Wednesday 27 March 2024

Daniel 4:28-37 – Have the right perspective of God

Twelve months after Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream to him, everything happened as he had told the King. This duration of a year demonstrated God's grace to the King. H accorded him that duration to heed Daniel's counsel and repent. Obviously, he did not. 

One day, the King was on the rooftop of his royal palace and saw the grandeur of Babylon. Arrogantly, he took credit for its grandness and forgot all Daniel had told him. Despite knowing that God had granted him everything, he boasted. Musing to himself, he said, "Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my

majesty?" 

 

Almost immediately, he received a divine response. Hardly had his words trilled off, a voice from heaven spoke. Everything Daniel had foretold the King came to pass. He lost his position and "was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws."

 

True to Daniel's interpretation, the King's restoration began after seven years. It dawns on him that He is not in control; God is. His sanity returns as soon as he realizes that, and he looks toward God in heaven. Returning the glory to God, Nebuchadnezzar blesses and gives praise and honor to God Most High. Acknowledging God, he exclaimed:   

 

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,

But He does according to His

will in the host of heaven

And among the inhabitants of the earth; 

And no one can ward off His hand 

Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'

 

Nebuchadnezzar's perspective changed, and his kingdom and splendor were restored. When his official returned to serve him, his kingship was reestablished with surpassing greatness. He realized who deserved all the credit. So, he gave testimony saying, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He can humble those who walk in pride."

 

Never allow our God-granted privileges in life to lead us into pride and arrogance. We need to maintain a proper perspective of God and His sovereignty. Don't try to usurp what belongs to Him. We need to know that we cannot do without God. Apart from Him, we are nothing and can do nothing. All that we are and can potentially become comes from God. So, be wise stewards of God; this is our duty.  

 

 

Tuesday 26 March 2024

Daniel 4:19-27 – Our humility matters to God.

When Daniel heard the king's dream, he was shocked. The interpretation of the dream he had heard would be unpleasant to the king, and it terrifies him. Nebuchadnezzar was a fearful and dreaded ruler known to do things at his whim. 

 

Daniel must have wondered how the king would handle the unpleasantness of the dream. So, he paused with perplexities written all over his face. And the king noticed it. He then addressed Daniel by his Babylonian name, saying, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.'

 

With that assurance, Daniel diplomatically told the king the interpretation of his dream. He prefaced it by saying he wished that what the king saw in the dream applied to someone the king hates and not to the king himself before he proceeded to share its meaning. 

 

The king saw a luxuriant tree towering over the earth, providing food, shade, and shelter for men, beasts, and birds. An angel was ordered to chop it down. However, the stump would remain in the field where animals made their habitation and be drenched by dew for seven years.

  

Daniel told the king that his dream was God's Most High decree. The tree refers to the king, who has all his power granted by God. He would be driven away from mankind to dwell among the beasts of the field, to eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. He would only recover and return to sanity after seven years when he realizes that God, Most High, is ruler over the realm of mankind and gives power to whomever He wishes. The stump that was not uprooted was an assurance to Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would be returned to him by God. This would show that God gives the power to rule whoever He wills.   

 

Daniel ended with gentle counsel to the king. He admonished, "Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity." 

 

What's the key lesson? God detests pride. He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Our position in life is God granted. We will always be there with His design and approval. We must always maintain sight of this and become proud to think we are making of our capability. Pride always comes before fall and a haughty spirit before destruction. We must heed the admonition of 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time."  

 

Monday 25 March 2024

Daniel 4:10-18 – Serving God wholeheartedly and willingly.

Nebuchadnezzar then related to his dream in Daniel 4:10-18. As the king lay in bed what appeared before him in that dream saw was a tall tree in the middle of the earth. It grew and became a gigantic luxuriant towering tree throughout the earth. It provided food for all living creatures, shade for beasts, and bird shelter. 

What he saw next was a heavenly messenger, an angel announced for the tree to be cut down stripped of its branches and leaves, and left bear. It would no longer provide food for the creatures, shade for beasts, and bird shelter. 

 

This tree was also a person, who would be living like a beast in the field. The angelic being then announced the purpose of the whole episode in verses 17-18. It is to show that God controls the worldly kingdom. God is the one who designed who to reign. The precise decree of the angel recorded in verse 17 says, “that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”

 

As the king ended his narration, he waited in anticipation for Daniel’s interpretation which we will see in the next reflection. These verses show the sovereignty of God. Rulers and leaders are in their respective positions by His design. He puts one up and He also pulls one down. No one can be where he is without His approval. Everyone does His will. His believers serve Him as His willing servants. Unbelievers will also serve Him and His purpose as His unwilling servants. Which category are we? Let us be the former to serve God with our hearts, souls, minds, and strength!     

Sunday 24 March 2024

Daniel 4:4-9 – Only with God can we be effective.

Like his experience recorded in Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had another dream. Many years, approximately 30 years, had passed since that dream. The time-lapse led some to believe he could not be the same Nebuchadnezzar. Because, in history, there were two other kings with the same name. Through deduction, some think that he was Nabonidus, Nebuchadnezzar II. For our intent and purpose, speculating about Nebuchadnezzar is not as important as God's message through this account.

 

In Daniel 4:4-9, Nebuchadnezzar shared about his phenomenal personal experience. It happened at a time when his kingdom was stable and flourishing. During this peaceful and uneventful time, he had this dream. This passage describes him as more reasonable than his first dream. 

 

Previously, he had refused to reveal the content of his dream and yet expected his sages to interpret it. He threatened them with death if his demands were not met. Thankfully, Daniel saved the day. Through the wisdom provided by God, he gave the dream and its interpretation to the king. 

