{"id":2280,"date":"2024-06-26T17:24:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/?p=2280"},"modified":"2024-06-26T17:24:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:24:55","slug":"sovereign-over-all-humility-month-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/sovereign-over-all-humility-month-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Sovereign Over All (Humility Month: Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High\u00a0is sovereign\u00a0over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest\u00a0of people.<\/em>\u2019 <\/em>\u201cThis is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me.\u00a0But you can,\u00a0because the spirit of the holy gods\u00a0is in you.\u201d <\/em>Daniel 4:17-18 (NIV)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nebuchadnezzar II ruled the Neo-Babylonian empire from 605 BC to 562 BC, the longest reign of the Babylonian Dynasty. In 587 BC, he destroyed the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, leading its people away into captivity.<\/p>\n
The prophet Daniel was one of those people. Belteshazzar was the Babylonian name by which Nebuchadnezzar called him.<\/p>\n
By this part of the story, Daniel has already interpreted two of the king\u2019s dreams, so he has an established track record. However, the king\u2019s command that Daniel interpret his latest dream puts him in an awkward position:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified\u00a0him. So the king said, <\/em>\u201cBelteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
Belteshazzar answered, <\/em>\u201cMy lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!<\/em>\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth,\u00a0with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds\u2014\u00a0Your Majesty, you are that tree!\u00a0You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cYour Majesty saw a holy one,\u00a0a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, \u2018Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree\u00a0the Most High has issued against my lord the king:\u00a0You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched\u00a0with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High\u00a0is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.\u00a0The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots\u00a0means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. <\/em>Daniel 4:19-26 (NIV)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Good thing Daniel had that track record with the king, or that might not have ended well.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two main points of this dream and its interpretation are:<\/p>\n
\nGod is sovereign over all.<\/li>\nGod shows favor on those who acknowledge #1.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n**<\/h2>\n*****
** ***\u00a0<\/p>\nSovereign Over Every Kingdom<\/strong><\/h2>\n*****
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** All nations on earth have some type of leader, be it a king, a president, or a dictator. Some leaders are elected by the people, some rule by succession, and some take power by force.<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** What we need to understand, however, is that God is in control of ALL of these leadership successions, even when the leadership in question does not acknowledge God.<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** We may wonder sometimes, if God is sovereign over all leadership, why do we get such garbage leaders?<\/p>\n
** *****\u00a0<\/p>\nNebuchadnezzar himself was referred to by the prophet Jeremiah as a destroyer of nations<\/a>. Nevertheless, he is also referred to as a servant of God by the same prophet:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
"
With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.\u00a0Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.\u00a0So you must submit to Babylon<\/em>\u2019s king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon\u2019s yoke! I will punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the\u00a0Lord. I will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon has conquered it. <\/em>Jeremiah 27:5-8 (NLT)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of being humble before the Lord is accepting our place in His plan, even when it makes no sense. Because God institutes all authority<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0 we are called to submit to whatever leaders He places over us, and to accept that He has His reasons for putting them there.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone else made that happen! (quickmeme.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAcknowledging that God Rules All<\/strong><\/h2>\n*******
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** Back to Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream. Here\u2019s how that turned out:<\/p>\n
** *******\u00a0<\/p>\n****"
Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,\u00a0he said, <\/em>\u201cIs not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory\u00a0of my majesty?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n*******
** *******Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, <\/em>\u201cThis is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.<\/em>\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>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.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nImmediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched\u00a0with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. <\/em>Daniel 4:29-33 (NIV)<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is a fairly obvious example of pride and consequences. Daniel nailed the interpretation of the dream, but the king didn\u2019t take the lesson about humility. We can ruin our lives in the same manner. Even when we get fair warning of consequences, we still go our own way. Fortunately, God in His mercy still gives us a way out. Here\u2019s how that went for Nebuchadnezzar:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
"
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity\u00a0was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.<\/em><\/p>\n
His dominion is an eternal dominion;*******
\nhis kingdom\u00a0endures from generation to generation.
\nAll the peoples of the earth
\nare regarded as nothing.
\nHe does as he pleases
\nwith the powers of heaven
\nand the peoples of the earth.
\nNo one can hold back\u00a0his hand
*******\nor say to him: <\/em>\u201cWhat have you done?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nAt the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom.\u00a0My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.\u00a0Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt\u00a0and glorify\u00a0the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just.\u00a0And those who walk in pride\u00a0he is able to humble. <\/em>Daniel 4:34-37 (NIV)<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Just as Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream and in Daniel\u2019s interpretation of it, when he humbled himself at the end of seven years, he was restored even greater than he was before.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of note in this passage is that twice, Nebuchadnezzar says that his sanity was restored as he humbled himself. Other translations say he began to \u201fthink normally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The implication here is that sanity and normal thinking are associated with humility. It would then follow that pride is associated with insanity and abnormal thinking.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sanity leads to a good result. Abnormal thinking does not. When you look at pride this way, it gives you a whole new perspective on how crazy it is that our nation devotes an entire month to abnormal thinking.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you think that\u2019s crazy, try to imagine what the response would be like if any of our leaders had the sense to devote even as much as a three-day weekend to something as constructive and redemptive as humility.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
(I will go deeper on that concept in Part 4. Make sure to click on the Free Newsletter link<\/a> so you don<\/em>\u2019t miss it!)<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Most High\u00a0is sovereign\u00a0over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5016,"featured_media":2289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,332],"tags":[1197,1200,1206,1209,1194,1203],"class_list":["post-2280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exegesis","category-government","tag-babylonian-king-nebuchadnezzar","tag-daniel-the-dream-interpreter","tag-god-is-in-control","tag-jeremiah","tag-kingdoms","tag-when-god-gives-you-favor"],"yoast_head":"\nSovereign Over All (Humility Month: Part 3)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Most High\u00a0is sovereign\u00a0over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/sovereign-over-all-humility-month-part-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sovereign Over All (Humility Month: Part 3)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Most High\u00a0is sovereign\u00a0over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/truthmission\/2024\/06\/sovereign-over-all-humility-month-part-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Truth Mission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100071593496538\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-26T22:24:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1779\/2024\/06\/Sovereign-over-kings.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"M. 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