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. (Daniel
4:33)
When I was a kid, I loved to watch monster
movies. I found them both fascinating
and frightening. My favorite movies were
of the Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.
He was a good man, until the full moon, and then he became a
bloodthirsty creature. He didn’t want to
do that, but the tortured soul could only be put out of misery by a silver
bullet fired from a gun held by the hand of someone who loved him. I can recall the words of the old gypsy,
Maleva, who said, “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by
night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is
bright.” The movie was rooted in European
legends rising from a form of insanity known as lycanthropy. Such madness gripped the monarch of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar. It was sent as a judgment
of God upon his pride. Before there was
a film and a song about werewolves of London, there was the werewolf of
Babylon!
Impressed by the miraculous deliverance of the three
Hebrew youths from the fiery furnace, we find the king issuing a decree
concerning the greatness of their God (Dan.4:1-3). Yet, there is no personal
confession of a penitent who has come to faith, just an acknowledgment of the
God of the Jews as being the greatest among gods. Many a politician still finds it useful to
talk about God, while giving little evidence of true conversion. One may know the vocabulary of the Good Book without
knowing the Author!
The story continues to unfold with a nightmare the
king has (Dan.4:4-18). In the midst of
immense luxury and the trappings of power, we find a troubled man. Sin will do that. Conscience pains the wicked—they are likened
to a storm-tossed ocean. He summons the
soothsayers who have no answers. How
foolish people are to try to find a message for their future in astrology,
palmistry, and such! It is the man of
God who has the Word of God—Daniel, in this case—who can give guidance.
Though delivering a word of judgment to this
malevolent monarch might mean the prophet would lose his head, Daniel proclaims
the truth, nonetheless (Dan.4:19-27).
Such threats never silenced Elijah, not stopped John the Baptist. Daniel shows his compassion in being alarmed more
for the king than his own life. I wonder
in these days when judgment seems imminent, are the people of God more
concerned about their own preservation than the salvation of sinners? The coming of judgment on this nation and its
leaders should not surprise us. Daniel
reminds us here that God is sovereign.
Nations rise and fall; rulers come and go; God rules!
Nebuchadnezzar was given opportunity to repent, but
refused (Dan.4:28-33) and retribution fell.
God was patient, but at last the deadline was crossed. The madness that descended on him—his lycanthropy—brought
on the behavior of a beast. Really, it
just revealed what was in his heart!
This is how sin degrades us.
After seven years of this, sanity is restored by a
gracious God (Dan.4:34-37). The king is
more than willing to humble himself and confess the glory of God. Nebuchadnezzar never forgot this lesson—and neither
should we!
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