Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Daniel 4

That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. v.33

Read chapter 4
This chapter is a testimony of Nebuchadnezzar.  Now I don't know about you, but if you've ever heard someone's testimony, it's pretty powerful.  Here the king of Babylon is sharing this intimate and humbling transformation, can you even imagine our president saying something like this telling all the world about Jesus Christ?  Basically a testimony is explaining what they were like before they met the Lord, how they met the Lord and who they are today because of it.  It's not always an easy thing to admit or share, and I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar sharing his foolishness of becoming like a ox was an embarrassing thing, yet often sharing your foolishness gives greater testimony to God's greatness and power.  Now we may wonder did he really become an ox.  Many scholars have dug in to analyzing this.  One disease is called lycanthropy where one actually thinks they're an animal.  Whether this was reason behind it or not is not the point.  The point was that he has become a new man because he believes in the Only God.  "We're never more impressed with Babylon's king than when he's least impressed with himself" (Beth Moore).  In the first couple chapters of Daniel we see the king respecting and giving honor to the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, but he never truly believed and loved God till we see here in chapter four.  Is your belief in God right now similar to Nebuchadnezzar before or after experience becoming like an ox?  What foolishness in your testimony gives greater testimony to God and not yourself?  Do you share that with others?

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