 

This time, Nebuchadnezzar shares the content of his dream. What is similar to his previous experience is that "all the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners" whom he summoned could not interpret the meaning of his dream for him. Finally, Daniel, with the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, came before him. The delay in calling for him was to differentiate him from the others. It emphasizes Daniel's superiority and that his wisdom is a gift from the true God. With that godly wisdom, Daniel interpreted the king's dream.

 

These verses highlight the difference between Daniel and the other sages. They tell us that, like Daniel, we can make a difference in life and be effective only with God's backing. Indeed, apart from God, we can do nothing. Hence, we must abide in Him, and as we do, we shall bear fruit for His glory.    

 

Saturday 23 March 2024

Daniel 4:1-3 – Praising God every moment of life

Daniel 4 begins with Nebuchadnezzar praising God. This is truly a breath of fresh air. It is one thing for believers to glorify God but quite another for unbelievers. Remember that Babylon was the number one power in the world at the time, and Nebuchadnezzar was the supreme ruler of this world power.

Naturally, this begs the question, why? For a megalomaniac like him, plus the fact that he was accustomed to serving pagan gods all his life, this praise was remarkable. However, we note that this God has impacted his life in a way that none of his gods had. Daniel and his three friends also eloquently witnessed to God by their unfeigned and authentic faith.

In Daniel 4, we see that the king’s praise for God is precipitated by another reason. It will become more apparent as we progress into the chapter. Suffice it to say that he had personally experienced the signs and wonders that God had done for him. And for one who has personally experienced God’s power working in one’s life, it is difficult not to be convinced of His reality.

So unabashedly, he declared:
How great are His signs
And how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
And His dominion is from generation to generation.


It is refreshing to see how Nebuchadnezzar gave praise. His praise highlighted God and showed Him as the true sovereign of heaven and earth. Nebuchadnezzar’s experience with God left him humbled and convinced that this God was the true sovereign. He wanted all his subjects to experience the true peace this God alone could offer.

Are we praising God daily? If we are not, we should do it. Praising God gives us the moment to connect with Him intimately. It allows us to truly express what we feel and think about Him from our hearts. It is also an occasion to declare His wonders and speak, sing, declare, and proclaim His power. Be sure to praise Him daily. Praise Him in the morning, in the evening, and every moment in between.

Friday 22 March 2024

Daniel 3:28-30 – True faith always triumphs.

Daniel 3:28-30 affirms what the Apostle Paul so fervently asserted in Romans 8:28. He said, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." God used what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego went through, worked out something extraordinary for them, and brought glory to Himself. True faith in God always triumphs.  

 

No matter how hot the furnace of the trials of life may be, when God shows up, the deliverance is sure. These three verses emphasize not that God can deliver but how marvelous He truly is. He never leaves His committed people to fend for themselves in a trial. "He is faithful," says Paul, "with every trial, He will provide a way out."          

 

Nebuchadnezzar's response to the three friends' fantastic deliverance attests to God's unfailing faithfulness. From fury and anger, the king graduated to praise the God of the three faithful Jews. 

 

In verse 25, he referred to the fourth man in the furnace as "a son of the gods." In verse 28, he advanced to call him "His angel," meaning this is God's angel. Does it really matter? Whether he is a son of the gods or an angel of God, we know that God has engineered the deliverance. This is the pre-appearance of Christ before He came to earth as a man. We call it Theophany or Christophany.

 

From wanting their death, Nebuchadnezzar turns to defend the three from being further maligned and attacked. He decrees that "any people, nation or the tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap." He even promoted the three faithful Jews to higher positions in his government.   

 

Here we end where we begin, "In all adversities, we know, we don't just guess, suppose or think. We know with certainty that God works together for good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose. When we remain faithful to God in adversities, two things will result. God is praised and glorified, and we are delivered and satisfied.    

Thursday 21 March 2024

Daniel 3:24-27 – God is with us.

God rewards audacious faith. He often does it in a way that surpasses one's ability to think or imagine. So, Daniel, in 3:24-27, records how this God amazingly rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He was walking with the three amid the blazing fire. Nebuchadnezzar had only cast three persons into the furnace but saw four amid the flaming fire.

Couldn't believe his eyes, he turned to his high officials and asked alarmingly, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" "We certainly did, O King," they responded. "But look! There's a fourth man among them. They are all freely walking unbound and unharmed in the fire. And the fourth man looks like a son of gods," said the king. 

 

He then came to the furnace's door. Though the text is silent, Nebuchadnezzar must have asked for the furnace fire to be tampered with, or else he could not come near it without being slain by the searing heat. 


He could have recalled the last gallant words of the three friends and realized that their God had indeed shielded and saved them from being consumed by the fire. He then calls out to them, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!" 

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego had no hesitation in obliging. They came out amid the fire to the whole host of the king's officials watching. Everyone from the "satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around and saw regarding these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men…." Not a single blade of the hair on their heads was singed by the fire. 

 

Remember, they were tied together in their trousers, coats, caps, and other clothes. Yet the fire did not damage their pants, and no burnt smell could be detected. This is to say that they were protected from the fire, and none of it came near any of them.  

 

Daniel 3:24-27 demonstrates in a personal way the promise of God to be with us. Emmanuel, God with us, is one of Christ Jesus' names. He began His earthly ministry with Emmanuel and ended it with, "Lo, I am with you to the end of the ages!" Today, He is with us; nothing can separate us from God's love. Because God is with us, He will help us to accomplish His will. And God is with us to protect and help us overcome every Crisis. He may not take our crisis away from us or us away from the crisis, but he will be with us and walk with us through our crisis victoriously.