Daniel (Greek) 4:1-8: a reflection

1Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. 2It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me. 3How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion is from generation to generation. 4I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. 5I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in; and I told the dream before them; but they didn’t make known to me its interpretation. 8But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. I told the dream before him, saying,

The fourth chapter of Daniel opens in a startling way: it is a proclamation from Nebuchadnezzar, the proud pagan emperor, published to all the peoples of his realm, declaring the greatness of a God not his own. It seemed good to me, he writes, to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

Notice whose mouth this confession comes from. Not a prophet or a psalmist, but the mightiest ruler of his day, a king used to being worshiped himself, brought by what God did in his life (as the chapter goes on to recount) to acknowledge that the Most High God's kingdom, not his own, is the everlasting one. His own vast empire would pass; only God's kingdom endures from generation to generation. Even Nebuchadnezzar was brought to say so.

There is assurance here about God's sovereignty over even the proudest of rulers. The empires and forces that seem to rule the world, that seem so permanent and so beyond challenge, are not the everlasting kingdom; God is. And he is able to bring even the proudest to acknowledge him, as he brought Nebuchadnezzar. Do not be overawed by the forces of this age as though they were permanent or beyond God's reach. His kingdom alone is everlasting, and every earthly power, however great, is finally under his hand. Set your hope on the kingdom that endures from generation to generation.

Lord, even proud Nebuchadnezzar was brought to confess that your kingdom is everlasting and your dominion endures from generation to generation. When the forces of this age seem permanent and beyond challenge, remind me that only your kingdom endures, and that you can humble even the proudest to acknowledge you. Keep me from being overawed by earthly strength. Set my hope on your everlasting kingdom, which will never pass.