Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
What a powerful verse about our God! The amazing thing about the context is, do you know who said this? You would think it would be Daniel or some other prophet, or some other man of God, an Israelite king at the time, or something that would make a little bit more sense to the context of who said this. This was actually said by Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king, at the same time that Daniel was in Babylon. Let’s go through the context real quick. I would encourage you, if you have time, read Daniel chapter 2 through Daniel chapter 4. It's a powerful layout of God pursuing a king's heart.
God Pursues a King's Heart
In Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had this dream. He called all of his magicians and wise men together. He didn't just say, hey, I want an interpretation to my dream. He said, I want you to tell me my dream and then the interpretation. They were like, what? Are you kidding me? Nobody asks for this because first you have to tell us the dream. Nebuchadnezzar said, well, if I tell you, you can just tell me anything that it means. But if you actually tell me what my dream was, I will know that this is supernatural, that you know what the meaning is. None of them could do it at the time. Nebuchadnezzar then put out a decree to have all the magicians and wise men put to death.
Well, Daniel was one of those being considered in that category. So, Daniel goes before the Lord, and then he puts out word, I can tell you your dream. He comes before Nebuchadnezzar, tells him his dream and the meaning of it. Nebuchadnezzar was blown away. You'll have to read the passage. It's amazing.
Then it goes into chapter 3, and here you have the same king that just had the supernatural thing that Daniel served God and revealed to him, and now he's putting up a golden image for all of the kingdom to bow and worship. If you don't bow and worship, you'll be put to death. Then you have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saying, we can't bow to this golden image. We only will bow and worship God. Well, they're thrown into the fiery furnace. They don't die. Nebuchadnezzar is again blown away by that and pulls them out and says, what in the world?
That's actually where we find our Verse of the Day, because of the observable supernatural miracle of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Why did that happen? Because they were willing to stand up for what's right. They were willing to stand up for God and the truth of our God and worshiping Him alone, which caused Nebuchadnezzar to say this verse: "How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." This pagan king said this. How powerful!
God Wants More Than Praise
That's the amazing thing. With this going into now chapter 4 even further down, Nebuchadnezzar has a second dream. The first one was about his kingdom. This one is about him. Daniel tells him the meaning of his dream, and it's about him being humbled. It was almost as if God wasn't satisfied with this king actually praising Him. He wanted his heart. It's beautiful—Daniel 2 through 4—but really, how do we pull this all together with this context?
God used people who were willing to stand up for truth and stand up for what was right, and be able to communicate the glory and magnificence of God, and not willing to bow to everything else the world may bow to, and then to see a difference, and God to use that in supernatural ways to reach the heart of a king.
An Everlasting Kingdom
The amazing thing is, fast forward to today, the city of Babylon is nowhere to be found. I mean, there's rubble. Yes, there are certain things that are, in fact, from Nebuchadnezzar. This Nebuchadnezzar the second was one of the greatest archeological and military kings that Babylon had. Yet there's very little to show for it. That's the amazing thing about what Nebuchadnezzar himself said in this passage: "How mighty His wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom."
Let's learn from this passage of Nebuchadnezzar today. What kingdom are you pursuing? Investing in His kingdom that lasts forever. You don't know who may be watching. Even somebody in authority, even a leader over you could be watching God at work in you and be able to praise Him because God is pursuing their heart because of what your faithfulness is doing.
May you live in Him today.
