I want to play a little word association game as we start this morning. When I say a word I want you to say the first thing that comes into your head; God

Here’s a clip from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe as the White witch comes to meet with Aslan. As you watch focus on the character Aslan the lion, what words come to mind to describe him?

He is majestic, he is powerful, but as Tumnus says at the end of the film "He is not a tame lion." Lucy replies "No, but he is good."

Just think back to words we used to describe God. Just like Aslan God is not a tame God. Think about what we have looked at so far in Daniel, in chapter 1 God disciplines his people sending them into exile with Jerusalem destroyed and the temple plunder and desecrated, a tame God? Or chapter 2 where God so troubles Nebuchadnezzar that he is afraid and can't sleep revealing to him that God is sovereign, or chapter 3 where Nebuchadnezzar’s attempt to oppose God is shown to be futile, actions of a tame God? Our God, the God the Bible reveals is not a tame God; he is awesome, majestic, sovereign and accountable to no-one.

Daniel 4 is Nebuchadnezzar’s confession to his empire of who he has concluded God is, that confession bookends the chapter (1-3, 34-7). In between the bookends is Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony of how God brought him to that conclusion, and as we see God’s dealings with him we see that God is anything but tame and Nebuchadnezzar comes to realise that (34-35) but we also see that God is gracious.

1. The danger of opposing the untamable God
Can you tell me what this is? (Slide) Can you see the hidden tiger? It’s written in his strips. Can you tell me what this is? A speed limit. Sometimes we can't see what something is, other times we refuse to accept what we see. That is Nebuchadnezzar, in chapter2 God reveals his sovereignty and he acknowledges Daniel’s God is great, in chapter 3 God saves his men from the fire but despite such a powerful sign he still doesn't get it. In fact in each chapter he sets himself up to oppose God, even here.

Look at (4) Nebuchadnezzar is content he is happy he has everything he needs. If he was alive today he would have the palace, the Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a wife, the yacht, a few holiday homes, lots of connections, a team of servants, etc... Nebuchadnezzar seems set for life, what could possibly go wrong; in fact we'd loo at him and conclude he doesn't need God.

But then you read the next verse (5) and God acts to demolish that contentedness, as he sends a dream that "terrified" the king. God steps in and contentedness vanishes.

But Nebuchadnezzar refuses to learn the lessons of the past. 2:28 Daniel tells him that "there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." Before proving that to be the case, but where does Nebuchadnezzar go? To "his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners." The king does not want to turn to God, until "finally" (8) he is forced to get Daniel. You have to say the dream isn't hard to interpret, but Nebuchadnezzar needs to learn God alone is the revealer of mysteries and his opposition to him needs to be broken.

The point of the dream is obvious, in fact even as Nebuchadnezzar tells Daniel the dream (17) its purpose is stated "so that the living may known that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people."

I wonder how that strikes you. Is that how we think of God? It is basically saying God can do whatever he wants and he is accountable to no one. That is a shocking idea isn't it, and it’s not just a one off you'll find it in Job and Romans. It’s what God has been revealing in the dream of chapter 2, in saving Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego last week and now here. God is sovereign, he appoints kings and kingdoms, he rules according to his purposes and is accountable to no-one.

(19) Shows us that even Daniel recognises the danger of opposing God, he is terrified and says "if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries."

Why is Daniel afraid? Because God is going to deal with Nebuchadnezzar’s opposition to God, because this is a decree issued by God against Nebuchadnezzar (24) the king is the tree (22) and as the messenger declares "Cut down the tree, destroy it...Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him."

God is going to drive Nebuchadnezzar from his throne and from his people (25). But Nebuchadnezzar’s refusal and opposition continue (28-30) as he ignores the warning and stands a year later on the roof of his palace revelling in what he has achieved with no thought for God. And the untamable God acts (33) "immediately what had been said... was fulfilled!"

It is a dangerous thing to oppose the untamable God.

