his kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king turned believer. We see his bold and confident stand before the prideful Belshazzar. Both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar offered Daniel everything this world could give him, and it wasn’t enough to deter Daniel from his God.

We need to remember that this world offers so much, but it cannot deliver. Consider these lyrics from Caedmon’s Call’s song “This World”:

“This world has nothing for me and this world has everything
All that I could want and nothing that I need”

It’s only in Christ we will find our deepest satisfaction. It’s only in pursuing Him with our lives that we will truly find meaning, purpose and value in our life. As we stand up and stand out for Christ we will see that a nonconformist life is a life that leaves and impact on everyone around us.

Truly, following Jesus changes everything!

How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years from Crossway on Vimeo.