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- Sermon, August 9, 2020 - "Losing Your Mind"
 | Daniel 4:4-17 - Part 5 in a series, "God's People in Exile" |
Sermon – "Losing Your Mind" – Daniel 4:4-18
August 9, 2020
Chris Coon, PBPC
Psychological disorders are very common, very real, and very tragic for those who suffer from them. As fascinating as the human mind is, though, we can't help but be interested some of the extremely rare psychological disorders that have now been identified. Here are just a few:
Capgras Syndrome - one believes that the people around them have been replaced by imposters
Cotard Delusion - causes the sufferer to believe that they are a zombie or a ghost
Paris Syndrome - temporary mental disorder that causes one to become completely overwhelmed while visiting the city of Paris
Clinical Lycanthropy – sufferers believe themselves to be able to turn into wolves and werewolves, and begin to act like one
Boanthropy - those who suffer from the very rare — but very scary — mental disorder Boanthropy believe they are cows, often going as far as to behave as such. Sometimes those with Boanthropy are even found in fields with cows, walking on all fours and chewing grass as if they were a true member of the herd
Interestingly, many believe that this last mental disorder, boanthropy, is referred to in the Bible – specifically in our scripture passage today, in which Daniel interprets a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar in which the king loses his mind.
Daniel 4:4-18
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living at ease in my home and prospering in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that frightened me; my fantasies in bed and the visions of my head terrified me…
10 Upon my bed this is what I saw;
there was a tree at the center of the earth,
and its height was great.
11 The tree grew great and strong,
its top reached to heaven,
and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.
12 Its foliage was beautiful,
its fruit abundant,
and it provided food for all.
The animals of the field found shade under it,
the birds of the air nested in its branches,
and from it all living beings were fed.
13 "I continued looking, in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and there was a holy watcher, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said:
'Cut down the tree and chop off its branches,
strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit.
Let the animals flee from beneath it
and the birds from its branches.
15 But leave its stump and roots in the ground,
with a band of iron and bronze,
in the tender grass of the field.
Let him be bathed with the dew of heaven,
and let his lot be with the animals of the field
in the grass of the earth.
16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human,
and let the mind of an animal be given to him.
And let seven times pass over him.
17 The sentence is rendered by decree of the watchers,
the decision is given by order of the holy ones,
in order that all who live may know
that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals;
he gives it to whom he will
and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.'
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
Daniel is the only one of the king's wise men or counselors that is able to explain the meaning of his dream. The tree at the center of the world represents the king himself, in all his glory, reaching up to the heavens and providing abundantly for all kinds of people. But the tree is cut down and only the stump is left, indicating that the king will have a dramatic fall from power. The dream goes on to describe what will happen to the king: his lot will be with the animals of the field, and his mind will be changed from that of a human to that of an animal.
Basically, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that he is going to lose his mind. He is going to forget who he is and be reduced to acting like a cow in the field, content to eat grass and be exposed to the dew of the morning. And the reason that this is going to happen is so that the king will learn that the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals and gives it to whom he will. King Nebuchadnezzar has clearly not learned his lessons from the previous chapters, in which God has already demonstrated his power; he continues to glorify himself and his achievements, not recognizing that ultimately it is God who is reigns over all human kingdoms and achievements.
Daniel's interpretation and prediction come true; one year later the king is walking on the roof of the palace, and he looks out over the city of Babylon, with its world-renowned Hanging Gardens, and says to himself, "Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?" Immediately a voice comes from heaven, declaring that the kingdom has departed from him, and that he would be driven out to live as a beast of the field for a period of "seven times", which could indicate either months or years. He was driven away from human society, he ate grass like the oxen, his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails became like birds' claws. He lost his mind.
Nebuchadnezzar seems to have suffered from boanthropy, a real mental disorder. And it's also not unheard of that someone should have a temporary mental disorder: the movie, The Madness of King George, tells the story of the monarch of Great Britain temporarily losing his hold on power because of a bout with mental illness. We don't know how long Nebuchadnezzar's boanthropy lasted (months or years), or how he was able to remain as the king during this time and return to ruling when he recovered. But when he regains his mind, he seems to have finally learned his lesson: he gave praise to and honor to the King of heaven, the one who lives forever and is sovereign over all earthly kingdoms.
