The Most High rules,
even in Babylon
Now
we come to the most remarkable incident when the sovereignty of God was
demonstrated to an even greater degree. Nebuchadnezzar had a second dream in
which there was a great tree. The tree provided sustenance, shelter and comfort
to both beasts and birds. But in the dream the tree was cut down although the
stump was retained and protected by a metal band. The interpretation provided by Daniel was
that Nebuchadnezzar would lose his position as absolute monarch – his mind
would be confused and he would live like an animal until he acknowledged that
Jehovah ruled from heaven. The dream was again a prophecy which was fulfilled
about a year later. Nebuchadnezzar while walking in his garden was in a
reflective mood. He mused, “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?”
(Dan. 4:30) While the words were yet in his mouth, a voice from heaven sounded,
“King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared:
sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from
mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will
be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you
until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows
it on whomever He wishes” (Dan. 4:31,32).
The very same hour
the judgement began. Nebuchadnezzar’s intellect deserted him, and as predicted
he lost his place as absolute sovereign over the Babylonian empire. With his
mind confused he lived as an animal until all was fulfilled. Then when his
sanity returned, he acknowledged the sovereignty of God. “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
honoured 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?’”
(Dan. 4:34,35) Nebuchadnezzar was brought, through the work of God and the
ministry of Daniel, to praise Jehovah. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honour the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His
ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down”
(Dan. 4:37).
But were there others
who faced similar tests?
Yes!
There were many Israelites in Babylon at that time that had to face these
issues in different ways and at different levels - among them a man named
Asaph, who was a musician and a Psalmist. The Bible provides us with his testimony.
He said he found it extremely difficult to live for God and had almost given up.
“My feet had well nigh slipped”, he said. “For
I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For
there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in
trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride
serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge
with abundance; They have more than heart could wish”
(Ps. 73:2-7). Asaph had witnessed the Babylonians destroying Jerusalem – those
that had taken axes to the Temple of the Lord were prospering, and it looked as
if they would never be brought to account. But when he went into the presence
of God, he was told to take a long-term view. In the short term it might look
as if the wicked prosper, but in time they will also have to face judgement.
Asaph said, “Then I understood their end”
(Ps. 73:17).
We
live in Babylon (a hostile world). Babylon will try to stop us going into the
presence of God. It will say – not your
God but my gods. In our current culture that could be idolising possessions,
that is, getting caught up in a material culture and seeking to acquire more and
more trinkets; or it could be the pursuit of pleasure to the detriment of
health and relationships and ethical living. But we must stay faithful to the
Father and the Saviour. Read and study
His Word, pray, maintain fellowship with other Christians and speak often about
Him to others. We must lay up treasure in heaven (Matt.6:20) and acknowledge
that godliness is profitable for all things (1 Tim.4:8).
In God’s presence
Asaph was strengthened and encouraged. He wrote:
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire
besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. … it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my
trust in the Lord God” (Ps. 73:25-28). He had learnt the lesson God taught
Habakkuk: “the just shall live by faith”. Daniel’s
three companions grasped it when faced with execution by fire. Daniel will yet have to embrace it when faced
with execution (thrown to the lions).
Asaph embraced it as well, during his captivity. In our lives, which might or
might not, be as difficult as those recorded in the book of Daniel, we must
seek to live by the same principle. Remember - our God reigns!
Belshazzar’s
Feast
As
was the custom with some of the great oriental rulers, Belshazzar hosted a
great festival in his palace, and invited a vast number of dignitaries to the
feast. This seemed very foolhardy since his kingdom was under threat at the
time, for the Medo/Persian army was encamped a short distance from Babylon. But
thinking his fortified capital city was invincible, he refused to recognise the
warning signs. Instead, in an act of defiance against the God of Israel who had
given his father, Nebuchadnezzar, position and power, he commanded his servants
to serve wine in the sacred vessels
that had been brought from the Temple in Jerusalem. During the festivities when
toasting the gods of Babylon a most remarkable event took place. A man’s hand
was seen writing on the wall of the banqueting suite. It was a message from God. Sent by the same One who
had written on tablets of stone centuries before: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3),
- Jehovah is the only true God; and “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exod. 20:7),
- Jehovah demands total respect. The message on the wall was: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (Dan. 5:25).
It
is no wonder that great fear gripped Belshazzar and his nobles. But as yet,
they did not know what the writing meant or why it had appeared. Yet there was
a man who knew – Daniel! They sent for him and he delivered a very solemn message.
