Word of Salvation – Vol.44 No.4 – February 1999
The Most High
Sermon by Rev M.P. Geluk on Daniel 4:32b
Scripture Readings: Revelation 6; Daniel 4:28-37
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to be frequently reminded that God is the Most High and rules over the kingdoms of men. It kind of puts things into perspective. We see, hear and read about a lot of things that go on in the world. But we don’t hear about everything that goes on in the world and some of the things that we do hear are usually decided on by a few. And even these few put their own slant and interpretation on what we hear.
Our source of information is mostly the media. But the media is not some open funnel where all that happens in the world is poured into. Reuters, Associated Press, News Ltd, and maybe a few more independent publishers gather stories on things that are happening around the globe and they distribute this information to various daily papers, magazines and television stations, most of which they usually own anyway.
Like most other things news is a money-making industry. Someone sells stories and others buy these stories. These are then distributed. It explains why often you see the same pictures on different television stations and hear the same headlines on different radio stations. Each news presenter and announcer may say it slightly differently but basically it is the same information on all channels and stations.
But, as we said in our opening statement, it is good to be reminded that God is the Most High and rules over the kingdoms of men. There must be an awful lot that goes on in other parts of the world but we simply don’t hear about it. Maybe lots of dramatic stuff. But maybe the news never got out. Maybe no one bothered to investigate. Maybe no one was interested. But God knows, and what’s more, He does not only know about it, He causes it to happen. He says in Isaiah 40:23-24 that “He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.” To the wise men of Athens who thought they had things pretty well worked out, Paul said that God determines the times when people live and even the exact places where they should live. For He gives all men life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25-26).
Now God tells about Himself in the Bible and also about His works in all the world. So as we hear and read about things happening in the world, then we should really be thinking of what God’s Word is saying. In that way we get a better grasp on why things happen and what these might mean in God’s overall plan of things. If you only go by man’s knowledge and man’s interpretation of events, then you will have very much a lop-sided view of things. God says, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).
It seems to be in our nature to look back over time and reflect on past events, but when you do this then don’t forget to bring God into the picture. We can do this by reminding ourselves of what He says in His Word. With the help of God’s Word we must try and form a picture of history in which we see not just people, not just events, not just ourselves, not just the good and the bad, not just the joys and the sorrows, but God’s sovereign rule over everything. The drama of human life and the events in the world, both great and small, are not happening by chance or by man’s doing. The book Revelation shows again and again that it is God who brings all things to pass.
Yet, at the same time the Bible shows God giving man a measure of freedom and power to make personal decisions. And for all what man does, he is held responsible. How both the sovereignty of God over all things and man’s responsibility for his actions all works out, will always remain a mystery. But frequently people leave God out of this equation and assume that man is master of his own fate.
It is, therefore, somewhat irritable when some Americans like to remind the rest of the world that their President is the most powerful man in the world, that he holds the most powerful office in the world, and that he is the commander-in-chief of the most powerful armed forces in the world. It grates the rest of us when we are reminded that the United States’ economy still has the highest gross national product of any nation and that US technology is still leading the field. Did not Hitler have similar speeches about the Third Reich? Have there not been many rulers and emperors who have said the same thing?
But again, what does God say? “Surely the nations are like a drop in the bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales…” (Isaiah 40:13). We so often read these words without realising what God is saying here. How many drops are there in a bucket full of water? We can work out how many cups, but drops – well, there must be millions! Now one drop is totally insignificant. It’s neither here nor there. Well, to God, so are the nations. They are of no consequence to Him. They are like dust on the scales.
Any nation, president, prime minister, dictator or government should really know about Nebuchadnezzar. Our Australian leaders, too, should know what happened to him. In Australia we, over the last number of years, are increasingly being compared with other nations of the world. Not so much with the poor ones but the leading ones. Many in Australia like to see themselves and their country among the top. We have to be as efficient as the others, as professional, as advanced. And if in some field Australia is leading or has achieved a first, well, then we are proud. We do not quite speak like some Americans but a little bit we do. And we love it just as much.
How powerful was Nebuchadnezzar? Well, not only was his name impressive, so also were his armies and his empire. It may not be wrong to say that Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man who ever lived. More powerful probably than Alexander the Great and any of the Roman emperors. And Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was not just a flash-in-the-pan affair; he was in charge of all of forty years.
