Thoughts on King Nebuchadnezzar

I was preaching yesterday on Daniel Chapter 4 where King Nebuchadnezzar oversteps the mark and imagines himself to be the ruler of the world. God is gracious, quarantines Nebuchadnezzar in a period of madness then restores him when Nebuchadnezzar repents.

I never cease to be amazed at how relevant these seemingly ‘old, old stories are to the present day. I was reflecting on the famous phrase ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. The corruption is not simply financial or judicial but deeply spiritual: power is like a drug, a poison that corrupts the soul and leads essentially to at least a ‘moral madness’ if not an actual madness. At the moment, many are wondering, with reference to our current ‘madness’ – ‘where will this end’? And when? And how? The temptation is to wish and even pray for a ‘removal from office’ of those involved, especially given the immense amount of damage they have caused. I would be a miracle if the ‘madmen and madwomen’ ‘took a turn to themselves. But what a testimony it would be to the power and grace of God if they not only ‘stopped sinning’, but confessed their sin and chose and found ways of atoning for it. That might mean simply submitting to whatever ‘punishment’ the authorities placed upon them and from that ‘place of punishment’ doing as much good as possible. Sounds like a pipe dream. Yet …… let us pray that it happens. And happens soon.