Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2017 6:22:44 GMT
Tonight’s scripture, Daniel Chapter 4, was the story of King Nebuchadnezzar publicly proclaiming the sovereign power of God and providing as explanation and context a story in which he is warned by God in a dream, then humbled and humiliated by God for seven years, to learn his lesson. Before reading the story, we shared some of our own stories of being humbled, often ones about the workplace and getting fired. The results may have been good ones, where after some time we could see that the change led to positive outcomes and we could see God’s blessing in what was so humbling in the moment.
This story of King Nebuchadnezzar has all the detail and color of previous stories in Daniel. Why are the rest of the magicians and astronomers unable or unwilling to interpret the King’s dream – do they have ulterior motives? Why didn’t the King ask for Daniel’s help right away? And why was Daniel afraid for the King – was it because God had revealed to him that the King had to suffer before he would learn? We did come to agreement that Daniel’s promise that the King would be spared if he repented was true! We also concluded that it was just about impossible for the King to learn his lesson except by experience. And sure enough, after his experience he recognizes God as sovereign over every nation and every person, not just the really powerful God of Daniel and his friends.
That was another point of discussion: was Nebuchadnezzar sincere about his conversion, or just saying he repented in order to get back into power? Generally, we concluded that he was sincere – or God, who would know, would not have restored him. In going through our humbling experiences, do we genuinely learn that God is sovereign, that the things we accomplish are only out of the gifts God has given us? Is that cooked into our reactions when someone compliments our skills?
This story of King Nebuchadnezzar has all the detail and color of previous stories in Daniel. Why are the rest of the magicians and astronomers unable or unwilling to interpret the King’s dream – do they have ulterior motives? Why didn’t the King ask for Daniel’s help right away? And why was Daniel afraid for the King – was it because God had revealed to him that the King had to suffer before he would learn? We did come to agreement that Daniel’s promise that the King would be spared if he repented was true! We also concluded that it was just about impossible for the King to learn his lesson except by experience. And sure enough, after his experience he recognizes God as sovereign over every nation and every person, not just the really powerful God of Daniel and his friends.
That was another point of discussion: was Nebuchadnezzar sincere about his conversion, or just saying he repented in order to get back into power? Generally, we concluded that he was sincere – or God, who would know, would not have restored him. In going through our humbling experiences, do we genuinely learn that God is sovereign, that the things we accomplish are only out of the gifts God has given us? Is that cooked into our reactions when someone compliments our skills?