I Am, and There is No One Besides Me

Today, we’ll use some details of King Nebuchadnezzar’s life as a mirror to examine our own. Read Daniel 3:1-23, and write down a few words to describe Babylon’s powerful ruler.

How many times does the author (Daniel) stress Nebuchadnezzar “made the image” or “set up the image?” 

Read Daniel 3:19 again. How do we respond when something we’ve planned, prepared, created doesn’t go the way we’d like?

Now let’s read Daniel 4:4-8, 19-33. What was King Neb asked to do in order to avoid the consequences of this dream (4:27)? What great sin of the heart is revealed in his words (4:30)?

Who is Yahweh?

How does Yahweh feel about pride? Out of dozens of Scriptures, I’ve chosen three proverbs:

• Proverbs 8:13 
• Proverbs 16:5 
• Proverbs 16:18

C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “It was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…” Read the following passages and consider why Yahweh so despises pride:

Read Genesis 3:1-5, and describe how the serpent planted the seed of pride in Eve’s heart, watered it, and watched it grow into disobedience.

Read Genesis 11, and ponder how pride was at the root of a building process that was restored in Babylon as a ziggurat temple (Etemenanki) during Daniel’s captivity.

Essentially, pride is when the heart says, “I don’t need God.” It’s self-motivation, self-exaltation, self-absorption, self-promotion, and self-worship, and God hates it because it separates us from Him.

From Daniel to the Cross

If Nebuchadnezzar is the personification of pride, then Jesus Christ is that of humility. And if the pride of one man, Adam, was the downfall of humanity, then the humility of one man, Jesus, was our salvation and restoration.

Read Philippians 2:1-11. What mindset/attitude did Jesus have in heaven and on earth? How are we to respond to this knowledge of Christ’s mindset (v. 5)?

As you read the following passages, consider ways to implement this renewed mindset:

• 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
• Ephesians 4:17-23
• Colossians 3:1-3
• 1 Peter 4:1-2 

Breaking Babylon’s Chains:

What one thing might the Holy Spirit be prompting you to change? Maybe an attitude? A relationship? Taking pride seriously? The posture of your heart in prayer, submitting to His will and ways?