A Letter to our Next President
As you know—on Tuesday we will elect a new president. That has not happened since 2000. Come January, we will have a new commander and chief. Because our country has such influence and power, it is very true when it is said that our president is the most influence leader in the world.
Have you ever thought that God might have something to say to the most dominate world leaders? Well he does. And all we have to do is go back into scripture to get a glimpse of God communicating with the most influence leaders of a certain time period.
Today, I want to share with you two of those encounters and they happen back to back in the book of Daniel chapters 4 and 5.
But before I get going here—I am only reflecting what is said here in scripture. I don’t want people to say that I am partisan to one party or another. I am preaching from scripture, that is what God has called me to do. No more and no less.
That is why I would encourage you keep your Bibles open this morning so you can do a fact-check on me, the same way all the media outlets have been doing fact checks on the candidates through this dreadfully long campaign season.
But let me tell you a little about Daniel. First, he is one of the prophets of the Old Testament. He is considered one of the major prophets only because he is a longer book—like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
But Daniel was a refugee. He was deported from Israel around 604 BC because Israel was a puppet state of Babylon and the King of Babylon—Nebud wanted young men from Israel who were descended from nobility to raise, train and teach—serve in the kings affairs. Daniel was one of them.
And Daniel was raised and educated by those in the royal court and he was taken care of. As a part of being a refugee he was renamed with a Babylonian name—Belteshazzar.
Daniel never forgot who he belonged to and who was his God—and it says this about Daniel—1:17--To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
And v.20
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
God was preparing him to be a prophet in a foreign land. And he was still faithful to our God and would not compromise his faith for anyone or anything. Needless to say he was tested and he passed with flying colors.
Nebud. Was the King of the major world power at that time and he had as much or more influence on the middle-eastern world than anyone else. Everybody reported to him. He was the guy in charge.
And he started having dreams that he could not interpret. They made no sense to him. His mind was troubled, he trouble sleeping and when he did sleep – his dreams were troubling.
Yet, there was one person who could make sense of what was going through Nebud’s mind.
Read Daniel 4:10-17
Quite a dream. Doesn’t sound good—even if you don’t completely understand it.
Daniel hears this. And he has to stew on it and think on it. But as the meaning becomes clear (because of God) Daniel starts to become “terrified” about what this means and the King has to calm him down (v.19).
And if you were Daniel—you know bringing bad news to an all-power leader could be bad for you. And he was worried that Nebud would kill the messenger and not just accept the message.
Daniel tells him, this wouldn’t be so bad if one of your enemies had this. It’s not so good that you had this dream. This is officially a bad dream. This is not looking so good.
And then Daniel tells Nebud (v.24) this is what the dream means—because it is a decree from the “Most High”. When he talks about the Most High—he is talking about God. Daniel always believed and never lost his faith—even living in country where they worshipped other gods. Daniel always refers to God as the Most High—not the other Babylonian gods.
Daniel goes to tell this leader of the known world—at least in those parts that He is going to be driven from his throne and worse yet—you are going to act like a cow, grazing, spending all your time outside—being drenched in the dew of heaven. Your mental capacity will go from being a wise and powerful ruler to the smarts of a cow---
UNTIL . . . (v.25) you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. This condition will continue until you acknowledge that heaven . . .not you is truly in charge. Even the most powerful man in the world, derives his power from God, and not his own bravado and ingenuity.
This is kind of a paradigm shift for King Nebud. He is hearing he is not in charge, his god, Marduk is not in charge—only this obscure God from this little tiny-weeny country is God and only this God calls the shots. King Nebud’s world is about to be turned upside down.
And you have to understand that back then that every country has their own patron god. And if one country takes over another country—that would mean your god is more powerful than their god. When Israel was over-run, everyone knew that the God of Israel was weak.
Not so fast. God shows up and says I am not vanquished—I am still in charge, and not just in Israel but the entire world!
At this point—King Nebud might be thinking—yeah right, what does Daniel know—let alone his God.
But Daniel took this pretty seriously—God is in charge, God is always in charge, there are no other gods, my God is it. So Daniel tries to give him some advice.
v. 27 Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
King—humble yourself before God and we can avoid this whole terrible matter. Not only a little humility would be good—but start doing what is right when it comes to the people who live under your rule. The word here is oppressed—but in Hebrew is translated closer to the poor.
