A Nebuchadnezzar Night

Daniel 2 “A Nebuchadnezzar Night Leads to a Day of Praise”

Maybe you have experienced a Nebuchadnezzar night;  a “terrible, no good, very bad night.” How do you spend those waking moments—like the king raging and frustrated or do you turn to God?

God in his mercy can and will use all circumstances to ‘destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the intelligent’ [1Cor 1] so he gets the glory and they stand ‘without excuse.’ [Rom 1]  He can and will reveal mysteries no man can comprehend or expect.

A sleepless night and charlatan wise men do not make a happy morning. Impulsively Nebuchadnezzar issues an order to execute all, not some, but ALL wise men in the kingdom. Yet God has his man in place, his “calm in a crisis” Daniel.

As the four friends found themselves between a rock and a hard place they turned to God. Why? Because they “knew” God and trusted God’s faithfulness and God was pleased to respond. And when God responded Daniel led the group in praise and thanksgiving.  “Let the name of God be praised forever and ever…He alone is the revealer of the deep and hidden things, He knows what is in the darkness and light resides with him.”

When God answered in ways these unbelieving wise men could not fathom it gave Daniel an opportunity to share that “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”  When God does the same for you, O child of God, proclaim His majesty so the world stands convicted and turns to repentance.

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Are You Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

Hebrews 3 is a reminder that because of the faithfulness of Jesus, we who have believed all he has said and done are now given a new distinction. We are now called partners and holy brethren. This is amazing!  Jesus said, follow me and now we find that we also family members of the Apostle and High Priest, the Son of the Most High God!

The initial Hebrew readers were facing a challenge. We might say they caught between a ‘ROCK’ (pun intended) and a hard place because they did not want to dishonor Moses and yet wanted to follow Jesus.  Therefore, the author reminds them that Moses was God’s servant not God’s Son. Moses was a faithful servant “in” the house but Christ was faithful “over” the house. Moses faithfully cared for God’s house, the children of Israel, but he did it as a servant. Christ is faithful as the Son over the house, that is we who are now called holy brethren.

Therefore, holy brethren, beware of drifting or falling away just as the Israelites had done in the desert and ended up doing a wilderness walk for 40 yrs. Beware of hardened hearts and unbelief as a consequence of  unbelief.  A scary thought straight from God! He swore they would die in the desert and lose the promise of eternal rest. It is vital that we remain steadfast and also to encourage other holy brethren who may be wavering and seeking to return to their old ways–the past. We must reassure each other day after day so that hearts remain teachable and soft.

The consequences of unbelief are eternal.