Madness in High Places

King Nebuchadnezzar Turned Into An Animal: unknown German artist, Regensburg, 1410

Daniel Chapter 4 is notable for the repeated dictum that:"the Most High (God) rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will." (verses 17, 25 and 32)

That God rules over Kings is clear, but far from being any divine endorsement or authorization of rulers, Daniel 4 is instead a warning to those rulers against pride, hubris, arrogance, presumption, oppression, or misuse of power.

It does not tell believers to assume that rulers have God's sanction, or must be doing God's will because He put them in power.  Quite the contrary:  It tells rulers that they should use any power that God may choose to allow them, with consciousness of God.

It is an instruction to rulers, kings, emperors, to humble themselves before God, or God might choose to humble or remove them.

The narrative of the chapter is a familiar Sunday School story, written by Nebuchadnezzar himself.  Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and called for Daniel to interpret it.  The dream was of a great tree, which was cut down to a stump.  Daniels's interpretation was that this great King Nebuchadnezzar would be cut down, mid reign.

Daniel's interpretation concluded with Daniel's appeal to Nebuchadnezzer to change his arrogant ways (verse 27):

 "Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. 

Nebuchadnezzar seems to have taken the warning at first, but after 12 months, his pride got the better of him: 

"The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" 

That declaration of hubris triggered the nightmare scenario.  Madness descended on Nebuchadnezzar, and he became like an animal, unable to reason.  The Kingdom was taken from him.   He was driven out to "dwell with the beasts," unclothed, hair like eagles' feathers, nails like birds claws, for seven "times" (possibly seven years).

After those "seven times" of madness, living with the animals, Nebuchandezzaar's reason and kingdom were restored, and he was able to write the remarkable first person account.  He concludes:

"And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:  And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase."

So, Nebuchadnezzar learned that kings and rulers should not get too big for their britches, lest they wear none.

He learned that God rules, and can give kingdoms, or take them away, set up kings, or cut them down, at His whim, and none can question God's doings.

He learned that a claim that "I built this," tempts God to prove that, no, he didn't.  God gave it him, and could as easily take it away.

Does this chapter tell us that every king, every ruler, every president, governor, prime minister, of every nation on earth for all time is individually selected, appointed, ordained, authorized, by God, as part of a minutely detailed, pre-ordained, exact plan?   I do not think so.  I don't read that into it.  God can set up or remove anyone He chooses.  He certainly has that power.  God also has options, adapting to the free will choices people make.   But to take the book of Daniel as being typical of how God works with all rulers, would carry the story way beyond it's lessons.  It would take away any free will among the nations.  We would all just be marionettes, dancing on God's strings.  How far down should we carry that?  Is it only at national level, or God being in control, would He not govern at the state and local level as well? Is every election outcome of every school board pre-ordained?  What about within the church?  Does God select the doorkeepers of every congregation, or does He expect us to practice some discretion?

I have been shocked and appalled lately to hear preached from church platforms that we should not criticize unrighteous presidents, because "God rules . . . and gives it to whomsoever He will."  Even worse, they have defended wicked rulers as God's chosen agents, doing God's will. That God allows "the basest of men" to rule, should never be taken as evidence that God actually desires unrighteous rulers.  Israel demanded a king, and God gave them one, but He rebuked Israel for wanting one and warned them of the consequences. Israel's demand was a rejection of God, but the lesson is, be careful what you ask for.   The Old Testament is one long account of God's repeated condemnation of ungodly, unrighteous kings, as virtually all of them are. If our consciences are so seared that we no longer care about the wicked example set by those basest of men, we are in trouble.

Most political issues should be of little concern to believers.  We know that God does rule.  All that we may have is God's gift.  We did not build it, and need not concern ourselves with defending it. The immorality of unbelievers is not our affair.  This does not justify us sitting idly by, but warns us that we too must "break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor;"

I should also point out that the prophet Daniel was far from an apolitical disinterested bystander.  Quite the opposite.  Daniel was in a highly political position, as ruler of the province of Babylon, and in charge of all the king's counsellors:  A political position that made Daniel and his associates the objects of repeated political plots to destroy them.  I would hesitate to carry that too far as an example to us, but those of you who claim to understand and interpret visions of the future, like Daniel's, might want to warn the president about hubris.