THE IMAGE OF GOD
Now certainly there are some basic lessons for us in this chapter about the accountability of rulers before God, who is sovereign above all earthly powers. But there is a warning for each of us as well about pride and arrogance within our own earthly sphere of life and influence. We each need to remember that God is sovereign in our own lives, that we are not the masters of own destiny, that every good thing in life is a gift from our Heavenly Father, and that there will be an accounting for how we steward what we have been given.
An idea that comes up again and again in the Book of Daniel is that of an Image. Nebuchadnezzar creates an idol, an image of gold which he commands the people to worship. The idol is more than simply a statue, an inanimate object. This is an image of something; in this case it is an image of human power, of human conquest, of human wealth and glory – it represents human accomplishment. And even though he was at the very top of the power structure, King Nebuchadnezzar worshipped these same things.
As God's people living in our own time of exile in this fallen world, we are constantly being beckoned to worship the idols of our culture, whether they be power, wealth, success, or pleasure. We may not literally bow down before a graven image or statue, but we worship nonetheless. We worship by loving, by giving our hearts and our minds to something, and putting that thing above our love and service of God.
But an idol is a lifeless thing, a non-entity. As Psalm 135 tells us,
15The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see;
17 they have ears, but they do not hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them
and all who trust them
shall become like them.
There is an important truth here: we become like what we worship. And whether that means giving our hearts over to pride, greed, lust, gluttony, vanity, or any of the so-called deadly sins, the result is the same: we lose our humanity. As we take on the qualities of the idol, we become more and more like the idol – lifeless and less human. This is the great tragedy of idolatry, because you and I as human beings are created in the image of God. We are created to know and worship God alone, and the truth that we become like what we worship means that we are supposed to be becoming more and more like God.
Nebuchadnezzar was worshiping the idol of his own power, success, and glory, and thus his heart and mind were trapped in the destructive curse of his own idolatry. He was already losing his humanity, losing the image of God in which he had been created. So the sentence that he received, becoming like a beast of the field and taking on the mind of an animal, was symbolic of what was already happening within him. He had already lost his mind.
WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES
We are each of us in danger of losing our minds, of becoming less than the image of God that we are created to be. How can we keep from losing our minds? Here are three ways that the Bible guides us in this.
Beware of idolatry. It is very real in our world, even if it is more subtle. But remember that whatever takes the place of God in your heart becomes your god. It is helpful here to remember the first two of the 10 commandments: You shall have no other Gods before Me, and You shall not make for yourself any graven image. So our hearts always need to be on the alert to the false gods that might tempt or beckon us. What are your false gods – that which is causing you to lose your mind?
Understand that to be human, we must learn to take on the heart and character of God. This is the image we were created to bear. Micah 6:8 gives us an idea of what this looks like:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The loss of our humanity results in the loss of justice, the loss of kindness, and the loss of humility. This is why Jesus describes the first and second commandments as being inextricably linked together:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:30-31)
Loving and worshiping God results in becoming like God, which is demonstrated by love for the people around us. Are you becoming more like God by becoming a more loving person?
Recognize that you have a kingdom. You may not be the King of the most powerful empire in the world, but each of us has a kingdom. Think of your kingdom as your sphere of influence, the places where you are able make decisions and act in a way that affects others. Daniel's words of warning to the king might be helpful here: "Atone for your sins with justice, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged." (Daniel 4:27) How is God calling you to be more Christlike – that is, more human – in the kingdom that He has given you?
You and I are created in the image of God, and to become more like God means to become more human. Idolatry – that is, putting anything in the place of God in our lives – causes us to become diminished, less human; it causes us to lose our minds. Worshiping God alone, learning to love as Jesus showed us, and serving God in the kingdom over which He has placed us is a great plan for fully experiencing the life that God wants for us and becoming the people He wants us to be.