To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:
May you prosper greatly!
2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
3 How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
his dominion endures from generation to generation.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me.6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me.7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)
9 I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. 10 These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches;from it every creature was fed.
13 “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger,[c]coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches.15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field.
“‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times[d] pass by for him.
17 “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’
18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
Daniel 4:1-18
I was chatting to Gavin Calver, the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance, recently and he told me a story of an MP that he was speaking to recently who said to him, ‘would you (the Evangelical Church) change all of your beliefs to match mine.’
Jokingly, Gav responded, ‘Sure... but where will you find the £2 billion hole in the budget? You see, the Church provides youth clubs, babies groups, food banks, job clubs, and all kinds of social action up and down the country. The reason we do this is because our hands are tied to our hearts. If you change our beliefs, you will change our activity.’
The MP replied, ‘OK. Keep you beliefs. But can you keep them a little more quietly.’
We live in a culture that wants the fruit of faith but without the roots. We want the benefits but without the foundation of what makes it possible. However, it doesn’t work like that.
In today’s passage we see that King Nebuchadnezzar thinks in exactly the same way. He wants the benefits and blessings of God but does not want to give him his allegiance. He honours God with his words but lives a life that undermines all the values of God. This stands in stark contrast to Shadrak, Mishak and Abednego in yesterday’s passage who said, ‘even if we never get what we hope for, we will continue to be faithful.’ The fruit of your life flows from your roots, your deepest beliefs, and even before we read Daniel’s interpretation, we can see that Nebuchadnezzar’s foundations are going to lead to tragedy. Why? Because life always flows in the direction of our deepest beliefs.
Where do you find yourself hoping to reap the fruit of the Kingdom of Heaven without the foundations of faith and trust?
Lord, help us to be more like Daniel, whose values and actions had integrity. Help us to know you better and to live in a way that demonstrates our love and devotion to you, in a culture that is constantly undermining and distracting us from following you. Help us to be bold and courageous. Amen.
