Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Humbling of a King
[28] All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. [29] At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, [30] and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” [31] While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, [32] 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 rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” [33] Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. 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.
(Daniel 4:28-33 ESV)
Isn't it interesting how there is nothing new under the sun. Words of the preacher, Solomon from Ecclesiastes. Man thinks, and I say thinks, he has all the answers. That science is our savior. Our technology the instrument by which life extension will be accomplished. God proved to a King that he wasn't who thought he was. He didn't have all power, the Kingdom wasn't his because of his own actions and greatness and power but because God in His Power and Might allowed the king to conquer and rule and have what he had. God threw him out to live among the beasts, to see just how powerful he wasn't. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." God has allowed us, this nation to have what it has. Prosperity, wealth, equality, freedom. He can take it away in an instant. Our president said "I will built more oil wells off the coasts to provide our great nation with all the oil we need." WHAM! RIGHT IN THE KISSER! OUCH! Oil spilling into the gulf at a rate unimageable. The men who could dig a hole so far down in the gulf didn't know what to do. They are confounded by the consequences of their actions. From some who worked on that oil rig, comments that BP cut corners in the name of profits and now the magnitude of the problem, the death of the gulf too horrible to imagine. I looked at the pictures and videos of what's happening in the gulf and thought, "It's red like blood, the blood of the earth?" I thought of Revelation 16 where it says, "The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died." Man is not as smart, as wise, as in his arrogance he thinks. And now it seems all that technology and wisdom of man is held captive by a gushing flow that powers that technology that man created. I guess man never thought or wanted to imagine the folly or consequences of his actions. In Matthew 7 Jesus said, "21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” We need wise men to guide and lead us. But alas, are there any? Let Gods people pray for mercy, for a solution to this disaster. His Divine intervention, A Daniel or a miracle in an age where people follow their own evil hearts that are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Is there any hope? [Nebuchadnezzar Restored]
[34] At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason 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 endures from generation to generation;
[35] 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?”
[36] At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. [37] 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.
(Daniel 4:34-37 ESV)
All who walk in pride he will humble. Whether now or later. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father. For God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. Pray that sanity and reason will return and prevail in a Godless world. A world of false gods. A world bent on destruction. A world in love with its achievements. Never acknowledging the One who has given them the abilities, the mind to achieve. A world that follows the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience. That the veil of blindness will fall from their eyes and then they'll see the truth and be set free. That the world will praise,extol and honor the King of heaven. The King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. Oddly tragedy can turn into a blessing. Making us see what really matters in life. That there is a reason why there is something rather than nothing. That there is a God and He wants to know you and for you to know Him. That the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As John Milton wrote in his hymn Amazing Grace,"when we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we first begun." That's real hope and the only happy ending there is.
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