Verse 46 begins: "Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel..." I don't know about you, but to me this is a very remarkable statement. In fact, it is so remarkable, that liberals have denied that it could even be true. "Kings just do not bow down before mere captives, no matter what the circumstances might be." There wasn't a man on earth that Nebuchadnezzar would have bowed before, let alone this extremely young, foreign, captive, servant, Daniel. And they point to this as further evidence that Daniel is riddled with mistakes; that it is mythology. My only response to them is, "God was there, you weren't." God's Word indicates that this is exactly what happened, and this is the kind of power that signs and wonders continue to have on human hearts to this day.
Almost every month I receive reports from the missionfield, especially from Islamic countries of how the mouths of enemies have been stopped by signs and wonders: making people more open and ready to hearing the Gospel. Some of these stories are just as remarkable as this one where the king falls down on his face before Daniel. So I want to look at the impact that miracles can have upon heardened hearts. And this book talks about various types of miracles. Chapter 2 happens to describe a rather controversial one: dreams and visions. But there were many types of signs and wonders in this book. In chapter 3 we will see an incredible physical miracle: three men unburned in the fiery furnace. In chapter 4 we find a miraclous producing of an illness; not a healing, but an illness. Yes, God does bring illnesses. And there are stories I could tell of how God has miraculously struck down enemies with illness. In chapter 5 the hand writing on the wall. In chapter 6 we find God shutting the mouths of hungry lions. A friend of ours experienced exactly that kind of miracle in Ethiopia when a leopard sat on her chest. And I may share that story with you later in Daniel. But there is plenty of material in this book to make the liberals feel a bit queazy. Our God is a God of miracles.
And I want to examine the question of miracles just briefly before we dive into this passage. Does God continue to produce this kind of awe in the hearts of unbelievers through miracles? Does He continue to bring believers into favor with God's enemies through signs and wonders? There is no point in even examining the effects that this miracle produced if you are not convinced that miracles continue. When we start talking about our God being a God of miracles in the present tense, even some conservatives, who ought to be champions of miracles, start feeling queazy. And that's unfortunate. In James 5 God doesn't restrict healing to the apostles. He says, if you are sick, call for the elders and the prayer of faith will heal the sick. In fact, in verse 16 he implies that any Christian can pray for healing. He says, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer" [of an apostle? No. He says, "The effective, fervent prayer] "of a righteous man avails much." James is explaining why we should all confess our trespasses to one another, and all pray for one another, that we may be healed. Any righteous person can pray for miracles and see God answer. And then as proof as to why a common person can have his prayers answered, James appeals, of all things, to Elijah. You might think, well, that's no comfort at all. The reason God heard Elijah was that Elijah was a prophet. Elijah was special. But that's not the conclusion that James draws. James says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit." James does not treat the miracles in Daniel and Kings as irrelevant to our lives. He uses past miracles as examples to stir up our faith to expect miracles.
Now as I said before, I am not going to settle the question of what kinds of revelation stopped in the first century and what kinds continue till today until we get to the prophecy of Daniel 9. But I am convinced that signs and wonders have continued in every age, and I want to look at the limits for signs and wonders and the impact that they can have. We want to avoid two extremes.
What Was Not Accomplished By This Miracle
Nebuchadnezzar is not yet converted (cf. ch. 3)
The first limitation of miracles is that evidence alone cannot convert. What is needed is regeneration. And at this point, though Nebuchadnezzar is awestruck and humbled, his heart is not changed. Chapter 3 shows how quickly he forgot what had occured on this day. He promotes idolatry on pain of death and utters blasphemy against God. In the book of Acts, Simon Magus is fascinated by the miraculous, yet is as unregenerate as ever. This is not to say that God doesn't use miracles in the conversion process. All through the Gospels we see the truth of that. But we also see in the Gospels how hardened most of Israel was to the miracles that Christ performed. What men need is not more evidence. They have plenty of evidence to damn them. What they need is the power of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and transformation. The year after I graduated from High School I witnessed to an individual who told me that if God performed a miracle and spoke to him right there, he would believe, but that he thought it was all rubbish. My brother responded that unless God changed his heart, he could see a miracle and still would not believe.
