Is there anything in your life that you feel like if you let go of it right now, you would feel so much more freedom and peace? Or is there anything that you are doing that you need to stop in order to humble yourself? Is there anything that you need to admit to someone that might be humiliating, but you will feel better because of it?
With this post, I hope that you can understand the process of being restored. The king recognized that he had a dream and that there was nobody like our God. The king then basically gave up his kingdom, and was humiliated. After that time of humiliation, the king was restored and had more wisdom than he had before.
In our busy lives, we need to recognize the things that we can change and the things that we are doing wrong, suffer the consequences and humiliation, and then grow because of it.
Daniel chapter 4 started off in super cool fashion.
King Nebuchadnezzar to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.
How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion endures from generation to generation. (Daniel 4:1-3)
The king recognized the signs and wonders of the Most High God. That was the very first step.
Next, the king had a dream.
In the king's dream, he saw a tree in the middle of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and it's top reached heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the earth. The tree had beautiful leaves and its fruit was abundant, and had food for all. All of the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in the branches, and all flesh was fed from it.
That would be a pretty cool dream to have in my opinion. The king had the power to have these amazing dreams and visions, but wasn't able to interpret them, that is when Daniel comes in to play.
The king also saw this in his dream. He saw a watcher, a holy one, come down from heaven. The watcher proclaimed to him: 'Chop down the tree and lop off its beaches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from the branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band iron and bronze, amid a tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beats in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him and let seven period of time pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, and in the end the the living many know that the Most High rules the kingdom and men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.'
Now if I am in the situation, I am hoping and praying that I don't have to do this. The king had built up such a great kingdom and by the looks of this dream it looks like the king would have to give up everything in order to know that and to understand that the Most High God rules the kingdom and men and gives it to whom he will.
Daniel interpreted this dream and said that the dream was for those who hate you and your enemies. When Daniel interpreted the dream, he basically said everything that the dream entailed off, he told the king that he would have to do all of those things. He would have to let his kingdom go, all of it. Everything that he has built up for years was going to have to be let go so that the king could recognize that the Most High God rules the kingdom and gives it to whom he will.
Next, all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" While these words were still in the king's mouth a voice came down from heaven, "O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High God rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whim he will."
When the king heard this voice from haven, the word became immediately fulfilled. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws.
Talk about being humbled. The king used to be the head over all of Babylon and now he was eating grass like the ox, and his body was wet with dew. His hair had how been as long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds claws. I imagine it being humiliating enough to loose your power, but the king basically had to look like a bum to be honest, he was probably used to the best clothes, best treatment and best care. Now he didn't have any of that.
Now if you remember what I talked about at the beginning of this post, 2/3 things have happened. There was one more thing left and that was the king being restored.
At the end of the days, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven and his reason was retuned to him. Nebuchadnezzar praised and honored him who lives forever and said this,
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, "What have you done?"
When the king had said this, his reason returned to him, along with his kingdom, majesty, and splendor. The king was able to reestablish his kingdom and he had more greatness than ever before.
The king closed with this statement:
Now, I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
I encourage you to think of the things in your life that you are placing ahead of God. Recognize those things and do whatever it takes to get rid of them. You might totally have to humiliate yourself but it's worth it. We will be restored because of it. Just like King Nebuchadnezzar. Because of his humiliation and the things he had to endure, he is now a better leader than ever. We will mostly likely endure hardships and because of those hardships our relationship with Christ will strengthen more and more.
I challenge you as well to let yourself be humbled. If you are prideful, the King of heaven will be able to humble you. He has all of the power to do so and he will.
No comments:
Post a Comment