God’s Work on King Nebuchadnezzar

 

 

  

 

Our beliefs determine our attitudes, behaviors, and even how we treat others. King Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. He called upon the Israelite Daniel to interpret it for him. It turned out to be bad news. The king would go crazy for seven years and would become convinced that he was a cow:

 

Daniel 4:24–26 “It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed (returned)  to you from the time that you know that Heaven rules.”

 

This was all about knowing that God ruled and not the king:

 

Daniel 4:29–32 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 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?” 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, 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…

 

We love to think highly of ourselves. It feels good. However, it is perhaps the greatest of all addictions. We are always need of more positive affirmations, increasingly so! Psychotherapy capitalizes on this lustful addiction. Its governing light is “unconditional positive regard”(UPR). This requires the therapist to continually serve up positive affirmations to her client. Of course, this drug will encourage clients to feel good about themselves and to come back for more. However, their product is not fundamentally about truth (self-knowledge) but a drug to enable them to feel good about themselves, even though this lust is insatiable. It is a religion that sells, even at an exorbitant price.

During my undergraduate degree in social work, I did my fieldwork at a community mental health center. I got to sit in on therapy sessions and also on briefing sessions during which the therapists would discuss their cases. I was stunned by the differing mood and perspective between the two meetings. During the therapy sessions, UPR reigned supreme in direct contrast to the briefing sessions where laughter, sometimes directed at their clients, often prevailed. One therapist asked, “Do your find that our techniques are effective at home with our wives?”  They all laughed in agreement that they did not work. I found this quite revealing. What then does work?

 

Daniel 4:34–36 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; 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?” At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me…for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

 

Nebuchadnezzar was grateful to be humbled and his eyes opened to the truth—God reigned and not the king. He even proclaimed that we are accounted as nothing, a mere helpless speck in the universe. Jesus often echoed the same message: John15:5 “apart from me you can do nothing.” We find this same message throughout the Scriptures:

 

2 Corinthians 3:5–6 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant…

 

Isaiah 40:17, 22-23 All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness…It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

 

Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

 

Was the Apostle Paul self-confident? 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

 

Consequently, we give thanks even for our fruitful labors. Jesus therefore taught that boasting was not only inappropriate but also harmful:

 

Luke 18:9–14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

In Jesus’ estimation the “sinner” had been humbled and self-aware of his need. Consequently, he was positioned to receive Jesus’ blessings. How do we humble ourselves? We can’t! It’s just too painful. God must do the heavy lifting”:

 

2 Corinthians 4:8–11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

 

While we Christians long to be Christ-like, we are often not prepared for the price we will have to pay. The Apostle Paul would have to suffer through many humbling experiences to become the man that our Lord requires:

 

Acts 9:15–16 But the Lord said to him [Annanias], “Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

 

Because of the many revelations he had experienced and the temptation to boast about them, God allowed Satan to afflict him with a “thorn in his flesh,” and He even refused to heal him:

 

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

Interestingly, there is great strength and wisdom in humility as we also find in a Roman commander:

 

Matthew 8:8–10 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

 

By today’s standards, to regard ourselves as “unworthy” is to appear to have a serious mental disorder. Instead, today’s “wisdom” requires us to grow in self-esteem and to regard suffering as a curse to be rejected. This “wisdom” fails to find anything beneficial in suffering and weakness:

 

Romans 5:3–4 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…

 

In contrast, market-driven psychotherapy regards suffering and humility as a curse. Its very promise of “wellness” is pitted against the belief that these are beneficial and necessary for growth and self-awareness.

 

 

 

 

 

A Defense of Christian Zionism

Zionism is no more than the belief that the Jews have a right to live in peace in their homeland like any other nation. Christian Zionists (CZs) would agree with this. However, some are wrongly claiming that they are violating the Bible. However, the Bible teaches the very opposite thing:

 

·       God promised the land to Abraham and the Israelites:  Genesis 17:8 “And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” Therefore, to hate Israel and to want to see it destroyed is to hate God and His eternal plan for Israel.

 

·       Even though the majority of Jews have been unfaithful to their God, He remains faithful: Romans 3:3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? (Certainly not!)

 

·       To harm Israel is to harm His chosen people: Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

 

·       We are to pray for the peace of Israel: Psalm 122:6–9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good. (To claim that there is something wrong with this is to oppose God’s Word.)

 

·       Even though in rebellion against God, they remain God's people: Romans 11:25–29 “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (It is mis-representing God to claim that He is finished with His Chosen people.)

 

·       God will not always be angry with His Chosen People: Psalm 85:1–3 LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.

 

·       Those who bless Israel shall be blessed: Numbers 24:9 “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.” (CZs seek to align with God’s plans for Israel.) 

·       God talks this way about no other people group. To love God is to love Israel: Jeremiah 31:3–4 …”I [God] have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!” (We should rejoice in the faithfulness of God and not complain against it.)

 

·       Jesus and all the Apostles had been Jews. Consequently, we are indebted to the Jewish people, with whom we will one day be one.

 

·       Christians are Israel's best and perhaps only friends. Israel needs our support. Why then are others trying to interfere with this relationship?

 

There are also numerous non-Biblical reasons to favor CZ:

 

·       Genocide is a continuing reality for this sign-people. Shouldn't we be concerned? It is the just thing to do. Israel is the only nation in the world whose very existence is challenged. Wouldn’t we be outraged by a worldwide movement to destroy Zambia?

 

·       The world is against Israel. The UN has censured Israel twice as many times as it has censured all the other nations put together.

