High Pride Warnings
22. It is you, O king, you are grown and become strong: for your greatness is grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23. And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven and saying, “Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him.”
28. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
30. The king spoke 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 honor of my majesty?”
31. While the word was 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.”
33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like bird’s claws.
34. At the end of the days, “I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that lives forever, Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to generation.”
37. “Now, I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all Whose works are truth, and His ways judgement: and those that walk in pride, He is able to abase.”
Daniel 4:22-23, 28-31, 33-34, 37
The Benefits of Warnings
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responsible for monitoring the oceans tides to determine when there will be high and low tides. Both can impact the safety of shipping as well as those who are living in coastal areas.
According to NOAA’s website, the U.S. maritime transportation system consists of over 25,000 miles of waterways, ports, and other navigable waters. It is the backbone for moving goods throughout the U.S. and abroad. More than 95% of all U.S. trade involves some form of maritime transport, and ships move $11.4 trillion worth of products in and out of U.S. ports every year. Ship operators across the globe rely on accurate information about ocean conditions, including water levels, currents, and winds, so they can plan efficient shipping routes, maximize cargo onboard, and safely navigate narrow shipping lanes. NOAA’s Center for operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) provides mariners with that data – including real-time environmental observations on water levels, currents, salinity, and meteorological parameters integrated with forecasts and geospatial information such as air gap clearance.
Providing extensive data for the U.S. ports system is just one of five major functions of this federal agency. Their other duties include a coastal inundation dashboard that gives real-time and historical flood information for coastal areas. They provide coastal tide predictions, coastal conditions forecasts, and high tide flooding outlooks to warn people living in shoreline areas of pending danger. Of all their duties, the highest priority is to watch for changing conditions that could cause loss of property and lives due to high tides especially during inclement weather events. In other words, they warn people that their lives are in jeopardy.
The Bible provides spiritual warnings. When the tides of animosity and hate begin to rise, God’s Word provides warnings and critical data that can save us from tragedy and loss due to sin. When waves of doubt and fear begin to grip the hearts of people, the Bible gives spiritual notifications to help us navigate our soul to higher ground of trust and faith in the Father’s Grace. Perhaps the most critical use of Biblical information is to prevent attitudes from forming in our heart. As the Psalmist, David prayed, God will keep us from presumptuous sin. Believe it or not, the most potent of all sins is pride. This sinister condition can rise like the tide and quickly swell the human mind with grandiose thoughts of power, prestige, and self-glorification. No matter who and no matter where, pride can impact even the most devout believer. For that reason, it would serve all of us well to heed the high pride warnings.
In the text, God issued a warning to a pagan king regarding his pride and the heavy price he would pay if he continued down that path. While low pride can also be a problem, it is the high pride that devastates a person’s life and renders them worthless in the Eyes of the Lord. Proverbs 16:5 warns that every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Another verse in James 4:6, states that God resists the proud but gives Grace unto the humble. For those reasons, as we observe the devastating effects of pride in the life of king Nebuchadnezzar, let us take heed lest we too become victims of that same high-minded thinking. Make no mistake about it, every person has the capacity to choose that boastful road to self-destruction. But when we listen to God’s Word, it will issue those high pride warnings loud and clear.
The “Looks” of the Proud
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had conquered nations and extended his rule to cover the entire known world. There was one catch to that enormous conquest. God gave him those kingdoms and allowed him to be ruler over those nations for a reason. In the first three chapters of the Daniel prophecy, God had demonstrated to the king that He was the one in control and that He (God) had granted Nebuchadnezzar this ability. Without God, man has no power. Nebuchadnezzar, however, had only given God minimal credit for those achievements. That’s very typical of pride.