Turn with me to Luke 16. This is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. And I'm not going to read the whole story. I want to start in verse 27 where the rich man begs that Lazarus might rise from the dead to tell his relatives about salvation. Now that would be a miracle. "Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."" [Abraham is Word centered, not miracle centered in his ministry. He knows that God has chosen to bring salvation through the hearing of the Scriptures. But even there, God must prepare men to hear the Word. And if they are not ready to do that, they will not be ready to respond to miracles in a God-glorifying way. But look at verse 30. This might be our falacious argument:] "And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."" Until people are regenerate, they won't hear the Gospel, and they won't respond properly to miracles.
This in no way puts down miracles. It just shows the need for God's sovereign grace in regeneration, and it shows the priority of Scripture. Signs and wonders have great value. They had value before Pharoah, before Nebuchadnezzar, before Namaan the Syrian. But by themselves, miracles do not convert. No amount of evidence converts people. Only God's grace does that. So the only miracle cure for an unregenerate heart is the miracle of regeneration.
Nebuchadnezzar still has misunderstandings of Daniel and Daniel's God (vv. 46-47)
Secondly, miracles did not clear up Nebuchadnezzar's bad theology. Nebuchadnezzar continues to have bad theology until chapter 4. And I have known people who have experienced great miracles, yet their theology is way off. Miracles by themselves are valuable, yet limited. My theology is based on the Word of God, not on the experience or lack of experience that someone may have.
This miracle did not produce lasting change in Nebuchadnezzar
The third thing that was not accomplished is that this miracle did not produce lasting change in Nebuchadnezzar. He seems to forget about this God's power pretty quickly. And there are many stories that could be told of people who intend to change, but as the days wear on after a miraculous encounter with God, they forget and revert to their old behaviors. You have probably all heard of the fox hole conversions. But after God miraculously protects an individual, he goes on about his life as if nothing has happened. So miracles have their limitations.
What Was Accomplished By This Miracle
It got the king's attention (v. 46a)
But this passage's main focus is not on their limitations, but on what they do accomplish. And I want to look at six benefits shown here. And obviously this is not an exhaustive list.
First, we already saw how this supernatural encounter got Nebuchadnezzar's attention. It grabbed him by the collar as it were so that Nebuchadnezzar could not ignore God.And it would no doubt get your attention if God revealed your innermost secrets to a Gospel minister. Though inspired revelation was unique to a very few, and Daniel 9 pin-points the cessation of that to the first century, I believe that God continues to be what verse 47 calls a "revealer of secrets." Charles Spurgeon, the famous Baptist minister from England, tells of numerous times when God gave him illumination into such secrets of men's hearts. The Puritan writers, Rutherford and Gillespie also speak of that. I have experienced such illumination more than once. And it definitely gets people's attention. This past week someone told me about an emergency at someone's home just as they were leaving. Apparently the mother was locked in the garage with a running car and the daughter and one of our members went into the house to try to find the key. They had no idea where to look, and she prayed for wisdom. Instantly she felt that she needed to go to a particular drawer, and sure enough. There was the key. When the daughter later asked her how she knew where the key was, she said that she prayed for wisdom and God instantly gave it. Whether large or small, such closeness to God get's people's attention.
But its not just the opening up of our minds. Last year I related the story of some missionaries who were surrounded by a hostile tribe which was about to kill them. One of the missionaries, not knowing what to say, for some reason blurted out, "My God can move mountains and cast them into the sea." The chief said, "Tell your God to move that mountain and we won't kill you." His heart sinking for saying such a foolish thing, he led the little band in prayer that God would move the mountain. At that moment, an earthquake shook the earth and the front half of the mountain slid into the sea. It got their attention, and they listened, many to the saving of their souls. And all down through history there are ezamples of how God has gotten peoples attention through signs and wonders.