If you would stop thinking about yourself and your achievements and start thinking about all the people who live under your rule, even the lowest people in your Kingdom—God might have mercy and stop this from happening.
And King Nebud. . .was like you lost me when you told me I was going to act like a cow. I don’t think that is going to happen. Thanks for the advice, but everything I have done up to this point has worked out for me, I think I will keep doing my own thing. The dream isn’t so bad after all.
The conversation ends. And a year passes—the King probably forgot about the dream—and he is on his balcony looking over Babylon and he says this—v. 30--“Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
me, me, me, me, me. Look at what I did.
The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.
And that is the point—it was never his and he never built it himself. It was God given. Authority and power has always been God given. King Nebud. never saw this, never realized it and when warned by Daniel a year ago he blew it off.
You brought it on yourself. The only reason you are King and the only reason you have all of this to look at—happened only because the Most High God allowed it.
King Nebud is confronted with a fundamental principle of leadership. Any leader is a steward—that is he/she is a manager—meaning its not theirs to own—it is given. And this applies to leadership across the board—from your job, to your family to the president of the United States of America.
And if all leadership is about being a steward for God— leadership is temporary and you are accountable. Leadership is temporary because God gives and he can take it away. And the reason he is about to take it away from Nebud is that he has been a bad manager and he is accountable for his actions and Nebud has been found wanting.
Leadership is for God to give and to take away. The story continues—v.32
You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
Everything belongs to God. Everything. And if God can take away from Nebud—can God still do that today? You betcha.
He going to act like a cow for a period of 7 times—not sure about how long that is, but a lot of scholars believe its 7 years. Either way—there is accountability for Nebud’s actions. And he told he has to recognize and believe that it is the Most High who is in control and that only he gives—and no human takes.
And King Nebud goes crazy and starts acting like a cow. Yes, there is a documented psychosis called “Boanthropy” where you act like a cow.
And his advisors and others in leadership cover for him. No he won’t be in today. He has a sore throat. Leave that here, I will make sure he gets that. Or—he is sleeping, I will make sure he signs this and I’ll get it back to you.
And this story gets out—King Nebud, later in his life tells this—independently of scripture admits this—and he admits that only the Most High God did this.
After this period of 7 times (years, months, weeks?) He is released from this psychosis and he acknowledges that the God of Israel, the Most High God—is in charge—not himself or any of his Babylonian gods. Then he says this:
Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
Nebud makes a confession that God is in control and no question God. His power and authority are too great!
And then he says this—
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Everybody in the room probably would have said, “Amen.” Because minutes ago he just mooing like a cow and eating grass. Something radical happened to him. He was restored.
I don’t have time—but if I did, I would show you how in the next chapter of Daniel this happens to another ruler of Babylon—Nebud’s son then grandson.
And it is Nebud’s grandson who fell into the same arrogance that Nebud did. And in his arrogance, his confidence about his power and materialistic greed—God brings him down too. And guess who has to deliverer the bad news? Daniel.
All leadership is a stewardship issue. We are to manage what God has given us to manage. And the sooner everyone recognizes that—the better leaders we will all be. And when we humble ourselves to realize that all he have ever done and all we will ever be comes from God, we start to see our place in the universe. And we see that God is really in control.
And this does not just apply to us—but to every place of leadership, whether one acknowledges God (people like us) and or not (people like King Nebud). And no place of leadership is exempt—including the President of the U.S.
God is sovereign—God is in charge of all thing.
With that in mind and if Daniel were here and he could help us write a letter, maybe it would sound something like this:
Dear Mr. President,
While it is true you are accountable to us, the citizens of the U.S.A. we are not your source of greatest accountability. And while it is true you must communicate with the United States congress, someday you will report to someone with far more power.
While you will talk and consult with other world leaders during your presidency, we hope you will not forget to consult with the Creator of the Universe and the Creator of this nation.
As King Nebud. found out, the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. Your leadership, like all leadership is a stewardship. It is temporary and even you are accountable. We hope and pray that you already know this and that you will ask yourself daily, what is God’s will in every decision you make.
Amen.