God had shown the king that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah all possessed superior gifts of skill and wisdom beyond those of other nationalities. God had shown the king that secret dreams and visions could be known by seeking God’s guidance and direction. Yet Nebuchadnezzar would take those same dreams and seek to construct an image in honor of himself. So, finally God sent the high pride warning in the form of a huge tree. The tree was strong and reached up to heaven and could be seen to the ends of the earth. The leaves were fair and it was abundant with fruit and all the fowls of heaven dwelt under its branches. That was Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. But something happened just as the dream was at the height of its beauty. Someone described as ‘a watcher’ descended from heaven and said, “cut down the tree, cut off the branches, shake off the leaves, and scatter the fruit … but leave just the stump.” Let his head be wet with the dew of heaven, let his heart be changed and turned to the heart of a beast … let him eat grass like an ox and let seven times pass over him. Daniel looked at Nebuchadnezzar and said, “I wish that this dream was about your enemies O king, but this dream is about you.” Daniel went on to encourage the king to change his ways. The pride warnings had been issued and now it was up to Nebuchadnezzar to heed them. At this point, we must all ask ourselves what we would do if those same warnings were given to us.
Right away, many would dismiss this notification by thinking that they lack great possessions and status so therefore, the pride warnings do not apply. Ah, but you are sadly mistaken. Even the poor can possess a boastful heart if nothing more than in their imagination. How many times have you said, “Well if I had riches, I would do this and I would become that.” Isn’t that pride? Or how many times have you judged people that you did not know just because you were jealous of them? My suggestion is that everyone needs to heed the wind and wave warnings of that proud look because that attitude can fall upon anyone suddenly and bring them down.
Please observe that the indictment of pride was not rendered by humans. Daniel described the one who pronounced the judgment on Nebuchadnezzar as a watcher or heavenly being. No doubt, this angelic being had influence over Nebuchadnezzar and had been appointed by God to be with him. We learn from the Scripture that we have guardian angels that watch over us because we are heirs of Salvation. (I want to use a play on words at this point.) As long as individuals watch what they are doing, the watchers will watch out for their good. Nebuchadnezzar was not watchful and had paid no attention to the fact that his success was due solely to God working in his life. What I gleaned is this truth: as long as you are watching what you are doing by paying attention to God’s plan – the watchers will watch out for your good. But when you start watching yourself and start developing pride in your heart – the watchers are watching you. For that reason, God sends the high pride warnings.
Pride originated in the Garden of Eden. The Bible states that Eve saw that the tree was good … when actually God said the tree of knowledge was not for them. We must understand that the goal of pride is for man to see or watch themselves rather than watching for God’s way. This developed into what the Spirit of God has shown to me as “the look” or “man’s look.” That look can be summarized as man’s attempt to see himself as god rather than to depend solely on God as the true source of strength. Again, anyone can fall into that line of thinking. Adam and Eve, Nebuchadnezzar, and a host of others down through the ages, have fallen into “man’s look.” Rather than looking unto the Lord as the Shepherd, man looks in pride to see himself as being great.
When Nebuchadnezzar spoke those words, the watcher responded by announcing his fate. The king talked his stuff, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” That braggadocious attitude is typical of the times we are living in. But God Almighty will always have the last word. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like bird’s claws. In a moment, pride has caused everything to change for the worst.
Nebuchadnezzar’s pride base or fake foundation consisted of four pillars. First, look at me. Look at my accomplishments. This is the pillar that brags about the work that is done is more important than anything anyone else has done. Jesus said, “Do not rejoice in these things, but rejoice in that your name has been written in Heaven.” Luke 10:20. Any time we are tempted to have people look at us, we had better be sure that we are prepared to show them Jesus. Please note how Nebuchadnezzar’s views had changed over the seven years of his insanity. At the end of the days, “I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High …” That king that was once filled with pride now lifted up his eyes to heaven. I would suggest we do the same.