It seems to me that the real lesson we should take from Daniel chapter 4 is that God's "plan" depends on no one.  Human rulers, kings, presidents, nations, empires, armies, are all inconsequential.  There is no individual upon whom God (or his plan) depend.  Trump/Biden?  Makes no difference to God.  Americans, in their nationalistic pride, may be foolish enough to think God would somehow feel that our petty politics are important, but to God, presidents are freely interchangeable.  There is nothing that only one person could or would do that no one else could do. God can replace anyone, anytime, for any reason, at His whim. Rulers: Don't get impressed with yourselves. To God, you are nothing. Rulers who get too proud, invite God to humble them. Take warning.

Is Facebook's formula limiting you?

THIS WORKS BETTER! 

Wondering about all those posts about Facebook's formula that limits who you see in your feed? (see note 4) Here's what you can REALLY do: See the menu bar up at the top of your phone screen? Click on the three horizontal lines icon (circled). Then look down the list and see where it says: "Friends." Clicking on Friends brings up the list of your friends.

(If you are using Facebook on the website version, click on your own name up there at the top to bring up the page where you can see the Friends button)

Now, scroll down your list of friends. See if there is someone there you don't recall seeing on Facebook for a while. In my case, I had to scroll a long way down to find people I haven't heard from recently.  This will either disprove the "25 friends limitation," or show that you just don't have many friends active on Facebook.

When you do find someone you haven't heard from recently: Do you know if they actually use Facebook regularly? Are they still alive? In jail? Found more productive uses for their time?

To find out, click on one of those Friends you have missed lately. Scroll down to see their posts. Have they actually posted anything in the last 6 months? If so, do this: Read some of their posts and post comments on them. Like their grandchildren. Laugh at their jokes. Comment on their trip to Europe. But, most likely, if you haven't seen them on Facebook, it's because they haven't been on Facebook. Most likely, those 25 friends you keep seeing are the ones actually using Facebook. (also see note 2 below)

Alternatively, if you still don't trust Facebook, try this: Make a shallow aluminum foil bowl (note 1). Put it in your lap. This will focus energy waves up toward your phone (and away from sensitive areas) Hold down that "Friends" button on your phone. Wave the phone over your head making 7 circles, clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the antipodes.. On each circle, recite "Expelliarmus!" No promises about this procedure, but it is undoubtedly at least as effective as that copy and paste thing going around. Rumor has it, this works best at midnight on a full moon.

Or, if you really want to make a radical change in your News feed, go down that list of Friends. Find the ones who fill your feed with whatever unwanted political, religious, nutritional, or commercial posts you happen to dislike, click on their name, and then change them to "Unfollow." You will remain friends, but won't see their posts unless you go looking for them. That could clear out a lot of room for more aging school chums, kids, puppies and kittens, or whatever you do like seeing.

To avoid Facebook's news feed algorithm altogether, in that highlighted pull down menu , there's a feed option for 'most recent'. Then you can see the order things have been posted instead of what's popular, most liked, or trending.  On my tablet, I would press that Menu icon, then "See More," then select "Feeds" then select "Most Recent.". That gets you posts shown in order of posting, without regard to responses or relevance.

If any of these ideas work for you, or if you are at least mildly amused, please Like and Share this post. Or, you could do that whole copy/paste thing with this post: Hold your finger down anywhere in this post and "copy" will pop up. Click "copy". Then go to your page, start a new post and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. "Paste" will pop up and click paste. You will pass Go, Collect $200 from the IRS (note 3), hear from old friends, make new ones (perhaps at the IRS), and change your life! Really! It worked for me! Try it!

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Notes:

1. In lieu of making a bowl out of aluminum foil, if you have an aluminum colander, that works equally well. But a steel colander? Stainless steel, I hope, otherwise it would rust. The magnetic properties of the steel (and possible rust) cause an added unknown factor, which might or might not effect the exorcism process. 304ss vs 316ss could make a difference.  Be sure not to put the colander on your head, inverted, like a hat.  That would totally negate the effect, and might also be joining the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:  COTFSM

2. If haven’t seen any posts recently from Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, or the Tooth Fairy, and would like to,. Try Friending them..  Supplementary instructions for friending Santa Claus et al: Type their names in the search box on the bar at the top of your screen. Click on one of the results. Send them a friend request.

3. Be aware that the $200 IRS rebate may not apply outside the US. Consult the you tax authorities for local participation.

4. In case you haven't got it yet, that whole Facebook formula friends limitation think is a myth.
Check out these links  Snopes - Facebook formula  WTOP article   Business Insider article