After reminding the king of the personal history of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel
rebuked Belshazzar for not acknowledging the God of Israel. Events and
circumstances had taught his father that there was only one true God, a fact
that he had proclaimed to all his subjects. So Belshazzar was clearly familiar
with the family history and should have known better. Daniel drew the
conclusion that in spite of the knowledge of Jehovah’s reality and
power, demonstrated through Nebuchadnezzar’s experience, Belshazzar had
deliberately chosen to worship the idols of Babylon. Daniel made a double
accusation against the monarch.
(1) That Belshazzar had
failed to respect the God of Israel: “... you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have
brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives
and your concubines, have drunk wine from them” (Dan. 5:23).
He charged him with blatant idolatry:
“... you
have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone,
which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand
and owns all your (1) ways,
you have not glorified”
(Dan.5:23).
Daniel intimated that these
were the crimes that brought judgment from above, and the meaning of the
writing was: “Mene: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians ” (Dan. 5:26–28).
That night the Medes and Persians entered the city through a water course under
the fortifications and the Babylonian empire ended. Belshazzar was executed a
few hours later. But Daniel continued and prospered! Our God reigns!
Daniel faced yet
another test
After
the fall of the Babylonian empire, the narrative records Daniel’s work and
witness before another powerful ruler, Darius the Mede. He continued to hold
high office because of his wisdom and fidelity. However, such godliness will
always be a rebuke to those who despise truth and honour, and a plot was
hatched against him. It appears the plot,
Satanic in origin, was designed to disrupt his prayer life. It was about this
time, in the first year of the reign of Darius, that he had calculated that the
deported Israelites should return to their homeland. He based his conclusion on
the prophecy of Jeremiah that said that their exile would last only seventy
years. Now that the end of that period was approaching Daniel gave himself to prayer. The plan of
his enemies was that he should be prevented from praying to Jehovah. Since,
generally in Babylon prayers were offered through priestly mediators, they
persuaded Darius to issue an edict that, for one month, all prayers should be
directed through him – he was to be the only priestly mediator. Those that broke this restriction
should be executed. It could be that Darius saw in this new law a mechanism by
which he could test the loyalty of the latest citizens of the Median Empire;
and perhaps he was also flattered by the suggestion that he should be the only
conduit by which his people could petition their gods. Darius signed the new
law. Daniel’s opponents were elated with their success. If Daniel ignored this
restriction he would be executed.
However,
realising the importance of the prayer, and also feeling the compulsion of the
Spirit of God, Daniel continued to pray regularly for the restoration of
Jerusalem. The spies of his enemies kept watch so when he knelt in prayer he
was observed, arrested and brought before Darius, charged with lawbreaking and
disrespect of the king. The success of the plot against Daniel caused great
consternation to the emperor Darius, but there was no mechanism which allowed
him to show clemency. Although Darius saw through the devilish plans of
Daniel’s enemies he could do no other than find Daniel guilty. He sentenced him
to be thrown to the lions, which would mean certain death. This event reveals
that Babylon does not rest in its opposition of God’s people.
Daniel’s sentence was
carried out. He was cast into a den of lions and a stone rolled over the mouth of the cave to prevent his escape. It seems,
during this time he was the only calm person involved in these events. He spent
a quiet night in the company of man-eating lions. Then, in the morning when
orders were given for the stone to be taken away from the mouth of the den,
with great sadness and fearing the worst, Darius called out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve
continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (Dan. 6:20)
To his amazement a voice rose from the depths of the den: “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’
mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him;
and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you” (Dan. 6:21–22).
The Scriptures speak of Daniel as a man of faith and a man of prayer and this
episode supports that assessment of him. Daniel has demonstrated once again
that in a hostile world ‘the Just must live by faith’.
The
lessons from the writings of Daniel seem to be clear – that Satan will use any
and all resources to negate our Christian witness in the same way as Babylon
sought to negate the witness of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. We live
in a world that the Bible says “... lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).
It is against God and will aim to make us conform to its culture, diet and
practices, whereas the Bible encourages us to live lives that are godly,
seeking to glorify the God who has called us. Paul advises, “... walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).
A last post-script to
Daniel’s life
But
the story of Daniel in the lions’ den also reminds us of the death of the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus. Like Daniel, he suffered from a plot hatched in high
places: He was unjustly accused, condemned and sentenced to death: He was
placed behind a stone: but like Daniel (and yet not like Daniel) He emerged in
the morning triumphant. It is because Jesus died and rose for us that we must
maintain a testimony that honours Him.
Our
God Reigns!
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