The other look is that of knowledge. Look at what I know. Some people love nothing more than to let people know what they know. But I learned a wise saying in from my younger days. “Speak when you are spoken to and come when you are called.” There is no need to spout off answers when no one asked you the question. Nebuchadnezzar boasted about something that was far beyond his reach. As a matter of fact, he could not interpret his own dreams. How much less are we able to figure out this maze that we call life? If you know anything, then know simply that the Lord is God. You prove no points and you possess no knowledge except that which God gives you. The only thing that pride does is it litters the line of communications between you and God with the messy stuff of self-credit. Give God the glory and be done with it. The Bible says, “we can have nothing except it has been first given to us by God. Proving that you know something really proves that you don’t know what you need to know and that is to keep your mouth shut until God tells you to speak.
The third look is that of possession. Look at what I possess. Nebuchadnezzar was so much into himself that he was asking questions to himself. Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? He boasted of his possessions but never once said, God did it. To cap it all off, the king said something extremely offensive to God, “for the honor of my majesty.” Granted, he did not know the Living God, but he did know something about worship because he had bowed down to other gods. So, he could have at least alluded to the fact that a higher power had helped him, but his eyes were blinded with images of himself instead. The Bible says, “the fool has said in his heart that there is no God.” Nebuchadnezzar had become that fool and God Almighty was going to give him seven years to sort it out.
The fourth look that pride causes is the false look into the future. Look at what I shall be. In other words, if you think I’m great now, just wait and see. That was the devil’s proposal to Eve in the Garden. You will be as gods knowing good and evil. In other words, you will be the champions of your own destiny. When the people of Nimrod’s era decided to build a tower to heaven, this was their chant. “We are going to be great.” But here is the big question, how do you know that you are going to be around for the next day or hour, much less the distant future? The Book of James reminds us not to boast over tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth … simply say, ‘If the Lord wills …’ That is the look of pride and how it inflates everything to make it look grand and beautiful. At some point the bubble pops and all the false notions come crashing down.
Here is the good news. After the pride comes down, God’s mercy still stands. The Lord could have condemned this pagan king for his insolence but that did not happen. The watcher said, “after seven times.” Wrapped up in those words was an unspoken promise that Nebuchadnezzar was going to be restored. That is exactly what God did. When the years in time out had expired, the Lord restored his mind, his heart, and his soul. Now, this once pagan king, was a believer in the Power and the Promises of God. The king called a press conference and gave them the exact words for the headlines and for all of social media to publish. “Now, I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all Whose works are truth, and His ways judgement: and those that walk in pride, He is able to abase.” Nebuchadnezzar was free from his pride and with that freedom – He gave God all the honor and glory.
What to do with Pride?
As we stated from the outset, we all struggle with pride and we must all heed the warnings in order to avoid the consequences of paying for arrogance. The only problem with getting rid of pride is that it feels good to us and it sticks to our heart like glue. Yet, here are four things that can rid anyone from the prison of self-promotion.
First and foremost, listen to God and don’t depend on your own understanding. The pride is telling you about yourself, but if you listen to God, you will know the truth and that truth will set you free. Pay attention to God speaking. Sometimes he speaks through circumstances. At other times, God speaks through people around you. More importantly, God speaks through the Bible. You must turn to God’s Word and listen to what He is telling you. Pride will only speak about this life, but the Bible speaks of your entire life including eternity. So pay attention to God speaking.
Second, just let it go. Let go of the pride. You can do that by reminding yourself that the best you can be is what God wants you to be. You are a new creature in Christ. You are bound for Heaven if you are saved. God loves you and will keep you every step of the way. You have watchers who are watching over you. You don’t need pride in your baggage, so simply let it go. You will never become more than what God desires for you and you don’t need to become anything other than what He has planned. So just let pride go.
Third, look up. That is what Nebuchadnezzar did. Rather than looking within himself to find himself, he looked up and found the Hand of God. That Gracious Hand lifted his burden and restored his soul. God will do the same for countless millions if they would simply look up. Look up and find that Jesus still saves.
Lastly, live in gratitude. A thankful person will always recognize that God is the One who does the work. Gratitude simply says, “Thank you God for everything.” Amen!