This is how someone has summed up what the Bible and history says about Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire:
“In Nebuchadnezzar’s early years, Babylon had two main rivals for world supremacy: Assyria and Egypt. But in 612 BC, Nebuchadnezzar’s father, the king of Babylon, allied with the Medes to destroy Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and soon Assyria became just a part of the growing new Babylonian empire. Then in 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar, the crown prince, routed Egypt in one of the great battles of history, the battle of Carchemish (400 kms north of Damascus), assuming control of the Middle East from the Persian Gulf all the way to Egypt. From there it was just a matter of mopping up the smaller kingdoms in between. One small part of the process was Nebuchadnezzar’s takeover of Judah and his destruction of the capital city of Jerusalem. Babylon stood unchallenged as the only superpower in the world, and Nebuchadnezzar stood unchallenged as its absolute ruler. For the next four decades he was the most powerful man on earth. And Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t just a great general or mighty monarch. He revitalised Babylon’s economy and launched some amazing building projects. He surrounded the city with massive walls that seemed impregnable. His most famous project, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It’s no wonder, then, that Nebuchadnezzar was feeling pleased with himself one night when he was out walking on the roof of his palace, overlooking the city. He said to himself, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” [Daniel 4:30].” [taken from David Geddes, The Radio Pulpit).
Nebuchadnezzar felt that he was the master of his own fate and had determined his own destiny. He was convinced that he had made Babylon. He was its force, the brains behind its development. And if there had been newspapers and TV stations around at the time, then Nebuchadnezzar would have been featured as such.
But the Word of God gives a whole lot more information about the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. Long before Nebuchadnezzar, God had spoken through prophets like Micah, Nahum and Zephaniah, that He was going to bring judgment on Assyria. Similarly God had revealed through His prophets that Egypt would be defeated. The victories Nebuchadnezzar thought he had won over Assyria and Egypt were actually predetermined by God.
Nebuchadnezzar also thought that he was the power that crushed Judah but he did not realise that God through the prophets Habakkuk, Jeremiah and others had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the going into captivity of His covenant people. God was punishing His people for their sins of many years, sins which they failed to break with, and Nebuchadnezzar was simply God’s means to fulfil His purposes.
So whilst Nebuchadnezzar was congratulating himself with his achievements, God, in the words of Psalm 2, was laughing at Nebuchadnezzar and scoffing at him. The king feeling so powerful and strong was nothing more than a mere human being God used to fulfil His plans. As the words of our text state: “…the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
We said earlier that whilst God is sovereign over all things and all people – and we see so clearly that this was the case with Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon – God at the same time holds people responsible for their actions. We see this too with Nebuchadnezzar.
Right in the middle of his self-praise, at the very time he was patting himself on the back, God brought His judgment on Nebuchadnezzar for being so arrogant. As he was bragging about himself, Nebuchadnezzar went insane and began to behave like an animal. He was made an outcast, went about on all fours, totally neglected himself, and his hair and his nails grew so long that he must have looked similar to Howard Hughes, another very powerful man but of more recent times. Like Hughes after him, Nebuchadnezzar also became a recluse and no longer looked after himself.
Now when God judges men for their actions, He usually also gives a warning and by warning people that there is God to reckon with, the Lord actually shows His grace. When God gives men time to repent and humble themselves, then it’s an action of grace. So with Nebuchadnezzar. God gave him a dream which no one could interpret but the Lord’s very own prophet, Daniel.
The dream Nebuchadnezzar had was all about his downfall. When Daniel finished giving the king the interpretation, then he added this, “Be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue” (4:27).
Nebuchadnezzar’s sins were the slaughter of many troops and civilians of the nations he crushed, the forced slave labour of people he captured and their inhumane treatment, and of not doing anything about his inflated ego. But Daniel’s warnings fell on deaf ears. Nebuchadnezzar remained secure in his pride. And thus the Most High took away his sanity and caused him to behave worse than an animal, for even an animal grooms itself.
So it would seem that when God uses person or nation B to fulfil His plans for person or nation A, then He wants B not to become arrogant thinking that whatever power or influence they have was gained by their own hand. It is God’s doing. He is fulfilling His purposes for person or nation A. Person or nation B may not know about this. But B should realise that their whole life and existence is given them by God and if they humbly serve the Lord and do His will then they will be blessed. B won’t know God’s secret will but God’s revealed will is known because it is there in the Bible in the commandments of God.
An example of all this that comes to mind is God’s displeasure with the nations living in Canaan at the time when Israel was still in the wilderness. Their sins were numerous and of the worst kind. God punished the Canaanites by having Israel conquer them and occupy their land and cities. But as God gave Israel this promised land of milk and honey, then He warned His covenant people not to become blasé about it. They must serve and obey the Lord and honour Him for their blessings. If they forsook God, assume that their own hands had brought them their prosperity, and began worshipping the false gods of the Canaanites, then God will come to judge them for their arrogance. Sadly Israel did these very things and brought about their own downfall. Eventually this judgment of God came first through Assyria and then through Babylon and its king Nebuchadnezzar.
