I double-clicked on the word “power” and my dictionary automatically opened to the word “control.” Oh, the irony--who is in control? The first definition under “control” includes “check, test” while the second definition elaborates the concept, “to exercise restraining or directing influence over; rule.” “Power” describes “ability” and “possession of control.” The two definitions do not describe two different ideas. “Power” and “control” are both related when one considers “conduct.”
We’ve all heard the saying, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Is the principle so absolute? If power is kept in check, under control, power actually contributes and builds up. Electricity, for example, in its unchecked state can be quite dangerous; on the other hand, under the control of wires, insulation, circuits, etc. electricity can be quite good and useful. The same is true of water. Unless it is channeled, water can bring us to ruin. The problem is that absolutes (like power, love, beauty, etc) in the hands of the depraved, without control, then becomes debased. If this is what Lord Acton meant, then his principle would be correct.
This time of year we are in the uphill climb to discover a national leader. Who are the genuine public servants? When a judge lets a criminal go free, we consider him to be worse than the criminal, but most are looking for leaders who pander to their criminal desires. The nature of freedom has become confused (free to do what one wants vs. free to do what one should) and that confusion exercised without penalty, evidence of corrupt power. Lest we forget, the ability to rule is a God-given gift, and that is the problem. Depraved men have not given God His place in their rule. Control is superficial, shallow and without direction when God is forgotten.
Giving God His place is not an easy task for depraved man. We like our place at the top. We like to be in control. The ducks are our responsibility to keep in the row, right? That was Nebuchadnezzar’s problem. He had been introduced to the true and living God through Daniel, who not merely interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but told him what it was!
Nebuchadnezzar confessed there was no other God, but on the heels of building a false idol, saw the true and living God at work in the preservation of those who worshipped Him in spirit and in truth by keeping them alive in the fire.
Daniel 4 takes on a different tone from the previous chapters as this account is delivered from the king himself. “
Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.” (Daniel 4:1-2) Nebuchadnezzar tells us he was once again troubled in a dream and he calls for an interpretation of it. While he asked for the men of his court to do this work, he specifically asked Daniel to interpret the dream because he knew Daniel had the Spirit of God (4:8-9). The king saw Daniel, a man trusted with power and control, as a man under the power of God’s Spirit, under the control of the true and living God.
Astonished at what he heard, Daniel seems not speak in haste concerning the dream. When he finally does, Daniel basically calms Nebuchadnezzar though plainly says “
My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!” In other words, “you really don’t want this dream to come true.” He even tells him how to make certain it will NOT come true. “
Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Repentance contains a blessing in that control is relinquished to God. Unrepentance means that not care for the Lordship of God and would live under his own. Daniel was calling the king repent of his pride and sin and to do righteousness before the Lord as evidence of a changed heart. As a man under the power of the Holy Spirit, Daniel already understood that obtaining the power of the Spirit is costly—it costs self-surrender, humiliation, giving up what is most precious out of love for God. Would Nebuchadnezzar do it? Nebuchadnezzar wandered through his kingdom for one year, until one moment, when in the palace the king said, “
Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” He was not repentant because he was out of control. The Lord God humbled him, and for seven years, the throne of Babylon was without its’ king. His lack of control was seen in his seven years living as a beast and eating grass.
This is what God thinks of pride from the book of Proverbs alone: “A high look and a proud heart ... are sin." (21:4); The Lord hates "a proud look." (6:17); “Every one who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." (16:5); "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride, and arrogance ... do I hate." (8:13); "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (16:18); "A man's pride shall bring him low." (29:23); “When pride cometh, then cometh shame." (11:2)
Only the farmer knows that the stalk of wheat that holds their heads the highest are the empty ones. The full wheat is bowed.
Archeology has proven that, while empires are careful to record the exploits and victories of their kings, their weak moments and losses tend to be less public. In his article “Nebuchadnezzar, Gilgamesh, and the ‘Babylonian Job,’” Paul Ferguson explains that “historical records are available up to about the eleventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, after which the chronicles are practically silent.”
[1] Of fifty two inscriptions belonging to Nebuchadnezzar, only four are dated to the last portion of his reign. Something happened.
“Modern research has shown that Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest monarch that Babylon, or perhaps the East generally, ever produced. He must have possessed an enormous command of human labour, nine-tenths of Babylon itself, and nineteen-twentieths of all the other ruins that in almost countless profusion cover the land, are composed of bricks stamped with his name. He appears to have built or restored almost every city and temple in the whole country. His inscriptions give an elaborate account of the immense works which he constructed in and about Babylon itself, abundantly illustrating the boast, ‘Is not this great Babylon which I have build?’ . . . After the incident of the “burning fiery furnace” (Dan. 3) into which the three Hebrew confessors were cast, Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted with some peculiar mental aberration as a punishment for his pride and vanity, probably the form of madness known as lycanthropy (i.e, “the change of a man into a wolf”). A remarkable confirmation of the Scripture narrative is afforded by the recent discovery of a bronze door-step, which bears an inscription to the effect that it was presented by Nebuchadnezzar to the great temple at Borsippa as a votive offering on account of his recovery from a terrible illness.”
[2]“
And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?” (Daniel 4:34-35)
Archeologists catalogued the following inscription in Building Number 15, from the latter portion of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign:
“Without you, my lord, what exists? . . . You begot me and entrusted me with the rule over all peoples . . . Make the fear of your godhead be in my heart. Prolong the days of the one who pleases you, for you truly are my life.”
[3]Acts 12:20-23 records a curious incident. King Herod put on his robe, took his seat on the rostrum and addressed the people, who replied, “the voice of god and not of a man!” Right there, on the spot, “an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”
Firecrackers are fun, until one goes off in your hand. Pride + power = blasted fingers.
1 Samuel 2:30, “
Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”
Proverbs 3:34, “
Though He scoffs at the scoffers, yet He gives grace to the afflicted.”
Honor the Lord with the love that is rightfully His, submitting to His rule and represent Him properly in the world, being convinced in your own mind in a lifestyle worship. Depart from evil, do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His are open to their cry.
Daniel had no easy task. He had already interpreted one dream with the penalty of death hanging over his head. As many as a dozen years later, he had another opportunity to put the king at ease concerning that which troubled him—he had to take some time to pray and think about what he was going to say! And this on the heels of his three friends being tossed in a furnace! But which is easier to say, “King, you are going to wish that what I am about to tell you would fall on your enemies,” or “turn from your sin?” I think Daniel was more anxious about the first than the second. The risk of speaking truth to hard hearts is minimal if we have let go of all we hold dear, save the glory of God alone. Daniel could not preserve himself as that would be prideful.
Dr. H.A. Ironside once felt he was not as humble as he should have been. An elder friend made a suggestion, that he make a sandwich board with the plan of salvation and scripture on and wear it, walking through the business and shopping districts of downtown Chicago for one day. Ironside returned to his apartment at the end of the day thinking that no other person in Chicago would be willing to do that.
“Before we can say ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ we must say, ‘my kingdom go.’” (Vance Havner)
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[1] Ferguson, Paul. “Nebuchadnezzar, Gilgamesh, and the ‘Babylonian Job.’” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Vol 37, No. 3, September 1994. 321-331
[2]Easton, M.G. Easton's Bible Dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897.
[3] Ferguson, ibid.