 

·       Israel is an important ally of the USA. Israel supplies our country with intelligence and innovations. It is also the only democracy in their corner of the world, one that also shares Western values.

 

·       God had made an enduring promise to Israel about the land they now occupy. This promise is supported by the fact that the UN had voted to partition the land, thereby providing the Jewish state of Israel a legal and consensual foundation.

 

Christians who hate Jews and oppose Israel’s right to exist fail to realize that they have allied themselves with Satan:

 

Revelation 12:13–17  NLT “When the dragon [Satan] realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman [Israel] who had given birth to the male child [Jesus]. But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, time, and half a time. Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from his mouth. But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon. And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.

Jews and Christians have a common destiny, and, as God’s peoples, both are hated by Satan.

WE ARE A CONDUIT For GOD’S BLESSINGS

 

 To be God’s children is to be honored. It is to have direct access to God’s ear. Therefore, Abraham was able to intercede for Sodom where his nephew Lot resided: Genesis 18:32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten [righteous] are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

 

Even though ten righteous were not found, God’s angels led Lot and his daughters to safety before He consumed the perverted cities of the plain. He had also promised Abraham: Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse…

 

Does this promise extend to the other children of God? Clearly! He promised Jeremiah that He would save Jerusalem from the Babylonian onslaught if Jeremiah could find just one righteous person in the city:

Jeremiah 5:1 Search squares to see if you [Jeremiah] can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.

 

Jeremiah must have thought that this would be easy. He came from a family of cultured priests. Instead, God revealed to His prophet  that even his own family were intending to kill him.

 

Do the promises God had granted to Abraham and Israel also belong to God’s other children—those who believe in Jesus? Yes! We too have become a conduit of God’s blessings to those who believe in Jesus. Consequently, Paul argued in favor of a believer to remain married to an unbeliever: 1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

 

Similarly, Jesus taught that those who blessed us would also be blessed Matthew 10:40-42 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

 

Paul and other prisoners had been taken upon a boat heading for Rome where he would stand trial before Caesar. For weeks they struggled against struggled against a life-threatening storm, when Paul received a message from the Lord, which he shared with the fearful crew: Acts 27:22-24 “Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’”

 

Consequently, those who bless us will be blessed. we Christians need not live our lives to attain the affirmation of others. We have already received Christ’s affirmations!

 

How our Lord honors us! God also delights in righteous judgment: Corinthians 3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

 

This enables us to focus on loving others and leaving judgment to our Lord who can do so much better than we can.

 

 

 

 

GOD’S SECRET

 

 

         Matthew 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and                        your ears, for they hear.”

The Father’s Greatest Secret was Guarded by Threats of Death: Two objects that if the Israelite looked upon them—death: 

1.    Yom Kippur (“The day of Atonement”). Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year but only after the most stringent preparations: Leviticus 16:12-13 “And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony [the Ten Commandments], so that he does not die.”

If he looked upon the Mercy Seat, he would be struct dead. Evidently, this covering of the Ten Commandments was so central to God’s heart that it could only be approached at the right time and under the right circumstances. The only other thing that must not be seen was the face of God. After the giving of the law, the golden calf debacle, and God striking down the people for the first time ever with a plague, Moses was devastated and asked God to show him His glory:

2. Exodus 33:20 “But” he said, “you cannot see my face, [only His back] for man shall not see me and live.”…Afterwards, He passed before Moses and declared: 34:7 “keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation”: a brief self-disclosure of His love and righteousness which satisfied Moses.  

 What did God’s “face” represent? His mercy and glory: Numbers 6:22–26 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

 

However the full extent of His glory would have to await His Messianic Son: Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 Glory? John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

John 13:31 “Now is the Son of Man glorified (Through His death on the Cross, but how could such a death equate with His glory?)

 GLORY? Romans 5:8–10 but God shows his love [His Glory] for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

 The death He died, He died for us who had been His enemies. But now that we have become His beloved friends, we can be assured of His enduring love for us. His love in the pinnacle of His glory!

Why would the Messiah and the Glory of His Gospel remain hidden?

1 Corinthians 2:7–8 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

 John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Two examples:

 Peter’s Rebuke of Jesus at His disclosure of His sacrificial death: Matthew 16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

 

Peter was not able to received the Gospel and wise Solomon could not even grasp it.

  Solomon’s failed wisdom quest: Ecclesiastes 2:15–17 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving [grasping] after wind.”

Both Peter and Solomon had been so spiritually blinded that they were unable to grasp and receive the idea of a resurrection from the dead. The learned Nicodemus had initially regarded Jesus’ Gospel as absurd (John 3:1-7). In contrast, Christians have been blessed by the Knowledge of God’s Love:

 

It has become a joy to know and to participate in the understanding of our Savior. Prior to this, our very thought processes had been a source of torment: 2 Peter 1:2–3 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.

 

We can now embrace the love of Christ when torment finds us, and we experience  His peace from knowing our Savior: Ephesians 3:19 …know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

 What a blessing to know that being in God’s presence is a great joy rather than an overwhelming terror: Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (What does this mean to us?)

 Romans 5:3–5 …we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

 It is this Knowledge that has enabled us to rejoice even in suffering rather than understanding it as a curse. It was also this knowledge of God that had made all the difference for the tormented Psalmist Asaph:  Psalm 73:18–28 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

 While the revelation of God’s righteousness came through the law delivered at Mt. Sinai accompanied by thunder, lightning, and the terrifying voice of this God, He deemed that the revelation of His infinite love would come through Jesus the Messiah:

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts [not on a mountain covered by lightning] to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Go