Let us, therefore, humble ourselves before the Lord Most High. We can do that by first thinking further afield than just our own personal lives and circumstances. It is a little bit tempting to withdraw into your own self and think only of your sorrows, hurts, troubles, or, alternatively, how life has been good to you. But think of the nations of the world and what folly they commit when they think they are the masters of their own fate and shaping their own destinies.
You may think: what do I have to do with the nations of the world, my own life is difficult enough. But many of your life’s circumstances regarding work and how much you earn are shaped by powerful individuals and their decisions taken in the board rooms of the multi-nationals in Tokyo, London, New York, and maybe Sydney and Melbourne.
And other factors in your life, like hospital and medical care, unemployment maybe, value of the dollar and a host of other things that affect your shopping, health, pension and so on, are all determined by decisions taken by various government bodies around the world.
In the global village of today the fortunes or misfortunes of one nation affect a whole lot of others. We are seeing that right now in Asia. So, had Nebuchadnezzar done what Daniel told him, namely, to stop being wicked and be kind to those oppressed, then the lives and circumstances of thousands would have been affected for the better immediately.
Therefore, when you pray, do not just think of your own life. Pray that nations, rulers and governments may do what Nebuchadnezzar did not want to do – humble oneself before God. As someone said, “God is not merely the God of warm feelings and private prayers. He is the Most High. Jesus is not just an inspiring teacher. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Ruler of all world leaders, the Master of history.”
People often overlook the fact that the Bible is much more than a book about personal salvation. It is full of nations and rulers and what God did to them when they refused to honour Him. God sent Moses to Pharaoh in ancient Egypt with the message, “Let my people go…” But Pharaoh was defiant and said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not Israel go” (Exodus 5:1-2). But ten plagues later, Pharaoh knew who the Lord was. And when his land was in tatters and all the first-born of people and animals were dead, he let Israel go.
All through the Bible, we see how God raised up rulers and nations and how He also brought them down. Sometimes people find the Bible uninspiring because it mentions peoples, nations and cities they have never heard of. But they did exist and they’re gone because they ignored God and were destroyed under the judgment of the Most High.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking that God only worked during the times of the Old Testament and New Testament. He still brings down rulers and nations when He deems the time has come to judge them. If we just limit ourselves to what God has done in the lifetimes of the people here, then we can point to several. Hitler and his Nazi Germany. Uganda’s Idi Amin, Cambodia’s Pol Pot, Philippines’ Marcos, Poland’s Jaruzelski, Romania’s Ceaucescu, East Germany’s Honecker.
Who could have predicted their dramatic fall from power? Who would have thought the Berlin Wall would collapse when it did. The demise of the Soviet Union. Yes, that was a superpower, but not even the name exists anymore. The changes in South Africa. And the financial collapse of some of nations in Asia. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, some will say that they could see these changes coming. But it’s best to be humble before God the Most High.
“The Most High” says our text, “is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” The people who today seem powerful may be gone by tomorrow. The super-powers of today may be on the ash heap of the history of tomorrow, if God so decides. And if or when that happens, then our lives will be affected in one way or another.
Therefore we should be prepared for changes in our own personal lives. it may go well with you for the future. At least that’s what we wish for others on their birthdays and weddings. But our wish and God’s purposes are two different things. Apart from our personal circumstances being affected by what God does with the nations and their rulers, our lives are directly dependent on God down to the smallest detail. Why, the Lord Most High can cause our heart to stop beating, our lungs from breathing, our minds from clear-thinking, anytime He wants to. But as Christians we have learnt to live with that. There is no option, really.
The thing is that when you belong to God in Christ then the uncertainty of life itself is no big threat. Death and how we die may worry us sometimes and even give us fear, but deep down we trust that for Christ’s sake, we will always be with the Lord.
Say: Lord you are the Most High and I bow before you. My life and circumstances are in Your hands and You will fulfil your purposes for me as You have planned. Teach me to have peace with that. Help me to accept with a believing heart Your will for my life. And teach me every time again to be humble before You and serve You wherever You call or put me.
Christ came to be our Ruler and to live in us. When we serve and obey Him, then we will have no peace with an ego like Nebuchadnezzar. His was really extreme. But even in our own little empires and kingdoms, let’s be very humble. Christ wants us to live holy lives. His power in us is there to make us children of God and children of light.
He teaches us to break with sin and live righteously. He wants to see His kingdom be established in us, to help the poor and wretched, to be merciful to those who struggle with sin, and be compassionate to those whose lives are broken and falling apart. Moved by God’s Spirit in us we want to save the lost and point them to Christ. For in Him alone there is life. Outside of Him there is only death.
Amen.