Rev. David Holwick H The Book of Daniel, #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 2, 2008
Daniel 4:22-28
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I. As low as you can go.
The 1977 medical case study does not give her name, but she was a
woman of normal intelligence, married, and 49 years old.
This woman chronically thought and dreamed about wolves.
The first inkling her family had was when they had a large gathering
and the women took off her clothes and crawled on the floor
for 20 minutes.
The following night, the woman suffered a 2-hour episode, during
which time she growled, scratched, and gnawed at the bed.
She stated that the devil came into her body and she had become an
animal.
She said she felt like an animal with claws.
Her husband took the hint and admitted her to a psychiatric
hospital.
She had extreme apprehension and felt that she was no longer in
control of her own fate: she said, "A voice was coming out of me."
There was no drug involvement or alcoholic intoxication.
In the hospital she was medicated but still had relapses when she
would said such things as:
"I am a wolf of the night;
I am a wolf woman of the day...
I have claws, teeth, fangs, hair...
and anguish is my prey at night...
I am what I am and will always roam the earth long after death...
I will continue to search for perfection and salvation."
She would gaze into the mirror and see "the head of a wolf in
place of a face on my own body.
Others around her noticed the unintelligible, animal-like noises
she made.
She gradually improved, but a final episode occurred -- on the
night of a full moon, of course.
She announced to her family, "I don't intend to give up my search
for (what) I lack in my present marriage...
I will haunt the graveyards...for a tall, dark man that I intend
to find."
Rather bizarre, don't you think?
Psychologists call the condition Lycanthropy, combining the Greek
words for wolf and man.
It's not just in the movies.
And it's not just wolves.
People have imagined themselves to be cats, birds, frogs...and cows.
#35296
A. Such conditions are interesting to us.
1) But imagine being in that person's shoes.
2) Imagine being a family member.
3) Now imagine that the victim is a leader of your country.
a) It is not that far-fetched - George III, the English
king during the American Revolution - suffered from
mental illness caused by porphyria.
b) But the most famous example is Nebuchadnezzar.
B. We all need to be reminded who is really in charge.
1) Positive self-esteem must not lead to overweening pride.
2) Instead, it should lead us to faith in the one true God.
II. Yet another dream by the king.
A. This time he tells Daniel the details.
1) Daniel is reluctant to give an interpretation.
2) The symbolism was obvious to any Jew or even a Babylonian
(the tree represented a great nation or king).
3) However, Daniel knew the news was really bad.
a) Nebuchadnezzar would be afflicted with the psychiatric
condition known as boanthropy.
b) In other words, he would become a werecow.
B. It did not happen right away.
1) A whole year went by. 4:29
2) One day the king was admiring his palace.
The overweening pride is obvious: "the great Babylon I
have built...by my mighty power...for the glory of my
majesty."
This attitude of his is evident even in archaeology.
His royal palace, which included the hanging gardens (one
of the wonders of the ancient world) has 15 million
bricks.
Each one had his name on it.
As a matter of fact, almost every brick in a 50-mile radius
had his name on it!
Archaeologists have discovered inscriptions for the palace
that state "It is bursting with splendor.
Luxuriance, dreadfulness, awe, gleaming majesty surrounded
it."
"I made the dwelling-place of my lordship glorious."
All the inscriptions are egocentric - me, me, me.
[1]
3) And then it happened - full-fledged insanity.
a) We do not know how long it lasted.
b) "Seven times" could be 7 years or months or days.
c) But it was long enough to make a lasting impression
on him.
C. There is no historical record of this event.
1) However, there are some silent years in Babylonian history
where this episode would fit.
Meticulous historical records are available up to about
the eleventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.
After this the chronicles are practically empty.
Also, scholars say his emphasis on religion diminishes and
when he does record a prayer, he flaunts his royal
titles, which he didn't do earlier.
This fits perfectly with the fourth chapter of Daniel.
[1]
2) Babylonians did not tend to write down bad events,
especially about their kings.
III. Dealing with brokenness.
A. Proud kings are not the only ones to fall apart.
1) Many of us have seen our lives become unglued.
a) Divorce.
b) Bankruptcy.
c) Addiction.
d) Moral failure.
2) Sometimes these can lead to mental illness.
a) They always lead to inner stress and family tension.
B. Spiritual brokenness can come from this.
1) Not all suffering produces brokenness.
2) Brokenness is when the pain shatters your cozy feelings
about God.
3) Spirituality is not as cut-and-dried as it used to be.
4) You may even doubt or hate God. You will certainly doubt
yourself.
C. Brokenness can serve a purpose.
1) It refocuses our minds on what is really important.
2) In the end, it can turn us back to God.
Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, reached
the unshakable conviction that an alcoholic must
"hit bottom" in order to climb upward.
Wilson wrote his fellow strugglers, "How privileged we are
to understand so well the divine paradox that strength
rises from weakness,
that humiliation goes before resurrection:
that pain is not only the price but the very touchstone
of spiritual rebirth."
The Apostle Paul could not have phrased it better.