It shut the mouth of arrogance (v. 46)
A second impact that this miracle had was how suddenly and thoroughly it stopped the mouth of arrogance. In past sermons we have already gone over the extreme arrogance that Nebuchadnezzar had shown. In chapter 2 he acts like he is God. And we see the same thing happening in chapter 3. But momentarily, it suits God's purpose to shut his boasting mouth. Verse 46 says, "Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him." Not too long ago, Nebuchadnezzar was going to kill Daniel, now he bows to Daniel, honors Daniel and is humbled. For anybody being persecuted on the missionfield, that is a tremendous benefit for which we can praise God. Yes there are benefits to signs and wonders.
My parents were missionaries in Ethiopia, and I saw this at work first hand. At their first station, Goba, there was an incredibly powerful witchdoctor who had done everything in his power to make life miserable for my dad. This witchdoctor was very wealthy because of his Satanic ability to heal. And thousands upon thousands would go to him for healing. But God struck the witchdoctor with an illness that his demons could not heal. He had never seen a disease which he could not heal, so this was amazing enough. But then he heard about some of the miracles God had done through my dad, and he called for him. And my dad went and administered medicine and prayer. He was immediately healed. When word went out that my dad had healed this withdoctor, people started coming to my dad. Though the witchdoctor never became a Christian, he stopped his persecution of my parents. God shut his mouth of arrogance with a power he could not deny.
On our station in Durami my parents were constantly harrassed by the police in town. But the nationals had it even worse. They were frequently in jail. And there were two officials in Durami who were the worst. They constantly arrested leaders of the church, stole their belongings and made them poor. And talk about the power of imprecatory prayers. The church offered up the situation to the Lord and in answer, one of the officials was struck by lightning. From that time on the other never lifted a finger against Christians. He didn't become a believer, but he gained a respect for the power of God. God continues to shut the mouth of arrogance through miracles. And that is a powerful benefit.
It testified to God's greatness (v. 47)
A third benefit was that this testified to God's greatness. Though Nebuchadnezzar later reverts to his paganistic thinking, look at how clearly he sees God's power in vesre 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." He was testifying to God. And this has happened over and over when miracles have happened. Christy Wilson tells how streams of Muslims would come to his door in Afghanistan and ask him to pray for the sick. At first he would tell them that he was not a medical doctor. But the Afghans would reply, "We know you're not a medical doctor but we know you pray. We want you to pray for us so God will heal us." So he would pray, and many would be healed. And these people would testify to God's greatness. Many were not ready to be Christians, but they would testify all the same.
Jonathan Edwards wrote extensively on the miracles that accompanied the Great Awakening and showed how they pointed men to God's sovereign greatness. In Ethiopia, when people made profession of faith they were taking an incredibly dangerous step in the eyes of the people. Anyone who crossed the demons could be severely dealt with. And they waited to see death or destruction. But over and over they saw the opposite. They saw through miracles that God was greater than any Satanic power. And it gave boldness to others to abandon Satan's kingdom and make profession of faith. But morealso testifyto God's greatness.
It gained a hearing for Biblical religion and was a witness to all who watched (v. 47)
The fourth impact that it had was to gain a hearing for Biblical religion. Look at verse 47 again and think of how these words would have impacted the onlookers. Remember that this is not a private interview with the king. "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." This would have been a tremendous witness to everyone who was looking on. Even if Nebuchadnezzar did not inquire about God's salvation, there may have been some onlookers who might have. During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, in the Hadya area, some officious official had captured an evangelist and decided to kill him to make an example of him to all the people. He gathered thousands together to witness the execution and made a pompous speach before hand that this is what would happen to them if they followed the God of the Christians.
