June 14: SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY
Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. Daniel 4:1
In chapter 4 we find the personal testimony of Nebuchadnezzar the king (king of the world being implied by the rest of the sentence). It is a statement of the patience and power of God in the life of a single man. This amazing and gifted man was born into idolatry. His upbringing was utterly saturated with idolatrous training and practices. But, underneath the rubbish piled upon him by the culture into which he was born, the Creator had placed a sense of justice and right. This man, like all of us, was created in the image of God. The Creator was able to use Nebuchadnezzar for His own winsome purposes, as well as an instrument for the punishment of rebellious nations (including proud Israel). Divine inspiration had led the prophets of Israel to prophesy of this (see Jeremiah 25:9-11, Ezekiel 28:7).
According to the well-respected Irish Methodist historian and Bible scholar, “This chapter [4] is a regular decree, and is one of the most ancient on record; and no doubt was copied from the state papers of Babylon. Daniel has preserved it in the original language.” By virtue of being a regular decree, its opening literary format parallels that of other ancient public decrees. Yet a marked difference can be noted, almost from the very beginning: King Nebuchadnezzar’s particular enthusiasm in penning his decree to the entire known world, is revealed in his unusual greeting: “Peace be multiplied to you.”
History is replete with pagan leaders whose edge of dominance was rooted and maintained with a constant and underlying threat of violence, covered with a thin veneer of false peace. This type of worldly “peace” whispers, “As long as you go along with what we say, you will be allowed to live.” But, as we will see in this chapter written by Nebuchadnezzar himself, the kind of peace that he has come to desire for everyone is an enduring, unbreachable peace—that is, spiritual prosperity—found only in a complete trust of Almighty God.
Many Christians are eager to proclaim what God has done for them in the way of blessings and benefits. But shouldn’t we also stand in readiness to share how He has shaped and benefitted us by way of chastisements? (See Hebrews 12:7-11) Beloved, prayerfully open your spiritual eyes and ears to the excellent example given to us by King Nebuchadnezzar. We will soon see how he frankly admits to the pride and vanity that resided in his corrupted heart; he freely confesses the methods that God used to humble him. It is with a genuine spirit of humiliation and repentance that King Nebuchadnezzar seeks to tell the world of the greatness of Almighty God; he tells of the Divine Sovereign in order to extoll His magnificence. After being raised in a culture of a pantheon of false gods, the king of the world now wishes to exalt the Most High God (v.2) to the highest place in the eyes of the world, that they also may come to adore Him! Yes, our God was able to win the heart of the King of Babylon. He can reach the “unreachable”!
I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you [Israel] have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you… I will put My Spirit within you… Ezekiel 36:23a, 26a, 27a