Daniel chapter 4 contains a story full of significance for our walk with God. He is a God of mercy. He is compassionate, tender, and patient with the erring, waiting for those who have fallen deep into sin to recognize their waywardness and come to Him in repentance. If there is an urgency to prepare for salvation more than at any time in history on this earth, it is right now. The only people who will overcome in these final days are those who are developing a deep personal relationship today with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There is no second chance after Jesus returns to this earth. It is today that we must develop our characters. Just like the king in this story, many times we do not pay attention to God at first. Although He gives us much evidence to prove His love towards us, like Nebuchadnezzar, many still go their own way; and even then the Saviour is patient with the erring.
In this chapter we read of Nebuchadnezzar’s personal testimony on how he came to know the God of heaven. Earlier, he had met God through Daniel and then through Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (chapter 3). In chapters 2 and 3, the king sees the contrast between the God of Israel and the gods of Babylon. Here we see his surrender to the true God. We see how God’s love and patient persistence with this heathen king can change someone into a follower of Christ. In this, Nebuchadnezzar is a good example of a witness—one who relates what he has seen and experienced.
The Holy Spirit worked on Nebuchadnezzar’s stubborn heart for many years before he surrendered his life to the God of heaven. The patience that God showed toward Nebuchadnezzar gives us hope. He is patient and continues to work with us and all those who love Him.
There is an interesting story about Peter Marshall, the author of the book entitled “A Man Called Peter.” God called his name when he was about to fall off a deep rocky cliff on a stormy night in Scotland, while he was visiting some of his friends. He writes that when he came back home that dark and stormy night, he heard someone calling his name, “Peter, Peter.” At first glance he did not pay attention. “Who could be possibly be calling my name?” he thought. “I’m alone in the darkness.” He stopped in his tracks. Then, just as he was ready to take another step, he heard the voice again, sounding more urgent this time: “Peter, Peter!” At that moment, he was so terrified, so startled, that he went on his knees and began to crawl. When he reached out his hand there was no ground on which to put it on. He then realized the danger which he had been in, so he remained on his knees and thanked God for calling his name in the darkness.
That night, Peter Marshall, who would later immigrate to the United States and become the Chaplain of the Senate, had a sense that God had tapped him on the shoulder; that God had called his name.
There are times in life when God calls your name or my name. There are times when God intervenes miraculously to save your life, my life. Our compassionate Saviour did that with my life. He intervened in my own life, telling me that there was a better way to spend my youth. I am so thankful to Jesus for giving me the opportunity to know Him and work in His vineyard, helping others to know Him as well. This life is too short to be spent without Jesus. We never know what might happen next and our life may come to an end. Can we be sure of tomorrow? Of course not. We do not know what will happen five minutes from now; that is why we should always be prepared for Jesus to come.
The story begins with the king’s words, “Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.” Daniel 4:1–2 NKJV
This is Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion story—his personal testimony. It is the story of how the heathen king was transformed by God’s power and grace. It is as if Nebuchadnezzar says, “I have to speak, everybody else be silent, I have something to say. God transformed my life. He changed something in my heart, mind, and soul.” The heathen king is glowing with God’s grace. He is filled with God’s goodness. The Lord knew Nebuchadnezzar’s name and tapped him on the shoulder, just as He did with Peter Marshall.
If God can take a godless, heathen king and transform him and place peace in his heart, then there is hope for me, and there is hope for you. No matter how hopeless you feel at this moment, no matter how much you have disobeyed God and turned your back on Him, no matter how guilty you feel because of some sin you committed, if God can take a wicked, idolatrous, rebellious king like Nebuchadnezzar and transform his life, He can transform yours. If God can call his name, God can call your name. God can tap you on the shoulder in your darkest night and change your life also, my friend.
There is nothing more effective in winning a soul for Christ than your personal encounter with Jesus, your personal experience, and your personal testimony, as we see in the life of this heathen king. “How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.” Daniel 4:3. Every human being has a different and unique experience with Jesus. The person who was addicted to alcohol, but allowed Jesus to intervene in his life so his life was changed by the message received, like King Nebuchadnezzar, has something to say: “I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.”
Has God touched your heart in a certain way that you cannot keep silent? Has God worked a miracle in your life and you want to share it with somebody—maybe a family member, friend, workmate, schoolmate or with your church family? If God has done that in your life, then you cannot keep silent. The Samaritan woman at the well had an encounter with Jesus, and after that the whole city knew about it (John 4). Every story is different and it will be so wonderful in heaven when we share the uniqueness of our own experience of how God changed our life.
If everything in your life is so wonderful and going well—well with your job and financial issues, well with your family, well with your health—life can change in an instant. There is nothing wrong if all these things I mentioned are going well in someone’s life. God wants that, but we should not think that if we serve God everything in our life must run well all the time. Life can change in an instant. It is very possible that everything can be going well in your life, then one night there is a telephone call and your life can be changed forever.
I remember in my youth, I grew up in a Christian home, having good moral principles taught by my parents; but I had the same feeling like Nebuchadnezzar. I said to myself that I am young, healthy, with many prospects before me; I can do whatever I want. Nobody can stop me. Regarding the Bible and what it had to say, I thought that it was not for me; I still had many years before me. This book is for older people. And suddenly God tapped me on my shoulder saying, “don’t think like that, life is so fragile on this earth and you never know what can happen next.” The first time I experienced death in my family, losing a person that I loved very much, was my Grandmother. Her death made me think about life on this earth and the importance of being reconciled to God while we are living in this body.