#19863
IV. Learn humility.
A. Know your place before God.
1) Nebuchadnezzar's response to God after his healing:
a) He praised and exalted God.
b) He honored God as the never-ending Ruler.
c) He acknowledged that humans are nothing before God,
despite our boasts.
d) He saw that the sovereignty of God is beyond our
control.
1> (cf. potter and the clay)
2) How much do YOU want to honor God?
B. Acknowledge that God is in control.
1) Christians call this God's sovereignty.
a) Literally, he should be our ruler.
b) Daniel 4 emphasizes this three times.
It is the point of the whole chapter.
2) Theologian R. C. Sproul makes this observation:
"I have never in my life met a Christian who said that he
did not believe that God is sovereign....
But as soon as we probe the understanding of sovereignty,
it takes about five minutes to realize that the way
many Christians define sovereignty could be better
described as non-sovereignty...
... a God who is like the king of England, who reigns but
does not rule."
#2940
3) God's sovereign rule orchestrates circumstances.
a) God uses the ordinary and the commonplace to accomplish
extraordinary feats against insurmountable odds.
b) It is only in hindsight that God's hand can be
detected.
V. Let it flow through your life.
A. Heed Daniel's advice.
1) It should be the guiding light for every government -
and person.
Daniel 4:27 --
"Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice:
Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your
wickedness by being kind to the oppressed.
It may be that then your prosperity will continue."
2) Look out for the little people, the broken ones.
B. Don't just acknowledge your shortcomings.
1) True repentance leads to positive changes.
2) Concrete actions must follow your words.
3) Accomplish something for God. (not your own ego)
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "Nebuchadnezzar, Gilgamesh, and the 'Babylonian Job'" by Paul Ferguson,
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 37:3,
September 1994, pp. 321-331. Galaxie Theological Journal Software.
# 2940 "Cows and the Sovereignty of God," by Curtis W. Anderson,
Discipleship Journal, #89, Sept/Oct 1995, p. 102.
#19863 "Lessons From Rock Bottom," by Philip Yancey, Christianity Today
Magazine, July 10, 2000.
#35296 "Attack Of The Werecows," by David Holwick, adapting material from
"A Case of Lycanthropy," by Harvey Rostenstock, M.D. and Kenneth
R. Vincent, Ed.D., in THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY,
vol. 134, no. 10, October 1977; http://www.primitivism.com/~
lycanthropy.htm. Also, "Ahwooooo! Does the Wolfman liveth?" by
Rianna Ouellette, Bryn Mawr College, http://serendip.~
brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f01/web2/ouellette.html.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Mastering the Old Testament: Daniel
by Sinclair Ferguson
I. Focus is on way God deals with Nebuchadnezzar.
A. Unlike earlier chapters, Daniel and friends aren't in danger.
B. Beginning and end of chapter emphasizes God's sovereignty.
1) Earlier chapters do as well, but here the pagan king
acknowledges (confesses) it too.
II. Historicity is debated.
A. No cuneiform records exist describing it.
B. There is secondhand evidence for a strange event in his life.
1) Kings were almost deity, so bad news was not recorded.
2) Daniel himself may have written "Letter to the Nations."
III. Begins with summary of God's revelation of himself.
A. God then speaks to Nebuchadnezzar when he least expects it.
B. Neb was a tough case.
1) God had spoken to him repeatedly.
2) He had seen God's power personally.
3) Yet again he turns to astrologers.
a) He is a practical atheist.
b) Did guilt keep him from consulting Daniel at first?
1> He seems to be afraid of Daniel's influence.
IV. The disturbing dream.
A. Cosmic tree is chopped down.
1) Clearly represents the king.
2) Would be reduced to animal status.
3) Purpose is to show that God alone reigns.
a) Basic message of the dream did not need an interpreter.
B. God has already revealed enough of himself to us.
V. God's warning. 4:19
A. Classic confrontation.
1) The contrast between Neb's insensitivity and Daniel's
sensitivity.
2) The contrast between Neb's decree and God's.
3) The contrast between who Neb was in his own eyes, and who
he would be under God's judgment.
a) The cosmic tree is a reflection of Neb's self-image.
4) The contrast between God's mercy and Neb's mercilessness.
a) Note the divine "perhaps." 4:27
b) There is still time to repent.
B. The judgment falls.
1) It is sudden.
2) Lycanthropy.
a) Superman becomes Subman.
b) God's voice triggered something in Neb's mind.
C. Reason restored.
1) Judgment tempered with mercy - limited to "seven times."
a) Months, years, or "complete time."
2) Neb's confession:
a) He confesses the sovereignty of God.
b) He confesses the creatureliness of humankind.
c) He confesses the truthfulness and righteousness of God.
d) He recognizes that God resists the proud but gives
grace to the humble. 1 Pet 5:6
Ronald S. Wallace, IVP, "The Lord is King: The Message of Daniel"
I. Focus is on God as the ruler of the world's kingdoms (vv. 17,25,32)
A. Chapter's message is similar to parable of the Rich Farmer.
B. Neb's prosperity was his danger and his curse.
1) Achievement can be a danger.
2) We want to see our success as a reward.
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