All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? (Dan 4:28-30)
At the end of twelve months. Up 'till now, the story has been in the first person and now changes to the third person. It may be Nebuchadnezzar or it may be a historian. Whichever, the inspired Word of God says "All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. He has had a full year to think over God's dream and Daniel's interpretation of the dream. A huge tree was cut down and its stump was to be preserved for sprouting in seven years. Stubborn! God was long-suffering and patient with him as He is with all of us.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9).
He got part of it right. Nebuchadnezzar was a self-made man with a self-made kingdom and a self-made palace. He was hot stuff. But he had done it for his own glory. It was on this issue that God's patience wore thin and finally came to an end. "The haughty king refused to learn that he was indebted to the Most High God for his exalted position of a world leader. Moreover he treated the kindness and mercy of God with contempt." (Strauss)
This verse sobered me many years ago: Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil (Ecc 8:11). The scary thing about this is that it appears to be a universal trait.
Another verse that goes along with that is: He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Pro 29:1). I have never mentioned this at a funeral but I have certainly thought about it on a few occasions.
There are many examples of this in the Bible. There was Korah, and Abiram and Belshazzar and Dathan and Jezebel and others. This may happen more than we think. We just should not trifle with God. One of God's complaints against human beings is: There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Rom 3:18)
Shall suddenly be destroyed; or "broken as a potter's vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;" (Gill).
Passages like this are distasteful to people who expect the Bible to be a book of "feel good" formulas. But this is indeed a study of one of life's realities. There is a living God with whom we must relate either now on God's terms of mercy and forgiveness or later on His terms of judgment. With Nebuchadnezzar, it's going to get worse before it gets better. It WILL get better.
Memory Verse:
(Pro 29: 1) He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (Pro 29:1)
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