I’ll get right to the point: the bookends of Daniel 4:1-3 and 34-35 lead the way to showing how a large chapter functions for the church. Those bookends anchor meaning.

Daniel 4 begins and ends with the king’s confession of the sovereignty of God. The king’s dream (vv. 4-18), Daniel’s interpretation of the dream (vv. 19-27), and God’s fulfillment of the dream (vv. 28-33) all contribute to explaining how the king got to the point of repentance and confession of the sovereignty of God.

Such a large chapter requires this kind of analysis. Unless you want to spend three or four sermons on this chapter, knowing how the parts fit together is critical.

And the bookends? Well, they show the king displaying the kind of attitude towards “the Most High” (cf. vv. 2, 34) that every true Christian displays.

In the middle is our nemesis: arrogance that thinks we’re god and God is not and all the sins that accompany such pride.

I title this message: Embracing the Humble Faith “that heaven rules”: Remaining Godly in an Ungodly World.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis has a chapter called, “The Great Sin.” On page 114 he wrote, “The first step [to becoming humble] is to realize that one is proud.” The king in Daniel 4 shows us how proud we are. Actually the king’s pride expresses human pride: our naive thinking that we can ascend God’s heaven and overtake His rule (cf. v. 11 “The tree grew large and became strong, and its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth”).

God graciously forced the king to recognize his pride. The bookends of the chapter show a humbled king and his stance is shared by every genuine Christian. That’s because our Savior humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Cf. Philippians 2:1ff.).

I hope this helps you see how such a long apocalyptic chapter can function for the church for His glory (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal