I really enjoy listening to testimonies! What great joy to hear how God delivered people from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). It always encourages me to hear how God can take a sinner and make them white as snow. This is why I love Daniel chapter 4. I believe this is King Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony of how God transformed his life.
King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that his kingdom is going to be taken away and that he will become like a beast of the field. A year after the dream he is walking on the roof of his palace and starts bragging about the kingdom that he built. Suddenly, a voice comes from heaven and poof, king Nebuchadnezzar starts acting like wild animal.
This story always makes me think of the movie The Emperor’s New Groove. The emperor is turned into a Llama and must figure out how turn back into a human. I don’t think King Nebuchadnezzar turned into an animal, but I am sure he was a sight to see. He went from being a powerful ruler to someone who ate grass in the field like livestock. Here are a few observations from Daniel 4 and Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony.
1. We can confess God, and yet not be saved.
Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 and Nebuchadnezzar’s response is “truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and revealer of mysteries.” In chapter three Nebuchadnezzar again praises God after he sees that Hananiah, Mishaal, and Azariah come out of the fire without being burned. These words proved to be lip service to God, but he didn’t really believe in God.
I can relate to King Nebuchadnezzar. I spent years saying I believed in God but there was no heart change. I said the right words, but my lifestyle didn’t align with scripture. We can view this passage as a warning. Belief in God is not mere “easy believism” or “cheap grace”.1 God is not just an add on to our life, but he is our whole life. When Jesus enters our life, we are also given the promised Holy Spirit which creates a radical change in our life.
2. Repentance is a sign of change.
What makes Nebuchadnezzar’s confession in chapter 4 different from his confession in chapter 2 and 3? I think repentance is the key. We don’t see the typical formula where someone confesses sin in detail to God. I think this is something we should do. David is a great example of this in Psalm 51. Daniel 4:34 says, “ I lifted my eyes to heaven.” I think this is another way to say Nebuchadnezzar understood his place in relationship to God. He was humbled and believed God to be who He says He is. He realized his kingdom will not last, but God’s will last forever.
3. God uses suffering and struggles to change your life2
If you listen to people’s testimonies, you will often hear phrases like “I hit rock bottom” or “it was the worst time in my life.” God often uses suffering to draw us to himself. Nebuchadnezzar would be identified as crazy if this happened today. Everything that had meaning to his life was taken from him so that he would see God as true King. Imagine an event in your life where everything is ripped from you. How would you respond? Nobody would want that to happen! Yet, this is exactly what God used to humble Nebuchadnezzar and draw him to Himself. Suffering is one way God makes us look more like Jesus (James 1:2-4, Romans 5:1-5). If you are a Christian, you can embrace the suffering because you have a sovereign God who cares for you.
4. God is sovereign in the midst of our suffering.
Nothing happens that doesn’t happen outside of His control. Look at God’s work in Daniel.
God who delivered Judah into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand (1:2) God who gave Daniel favor in the sight of the eunuch (1:9) God gave the four youths skills in learning (1:17) God revealed the dream to Daniel (2:19, 28) God sets up kings and kingdoms (2:31-45) God delivers His servants (3:17, 28) God humbles the proud (4:37)
It would be great to have a narrator over our lives that would tell us what God is doing but we don’t. We don’t have all the background information as to how God is working. We do have promises from God that we can hold onto! Daniel held onto Jeremiah 29. Destruction will come but God has a plan which includes prospering. I believe Romans 8:28 says the same things as Jeremiah 29:11. God will work everything out for good in your life. That doesn’t mean everything suffering is good but the end result is good. Hebrews 13:5-6 reminds us that God will never leave us or forsake us. We can be encouraged that Christ is coming back and these sufferings will be ended (1 Thes. 4:13-18). We have been promised eternal life (1 John 2:25).
5. The story isn’t complete until our life is over.
This point is meant to be an encouragement to anybody who has somebody they love who does not know Christ. Wayward parents, children, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends still have a chance to confess Jesus as Lord. There is an urgency to sharing with them and we should share with them but sometimes God uses suffering to draw them. Maybe we should pray for God to use extreme circumstances to humble those we love. It is far better to be labeled clinically insane in this life than to not enter eternal life in the next.
1Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
2David Powlison, How Sanctification Works