Explore the compelling story of Babylon’s greatest kings through the eyes of Daniel, God’s prophet. This episode brings to life the fascinating accounts of dreams and divine messages that shaped the destinies of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Learn about the profound repercussions of pride and the enduring power of faith in overcoming the snares of ambition and vanity. Listeners will gain insights into the enduring question of how leaders rise and fall under divine providence.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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I couldn’t help but wonder why God would allow a writing from a pagan king to enter the Bible. And then the answer occurred to me. Nebuchadnezzar, you know, wrote one chapter of the book of Daniel. And I wondered, well, why is it there? Well, it’s certainly true that the Bible is the word of God. It’s inspired by God. But in many cases, it takes the form of testimony. One of the really strong threads in biblical jurisprudence is that everything has to be established by witnesses. No man could be condemned except by the testimony of two or three witnesses. And I guess because of this, we have four Gospels in the New Testament, not just one. You ever thought about that? It’s really a significant item. There are four Gospels, not one Jesus didn’t write his own book. We have three eyewitness accounts for sure, and one that appears to be by a competent historian named Luke who collected testimony from enough people to put together a comprehensive narrative which he vouches for. So it is, to understand this, this is probably the best way to establish what happened to Nebuchadnezzar for history, is to have him write it down and have Daniel attest to it. Two witnesses. Here’s what Nebuchadnezzar wrote. You’ll find it in Daniel 4, verse 4. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace. Everything was going fine. So I made 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. Now, poor Nebuchadnezzar, I don’t know what he was eating for dinner, but he sure had a lot of dreams. And these two that we’ve dealt with in Daniel are extremely significant to him, because it does seem, for whatever reasons God may have, that God decided to reveal certain things to this man before they happened. So they drug in all the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the soothsayers, and Nebuchadnezzar says, I told my dream before them. but they did not make known to me the interpretation. At the last came Daniel before me, whose name is Belteshazzar in the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and before him I told the dream. I told him this, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you. Tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen and the interpretation thereof. Here’s the vivid dream I had. I could never forget it. I saw, and there was a tree in the midst of the earth. The height thereof was great. The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached up into the heaven, and the sight thereof, you could see it all the way to the ends of the earth.” The leaves thereof were beautiful, and the fruit much fruit, and in it was food for everybody. The beasts of the field had shadow under it, the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the branches of it, and all flesh could be fed from this tree. Then I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven, and he cried aloud, and he said this, Cut down the tree. Cut off the branches. Shake off his leaves. Scatter his fruit. And let the beasts get away from under it and the fowls from his branches. Scatter everybody. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth. Put a band of iron and brass around the stump in the tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the wild beasts of the grass of the earth. And then this was very important. Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given to him, and let seven times pass over him. Times, usually in the Bible used this way, will be a year. This matter is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent. Ah, now then we see, and even Nebuchadnezzar heard this himself, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whoever He will and sets up over it the basest of men. Now, on a side note here, the NIV and others translate the word for watcher as angel, but that’s an interpretation, not a translation, because the word is Chaldee, and the word means watcher. The word is found nowhere else in the Bible because this section is in the Chaldee language, not Hebrew. But it probably refers to a heavenly messenger or an angel. Now, he went on to say, “…this dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen.” Now you, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof. For as much as all the wise men of my kingdom, none of them are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you’re able, for the Spirit of the holy gods is in you. Then Daniel was stunned for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. When he heard it, he knew what it meant. And the king said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation trouble you, And he answered and said, My Lord, the dream be to them that hate you and the interpretation thereof to your enemies. The tree you saw that grew and was strong and whose height reached to the heaven and the sight thereof to all the earth, this beautiful tree that gave shelter to everybody and food to everybody, it’s you. It’s you, O king. You are grown and become strong and your greatness is grown and reaches to heaven and your dominion reaches to the end of the land. He was a king of kings. He was in a great empire. He ruled everything in sight. And whereas the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, Cut the tree down. Destroy it. Just leave the stump in the earth with a band of iron and brass. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts of the field until seven times pass over him. This is the interpretation, O king. This is the decree of the Most High, that they shall drive you from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They will make you eat grass like an ox. They will wet you with the dew of heaven. Seven times shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whoever he wants.” And because they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, your kingdom shall be sure unto you, but only after you shall have known that the heavens do rule. Man, what a lesson is coming down to him from this. He’s going to actually have seven years of insanity, seven years where he doesn’t even have a human heart, a human mind to work with. He’ll grow out there in the desert, out in the wilderness. His hair will grow long, his fingernails will grow long, and he’ll be crazy for seven years. “‘Wherefore, O king,’ Daniel said, “‘let my counsel be acceptable to you.’ Break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may possibly be the lengthening of your peace. It’s interesting he presents here that breaking off of sins is not merely a matter of the mind, but of what you actually do. You break off your sins by righteousness, and you get rid of and break away from your iniquities. How? By showing mercy to the poor. It means you actually go out and do something. Now all this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar, and at the end of 12 months he was out walking in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And the king said, Oh, look at this great city I’ve built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and the honor of my majesty. And right here is the core. This is why it all had to happen. It wasn’t the might of Nebuchadnezzar that created history. It was God who created that history. And that lack of humility brought him down. While the words were in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from you. They shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like an ox and seven times shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whoever he will. The same hour the thing was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, His mind went. He was driven from men. He ate grass like an oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers and nails, his fingernails like birds’ claws. It is the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, his kingdom from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no one can stay his hand or say to him, What are you doing? At the same time, my reason returned to me. And for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness returned to me. And my counselors and lords sought to me. And I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was returned to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, all his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. What a shame that it takes us so long in our lives to learn this simple lesson. Those who walk in pride, God is able to take down. This was late in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. He was soon gone and replaced by a succession of lesser men. Later in Daniel’s life, Babylon was at war with the Persians, and something truly important and truly strange happened then. I’ll tell you about that after this important message.
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Well, Nebuchadnezzar went to meet his maker, as the saying goes, and later in Daniel’s life, Babylon was at war with the Persians. The leader of the Babylonian armies facing defeat had retreated south, leaving Babylon besieged by the invading Persians. The son of Nebuchadnezzar, named Belshazzar, was the king. You’ll find this story in Daniel 5. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. And Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels, which his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, mind you, this is a big move on his part to take holy, sacred vessels from the temple, things that have been dedicated to God and for his kings, or the king, for his princes, his wives, his concubines, to drink wine out of them. So they brought all that stuff in there to him and they poured the wine in them and they all drank it and praised the gods of gold and of silver and of brass and iron and wood and stone. And no doubt created an acrid stench in the nostrils of God. Because in the same hour, Belshazzar is sitting at his table drinking wine out of one of these silver bowls. And he sees the fingers and hands of a man. He doesn’t see the man. He just sees the hand and fingers. And over opposite the candlestick on the plaster of the wall, the hand began to write. And from here, the expression has entered our language. To see the handwriting on the wall is to see a final, irrevocable judgment. The king’s countenance was changed. Well, I don’t doubt it did. My countenance would be changed if I’m sitting at my table having a glass of wine. I look up and I see a disembodied hand writing on my wall. His thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another. I should think so. And he cried aloud, get the astrologers, get the Chaldeans, get the soothsayers, get them in here. Whoever can read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet, have a chain of gold around his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Well, they brought all the king’s wise men, but nobody could read the writing. They looked at it, and I don’t know what this is. They couldn’t make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished or stunned at what was going on. The man’s face was all contorted and twisted. The queen kept her wits about her. And she came to the king and she said, O king, live forever. Let not your thoughts trouble you. And don’t let your face be fallen. There’s a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him. Whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the king I say, your father, made master of the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. We assume that Daniel must have been retired because he was not in the original group called up. For as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpreting of dreams and showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts were found in this same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, let him be called. He will tell you what this means. So they called Daniel. Daniel was brought in before the king. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel which are the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? I’ve heard of you. I’ve heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you. And now the wise men, the astrologers, I brought them in that they should read this writing and make known the interpretation, and they couldn’t do it. But I’ve heard of you. I’ve heard that you can make interpretations and dissolve doubts. Now, if you can just read this writing and make known to me the interpretation, you’ll be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. And Daniel answered and said before the king, You can keep your gifts. You can give your rewards to somebody else. But I will read the writing to the king, and I’ll make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed. Whom he would, he kept alive. Whom he would, he set up. And whom he would, he put down. You know, it’s an interesting thing to contemplate about all this because what had happened during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, for the most part, the world was at peace. This killing of one and