They tied the evangelist on the road and were going to run a large truck over him. But just as the truck came to the man it stopped as if it had hit something solid. After the driver pulled himself off the steering wheel, he backed up the truck and ran at him again and then a third time. The third time he hit this force, he jumped out of the truck and ran away in fear. Well, the people were so impressed with this miracle that they listened to the evangelist tell them how they too could become Christians. The miracle gained a hearing to the evangelist. And there are hundreds of similar stories that could be told from India, China, Pakistan and other countries. And I want us to begin to pray that God would perform miracles in our city to prepare unbelievers to hear the Gospel of Jesus Chrsit.
It positioned Daniel for godly influence (vv. 48-49)
The fifth impact that occured was that it brought Daniel into favor with the king and positioned him to where he could have godly influence. Daniel doesn't turn it down. In fact, he seeks the same favors for his friends. But in verse 48 we read, "Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of" Babylon [their's the first position] "and chief administrator over all the wise men of" Babylon There's the second position. With those two positions, Daniel had the ability to talk to and impact with the Word of God a huge portion of the population. And history tells us that Daniel was very successful.
We see several examples of this in Scripture. When Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he healed the father of Publius, a leading official. This led to an even greater ministry on the island. And I don't know how many times I have read this happening in Indian villages recently. On one occasion, an evangelistic truck was going to bypass a town that was know to beat up all evangelists, but Pradip Sudra sensed in his spirit that he needed to go to this town. The truck driver objected, but after discussion they decided to go. Sure enough, before they could get out of their truck, they were surrounded by a mob ov angry muslims with sticks and stones. Before any action started however, a local Muslim Mullah came and tried to quiet the crowd. He turned to the Christians and said, "I've heard that Jesus heals. Now if you are true servants of Jesus, then I want you to do one thing. I'll let you preach in this village, but only on one condition. That is, my wife has been ill. She's been in bed for five years.... Pray for her. If she gets healed youhave my permission to preach here. If she doesn't get healed..." And he didn't fill in the rest, but they could guess.
In that culture you don't touch another woman, so they had the husband lay hands on her and then they prayed that she would be released of the spirit that was oppressing her. Instantly she was healed and rose up. She served them some tea.
Well they were urged to stay on for three weeks and at the end of that time they baptized 250 people, most of the village.
In Kambata province of Ethiopia, where my parents spent most of their ministry, quite a few of the Christians were in positions of influence during the Communist take over precisely for this reason. They were trusted and respected and had special privileges not found in other provinces.
It made Nebuchadnezzar favorable toward other believers (v. 49)
And that leads to the last benefit, that it not only benefited Daniel, but also Daniels friends. Verse 49 says, "Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gage of the king." Signs and wonders almost never bring Christians into disfavor with unbelievers, unless they are staged or fake. There is a mission agency in India that I pray for, and one of their reports in 1996 talked about a beating that was averted. Some of these missionaries who go into the downcountry towns routinely get beat up, and several have lost their lives. But on this occasion when the crowd was going to beat up the evangelist, someone mentioned that their, if I remember rightly, sister was sick. He said that he would pray for healing. Out of curiosity they took him to their sister and said that they would beat him later if he failed. But upon her being healed, the crowds had no animosity towards the evangelists. So frequently God uses signs and wonders to bring God's people into favor with at least some unbelievers. There are many benefits as you can see. Yet we neglect the seeking of miracles.
It is true, we ought not to elevate miracles above the place that God has given for them. Miracles is all some people talk about. Yet we should not so neglect the seeking of God's power that they are foreign to our lives. Ephesians 1:19 says that the same power which raised up Christ from the dead is at work in us who believe. 2 Timothy 3:5 warns us about professing a Christianity but denying the power thereof. 1 Corinthians 2:5 says, "your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." And 1 Corinthians 4:20 says, "For the kingdom of God is not in word [only] but in power." Let's pray that our church would be blessed with God's mighty power. May 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 be true of our ministry: "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." Amen.