by Dan Cooper
Lately in my daily devotions I've been reading the book of Daniel. I really
like the book of Daniel not just because I was named after the main
character but because the stories are so amazing. We've all heard the
classic stories of Daniel and the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego being thrown into the furnace. As I've been re-reading these
stories I've been noticing some things that I had never taken the time to
think about. We all know about Daniel's amazing faith and wisdom that kept
him alive through several governmental coups but recently I've noticed the
faith of King Nebuchadnezzar and King Darius.
Chapter 3 is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego wherein king
Nebuchadnezzar is totally blown away by the faith of the three Hebrew youths
and the power of their living God. Chapter 4 opens with a royal decree that
was sent all over the Babylonian Empire:
"Peace and prosperity to you!
I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High
God has performed for me.
How great are his signs,
how powerful his wonders!
His kingdom will last forever,
his rule through all generations."
At first glance it isn't really that special of a verse. There are plenty
of verses in the Bible that praise God and there are many that say basically
the same thing. To really respect this verse we have to look at who is
saying it. This is coming from an Arab king who owned the majority of the
near east at that time. He used to be a Baal worshiper himself and his royal
decree went out to people of all sorts of pagan religions. He had no Jewish
background, no Sunday school training, and no Biblical knowledge but what he
did have was faith.
Later on Nebuchadnezzar struggles in his faith and gets a bit prideful. He
looks at the royal city of Babylon and declares "Look at this great city of
Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my
royal residence to display my majestic splendor." Before he's even finished
the word splendor a voice from heaven calls down and tells him that he's
going to live like an animal until he humbles himself. True to the voice
from heaven, Nebuchadnezzar looses it and starts acting like an animal
eating grass on all fours. Eventually he humbles himself and God restores
him to his former glory. Back in his right mind, Nebuchadnezzar praises God
saying
"His rule is everlasting,
and his kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to him.
He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven
and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him,
'What do you mean by doing these things?'"
He doesn't understand all of the religious language but he does know a king when he sees one. He has conquered countless other peoples and has taken many other kings captive. At the time he is the king of kings in the middle east but when he sees the power of God he is totally amazed. He realized that he was the weaker king so he surrendered. Although he never went to the ancient Hebrew equivalent of Sunday school, and didn't know all of the right answers or rules he believed in God with all that he had.
Sometimes we Christians get caught up in all of the knowledge and power
that we have. Pride creeps in and we forget that simple, unconditional
faith. After being raised in the church we think that we know all of the
stories and that we are so enlightened compared to new Christians. The same thing happened to the religious leaders of Jesus' time. They though that they had it all together because they knew the scriptures inside and out. They treated anyone who wasn't at par with them like dirt. They would have scoffed at any man or woman's simple but practical faith like
Nebuchadnezzar's. Jesus on the other hand spent most of his time with the
low-lives of society because of their faith. Their faith wasn't fancy but it
was deep and real. Jesus wants that kind of faith that comes from children
and excited new converts like Nebuchadnezzar.
As I have learned from this story, there are always new lessons to be
learned from old stories and that we don't need a BA in Biblical studies to
have a strong faith. One thing that I have had to keep in mind while at
university is that Biblical knowledge can never replace faith. I can
memorize the whole Bible but it will mean nothing if I don't have a simple,
childlike, undoubting faith.
Firstly, I encourage you to this week find an old story that you have read
over and over. Read it again. If you don't see anything new, read it again
or read around the story. I guarantee that you will never run out of new
things to discover in the Bible if you take the time to thoroughly read it.
Secondly, I encourage you to free yourself from all of the Sunday school
answers and big words. Ask God to strip yourself down to your core faith.
Ask Him to strengthen it and to each you to rely on it more.