keeping another alive is the sort of thing you sometimes you have to do in order to maintain peace. And that’s the reason why God gave him a kingdom and majesty and glory and power was to put an end to the chaos that existed across the known world. But Daniel continued with this. He said, but when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory away from him. He was driven from the sons of men. His heart was made like the beast. His dwelling was with the wild asses. They fed him with grass like oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven and until he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appoints over it whoever he will. And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And it is the saddest of stories. that sons do not remember the lessons their fathers paid so dearly to learn, the hard lessons of life. Belshazzar had no excuse because he already knew all this stuff, which Daniel carefully repeated to him. You knew it, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of his house before you. And you, your lords, your wives, your concubines have drunk wine in them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold and brass and iron, wood and stone. Those which don’t see, they don’t hear, they don’t know. And the God in whose hand your breath is and who has all your ways, knows all your ways, you have not glorified. The indictment is complete. You knew better. And the drinking of wine out of these bowls was a deliberate affront to God. This was no accident. Then was the part of the hand sent from him, and the writing was written, and this is the writing that was written. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Eupharsin. And this is what it means. Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel, you are weighed in the balances and are found wanting. Perez, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. So he commanded, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in all the kingdom. And the reason Daniel wasn’t interested because of what happened later that night. In that night, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede took the kingdom when he was about 62 years old. I’ll be back with the rest of this story after this important message.
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Belshazzar and the Babylonians were justifiably cocky, really. Babylon was a really strongly defended city. For one thing, it was huge. They sprawled all over the landscape. It was well-walled, well-defended. And they had plenty of water because the Euphrates River flowed right through the city. It had gates, and it flowed under the gates into the city. Well, unbeknownst to the Babylonians, who were all sealed up in their city, the Persians, an energetic people, had gone to work redirecting the channel of the river. And late this same night, they broke through and drained the Euphrates off into another channel, allowing the river to drop where it went under the gates. They waded in underneath the gates in large numbers and took the city. This is the night Belshazzar died. Well, when Darius took over the leadership of the kingdom in Daniel the sixth chapter, it pleased him to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes who should rule over the whole kingdom. And over these there were three presidents, of whom was Daniel first, that the princes had to give account to them, and that the king should have no damage. So Daniel really is the number one administrator still. It brought him out of retirement. He is active again. This Daniel was preferred above the presidents and the princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. He was actually going to promote him even further than he had done already. Now this is interesting because here’s a totally foreign kingdom that comes in and takes down Babylon. And Daniel still survives as a wise man and a leader and administrator among them. And as naturally as day follows night, politics follows power. So the presidents and the princes sought to find an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, his administration. And they couldn’t find a fault. He had been faithful. There was no error or fault within him. He hadn’t been bribed. Nobody had taken advantage of him. And these men said, we’re not going to find anything against Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God, because that’s the one area where Daniel is completely inflexible. So the princes and presidents all assembled together to the king. And they said to him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, the princes, the counselors, the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree. Now, here’s what we need to understand, what this decree is about and the reason why it was appealing to Darius. It was designed, really, to establish even more firmly his power. The decree was that whoever would ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. So now, O king, establish the decree, sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which alters not. So Darius signed the writing, signed the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks to his God as he had always done. That’s interesting. He knew this. It was signed. He made no effort to cover it up, made no effort to keep it secret, because after all, one of the reasons men of God are in this world is is to witness to him. And Daniel wasn’t about to hide his faith. So they assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Probably heard him through the window. And so they went to the king, and they spoke to the king concerning his decree. And he said, didn’t you sign a decree that every man should ask a petition of your god or man within 30 days, save of you, O king, that he be cast into the den of lions? Oh, I can hear this thing. If you’ve ever been involved with any large organization in the politics that are involved, you can hear people say, well, I thought you signed this thing that said people couldn’t do this. Well, I did. Well, did you know he’s doing it? The thing is true, the king said, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t change. And they answered and said before the king, Daniel, of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn’t pay any attention to you, O king, nor the decree you’ve signed, but he makes his petition three times a day. So the king, when he heard these things, was sore displeased with himself. He realized right off the bat that he had been snookered. He set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and tried his best.
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The rest will have to wait till later. The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
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