As I said before, life is so uncertain, unexpected things may come. Let us suppose that you come home one day, and there is a little note from your wife that says, “I am sorry, but for a long time I have been thinking about it. I have never said anything to you, but I am leaving.” And that one day changes your life. Or you have been feeling a little weak and tired. You go for your annual checkup, and the doctor says, “you know that little lump that you felt? I’m sorry to have to tell you, but it’s malignant, and it’s metastasized, and you
don’t have much time left.” Life can have unexpected sharp turns. Life can change in an instant. Nothing is guaranteed on this earth.
When we read the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4 we see how the king made the same mistake he did a few years before. What happens? The king is having another dream, but this time he is remembers the dream and he wants to know the interpretation and its significance. Again he calls the elite of his kingdom and once again they prove themselves unworthy. “I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told them the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.” Daniel 4:5–7
In Daniel chapter 2 were they able to tell the king what he dreamed? Not at all. Now, if the king saw all of this, my question is, why is he calling them back to tell him the secrets of his dream, when they failed the first time? It does not make sense, but the Bible tells us in verse 8 first part; “But at the last Daniel came in before me.” “At last.” Do we sometimes do the same as Nebuchadnezzar, we worry about something that came up unexpectedly and we try to find our own solution, consulting our best friends in order to solve the problem, until finally, last of all, we get on our knees and pray? I am sure we have all made a similar experience. Oh, that we would help get on our knees and call upon God first. There is a God in heaven who longs to solve the problems of our hearts.
Nebuchadnezzar was in his palace. He had not acknowledged the God of the universe as King of his heart, and as a result, God gave him a wake-up call. One night he had this dream of the great tree. The tree grew large. The fowls of the air made their nests in the tree and the beasts of the earth were housed under the tree. As the tree grew large, a decree came from Heaven saying to cut down the tree. The tree was chopped down, and only a stump remained, with a band of brass and iron. Now, Daniel is there, he is the man God uses to make known to the king that pride has a price. Just like sin has wages the same way pride has consequences in a person’s life. “Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.” Daniel 4:19
Notice carefully, Daniel did not say to the king, “you are going to get yours now! You overthrew my city, Jerusalem, you took me captive and eventually you killed my parents and my people, now you have got what’s coming to you, your kingdom will be chopped down—Hallelujah, praise the Lord, the heathen kingdom is going to fall, I can go home now.” No, Daniel did not do anything like this. His character shines when we see his reaction in that situation. Daniel knew that he could never influence the king unless he loved him. Daniel stands for us as a living example of what it means to be treated unjustly. He was taken captive in his late teens, never to see his father again, never to see his mother again, never to marry the woman of his dreams, and here in a heathen kingdom God gives Daniel, once again, the interpretation of the king’s dream. The beauty of Daniel’s character is revealed in this story, as we see in his answer to the king. God never treats us as we deserve but He always treats us as He wishes us to be treated. God is love, and His character is perfect.
At times, God taps us on the shoulder. He taps us once, He taps us twice, and we continue walking away from Him, living careless lives, prayerless lives, godless lives, occupied by the things of this earth rather than the things of heaven. God loves you so much that He wants you to learn lessons to help you get ready for heaven. When you were born into this world, God had a plan for your life, and through your life, as you make choices to be at harmony with God’s will, God guides and directs you. His plan for your life is joy and happiness.
God gave time to Nebuchadnezzar to change but he did not initially change. One year after Daniel gave the interpretation to the king, we read, “At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” Daniel 4:29–30. Is that not a parallel of some of our lives? God tapped us on the shoulder and said, “Look, I’m giving you a chance.” But have many, like Nebuchadnezzar, plunged ahead in a certain course of action that they knew in their heart was not in accordance with God’s will? Nebuchadnezzar failed to heed God’s warning, failed to listen to God’s invitation to repentance, failed to accept God’s loving instruction. He had turned his back on God’s mercy, and he lost his throne in an instant.
This is what happens when we turn our back to God’s invitation. The truth of the matter is that Nebuchadnezzar’s story is your story. It is my story. It is the story of the human race. Nebuchadnezzar sat upon a throne in pride, in arrogance, in sin and rebellion against God. But the good news in this story is that just like the prodigal son when he says, “I will arise and go to my Father,” Nebuchadnezzar said something similar after 7 times or 7 years of humiliation. “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.” Daniel 4:34. The Bible tells us that, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Nebuchadnezzar was transformed as he looked up to heaven. Just like Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven, so can we. God can reach down and change us; He can make us pure, honest, and kind to one another. Would you like to say right now, “God I cannot change myself, I tried so many times like Nebuchadnezzar but I failed. Lord, would you please reach down and change my attitude that I might be the person You want me to be.”
This is the story of a heathen king, transformed by Jesus. If this man was given the opportunity to be won for God’s kingdom, you and I also have the same opportunity to be won for heaven by Jesus. The only question to be asked is, “will you acknowledge Jesus in your life?” May God grant us the power and will to say “Yes Lord, I will.”
Nicholas Anca