Strength Through Weakness

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I’m continuing on through the Old Testament right now, and I’m currently getting into Daniel. Two days ago, I read through Daniel 4, which consists entirely of King Nebuchadnezzar’s letter to his kingdom on the works of God in his life. He begins by extolling God on His mighty works:

“How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.” – Daniel 4:3

From that point he regresses to describe the events that God used to change his life. These words show a stark contrast to the place Nebuchadnezzar came from, a huge difference from the pride that God delivered him from, using some not-so-pleasant methods. Nebuchadnezzar was formerly a haughty and vain man, despite twice before when God had shown His mighty hand of power to him – in Daniel’s interpretation of his troubling dream involving the crumbling statue made of different types of metal, and in God’s rescue of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (who we know by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). But despite these miracles of God, Nebuchadnezzar still thought a lot of himself. Then God gave him a dream of a large, strong tree, which supported many different types of life, that was then hewn down and brought to the earth. He called in Daniel to interpret the dream, since he at least knew and respected Daniel as being gifted by God. Daniel revealed to him that the tree was symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and that God would bring him low if he did not repent of his wicked ways. Daniel told him:

“…they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” - Daniel 4:25

A whole year past after that, but evidently Nebuchadnezzar didn’t change, because in the middle of a speech about how great he was, he heard God speak from Heaven, saying:

“O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.” – Daniel 4:31b

At this point, it says “the same hour”, Nebuchadnezzar “was driven from among men, and did eat grass like as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,” (Daniel 4:33b). Basically, it sounds like he was stripped of his sanity completely, and he became a madman. Earlier God had said, “seven times shall pass over thee”, so it sounds like it was seven years that Nebuchadnezzar was in this state. But at the end, he regained his sanity, was restored to his kingdom, and he then wrote his praises to God for what He had done.

It is this praise that is striking. Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t resent God for bringing him low in the least. He sings God’s praises throughout his letter, which was sent throughout his whole kingdom. He was actually thankful that God had given him such a punishment, because he knew that he was a better king of an earthly kingdom when he was humble and submissive to the King of Kings. We often face a lot of humbling experiences, I know for myself I need those lessons and reminders a lot! But when God sends the hard times our way, we can either complain about it, or we can learn from it and use those times to allow God to teach us. In fact, we should be thankful for the difficult times! In the New Testament, Paul says:

“And He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Applying this to family life, a father should be humble before God Almighty, because in order to lead his family in a righteous and godly manner, he must be submissive to the Ultimate Authority. On top of this, he should allow God to work in his life, and his family’s life, through the tough times. Hard experiences are often what bonds a family together the strongest, just as God can use hard experiences to draw our hearts ever closer to Him, when we allow Him to.

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