Daniel 4:26 (ESV)

26 “And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules.”

King Nebuchadnezzar was the head of Babylon. The lone, “super power” of the day.

By this time, he had acknowledged the Lord as the true God twice. First through the supernatural dream interpretation in chapter 2. And secondly through the miraculous fiery furnace event in chapter 3.

Now in chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar is acknowledging the Lord, yet the Lord gives him a warning dream.

Daniel interprets it as a predictive 7-year judgement in Nebuchadnezzar’s life.

Daniel 4:25 (ESV)

25 “that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”

Daniel 4:28-32 (ESV)

28 “All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you,

32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.””

After seven years Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returns and he acknowledges the Lord’s sovereign reign over all things, he acknowledges that, “Heaven Rules!”

Daniel 4:37 (ESV)

37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Two applications for us tonight:

1) God is able to humble the proud, even if it is a leader of a super-power.

Pride and boasting of our own greatness are high treason against a Holy God!

Let us repent of our and our nation's pride.

2) Heaven Rules over the Earth.

The invisible realm rules over the visible.

The Word of God governs over all things.

Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)

3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV)

18 “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

The Church governs the natural affairs and history of mankind.