How do I view God, think back to the words we gave at the start? There is a danger we all face in that we make God in our image, a God who is safe, who is little more than a heavenly sugar daddy, there to give us what we want, like a comfortable story telling granddad.

Daniel 4 shows us God and he is not safe, not comfortable and that doesn't sit easily with us, it is unsettling. But if God is God then he has no-one to be accountable to, he is the supreme being and therefore we dare not oppose him.

Niagara Falls is awesome, at one point it is more than 2,500 feet wide and water drops 180 feet to the bottom, every hour 2.5 billion gallons of water flows over the falls. You have to stand back and admire its beauty, majesty and sheer power. But it would be utter stupidity to try to take on Niagara wouldn't it. We have a healthy fear of its might that keeps us from doing so. The God for whom making Niagara was but a moment’s action is not someone we want to take on.

Maybe this morning this is a bit of a jolt to your image of God, Daniel 4 is a warning don't be like Nebuchadnezzar, don't oppose God, don't resist him and what he is teaching you.

2. The grace of the untamable God
But there is hope here as well as warning. The chapter is shot through with God’s grace to Nebuchadnezzar. It’s in the very presence of Daniel and his friends in the royal court, God’s people revealing God to a foreign king. It’s in the way God deals with Nebuchadnezzar again after previous chapters.

The dream is grace in itself, in (27) as Daniel calls on the king to repent, as God gives him a year following the dream; God is being gracious to a stubborn king.

And there are two words where God’s grace is also made clear, you find the first in (15) "But..." Why is it a word of grace? Because Nebuchadnezzar does not deserve another chance. "But let the stump... and its roots... remain in the ground." It is grace because God is giving Nebuchadnezzar what he doesn't deserve.

The second is in the "until" (32). The judgement of God on Nebuchadnezzar is designed to be grace itself, it is designed to bring him to his senses, God wants Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge who he is, (34) and when he does so , when he realises(34-5) God restores his sanity, and his kingdom.

It is the grace of the untamable God, not what Nebuchadnezzar deserves made clear by (27).

"He is not a tame lion... no but he is good." God is not tame and it is a dangerous place to be in opposition to him, but he is gracious.

God is sovereign, Daniel and his friends grasp that, it is their comfort in hard times. These 4 men have been captives of war, carried off to a foreign land where they enter into the king’s service, while there they have twice been on death row.

But they know that God is sovereign and that even in the exile he is working out his purposes. They don't presume to have rights they look to God and live to serve him no matter what because they grasp that God’s glory matters not their comfort.

Maybe you don't know God; maybe you have heard about him, you heard the gospel again and again. Listen to God’s warnings, he is gracious there is nothing you can do that makes you too bad for God. Maybe you have been quite comfortable but something has happened that has swept all that away, God may be graciously calling you to him. Will you listen?

Finally do you notice what effect this has in Nebuchadnezzar? (37) "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the God of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

It results in humility. Humility is a characteristic of someone who knows God. This isn't false humility, it is not putting yourself down or self denigrating, it doesn't say I am rubbish, I can't do this I can't do that, isn't so and so better than me. That is not humility. 'To be humble is not to think less OF yourself but less ABOUT myself.'

Daniel is a man who is humble because he thinks more about God than about himself, that is what God has made Nebuchadnezzar. It is one of the signs in the New Testament of spiritual fruit; it is a sign of discipleship, of grasping grace and allowing it to dominate your life and living.

It is one of the things that reveals to the world that we know God, 'not that we think less OF ourselves but less ABOUT ourselves.' Will I resolve this week to strive with God’s help and his Holy Spirit to do that to his glory? To think less about myself and more about God, less about my desires and more about his, less about what I would do and more about what God would have me do. Not because that saves us or makes us right with God but because that is a result of knowing God by his grace.

1. How do I think of God?
2. What is my reaction when God speaks to me? Do I listen and act or reject it?
3. Am I amazed at the grace of God? Is it producing a humble God fearing servant?
4. 'To be humble is not to think less OF yourself but less ABOUT yourself." Will I seek to do that this week?

Daniel