The blessed reset
This week is on Daniel 4:28-34:
King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world. He had everything. His kingdom was the biggest in the known world at the time. He lacked nothing. One night he had a dream that kind of freaked him out. He called his friends and a bunch of specialists, but none of them could tell him what it meant. He ended up calling on Daniel, who told him it was from God, and it wasn't pretty.
A year later, everything foretold in the dream happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He lost everything and had to live like an animal for awhile. (I wonder if that's what it was like for Jesus, being the son of God, having to live as a man for a season.) He was driven away from people and became unrecognizable. Who is this creature who was once king? A god amongst men, now despised and rejected.
Finally, at the end of "seven times," Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes to heaven and was restored to his royal form. At that point, he was no longer the highest being he knew. God was. This pagan king was now a living testimony to God's grace and power. Much like God put Adam down for a period of time to give him Eve, God put Nebuchadnezzar down for awhile in order to present him with his new faith. When he awoke from his insanity, he was amazed at God.
Think for a minute. This is the same God who created Adam and rebooted Nebuchadnezzar's life. He could do it with ours as well. We could wake up tomorrow and find ourselves with nothing, only to have it restored to us a year or ten years later. Nebuchadnezzar could have lived his whole life happily without ever encountering God, but he didn't know what he was missing until God reset things for him. Maybe we'll be so lucky, but do we want to?
Nebuchadnezzar could have been furious at God for taking things away from him, or for making him live in such an embarrassing state for so long. Nobody wants to eat grass and be a mess. Nobody wants to go from being the king of the world to someone even nobodies don't want to be near. That costs something. He could have demanded repayment, or turned his back on God for what happened. Instead, as soon as he was restored, he praised the God he only now knew. "God, you win. You are God, not me. You amaze me."
Would we be so humble after a trial like that? Would we accept rebuke like Nebuchadnezzar did, so gracefully? If someone told us we'd go through a season like that, would be welcome it, or would we be like "Pray against that!?" Is it a blessing to lose everything but find God more intensely? Our religious side would instantly say yes, but what if it really happened? If you woke up in a crack house, covered in sores, not a dollar to your name, haggard and homeless, after being the richest man in the world, would raising your eyes towards heaven and praising God be your first impulse? If you then got in close with God, would you say it was all worth it?
Sometimes God uses extreme methods to reach us and retrain us. Be thankful. Adam didn't look at Eve and then turn to God and say "You scoundrel, where's my rib?" Nebuchadnezzar didn't lash out at God either. Whatever method he uses, the best state we can find ourselves in is a closer place to God.
All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world. He had everything. His kingdom was the biggest in the known world at the time. He lacked nothing. One night he had a dream that kind of freaked him out. He called his friends and a bunch of specialists, but none of them could tell him what it meant. He ended up calling on Daniel, who told him it was from God, and it wasn't pretty.
A year later, everything foretold in the dream happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He lost everything and had to live like an animal for awhile. (I wonder if that's what it was like for Jesus, being the son of God, having to live as a man for a season.) He was driven away from people and became unrecognizable. Who is this creature who was once king? A god amongst men, now despised and rejected.
Finally, at the end of "seven times," Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes to heaven and was restored to his royal form. At that point, he was no longer the highest being he knew. God was. This pagan king was now a living testimony to God's grace and power. Much like God put Adam down for a period of time to give him Eve, God put Nebuchadnezzar down for awhile in order to present him with his new faith. When he awoke from his insanity, he was amazed at God.
Think for a minute. This is the same God who created Adam and rebooted Nebuchadnezzar's life. He could do it with ours as well. We could wake up tomorrow and find ourselves with nothing, only to have it restored to us a year or ten years later. Nebuchadnezzar could have lived his whole life happily without ever encountering God, but he didn't know what he was missing until God reset things for him. Maybe we'll be so lucky, but do we want to?
Nebuchadnezzar could have been furious at God for taking things away from him, or for making him live in such an embarrassing state for so long. Nobody wants to eat grass and be a mess. Nobody wants to go from being the king of the world to someone even nobodies don't want to be near. That costs something. He could have demanded repayment, or turned his back on God for what happened. Instead, as soon as he was restored, he praised the God he only now knew. "God, you win. You are God, not me. You amaze me."
Would we be so humble after a trial like that? Would we accept rebuke like Nebuchadnezzar did, so gracefully? If someone told us we'd go through a season like that, would be welcome it, or would we be like "Pray against that!?" Is it a blessing to lose everything but find God more intensely? Our religious side would instantly say yes, but what if it really happened? If you woke up in a crack house, covered in sores, not a dollar to your name, haggard and homeless, after being the richest man in the world, would raising your eyes towards heaven and praising God be your first impulse? If you then got in close with God, would you say it was all worth it?
Sometimes God uses extreme methods to reach us and retrain us. Be thankful. Adam didn't look at Eve and then turn to God and say "You scoundrel, where's my rib?" Nebuchadnezzar didn't lash out at God either. Whatever method he uses, the best state we can find ourselves in is a closer place to God.
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