[Budding Genius, 2010, JAVanDevender]
Daniel 4:17 17 'This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.'
You don't spit into the wind, you don't step on Superman's cloak, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with.....
Nebudchadnezzar.
Apologies to Jim Croce but I couldn't resist.
It certainly held true in his day. Nebudchadnezzar was "King of Kings", the Big Cheese, the most powerful man in the world. The law of the Babylonian empire was whatever happened to be his mood or inclination at a given instant. What he said went and he said a lot. Furthermore he achieved incredible things. Under his leadership the city was transformed in glory. The wise men (astrologers and such) of the Chaldeans were known far and wide for their learning and observation. On the whole the general population prospered, shored up as it was by the availability of cheap labor from the hordes of conquered peoples, among whom was this interesting guy Daniel.
But Nebudchadnezzar had a pipeline from heaven through which he received these worrisome dreams. Daniel had already proved his worth regarding these dreams and also there had been that incident with the lion's den. Nebudchadnezzar respected Daniel and listened carefully when the Jew spoke.
What Daniel told him now was puzzling. God didn't seem to be impressed with all his glorious achievements. Somehow or another this "Most High God" that Daniel worshiped seemed to be somewhat jealous.... downright picky... about sharing glory with kings and such. And Daniel now was telling him that God was saying that all these things that he had accomplished actually were not of himself at all but rather were the workings of God. The obvious intention was that God expected him, Nebudchadnezzar, to humbly admit it... to point to God and give the glory to HIM! That seems so unfair... after all it was he that lead the armies, it was he that stayed up nights with building plans, it was he that fought off the political intrigue... it was he that did all the work... What is the problem with this God?
As we all know and as Nebudchadnezzar learned the hard way. The problem wasn't with God at all. The problem was with the pride, the self-centered-ness, the arrogance in his own heart. It is God the Most High who rules in the kingdom of men. It is He who gives it to whomever He wills... and it is He who sets it over the lowest of men.
What applied to Nebudchadnezzar applies no less to each and every one of us. God doesn't just raise up kings and ordain kingdoms. God is just as concerned with the housewife as He is with the CEO. His work is perfect because all the parts are coordinated and we are those parts. This is a source of great relief to those of us who know our own weaknesses and know that only through Him can we have any hope of doing anything significant. Yet the sin of Nebudchadnezzar always crouches at the doors of our heart and perhaps we ought to remember his story. We would not be the first to discover that only then do we have a shot and recovering from our insanity.
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