The Seduction of Pride

In the Old Testament, the reigns of four powerful kings—Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus the Great—stand out as significant symbols during the Jewish people’s 70 years in Babylonian captivity.

 Although each of these kings came from a pagan background, all were ultimately used as instruments in God’s hand, with one king freeing the Jewish people through an unlikely decree.

II Chronicles 36:20-21 NKJV

20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 

21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

2 Timothy 2:9 NLT

9 And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.

1. Not Giving God the Glory

Pride is not giving God the glory for everything that God has given you.  

Daniel 1:1-2 NKJV

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 

2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Daniel 1:3-4 NKJV

3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,

4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

Satan is always trying to change the meanings of words in our language. 

Daniel 1:6-7 NKJV

6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 

7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

The king did not recognize the supernatural in his dream. 

Daniel 2:26-28 NKJV

26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” 

27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.

28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:

God can do in me what no one can do. 

Daniel 2:46-48 NKJV

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.

47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”

48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

2. Not Rejecting the Glory of Men

Daniel 3:1 NKJV

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar built an image of himself for everyone to worship. 

Acts 14:14-15 NKJV

14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out 

15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,

Paul and Barnabas refused the worship of people.

Revelation 22:8-9 NKJV

8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Isaiah 42:8 NKJV

8 I am the Lord, that is My name;And My glory I will not give to another,Nor My praise to carved images.

Isaiah 42:8 MSG

8 God’s Message,the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,laid out the earth and all that grows from it,Who breathes life into earth’s people,makes them alive with his own life:“I am God. 

I have called you to live right and well.I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.

I have set you among my people to bind them to me,and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:opening blind eyes,releasing prisoners from dungeons,emptying the dark prisons.

I am God. That’s my name.I don’t franchise my glory,don’t endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled.

I’m announcing the new salvation work.Before it bursts on the scene,I’m telling you all about it.”

Daniel 3:15 NKJV

15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! 

But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

Nebuchadnezzar thought more of himself than God. 

Daniel 3:19 NKJV

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 

He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Daniel 3:21-22 NKJV

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 

22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

Daniel 3:24-25 NKJV

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 

25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God (Jesus).”

The only thing that got burned were the ropes that tied them up. Nebuchadnezzar is not Jewish, but God was trying to reach him.

Daniel 3:28-29 NKJV

28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 

29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

3. Not Speaking Humbly

Daniel 4:29-33 NKJV

29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 

30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”

31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 

32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times (years) shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

Matthew 12:34 NKJV

34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

We all say stupid things. What we say in abundance is in abundance in our heart.  God always humbles the proud.

Daniel 4:34-37 NKJV

34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 

When Nebuchadnezzar recognized that God is God, his reason and position returned to him.

35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth.No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?” 

36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. 

37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

Turn you eyes to heaven and let God be God.  God will forgive and restore you.

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me through this message?

Robert Morris, Gateway Church

http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/events/the-kings-of-babylon-a-gateway-series/session/2019/03/09/the-seduction-of