“King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.” Daniel 4:27
Daniel loved the King, over the years they had grown close. Daniel did not want to see the King go through this pain. If the King accepted God, he would have to demand that all other gods be thrown aside. The idol worship would have to stop and that was a problem. When one comes to the Lord, they must leave the things of the world. The allegiance change must be 180 degrees. In Nebuchadnezzar’s case, he would have to renounce all of the gods of Babylon, which sound simple to us, but was by no means simple at that time. The Babylonian Empire was built on the premise of these gods. All of this was so ingrained into the minds of the people, that even the furniture in houses was modeled after the particular god worshipped. Every part of their doing and being was wrapped up in the worship of these gods. The King no doubt did not want to deal with this problem. So, he made himself believe that what Daniel was telling him would not happen.
Daniel was calling for repentance. He wanted the King to change his mind, acknowledge his sin, turn from them, and put his faith in the true and living God. Nebuchadnezzar knew enough about Daniel’s God to know that what Daniel spoke was the truth, but he did nothing about it. The King was passing up a gracious opportunity to make a new beginning and submit to the will of the most high God. He made the wrong decision and would have to live with the consequences. There is no doubt that God was dealing with Nebuchadnezzar, just like God deals with us when He is leading us to give our life to Him. In my case God was leading me to surrender and He put me in the hospital. It did not take long before I gave it to God. God has a way of getting your attention.